This post's overview:
Hi guys, as I’ve been receiving quite a few questions regarding my photo and video gear on Instagram, I decided to compose a post about my camera gear on this blog. What is typical travel blogger’s gear? Which cameras do bloggers use? Keep reading – and you will find out.
My camera / cameras: cameras travel bloggers use
Sony A6000 with kit lens and Sigma 60mm
I used to have two cameras, but I recently got rid of one, because I didn’t use it that often. The one I got rid of was actually an amazing camera, Sony A6000 that is perfect for beginner photographers and probably is travel bloggers’ favourite camera. I had it with the kit lens, however, I also owned Sigma 60mm lens that I used for portrait photography. Now my mum is using it and this is one of her recent shots. My mum is as far from photography, as it gets, so as you can imagine, this camera is really easy to use and the photos don’t even need much post-processing.
Some of my photo examples shot with Sony A6000.
Sony A7 III with kit lens, Samyang 30mm and Sony 80mm lens
Right now, the only camera I use to take photos is Sony A7 III – a relatively new full-frame mirrorless camera that is at least a level up from A6000. It’s bigger and bulkier, but not as big as Nikon D5100 (D5300) that I used before. The size of Sony A7 III depends on the size of the lens you’re planning to mount on the camera. I use it with the Samyang 35mm lens for street and travel photography. The lens is so flat and tiny that I can carry the camera with me every day in a small backpack.
Here are some photo examples shot with Sony A7 III with Samyang 35mm:
I use the kit lens mainly for videos and also when I need a bit of zoom. The kit lens is not THAT great. However, Samyang 35mm doesn’t have video stabilisation, so I either keep using it and then warp stabilise everything in Premiere Pro.
I’ll tell about my video gear a bit later in the post.
Here are some photos shot with the kit lens (28-80 lens)
And, finally, here are some shots produced with the Sony 80mm lens, that I bought during my trip to Japan last year. It’s not a secret that the lenses are cheaper in Japan (compared to the UK).
My video gear: cameras and devices I use
Which other cameras do bloggers use? Depending on their focus /speciality, travel bloggers use different video gear. Some do a lot of vlogs and the best vlogging camera on the market is probably Sony RX 100. I do vlogs as well as cinematic videos, thus I take those on my Sony A7 III and I also use iPhone 8 Plus. My day-2-day camera for vlogs is DJI Osmo Pocket (read the review of DJI Osmo Pocket here).
The quality of iPhone 8 Plus video is amazing and it’s not always possible to distinguish the slow-motion shots of iPhone 8 Plus and Sony A7III when I combine them together in one video.
In order to shot time-lapse, vlogs and slow-motion on iPhone 8 Plus, I use a stabilizer or a gimbal in other worlds. I bought this affordable gimbal from Zhiyun Smooth Q almost a year ago and it made my videos pretty much unrecognizable (in a good way, of course).
I still need to buy a gimbal for my Sony A7 III, but it’s expensive and quite big, so I’m hesitating.
Nonetheless, here is a video shot with all the 3 devices (it’s in Russian, but make sure to switch on the English subs).
My action camera
I also own an action camera. Most people use GoPro Hero as it’s the market standard, but I had a terrible experience with GoPro Session, so I got rid of that camera after bringing it to one trip only. Right now I don’t take many action shots, but I do own Nikon Keymission 170, which is a good alternative to GoPro 5, but it’s much cheaper. I wouldn’t say it’s a dream camera (it would definitely need a stabilizer), but it takes surprisingly good photos (oh well, it’s rather unsurprising as it’s Nikon after all) and decent underwater footage if you use a flat lens. It’s pretty much doesn’t require any accessories as it comes with a lot of them (including the flat lens for underwater) and doesn’t require a case to use underwater, which is very convenient. You would need to buy a monopod for the camera though (or better a gimbal, as the footage can be very shaky).
My drone
Just as thousands of other travel bloggers / photographers and everyone else, I also do own a drone. Last year in October I purchased DJI Spark because of its good video / photo quality, small size and affordable price. I don’t use a drone that often, so it’s not something I really rely on in my work (unlike the camera), so I didn’t feel like paying over £1000 for something I would probably use once in … 3 months maybe? I really like DJI Spark and the downsides don’t matter that much to be (small battery life and the fact that it can’t fly when it’s windy – but that’s because it’s so tiny).
I don’t own any other photography and video gear, however, if I ever consider taking my video footage to the next level, I’ll invest in the gimbal for my mirrorless camera (it’s quite pricey and just right now I don’t see myself spending that much money on it).
Where do I edit photos / videos? Tools bloggers use for photo / video editing
Most of the travel bloggers nowadays just edit their photos on their mobile phones (I do have a post about photo editing HERE). However, it’s just faster and better to edit photos via Adobe Lightroom. You can either buy custom presets from famous bloggers who are awesome at photo editing or develop your own presets.
Unfortunately, Adobe Lightroom isn’t free – but it costs something like $15 a month (I pay in £), but it so much worth it!
As for video editing, I use Adobe Premiere Pro. I’m paying more than $20 a month in addition to Lightroom. Some people also use Final Cut Pro, but I haven’t ever used it, thus, can’t recommend or NOT recommend it to you.
What would I need to improve my photography / videography even further?
Well, I’m dreaming of this wide-angle lens by Sony, but I’m not sure I will ever have £2K to spend on a lens, especially given that I’m NOT a photographer and travel blogging is a hobby for me. However, maybe there will be a cheaper wide-angle lens at the market soon, so fingers crossed!
Should you have any questions about my travel gear and travel bloggers’ cameras (which cameras do bloggers use) don’t hesitate to ask!