What is your travel camera equipment? This is one of the most frequently asked questions on our Instagram, so we decided to take you with us inside our camera bag and tell you about the photography gear we carry with us during our travels.
Let’s start by saying we’re self-taught travel photographers and content creators. We started with a basic action cam and improved over the years.
We’re constantly learning and upgrading our photography equipment.
Keep in mind that we need this equipment to create content for our work, like writing a travel blog; but if yours is a hobby, you may want to buy only what you really need.
So let’s find out what’s inside our camera bag in 2020!
CAMERA & LENS
First of all, it’s not the camera that makes a photo great. What matters the most is the photographer’s vision and creativity. And a good editing of course. A good photography equipment can only help you realize your vision.
We started with a beginner DSLR, the Canon EOS 1200D, which is a good camera to start with in order to practice the use of manual mode.
Then we switched to a mirrorless camera. Mirrorless cameras are becoming quite popular and they’re, in our opinion, the best travel cameras because of their light and compact body.
Body – Sony a6500: our favorite travel photography camera
We invested in this camera earlier in 2019, and we never regretted switching from a DLSR to a mirrorless camera.
We had a beginner DSLR and of course the difference with a Sony a6500 is quite impressive: in addition to the lighter and smaller body, the camera shoots incredible quality photos and videos.
It records UHD 4K videos and 120 FPS slow motion footage, and has a built-in stabilizer.
Check specifics and price here
Lens – Sony 18-105 f/4: the most versatile travel lens
We opted for a Sony 18-105 f/4 OSS which is a versatile lens that performs well in a variety of conditions and is a great option for videos. It has a constant F4 maximum aperture throughout the zoom range. It’s the only one we’re using at the moment because it’s incredibly convenient and flexible, perfect for (almost) all occasions, exactly what we need since we always pack light!
We definitely plan to invest in other lenses like the Sony 24mm f/1.8, great in low light, and the Sony 10 – 18 mm f4, to cover super wide focal lengths.
More about Sony 18-105 f/4
CAMERA ACCESSORIES
TRIPOD
The tripod is definitely the accessory we use the most.
If you don’t want to rely on other people or give up shooting photos together, you should get one too. Plus, it’s essential for long exposure shots.
If you’re looking for super light models, you should opt for a carbon fiber tripod like Manfrotto Element Grande.
We’re currently using a Zomei Q555, perfect to take focused photos with both of us in the picture, and a Joby Gorilla Pod, which is extremely flexible and allows us to stick our camera onto impossible surfaces as trees, scooters or bicycles handles, and even stones and rocks!
Get your tripod here
BATTERIES
If you’re into photography you’ll surely need extra batteries, we currently have 4 batteries for our camera.
MEMORY CARDS
We always carry a couple of SanDisk Micro SD cards 64GB with us, for our camera, drone and GoPro. These are the ones we recommend since they have high performance and allow you to quickly save RAW images and 4K videos as well.
LENS FILTERS
There are filters you can add to your lens which allow you to try different effects.
ND Filters are our n.1 choice: their purpose is to limit light strength, so you can set the shutter speed according to the particular motion desired, like the blur of water movement, and the aperture set as needed. For example you can set a larger aperture to get a better bokeh effect (subject in focus with blurred background).
We use a Gobe NDX 72mm Variable ND Lens Filter, which is extremely versatile. Besides, Gobe helps fund local communities to plant trees in areas affected by deforestation. So with your purchase, you’ll help reforest the world, how awesome is that?!
Polarizing Filters are also a nice option to create, for instance, cool effects on the water surface.
REMOTE CONTROL
Our camera has WI-FI so we can connect it to our phone and use the latter as a remote control. If this is not your case, you could get a remote control for your camera like this one (it comes very handy).
CAMERA STABILIZER
If you’re passionate about videography, a professional camera stabilizer like Zhiyun Weblill LAB will allow you to create smooth cinematic videos.
LENS CLEANING KIT
Your camera will get dirty, no matter how careful you are with it. Always carry with you a lens cleaning kit and have your camera sensor professionally cleaned from time to time at any photography shops.
