What is heavy?

[Wayne Crider]

It's never the camera weight that bothers me, it's usually the bulk of all the extra crap that goes along with it. Working out of a car I all don't care about the weight/bulk; It's just when I have to put it on my body that I feel like I'm suited up for battle. I'm fine with a 6# Graphic handheld, but the backpack, tripod, lenses, and other accoutrements is what breaks the deal for me. I think 7# would be light. Double that would be a little heavy with extras to carry unless your a little better conditioned.

[Struan Gray]

They took an IMAX camera and two rolls of film to the summit of Everest. If you want to get the camera there badly enough, no place is truly inacessible.

I max out handholding cameras at four kilos or so. Beyond that I shake while framing. If I'm allowed to hang the camera on my chest and use a waist-level viewer I can go a bit heavier.

For backpacking the real question is how much the weight and bulk of the camera and its ancilliaries displace other things I want and need to take. For photographic day hikes I'll happily carry sixty pounds of camera gear, a sandwich and a spare jumper. If I need to camp out in winter space and wieght get restricted accordingly.

One thing: if your camera is too specialised, you'll want to take another one too. Thus the weight effectively becomes the weight of a specialised lens.