Backpacking landscape set-up help

With special thanks to Tony-S and Taemo in my other thread: https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1330862...

I have now decided on my new camera for landscape photography, the Sigma DP2Merrill. It will be my go-to camera for backpacking and motorcycle trip landscape photography. Now I could use some help with a set-up for it. On backpacking forums this would be called a "gear list".

For ease of replying, I'll divide it into these sections:
-Head (pano maybe?)
-Shutter release
-Memory cards


I already have a decent tripod I like. It is the Giottos MG 8240B. It is carbon fiber, with a weight of only 1.9 lbs, sturdy construction, and tall enough for me to use comfortably (54" not including the head). I've been using it for a couple years now and it works well for my needs. If it supports my 5DII and 70-200 lens just fine, it should have no trouble with the little DP2M.

Now for the head, I have the Manfrotto 494RC2 Mini Ball Head, but I'd like suggestions on a landscape oriented head, probably a panoramic head. Since I'm not opting for the "wide angle" Sigma DP camera, I want to try my hand at stitching panoramic shots together. Unfortunately I know nothing about the pros and cons of various panoramic heads, so I could really use some input here.

Next comes the shutter release. On my 5DII I've been using the 10 second delay timer since I don't have a remote shutter release. This is pretty cumbersome though, and I'd like to know if there are any remote releases that are compatible with the Sigma DP2 Merrill.

Finally is the memory card. How big a card should I carrying, and how many? I know this camera is not the traditional point and shoot, and I'll probably be taking way less photos than I normally would. On the other hand, the file sizes are huge. I'd love advice on both the size of the card, as well as the brand/ model.

Thanks in advance, and any other suggestions for the set-up would be appreciated. My primary concerns are image quality, weight, size, and somewhat reasonable cost (the least important factor).

Whoops, one other question...software. I've been using Lightroom, and I know that the Sigma uses it's own post processing software as well. Is the Sigma software now compatible with Photoshop? I've never used photoshop before, but I'm really not impressed with the cloning in Lightroom. It can only do circles of various sizes, and I'd love to be able to use straight lines like boxes or rectangles to clone with. Can you do that in Photoshop?

don;t think there's a shutter release cable available for either Sigma DP or Ricoh, closest thing you could do is set timer to 2s if available.
one thing to remember is that the sigma dp doesn't have a big mirror like a dslr so you shouldn't worry about vibration. but on the other hand if you are planning on doing long exposure then unfortunately we are out of luck (reason why I decided not to use the GR as primary landscape camera since I can foresee having to shoot for 1-2min at times)

about SD cards, it all depends on your budget, how many do you want to have and for how long are you going to travel?
I have a 32GB on my X100s as it's my primary camera, can take ~1000 RAW shots, then X-Pro1 and GR have both 16GB which gives me ~500 RAW files.
Lexar on SanDisk for brand, atleast 400x speed.

finally, about the sigma software, I think up to this day you have to use the Sigma software to convert it to DNG, then afterwards you can work on it on LR or PS

btw, on your backpacking landscape list, I hope you also have:
-circular polarizer
-GND filters
-extra batteries (must for your DP2M)
-rain sleeve (never cared about it before with the 5DII as it has some weather sealing protection, but not really the case with mirrorless except the OM-D)

Thanks for the suggestions Taemo. I wasn't aware that you could put filters like a GND or Circular Polarizer on a "point and shoot" like the DP2M.

yup the dpm cameras have 49mm filter threads

taemo wrote in post #16316389
yup the dpm cameras have 49mm filter threads

DP3M takes 52mm filters.

I kind of think the AOV of the DP2M is not all that great for landscape photography. Most of mine are taken with the DP3M but I live out west where mountain vistas are the predominating scene. My DP1M is typically for close-quarters, particularly waterfalls and streams. I don't own a DP2M.