For the past 5 years, our essential travel photography gear has helped us capture breathtaking photos and videos across Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. Our gear choices have been crucial in creating compelling content and preserving our travel memories. In this post, we’ll reveal the essential gear we use for travel photography and videography, why we chose it, and how you can select the right tools for your adventures. Learn from our experience and find out what gear can elevate your travel content.
Essential Travel Photography Gear: Cameras
To capture stunning photos, you don’t always need the best camera—often, a smartphone can do the job. However, if you’re looking to elevate your content, you’ll need a camera that focuses on details where a smartphone falls short. We wanted a compact camera with excellent performance, something lightweight for our travels, and affordable enough not to break the bank.
Our Top Camera Choice: SONY α7 III
After trying DSLR cameras from Canon, we ultimately chose the SONY α7 III, and we couldn’t be happier. The biggest advantage is its size compared to its performance. It easily fits into our backpack, yet it delivers incredible results. The settings are user-friendly, allowing us to configure features like photo burst mode, which is perfect for capturing self-portraits with a tripod. What surprised us the most is the low-light performance—there’s almost no noise, which is a significant advantage over its competitors.
Essential Travel Photography Gear: Lenses
Primary Lens: SONY FE 24–105mm F4 G OSS
A good camera body needs to be paired with quality lenses. We wanted a versatile lens that would cover a wide range of situations, eliminating the need to travel with multiple lenses. For this, we chose the SONY FE 24–105mm F4 G OSS Lens. While this lens is on the pricier side, the performance is exceptional. It’s been our go-to for nearly every shot.
Telephoto Lens: Tamron 70-300mm F/4.5-6.3 Di III RXD
Recently, we added a telephoto lens to capture wildlife. We opted for the Tamron 70-300mm F/4.5-6.3 Di III RXD for Sony. Despite being a budget-friendly option, its performance is impressive. While the image clarity doesn’t match the Sony lens, it’s excellent for the price—almost a third of the cost.
Essential Travel Photography Gear: Video
It’s worth mentioning that we primarily create social media videos, especially Instagram Reels. For this purpose, about 60% of our videos are shot with our iPhone 15 Pro, and we couldn’t be happier with the results. The variety of lenses and the final video quality are more than enough for social media, making it a convenient and powerful tool for on-the-go content creation.
Adding Depth: SONY α7 III
When we want to add more depth and cinematic quality to our videos, we turn to our SONY α7 III. This camera offers superior depth of field and color compared to a smartphone. However, when shooting motion scenes, a gimbal is essential to stabilize the footage, as the video can become shaky without it.
It’s worth noting that the SONY α7 III only records in 8-bit, which can be somewhat limiting during post-production. We’ve considered upgrading to the SONY α7 IV for this reason, but since we’re so satisfied with the SONY α7 III for photography, we’re not rushing this decision.
Essential Travel Photography Gear: Drone
A drone is a must-have in our arsenal for both photos and videos. Adding aerial views to our portfolio gives us an edge, capturing scenes that are simply breathtaking. We needed a lightweight, compact drone, and here’s a PRO TIP: In many countries, if your drone weighs less than 250g, you don’t need a license to fly it, and the regulations are much less strict.
Our Drone Choice: DJI Mini 3 Pro
For this reason, we use the DJI Mini 3 Pro. DJI was our first choice for a drone, and we’ve never looked back or considered any other brand. DJI drones are beginner-friendly, offer amazing image quality, and are incredibly durable. One of the top features of the DJI Mini 3 Pro is its ability to shoot true vertical videos, which is perfect for creating content tailored to social media.
We highly recommend investing in Neutral Density (ND) filters. During the day, ND filters are invaluable for decreasing shutter speed, which allows for more creative effects like motion blur in waterfalls or clouds. They also help in achieving better color balance in your footage by reducing overexposure in bright conditions.
Editing Equipment
Post-production is crucial if you want your content to stand out. We make sure to edit all our photos and videos before publishing them, and for this, we rely on Adobe products.
Our choice for photography: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom
We love Adobe products for three main reasons: they are powerful, easy to learn, and feature advanced AI capabilities in Photoshop. We’ve been using Photoshop and Lightroom for years, and these tools have become essential in our workflow. Whether it’s removing tourists from the background or doing simple retouching, these tasks used to take hours when we first started. Now, thanks to recent AI features in Photoshop—like object recognition and auto selection—we can achieve our desired results in just minutes.
