This summer I'm going to a hiking trip in the mountains. I will also take my camera gear with me. I have already ordered a camera backpack, but due to some delivery delays, I will receive it after my trip. How can best protect my gear in a normal backpack? Are there any DIY constructions I can make to prevent damage to my gear?
I have a Nikon D750 with a 24-120mm lens and the 16-35mm.
I hike with cameras a lot, most DSLRs are much more robust than most people think, and providing you protect the lens surfaces you normally don't need much to keep it safe.
Padding
Put the camera away from hard edged items, most hiking gear is soft, there's no point in carrying extra weight for padding, when you'll already have some spare clothes in you bag.
Waterproofing
You'll already be aiming to keep your spare clothing dry, so just pack the camera in the waterproof container you already have.
Accessibility
Make sure you keep your camera accessible otherwise you'll just be carrying the weight for no reason.
Weight
Seriously consider what camera gear you need and what you can leave behind. I'm very selective with the gear I carry normally trying to keep it less than 1.5kg, if you don't hike regularly, don't underestimate how much the extra weight will make your life hard when walking
When not using my camera backpack, I put each lens, and the camera body in separate pouches. This provides great protection for each piece, but also provides the ability to spread the load around your pack. Camera gear is quite heavy and dense, and keeping a camera body and connected lens on the top of a backpack can cause it to be uncomfortable. Example pouches for lens and body.
This, however, also makes accessing the camera fairly inconvenient. So, when I am expecting to need or use the camera during hikes, I actually attach the camera to my backpack shoulder straps. I use a camera strap that has additional attach points on the strap itself, and attach it to the attach points on the backpack straps themselves. This is an example of the camera strap, technically designed to hold two cameras: Op/Tech Reporter strap
When there is bad weather, the pouches all go in a waterproof dry bag for the duration, as an additional safety measure.
