Camera Gear and Accessories for Travel Photography
One of the greatest things about being a photographer who works on-location is the opportunity to explore new landscapes and architecture of a certain environment. As someone who loves to travel and capture every moment with his camera, I always have my camera bag strapped on whenever I’m traveling somewhere new, or even to the same spot I have been to a million times.
As much as I love to try a wide array of new camera gear, as a solo travel photographer, I always try to travel light whenever I’m headed to a certain destination. I have been fortunate to have traveled to exciting cities including London, Tokyo, and Berlin. Whenever I visit a new country, I know there’s only so much time I’ll be able to stay before I have to fly back to Los Angeles, so I try to make the most of my stay by walking all over the city with as much camera gear as I think I’ll need.
In this blog, I’ll briefly talk about what camera gear and accessories I bring with me on my travels.
Sunset view of the Palace of Westminster, London UK. Shot on the Sony A7R III & Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN Art.
CAMERA BAG
Before my trip to Tokyo back in April this year, I changed my camera bag from the LowePro ActivZone camera bag to something a bit more compact. I currently travel with the Mosiso camera bag I got from Amazon. I wanted a backpack that wouldn’t feel so bulky on my back, but also easier to store in airplanes.
Although the bag is a bit smaller in size, I have still been able to carry all of my camera bodies and lenses in the bag without worrying about them being crushed.
Another reason why I chose this camera bag is because it prompted me to be a bit more selective with my camera lenses when I travel. I would often bring every lens I had when going to the beach to shoot sunset for just an hour when I had the LowePro backpack, even though I knew I probably wasn’t going to use my giant 70-20mm f/2.8 G-Master Sony lens. While I am able to fit all of my lenses in the Mosiso backpack, I try to choose only two (maybe three) lenses when I travel or work on-location.
Graffiti wall in Berlin, Germany with the Mosiso Camera Bag and Sony A7R III with the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG DN Art lens.
CAMERA BODIES AND LENSES
Sony A7R III: This mirrorless camera has been in my camera bag for years and is my main camera for all of my photography shoots (for both commercial clients and for my own photography). I chose Sony because of its great performance in low-light conditions, but I’m incredibly impressed with the high-resolution images it produces. As far as traveling to different environments with this camera body, it has overall fared pretty well in harsh downpours and even snow (during my trip in London).
Sony A7S III: I really only use this camera for videography, but I always make sure to travel with it as a backup camera for photography, as well.
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN ART: This has been my recent favorite lens to use in my travel photography. Because of its fast autofocus paired with the Sony A7R III, wide aperture, and sharp image quality, I have been able to use this lens to create some of my favorite street photography images. If you’re looking to capture a specific subject in the environment, this lens is an incredible asset.
Tokyo, Japan street photography captured on the Sony A7R III & Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN ART.
Berlin, Germany street photography captured on the Sony A7R III & Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN ART.
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG DN ART: This is the most recent prime lens that I have added to my travel equipment. I always used the Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G-Master lens to capture wide-angle lenses. I bought the lens back in 2023 and I find that I use it more than my telephoto lens because of its small weight and wide aperture. The Sigma 35mm lens is very useful when doing travel photography in order to capture wider cityscapes or landscapes.
Sunset view of Venice Beach in Los Angeles, CA. Captured on the Sony A7R III & Sigma 35 mm f/1.4 DG DN ART.
Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G-Master: This was the first lens I bought for my Sony camera. If I had to bring only one lens with me, I would choose this lens because of its versatility in focal length, as well as its sharp image quality. I mainly use this camera lens for its 24mm focal length and more often than not have it attached to my Sony A7S III for video. But the 24-70mm lens is helpful for travel photography because of its ability to capture expansive architecture or wide landscapes that would look compact with a 35mm focal length.
Berlin, Germany sunset view of the Reichstag Building. Captured on the Sony A7R III & Sony 24/70mm f/2.8 G-Master lens.
CAMERA ACCESSORIES
Ulanzi Zero F38 Quick Release Travel Tripod: This is the travel tripod that I bought about a month before my trip to Tokyo. The tripod is incredibly light and compact, and comes with a quick release plate that was perfect to use for both of my Sony camera bodies. Because the tripod itself is pretty light, you’ll want to have some sort of weight to hold it down if you’re trying to use it in incredibly windy conditions.
PolarPro ND16/PL Filter (82mm): I don’t really use filters for my travel photography (even this one, I only really use it for video during sunny conditions), but I think it’s important to have one just in case. I would recommend this filter for anyone trying long exposures during a time of day that’s too bright to lower your shutter speed and would result in overexposure. It’s worth noting that I also use filter ring adapters in order to fit other lens thread sizes. I chose 82mm because that is the filter size of my 24-70mm lens that I mainly use video for.
Rechargeable Battery Pack - Info LITHIUM Z Series: I always keep 2-3 batteries with me for my Sony cameras whenever I go out and travel. I sometimes forget to turn off my camera when I stop shooting for a little bit, so having a few spare batteries is always useful.
LaCie Hard Drive: When I’m traveling to another country, I always bring an external hard drive to save all of my raw files on. Whenever I go back to the hotel, I immediately download the photos onto this hard drive in case something happens to my SD card. I use a 2TB LaCie drive, which might be overkill for a 1-week trip. But as someone who takes both raw photos and films raw video, I need as much storage as I can.
Taken with the Sony A7R III & Sigma 35 mm f/1.4 DG DN Art.
Taken with the Sony A7R III & Sigma 35 mm f/1.4 DG DN Art.