OM Systems OM-5 Micro 4/3rds Camera Less Size and Weight

[JWreno]

Last year I backpacked with a Fuji X-H2 and Sigma 18-50mm 2.8 lens. At age 66 I found the weight a bit much. I carried a Canon 6D with 16-35mm f/4 zoom for all of the JMT back in 2014. As I get older I need to carry less on extended backpacking trips. I still enjoy using a mirrorless camera over my iPhone. I did some more research. I settled on OM Systems (sold off from Olympus) OM-5 camera. We plan to section hike the parts of the PCT we haven't hiked yet for the next several last summer/early fall seasons.

The OM-5 camera weighs 14.6 ounces with memory card and battery. I bought the following lenses for my next backpacking trip. Micro 4/3rds has a 2 times crop factor so multiply focal lengths by 2 for equivalent full frame view.

Panasonic LUMIX 9mm f/1.7 lens. Weighs 4.6 ounces or 19.2 ounces for camera and lens.
Panasonic LUMIX 20mm f/1.7 lens. Weighs 3.07 ounces or 17.67 ounces for camera and lens
Panasonic LUMX 35-100mm 35-100mm f/4-5.6 zoom lens. Weighs 4.76 ounces or 19.36 for camera and lens.

The 18 and 40mm equivalent primes will be good for lower light and night scapes. The 70-200mm equivalent zoom will be good for compressing distances when capturing mountains in the background.

The camera has very good weather sealing but the primes I listed are not weather sealed. I plan on keeping the camera on a chest pouch secured to each of the shoulder straps with quick release buckles.

Reasons I choose the OM-5. Lenses are small and inexpensive compared to my Fuji APC lenses. The body is weather sealed. It has several computational photography features including. Live ND provides ND1-ND4 filter simulation good for smoothing water or clouds. Focus bracketing and stacking in cameras. Starry AF for automatically focusing perfectly on stars. Very good In Body Image Stabilization. Focus stacking. Hand held HRES 50 megapixel sensor shift mode. Live composite mode allows for extended nighttime photos for light painting of exposure.

It does 4K video with LOG recording for better post processed video. It doesn't have as many video modes as my Fuji X-H2 but it is good enough for non-cropped 4K 30 frames/second.

I also bought some lenses for day hikes or short backpack sections when food weight is lower.

Panasonic LUMIX 14-35mm f/2.8 weather sealed lens. Weighs 10.8 ounces or 25.4 ounces for camera and lens.
Panasonic LUMIX 14mm f/2.5 lens. Weighs 1.94 ounces or 16.54 ounces for camera and lens.
Panasonic LUMIX 42.5mm f/1.7 lens. Weighs 4.59 ounces or 19.19 ounces for camera and lens.
Panasonic LUMIX 14-150mm f/4-5.6 kit lens. Weighs 10 ounces or 24.6 ounces for camera and lens. I got this cheap by getting it with the camera.

Most of these lenses are tiny compared to my Fuji lenses. Micro-4/3rds will have less Bokey for the same f-stop but this has the advantage of more of the image being in focus for landscape. I plan to add a 100-300mm f/4-5.6 zoom for day hikes. I will also buy an 60mm f/2.8 macro lens for bugs, flowers and other small stuff.