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Grand Canyon Lightweight Suggestions


thomas_lozinski

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Im not really worried about the daylight shots.

I spend most of my time shooting when the sun is down. I would rather have a d3s if weight wasn't an issue.

Here's a shot I took yesterday as an example of what I like to shoot

http://www.flickr.com/photos/manasquantom/7029684635/lightbox/

If a new pocketable camera comes out before June that scores over 2000 on dxomark's iso test I will be extremely interested.

The d800 is actually more than ten times better than the x10 for ISo performance. 2853 vs 245

 

 

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6034/7029684635_bd42cef24a_b.jpg

Milky Way by Tom

Lozinski, on Flickr

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<blockquote>

<p>About 2 mi. past the ranch they were lifting a body of a man that had died from the heat while hiking. This was the last weekend in October. Imagine the heat in the summer! </p>

</blockquote>

<p>Thanks for sharing this. Grand Canyon is a dangerous place to hike anytime, but to hike rim to rim in the summer is extremely ill advised. Instead of 90-degree heat, it will probably be between 110 and 120 degrees. The rule of thumb is that the bottom of Grand Canyon will be as hot as Phoenix on any given day.</p>

<p>But that's only part of the problem. The dry air sucks moisture out of your body with every breath you take. You'd have to carry several gallons of water, sports drinks, power bars, and salty snacks just to survive. The camera would be the least of my worries - unless you plan to trade it for water.</p>

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<p>I planned on doing the same trip two years ago, and ended up hiking across(made it a two day trip with a stay in the bright angel campground), saying the hell with it and took a shuttle back to the north rim(Best $90 I've ever spent after sore legs). I would highly recommend this plan, as it was fun, and I still had the juice to do more hiking and seeing more in the extra free time. You can make the decision for yourself after getting to the top, as long as you get there before the shuttle takes off. If you know that you're doing the 45 miles for sure, then I would recommend collapsible bottles(I like 32 oz playtypus, took 3) as well as a 100 oz bladder. I went through about 170 oz the first day(refilled at camp) with a mid 30's lb pack(way too much stuff btw, even for overnight, and could've hiked straight across with a camelbak if I wouldn't have stayed overnight).</p>

<p>As far as camera gear, I took a D300, 70-200 2.8(would not take again) and a 16-35(very useful). Looking back, I would also take a 50mm along given another chance. I struggled with the tripod decision, and ended up leaving it(though it would have been nice for some of my twilight shots). I cannot imagine adding yet another 4-5 lbs to my already heavy pack, but I suppose I would've lived. That is best left up to you, as I certainly would have loved to take some star shots by the Colorado, but upon thinking of hauling the extra weight my romantic view of the tripod quickly dissolves.</p>

<p>I would definitely recommend taking the 14mm and 28-80, both will come in handy. I didn't take as many pictures on the way back up as I thought I would mostly because I was so tired, but had my camera in hand most of the way down to camp. It's a very cool trail, and I know you'll enjoy it whatever you take. Just realize that no amount of training(unless you live out there or in the mountains) will prepare you for the 6-7 hour ascent. There's nothing like it, period. I remember saying "Whatever, I'll be fine" and trained a good amount, but once you get there you'll see. That said, it was one of the greatest hikes I've done, and would jump at the chance to do it again(one day trip across, though, I'm done with heavy packs for a while :)) PM me if you have any questions about the hike, I know this post is probably more than you wanted to know, but if not, feel free to ask. Have fun!</p>

<p>PS: take a polarizer and a grad ND, you'll need them.</p>

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<p>Thomas,<br>

My concern is your timing of a strenuous desert hike in summer. Dehydration and heatstroke are the real dangers. Where do you live? Do you live in the American West or in a more temperate region? I do live on the West Coast, and regularly spend time in the high desert during the summer. Over the years I have become acclimatized to the dry heat, conversely humidity will get me now! I have learned to seek shade and drink water regularly and in quantity. AND I avoid anything over 107F. The biggest danger with dehydration in the desert is that you can realize the symptoms too late. Then drinking alone won't be sufficient. The desert can be deceptive, it is NOT the place to go beyond your comfort zone.<br>

May I suggest a shake down hike in the desert beforehand with all your gear? You can then jettison your surplus!<br>

Regarding your gear, less will be more: One quality camera and lens only.</p>

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  • 2 weeks later...

<p>Chris,<br>

The shake down is a must. I didn't even think of that (in the desert.) Great idea.<br>

Thanks for the reminder about the grad ND and polarizer. I always know that but somehow even though I remember to bring them I forget to use them. Your eye tells you it looks fine without . . . until you see it on your monitor. <br>

Trent:<br>

I picked up a Tokina 16-28 figuring that could be my only lens having a little zoom to it. Holy crap, this thing is freaking heavy. 2 pounds 1 ounce. I'm thinking more and more about just bringing my 24mm 2.8. Sharp, light, fast, small. </p>

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  • 2 months later...
<p>Well I'm back from the Grand Canyon. The Rim to Rim to Rim (up the hard way S Kaibab) was the hardest thing I've ever done. After 18 hours hiking the first day we got almost 4 hours of sleep to start again nice and early the next day. Well my D800e never arrived even though I ordered it 4+ months ago on day of release. I ended up bringing my lightweight Nikon D5100 with the 18-55 kit lens and a polarizer on the first day. Barely had any time to take pictures, covering 24 miles the first day took a lot of time. The second day I just brought my Canon S90 since I knew I wasn't going to be taking many pictures and it was even lighter. Our group photographer was shooting Canon and he had a 1dmkIv with a 70-200, and 2 other 2.8 zooms. I don't know how he did it, at least 20 pounds of camera gear. Hiking R2R2R in 2 days leaves very little time for photography and I would not do it again in such a short amount of time. I honestly didn't miss having the D800e. I wasn't working on a tripod or even practicing good photo technique because there just wasn't time. Thank you for all the suggestions. I haven't set up a specific canyon gallery but there are a lot of shots from there on my flickr page: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/manasquantom">www.flickr.com/photos/manasquantom</a></p>
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