Travel Photography Camera & Lens
Over the years, we have been expanding and upgrading our camera travel bag. And this is what the contents of our current bag looks like. Remember that we use all this equipment for our work, like our travel blog. You don’t actually need all of this while traveling. Fun fact: Hannah edits the photos and I (Nick) take them.
Also read: Best Cameras for Travel
Sony A7R5 – Best Travel Photography Camera
Our biggest friend, the Sony A7R5 delivers incredible quality in both photography and videography. It is a mirrorless camera which means that the body is light compared to a DSLR.
Tip: Don’t forget to buy an extra Sony battery.
More about: Sony A7R3 specs & pricing
Sony Landscape Photography Lens
This wide-angle 16-35mm lens is incredibly for landscape photos and photos where space is limited. The G Master series is the best line Sony currently offers and this lens his sharpness and bokeh (blur) is the best in the game.
The Sony 16-35 f2.8 costs a fortune but over the years we found that investing in lenses is worth more than investing in camera bodies.
Order a Sony GMaster 16-35mm F2.8
Sony Portrait Lens
A portrait lens is not a requirement while you are traveling. We use a Sony 85mm F1.8, this is a prime lens that has a wider aperture and fixed focal length. This is much more challenging since you can’t zoom but gives a greater result in low-light and portrait photography.
Get a Sony 85mm F1.8
Sony Versatile travel lens
The Sony 24-70mm Vario-Tessar F4 (left) is a lens that offers a lot of flexibility. Take fairly wide landscape photography and switch to portrait within the same lens. We aren’t carrying around 6 lenses since this Sony lens covers most of our desired focal lengths.
More about: Sony 24-70mm lens
Sony A6500 – Best budget option!
Before switching to the A7R3, we used the Sony A6500 day in and day out. It offers a comparable quality in both video and photo but it is about one-third of the price of the Sony A7R3. And for all you ultralight travelers: the Sony A6500 is even smaller and lighter! We have the camera with us as a backup. This is the perfect camera to start travel photography. Make sure to check out the deals that include one or two lenses.
More about: Sony a6500 specs & pricing
DJI Mavic 2 Pro Drone or DJI Mini Pro 4
A drone gives an entirely new perspective of our location. We love to shoot videos and photos with the DJ Mavic Pro, and it goes everywhere with us.
Unfortunately, but understandably, it is getting very hard to fly a drone without a permit. As where we used to recommend a drone to everyone, we now would say, don’t take the risk unless you are 100% into travel photography. Another option is to opt for the smaller DJI Mini Pro series as these have less restrictions.
A perfect option for your budget is the DJI Mavic Pro. We lost this drone in January 2019 but all the drone shots you see until that date are made with the DJI Mavic Pro.
iPhone 14 Pro
A phone with a proper camera is enough to create stunning Instagram Stories and post beautiful pictures on Instagram. Some of our most shared photos on Instagram were made with an iPhone. When you don’t have time to get your camera, quickly point and shoot your phone, so you don’t miss that shot.
GoPro Hero 6 Black
Whether we are snorkeling at a beach or mountain biking down a hill, the GoPro is our way to go. It is solid, can be underwater, and has superb built-in image stabilization. Our favorite part is using it together with an underwater dome to get together water-level shots. A floating grip and spare battery are must-have accessories
See all: GoPro Hero 6 Black prices
Travel Photography accessories
Travel photography accessories are what fill up the other half of our camera bag. Most of these items are to enhance photography and videos.
Travel Camera Backpack
We have gotten hooked on the massive amount of space inside Db bags. The Hugger 30L together with the insert (CIA) is holding the drone, lenses, camera, laptop + charger, tripod, a gimbal, and a water bottle, and then there is still space to squeeze in a sweater.
Carbon Fiber Tripod
For our Instagram Salt in our Hair, we create couple-travel photography. A tripod comes in handy to create these types of photos or long exposure shots to get that silky water or stars in the sky.
We recently switched to the Manfrotto Befree Advanced Carbon, which is super light and easy to configure. A tripod is one of the most important pieces of travel photography equipment.
Filters
ND filters are used to stop light from reaching the sensor. That will allow you to use a lower aperture which can be used to have more bokeh (blurriness) in your photos. This is extremely useful when it comes to travel photography when you sometimes have to shoot in bright daylight. We use ‘Hoya Variable Density’ filters for all our lenses.
Get the: Hoya Variable Density filter
Memory Cards
We always carry our waterproof SD card case including three SanDisk Extreme PRO SD cards 32GB and two SanDisk Micro SD cards 64GB. Both card types have a high performance so they are capable of quickly saving RAW images and 4K video footage. Micro SD cards are used for the Mavic Drone and GoPro.
Camera Stabilizer
As we love to create short videos for Instagram Stories and YouTube we sometimes use a Zhiyun Weebill S Stabilizer to add in those smooth shots.
Find out more: Zhiyun Weebill Stabilizer
Lens Cleaning Kit
We learned the hard way that we always have to take a lens cleaning kit. That means a small rocket to blow out dust from the sensor and a couple of lens cleaning cloths.
Get the: Lens cleaning kit
Travel Photography Editing
After creating all those photos, you have to start sorting, backing up and editing everything. We make use of the following tools.
Back up disks
No matter if we are on a short or long trip. We back up our photos every single night, and once a week, we make a backup of the backup. Yes, this sounds crazy but we lost some footage in the past, and when you work for clients you can’t have this.
Furthermore, we have four 2TB Samsung T5 SSD disks. Different from the HHD, an SSD is extremely fast and can take some hits without breaking. The only downside of these devices is the higher price.
Learn about: Samsung T5 SDD
Laptop & Editing Software
A MacBook Pro is the base of all the work we publish online. Writing blogs, editing photos and videos, answering emails and so many more things.
To edit videos, we use Adobe Premiere Pro. Editing photos is done in Adobe Lightroom with our popular Lightroom presets.
Lightroom Presets; Take your Instagram to the next level!
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Thank you for your support. ♥️
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- Find a Rental Car via Sunny Cars
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- Get a Travel Insurance via Heymondo
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- Book a Bus/Train/Transfer via 12Go
Looking for more travel information? Plan a chat with us for personalised travel advice or get an answer from the Salt in our Hair Travel Community on Facebook.
Hi guys,
Great blog post! I came her after seeing your interview with Jake. I’ve been flirting with the idea of doing of blog about Rio de Janeiro (for over a decade). It’s currently pretty tough to find info on Rio in English that is up to date other than the usual tourist attractions – even these are pretty dry. The only thing that puts me off is that fact that it might be too niche a topic. Just wonder what your thoughts are on local blogs and whether this route has potential to monetise.
Hi Sara! No, at this point we think the more your blog is within a certain nice, the more valuable your audience will become. So definitely go for it, experiment with what works and what does not and find your way. Local businesses love to work with local bloggers if you can give them value. 👋 Nick