Sony a5000

Great camera for backpacking! Not much heavier than my point-and-shoot, but takes pictures like an SLR.

First, let me say I am not a camera-geek so if you have technical questions, you will need to look them up on the Sony website. I just love backpacking and was looking to upgrade my pictures.

I got the Sony a5000 on Black Friday sale last year, as an upgrade to my point-and-shoot Nikon. I wanted the ability to do more with my pictures than I was able to with my simple camera, without hauling around a DSLR. The mirrorless a5000 is perfect for that!

It weighs in at just about 10 ounces with the lightweight cover I got for it which I can strap to the belt of my pack, and the size is small enough that I sometimes have to put my hand on it to make sure it is still there!

The 16-50mm lens it comes with is very versatile, and the only one I take backpacking. There are multiple lenses you can get, though, from macro and fisheye to telephotos. 

It has a built in pop-up flash.

The rechargeable battery hasn't let me down yet, and with a good-sized memory card I have been able to take several hundred pictures over 3-4 days without running out of power.

The best part about it is the pictures! I now have the ability to adjust shutter speeds, depth of field, exposure settings, time delays, etc just like a DSLR! I can take a great landscape with a waterfall picture one minute, and a close-up of a bee in flight around a flower the next! It has multiple preset exposure settings as well, for sunsets, sport-action, night scenes, anti-blur, etc.

I especially like the panorama mode. You start at one side of the view, push the button and sweep the camera around and it automatically shoot pictures and puts together amazing shots.

It also has multiple picture effects to add to your creativity, like retro, pop color, watercolor, etc.

It also takes good video, I have only used that once or twice though.

There is a wifi component to it, so you can send the pictures to your phone or computer wirelessly. 

I have used my camera now on about 10 backpacking trips and it has worked great. I have dropped it a few times, and been rained on, and it is still working like brand new. It is the perfect blend of utility and function!