MICROPHONE
This is an accessory you may need if you’re really into videos and vlogs. We have a RØDE VideoMic Pro and we love it! It’s compact and super performing.
CAMERA BAG
We love our compact Tenba Skyline 7 Shoulder Bag because it’s very practical and the material is durable and of high quality.
You may also want to consider a bigger camera backpack to carry all your photography gear like the Tenba Roadie Backpack 22.
If you plan to go on a sailing trip or similar, don’t forget a Waterproof Dry Bag to protect your photography gear from water splashes.
DRONE
As we just stepped into 2020 and into a new decade, aerial photography and videography are changing the game in the travel industry. A drone will take your content to another level.
A good photographer is always looking for new perspectives, and a drone will rock the world as you know it!
Drones have never been as affordable as nowadays, the competition is increasing, but be careful because a permit is required in many countries.
DJI MAVIC PRO – our drone
Our DJI Mavic Pro Drone takes 4K videos and RAW photos (RAW is a file format containing all the data captured by sensors = best format for editing; whereas JPG is a compressed format).
It is foldable and becomes quite small to carry around, ideal for travelling.
If you’re not sure whether you should get one or not, you could start with a more affordable model on the market. However, the DJI’s are easier to fly (for instance they hover in the air even if you don’t hold the remote). You’ll never forget the feeling of flying a drone!
Find out more about the DJI drone here
DRONE ACCESSORIES
Evaluate investing in a full accessories combo for you drone: extra batteries, chargers, extra propellers, drone bag, etc. You’ll need all of it, we promise. Getting a combo is obviously cheaper than buying accessories one by one.
Consider also getting ND Filters for your drone too, for the same reasons we listed for a camera, and especially if you aim to take videos with any light condition. We use them a lot, especially to reduce sunlight when filming on a nice day at the beach.
ACTION CAMERA
For those of you who are passionate about diving, snorkeling, water sports and want to capture the best moments, an action camera is exactly what you need. GoPro is the most reputable brand, offering countless different options to meet everyone’s needs and budgets.
Check GoPro HERO 8, the newest version
GOPRO ACCESSORIES YOU MAY NEED
– selfie stick, to boost your photos’ width
– floating hang grip, never to drop your GoPro underwater
– dome, for cool half below-above shots
SMARTPHONE
As we said earlier, you DON’T NEED a professional camera to take beautiful pictures!
Every day we shoot a lot of content with our smartphones, especially for our Instagram page. Many will recommend an iPhone, but we’ve always found other options we like a lot. So here are our picks!
Edo’s favorite brand is Sony, he has a Sony Xperia XZ3, and the latest version is the Sony Xperia 5.
Check prices here
Ambra has been using Motorola smartphones for a few years now and she loves them. Moto One Zoom is her current model.
Check it out here
OTHER ACCESSORIES
BACK UP
Always B-A-C-K-U-P your photos and videos! Both offline and online.
So many times we’ve heard terrible stories about people losing years and years of memories because they saved their content on one hard disk drive only, and ended up losing or breaking it.
We have three hard disk drives, one 4TB External HDD by Western Digital and two 2TB External HDD by Western Digital, which we use to backup our footage every day when travelling.
Then, we do online backups to save our content: for our mobile photos and videos we use Google Photos, which has unlimited storage for optimized photos; we backup our camera and drone photos on Amazon Prime Photos: not many know that the subscription to Amazon Prime does not only include fast shipping and discounts, but also movies, music and unlimited photo storage (RAW format included).
POWER BANK
It’s always useful to have a reliable power bank to charge your devices when you’re on the move.
LAPTOP
Needless to say, laptops are what we work on every day. Asus Zen Book is our current model and a great alternative to MacBook (not Apple big fans here).
EDITING SOFTWARE
We edit the content we create using Adobe programs.
For our videos, we use Adobe Premiere Pro, whereas most of the editing on our photos is done with Adobe Lightroom and sometimes Adobe Photoshop.
If you’re new to editing and these programs seem a bit too complicated to use, you may want to consider investing in a few Presets for Lightroom. Presets are like filters you can easily apply on your shots and get amazing results! We’re about to release our Presets, stay tuned!