Our choice for video: Adobe Premier Pro
For video editing, we initially used DaVinci Resolve. It’s a powerful tool and, best of all, free. However, since we’re not professional video editors, the learning curve was steep. We often spent hours tweaking settings and playing around with features. A couple of months ago, we decided to switch to Adobe Premiere Pro. Yes, it’s more expensive, but it’s much easier to use. It allows us to achieve the desired outcome much faster than with DaVinci Resolve. In the end, the time saved has been well worth the investment.
Other Essentials
Tripod: Rollei C5i
No photographer should be without a tripod. Whether you’re shooting in low light or taking couples’ photos on your own, a tripod is essential. We looked for one that offered competitive height, was lightweight, and fit our budget. We use the ROLLEI C5i. Unfortunately, ROLLEI is only available in Europe, so for our overseas readers, we recommend the K&F Concept 67″/3.3lbs tripod. Both tripods are durable, lightweight, and foldable, fitting easily into a backpack. We suggest choosing a tripod with a minimum height of 155cm / 61″.
Capture: PEAK DESIGN Capture
For hiking enthusiasts, the PEAK DESIGN Capture is a game-changer. It’s durable, secure, and most importantly, allows quick access to your camera while hiking comfortably. Although it’s a small piece of gear with a higher price tag, it’s worth every penny. You’ll never regret this purchase.
Power Bank
Don’t forget your power bank! All this gear needs batteries, and there’s nothing worse than hiking for hours, reaching your destination, setting up your tent, and then seeing your camera battery at 4%. Trust us, you don’t want to be in a situation where you have to run back to the parking lot, start your car, and charge your devices—only to race back to the mountain peak with 40% battery, completely exhausted, just in time to catch the sunset. (Yes, we’ve been there!)
SD Cards: Kingston
SD cards are just as crucial. We take photos in both RAW and JPEG formats simultaneously, meaning each photo takes up around 40 MB of memory. For this reason, you need large-capacity and fast SD cards to avoid waiting several minutes after capturing a burst of 40 shots. We rely on the Kingston 128GB SDXC Canvas Select Plus 100R C10 SD cards. These cards offer ample storage space and excellent speed for our needs. We recommend choosing SD cards with a minimum write speed of 10 MB/s to ensure smooth and efficient shooting. If you’re unsure about which speed is right for you, check out this SD Card Speed Guide to help you make an informed decision.
Filters
Finally, let’s talk about filters. While we don’t use filters often (except ND filters for our drone), as they can be impractical in fast-paced situations, we do recommend having a basic filter to protect your expensive lens. Accidents happen—cameras fall from hands, backpacks, or tripods—and having that extra layer of protection can save you a costly repair.
Tips for Choosing Essential Travel Photography Gear
1. Define Your Purpose
Understanding what you intend to do with your gear is crucial. Whether you’re shooting landscapes, wildlife, or portraits, your equipment should align with your specific needs. For instance, while we aim to choose the lightest gear possible, every time we go on a hike, we carry about 5 kg (11 lbs) of gear. Add 2 kg (4.4 lbs) of water, 1 kg (2.2 lbs) of food and clothing, and you’re looking at an 8 kg (17.6 lbs) load on your back for every hike. When we backpacked across Asia and Latin America, we carried 20 kg (44 lbs) on our backs. The upside? You’ll get fit faster!
However, each piece of gear we carry fulfills a specific purpose, and we don’t regret any of our choices. If you’re driving to a photo location, it’s easy to bring along three extra lenses, but for hiking, one or two lenses are usually more than enough.
2. Set Your Budget
Photography and videography can be expensive hobbies, so it’s essential to set a budget. If you’re just starting out, consider investing in a more affordable camera body and allocating more of your budget toward a high-quality lens. A good lens can make a significant difference in your images and is often a better long-term investment than a top-of-the-line camera body.
3. Prioritize Durability
Your gear will likely face some rough conditions, especially if you’re into adventure photography. Invest in equipment that can withstand the elements—whether it’s a rugged camera, weather-sealed lenses, or durable accessories. It’s better to spend a bit more upfront than to have to replace damaged gear later.
4. Test Before You Buy
If possible, test gear before making a purchase. Visit a store where you can handle the equipment, or rent it for a day or two to see if it meets your needs. Hands-on experience can help you make a more informed decision and avoid buyer’s remorse.
Conclusion
Choosing the right gear involves considering your needs, budget, and portability. We hope this guide helps you select the best tools for your adventures, ensuring you capture and share your travel experiences effectively. From the SONY α7 III camera to our iPhone 14 Pro and DJI Mini 3 Pro drone, each piece has been integral to our content creation.
Wow, this article turned out longer than we anticipated! 😄 Thanks for sticking with us!
Happy shooting and safe travels!
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