Tim Cope(Australia)
BORN IN 1978, Tim Cope is an award winning adventurer, author, and filmmaker with a special interest in the traditional cultures of Central Asia and Russia. He has studied as a wilderness guide in the Finnish and Russian subarctic, ridden a bicycle across Russia to China, and rowed a boat along the Yenisey River through Siberia to the Arctic Ocean. Tim's most renowned journey was a three year, 6,000 mile journey by horse from Mongolia to Hungary on the trail of Genghis Khan - a quest to understand the horseback nomads of the great Eurasian steppe. Tim is the author of Off the Rails: Moscow to Beijing on Recumbent Bikes (Penguin Books 2003), and On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey through the Lands of the Nomads (Bloomsbury Worldwide, recipient of the Grand Prize at the Banff Mountain Book Festival 2013). He is also the creator of several documentary films, including the award winning series ‘The Trail of Genghis Khan,’ (commissioned by ABC Australia and ZDF/Arte in Europe). Tim lives in Victoria, Australia, and annually guides trekking journeys to remote western Mongolia for World Expeditions. His photography is a feature of his presentations, books, and feature articles.
Travelling on foot in the high mountains of Mongolia this year, and later the Canadian Rockies, the first thing that struck me about the XM1 is its nimble size and weight. Coupled with an unobtrusive, old school appearance with a flip up viewing screen, I found that whether it be kneeling down on rock or ice half way up a slope, or taking portraits inside a nomad yurt tent, there was an ease and joy in using it. The 16-55ml lens with manual is suited to both wide landscapes, and portraiture making this an ideal compromise between an SLR and simple point and shoot.
