Best Camera for Ultralight Backpacking – Olympus Tough TG-6

It is imperative that you consider the weight of every piece of gear when backpacking ultralight. You want to keep the base weight of your gear under 10 lbs. It can be challenging, but you’re already the type of person who is up for a challenge if you’re backpacking 😉

Let’s cut to the main point. You’re reading this article because you want to find the best ultralight camera you can use to capture pictures and videos on your journey. From my research, the Olympus Tough TG-6 is the best camera for ultralight backpacking. Here’s why.

Lightweight

The Olympus Tough TG-6 camera is light to carry with a weight of 0.56 lbs. Note that this weight is inclusive of the battery and memory card. This small amount of weight will leave you with plenty of remaining weight capacity for the rest of your gear.

Picture and video quality

There’s a 12 MP BSI CMOS sensor in this camera. It takes great photos and videos both above-ground and underwater as well. Videos can be recorded in 4k resolutions at 30 frames per second. If you want a higher frame rate, you can record at FHD (Full HD), and it will capture 120 frames per second.

Underwater video recording

This camera is waterproof up to 50 ft, so you can capture amazing underwater footage with it. If you want to get some shots of something deeper in the water, there is an additional case that will increase the waterproof range up to 147 ft.

Check out the sharp and colorful details in this unedited underwater video sample.

Zoom

Let’s face it, this isn’t a DSLR camera with a telephoto lens. However, it does have a 4x optical zoom with a 2x digital converter for a max zoom of 8x. You’re not going to compete with your photog buddies and their DSLRs, but then again you’re looking to pack ultralight…

Variable Macro System

You can shoot as close as 1cm away from your subject using the Tough TG-6’s “Microscope Mode.” The macro functionality provides a max display magnification of 44.4x. This allows you to capture incredible detail in photos.

Ruggedness

I’m going to assume that if you’re backpacking there’s a pretty good chance you’re going to be in some rugged situations. No worries there. This camera was born-ready. Here are its toughness specs:

• Waterproof (IPX8) to depths of 50 ft
• Dustproof (IP6X)
• Freezeproof to 14°F
• Crushproof to 220 lbf
• Shockproof from 7 ft

Final words

As you’ve seen, the Olympus Tough TG-6 is the perfect camera for your ultralight backpacking journeys with its weight of around 1/2 a pound. You can use it to take amazing pictures and capture breathtaking underwater footage. Because of its ruggedness, you don’t have to constantly worry that you’re going to break an expensive piece of equipment.