UKH

Hi

I'm off above 6000 in Nepal in November. What would people recommend as a camera?

I do not want to do it all on my phone. At the other end of the spectrum, I do not need a top end camera. I am not hugely into photography and it will become a general/travel/mountain camera. I do not need a million settings and functions on it. Preferably a rugged/robust one.

Olympus TG6?

Thanks for your help.

Nick

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

Price range?

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

I got an RX100 for a trip a few years ago, pictures come out nicely, and good for printing. However I mostly use my iPhone camera ( even on the big trip) as it’s easier to get out, much quicker to get ready and smaller. Pictures come out nicely and still print well

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

The Olympus TG6 is the best option for a Tough camera and will survive most things thrown at it. Small enough to clip on the outside of a rucksack, but would invest in at least one spare battery. As well as jpegs it also takes RAW images (ORF's) which give you a larger file size and more chance of post editing the image.

Image quality is good even in low light, especially if you know how to week a few of the settings, but I prefer the quality on my Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III. Costs about £100 more than the TG6, but also pretty compact so can be clipped onto the outside of a rucksack. It is not a Tough camera so the lens does come out of the camera body, so not as weather proof, but have used it in some pretty extreme conditions at work on an oil rig offshore. 

For rugged and robust you can't go too far wrong with a TG6, enjoy your trip.

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

The most important thing will be that it's small/light enough to keep in a (preferably inside) pocket. Batteries are useless at low temperatures so you will need to keep it warm. When I was up Mera a few years ago, I was only able to fire off a few shots once I got up onto the Glacier above Khare before my camera cooled down to the point it stopped working and I'd have to warm it back up again in my pocket. The other thing that could prove useful is having a number of spare batteries (which should also be kept in inside pockets if possible), so probably best to avoid one with a non-interchangeable battery. 

In reply to JRS81:

i took a olympus E410 up aconcagua summit day was slung round my neck outside down jacket no battery problems at all 

In reply to koolkat:

I guess a lot depends on which summit and the conditions on the day. Mera is notoriously cold which probably made things worse. Everyone in my group was struggling with camera batteries once we reached high camp, and battery life was a problem (though less so) for everyone in the few days before as well. Funnily enough, my other half has been up Aconcagua and didn't have as many problems there as on Mera, but it was unusually warm for the season when she went up.

Anyway, to the OP, depending on where you're going, in my experience, I would give battery temperature some consideration!

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

The other option is to buy a second hand micro4/3rds body and compact lens with warranty from somewhere like MPB photographic. Possibly half the cost and greater lens diameter with larger sensor to collect light. Then get a couple of generic spare batteries 

In reply to craig h: The TG-6 is a very robust and compact waterproof camera (I use mine for sea kayaking) but I find the image quality falls short of a good compact like my Canon G15. This is because the TG-6 has a very small sensor and pixels compared to other compact cameras, hence the dynamic range is limited, also I find the lens coating is not so good at resisting flare. 
 

For a big trip like Nepal I would get the best compact camera I could, it’s not about bells and whistle but lens quality and (up to a point) sensor size

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

I took a film SLR with Kodachrome 25 slides for my climbing holidays in Nepal back in the 90s.   The quality is stunning even all these years later.  A decent camera will pay dividends years later, even if not into photography.

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

I would look at a m4/3 camera and lens, Olympus em5 II should be able to be picked up for from MBP and is tough and weather resistant, The pictures from a TG camera will not look good against pictures  from your phone, the only reason people get them is they don’t want to risk breaking/drowning their phone.

as people have said, hot swap the batteries from an inside pocket. The trick is to keep the battery warm from charge, if you charge the battery then leave them in a cold bag for a few days then put them in a warm pocket they will have already lost a lot of charge that won’t come back by warming up..

In reply to jethro kiernan:

The m4/3 is a good option. A 2nd hand mirrorless body is gonna be really good and not spendy. But it will be big.

When my wife was going to Antartic, we picked those rangefinder body Oly (E-PL7 or something like that) and the robust 20mm/1.7 pancake lens. Seemed to work out just fine. This will still be pocket sized, unlike the dSLR like bodies, but the payoff is control and control ergonomics plus smaller battery. For the OP this might be the ticket. Pair the pancake with a moderate tele zoom to be used in the treks for getting something else than just the wide’ish angle scenery shots (that stuff which slso Most good Mobiles also work like a charm).

In reply to kevin stephens:

Depending on budget I would suggest Canon G1 X, G5X or G7X 

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

Ricoh GR3 is a terrific camera.  It's really tiny.  Small enough to fit into your pocket.  Terrific image quality.  Can be used as a fully automatic point and shoot, or you can take full control over aperture/speed/exposure.