Camera Gear We Use for Our Travels
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We have been asked a lot about what camera gear we use for our travels and since we use a combination of cameras and lenses, we wanted to break it down for our readers in more detail. Here is a list of all the camera gear we use on our travel adventures:
I've had this camera for at least 4 years and it's still a great camera. It's a heavy duty DSLR camera that weighs about 2 pounds and I usually use my 50mm f/1.4 lens or 70-200mm f/ 2.8 lens with it. There’s actually a newer version out now, the Mark IV, but this camera still works flawlessly for what we need. The 5D Mark III has a 22MP full frame sensor and shoots HD video.
I love my Canon, but I also wanted a more compact camera and the Sony a7S II was exactly what I needed. The thing that attracted me the most about the Sony a7S II was that I could interchange any lenses with the Metabones Lens Adapter. I didn’t want to have to get a whole set of new lenses, so this was the perfect solution as I’m able to use my Canon lenses.
Whenever Candy and I are traveling together, she usually uses this camera as it’s easy to use and shoots great photos on the automatic setting. You can also shoot in Manual, but a lot of the time, we need to get a shot instantly and since this camera does an excellent job of calculating the lighting and colors in auto mode, it’s a little easier to use.
It also one of the best cameras out there for low light performance and this feature comes in handy as well. We do a lot of blog posts on restaurants and although we prefer to visit during breakfast or lunch for better lighting, it doesn’t always work out that way. So when we have to take pictures at restaurants during dinner time, the a7S II does a great job of taking pictures in low light situations.
Another bonus with this camera is that it has it’s own Wi-Fi. Which means you can use your phone to grab photos straight from the camera and instantly post to any of your social media sites!
The Sony a7S II is a full-frame mirrorless camera with a 12.2MP full frame CMOS sensor. It shoots 4K video, HD video and HD video in slow-mo.
I love this little recording device as it takes spectacular photos and records video with excellent audio quality. It’s perfect for our vlogging situations when we need to record the both of us with the wide-view settings.
The GoPro Hero 5 also has it’s own Wi-Fi, so you can control the device from your phone and grab pictures and video from the device as well.
Selfie we took of ourselves at Egmont Key with the GoPro and the Sandmarc pole
A couple of cons with the GoPro is that it does a terrible job in low light situations and the battery life doesn’t last long. As long as you shoot in daylight and have an extra battery or two, you should be fine.
The GoPro Hero 5 is a waterproof camera that records 4K video, HD video, HD video in slow-mo and takes pictures at 12MP.
The 50mm prime lens is one of the best lenses for portraits. I have a lot of fun with this lens as you can go as low as 1.4 on the f-stop to let in plenty of light to get those pretty, blurred bokeh backgrounds. If you are just starting out with photography, you might want to start out with the 50mm f/1.8 lens as it is half the price.
Using the 50MM lens at Disney World
Once I got the hang of my 50mm, I added the 70-200mm lens to my collection. It’s not a cheap lens, but it was well worth the money. I absolutely love the images this lens produces. It’s definitely my favorite lens, but I’m limited on where I can take it as it’s a huge lens that weighs nearly 3 pounds. If you don’t mind the price or the weight, you’ll love this lens too.
Shot the Balinese monkeys from afar with the 70-200mm lens
Using the 70-200mm lens in Havana, Cuba
Sony 24-70mm f/4 Vario-Tessar
I mainly got this lens so that I could at least have one native lens for the Sony a7S II. The Metabones Adapter works great when I use my Canon lenses, but it does take a bit longer to take the shot on auto mode before snapping the picture. It's a very expensive lens for an f-stop of 4, but it shoots really sharp pictures and takes the picture instantly in auto mode which is what we need for a lot of the locations we travel to.
Love this shot we took at Animal Kingdom with the Sony 24-70MM lens
Using the Sony 24-70mm lens at Crystal Bridges Museum
I've had this camera for about a year now and couldn't be happier with it. The camera came in a kit called the Canon Video Creator Kit which included an EF-m 18-55mm IS STM Lens and a RODE VideoMic GO Microphone. This kit is ideal for novice content creators wanting a high-performing compact camera with an interchangeable lens. Prior to this camera I was using a Canon EOS Rebel T5i and it's a great camera; however, I wanted something compact that I could toss in my purse.
One of my favorite features is the flip-out LCD screen. I can take photos and record video of myself and view the framing without having to go back and forth, after I take the shot, to see if I was in the frame. This camera also has its own Wi-Fi.
I recommend getting this lens for the Canon EOS M3. Not only does it take beautiful photos, but it's ultra slim and compact. It creates stunning background blurs for those portrait shots or otherwise known as bokeh. The best part about having a compact camera and pancake lens is that I can shoot virtually unnoticed. Sometimes big cameras and lenses attract unwanted attention.
I used the convenient flip-out LCD screen to capture this selfie on self-timer. USING THE EF-M 22mm
USING THE EF-M 22mm at Fruit Craft, San Diego
We use the Rode Mic with the Canon 5D Mark III and Sony a7S II to get better sound quality on our vlogs. Without it, our audio sounds pretty horrendous so this is a necessity when recording video.
The Sandmarc Pole is excellent for the GoPro. We use this often for our vlogs so that we can record ourselves together. It's an easy pole to carry around with an adjustable strap and only weighs 8.5 ounces. It's 17" long and extends out to 40".
I use the Metabones Lens Adapter for the Sony a7S II so that I can use my Canon lenses. I love that I can use the automatic focus with the lenses.
Photo and Video Editing Software
These cameras all take amazing photos itself; however, we take it one step further and subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud to edit our photos and videos using Lightroom, Premiere Pro, and Photoshop.
Comments/Questions?
If you have any comments or questions on the camera gear we use, let us know in the comments below or you can email us. Hope this helps and happy travels!
* This post contains affiliate links, which means that at no additional cost to you if you click on one of the product links, we may earn a commission.