bird

I've done a good bit of backpacking and hiking with my XT-1 and I've never brought my 10-24 with me. It's a fine lens but it's just such a beast in size and weight compared to primes (which I favor.) If you aren't put off by the size, I don't think there's really any downside to the 10-24 as a hiking lens. As with most of photography (and life), you've got to do what works for you and not get too wrapped up in whatever the conventional wisdom of the moment is. (And come to think of it, one of my backpacking buddies carries a Canon 5D with a 16-35L.)

I just checked the 60 on my X-T1. Set to manual focus and dialed it to the closest focus (with the lens barrel extended to it's furthest); take photo; press playback button to check photo and lens retracts to "park position"; half press shutter to go back to shooting and lens returns to where I had previously focused it. Same result when shutting off camera: lens parks when switched off, but returns to where it was last focused when turned back on. Odd that it would behave differently on X-T10. You definitely have the most current firmware for camera and lens?

Although I usually go with primes, I bought the 10-24 as my wide lens. It's an excellent lens, and as mentioned above, 10mm is w-i-d-e! Having said that though, I hardly ever use mine. It's not that big compared to a canon or nikon equivalent, but next to my 35/1.4 and 18/2 it's a heavy beast. It balances fine on the X-T1, but if you prefer light and compact the 10-24 might disappoint. Brilliant optics covering a good focal range doesn't help if the lens stays in the cabinet. I've considered selling it and getting a samyang 12. If the 16mm will work for you most of the time and size and weight matter I'd go with that. If size and weight don't make a difference to you, the 10-24 is a brilliant beast. (We are all lucky victims here to having too many excellent choices. Sometimes life is simpler when you just have to make do with what you've got.)

I've taken my x100s backpacking around Mt. Washington in the winter (way below freezing point) and It's always worked fine. As others have stated, keep the batteries warm or they will lose power quickly. The plastic bag trick when going from cold to warm works. The issue is that warm air can hold more moisture than cold air. Think about eyeglasses in the winter: clear while walking around outside, but they fog up as soon as one walks into a warm building. This is basically the same process as dew forming on cool surfaces overnight. If you put the camera in a bag you isolate it from the extra humidity, and that "dew" will form on the bag rather than the camera. Once the camera temperature has equalized with the room temperature the issue of condensation goes away. A regular camera bag works fine too as long as you keep it closed until it has warmed up. The bag trick is worth the trouble as you're trying to eliminate the possibility of moisture forming either on or inside the camera and lens.