Author Topic: D800 vs Z5 for hiking  (Read 846 times)

Zang

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D800 vs Z5 for hiking
« on: May 16, 2023, 14:17:50 »
Hi all,

I am going for camping/hiking tomorrow to a remote region and still consider bringing D800 vs Z5.
D800 pros: battery life, resolution
D800 cons: weight
Z5 pros: weight
Z5 cons: battery life
There will be no electricity for 4 days, so battery life matters, even though, I do have 3 EN-EL15C and two EN-EL15.
I would like to hear your opinion please :)

Cheers,
Zang

Anthony

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Re: D800 vs Z5 for hiking
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2023, 16:27:06 »
Weight is a major issue when hiking. Z5 wins here. You have plenty of batteries, so with good battery management and some selectivity about shooting you should be fine.
Anthony Macaulay

Roland Vink

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Re: D800 vs Z5 for hiking
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2023, 22:33:16 »
With careful use, the batteries should last for your hiking trip, especially if the weather is warm (batteries drain quickly when cold). You can also use a power bank to charge your camera. By coincidence a similar question came up at photo.net just now:
https://www.photo.net/forums/topic/549002-charging-z5-with-power-bank/#comment-5789974

Bernard Delley

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Re: D800 vs Z5 for hiking
« Reply #3 on: May 18, 2023, 16:54:58 »
I see, that I am late for the original poster. I add my remarks for the benefit of later readers of this thread.
I think the lens should be  taken into consideration for an optimal compromise lens+camera (+batteries).
I have done some serious 1 day hikes with the D800, typically with the AFS 50mm f/1.8 and perhaps the AI 20mm f/3.5 lenses. But for more serious travel I kept gravitation for a long time to the D7200 + AFS 16-80mm f/2.8-4 kit. 24 MPix (no AA), AF system family of D3-D4s, 1 battery holds up for about 10 days in my travel imaging mode. Latest special trip 16 day trip kayaking Colorado river through Grand Canyon with no recharging option, took two spare batteries: > 1000 image clicks, had to go to the first spare after 12 days. Used for landscape, people and action images.
Now I also own a Z7 II + Z 24-120mm f/4 (same zoom range in FX) , 45 Mpix Z on sensor AF, Z quality optics, sharp across the field of view fully open, 1 battery may hold up for 2 days (or more?) in my use, ~ 100 g heavier than the D7200+16-80.

action take with D7200 + AFP 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 E in the Grand Canyon

Zang

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Re: D800 vs Z5 for hiking
« Reply #4 on: May 25, 2023, 02:19:14 »
Thank you all for your valuable input! You all have great points here.

At the end, I decided to take D800 for the reason of the extra pixels. Together with D800, I had 18-35mm, 80-200mm AIS, a small carbon fiber tripod and some other accessories. The backpack was pretty heavy but D800 did a great job.