Hiking or backpacking with camera gear requires sacrifice. You are either going to give up some comfort for the sake of better gear, or you'll give up professional equipment for the sake of weight. Finding the right balance is an ongoing process for me. Another down side to bringing a lot of gear is the feeling that you need to use it. This can lead to experiencing your hike through a lens rather than "mindful hiking" where you are living in the moment and enjoying nature as it happens.

Most of the photo and video you see on Cairnguru was taken on an iPhone 5. So far, I haven't found a better compromise between portability, quality and convenience. The panorama feature takes amazing landscape photos with ease and it's so simple to recharge when needed. I use iCloud to automate the file transfer post-hike and Aperture to process the images. I'm still on the market for a better solution and have my eye on the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, but I'm leery of going down a road that leads to bigger lenses, rigs and external battery packs. When (if) I switch I will write about it here.