“Memories last forever”
NO THEY DON’T!
I don’t remember much of my Europe or Asia backpacking trip; there wasn’t much gizmos at that time. But it’s now 2017, embrace the future! Camera gear has gone a long way, sky is not the limit anymore…
After some researches, tests, deliberations, here is our favorite camera gear we won’t leave behind!
Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Camera & Lens
Just before we moved in our van, we sold our much loved Nikon D90 DSLR camera. We had to have something more portable, but as powerful.
Sony a6000 Mirrorless Camera with 16-50mm lens (Buy on Amazon)
There is a new version of it (the Sony a6500 Buy on Amazon), but the a6000 comes with almost the same feature for less than half the price (at the time of writing these lines)! It’s one of the most popular mirrorless camera on the market today, with a reason. It’s packed with the same features of a standard DSLR and has some really good video capabilities. I haven’t found any drawback compared to my Nikon D90 DSLR, sweeeeet! The Sony 16-50mm is not a great lens, but we advise to get it in the kit anyway (hey, it’s only 50$ more) because the quality is decent and it’s incredibly small! Portability is very important for travel photography…
Sony 10-18mm Wide-Angle Zoom Lens (SEL1018, Buy on Amazon)
We primarily use that lens to capture the interior of the van & to capture landscape. It’s hard to give justice to huge landscape, and we think a wide-angle lens excel at that.
Sony 35mm f1.8 Prime fixed lens (SEL35F18, Buy on Amazon)
Primed lens are a MUST. We think it’s the only way to get high-quality portrait photos. The f1.8 will give you the shallow depth, pro-like, effect you’re looking for a nice portrait; you can’t mimic that with post-processing. Plus, it performs extremely well in low-light conditions. GET IT!
Manfrotto Tripod, Be Free Fluid Video Kit (MVKBFR-LIVEUS, Buy on Amazon)
We already owned a Manfrotto tripod, but we also sold it to get something more portable. The Be Free Tripod is really compact and comes with a handy carrying bag. With a small, lightweight, mirrorless camera that tripod is more than capable! We like the video head of the tripod: it gives a smooooooth and clean movement. The tripod is lightweight, portable, sturdy, everything we expect from a high-quality tripod manufacturer.
DJI Mavic Pro Drone for aerial photography & video (with fly more combo, Buy from Amazon)
We’re new to the drone world, but we were amazed at how they are easy to fly! We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of this thing: the body, mechanism & controller are really well designed and has a high-quality feel, nice. In a few hours after opening the box, the drone was up in the air and we (Antoine) felt like a kid at Christmas… Now, don’t get us wrong, there are actually a lot of does and don’t with it (no-fly zones, altitude restrictions, camera settings, compass calibration, etc, etc) but if you’re patient and read the manual you are good to go. As mentioned we just got it a few days ago, so more is coming about the Mavic Pro soon… wait for it!
We highly recommend the Fly-More combo, as it will give you the following more:
- 2 extra batteries (much needed!)
- A car charger
- A Smart Hub Charger (charge 4 batteries)
- Extra Propellers
Once folded and packed in its carrying bag, the Mavic Pro is VERY portable. In fact, it’s not bigger than our Sony a6000 camera & lenses…
GoPro Hero Action Camera (we have the Hero 3+ black, it’s been upgraded with the Hero 5 black. Buy on Amazon)
The GoPro needs no introduction… it features incredibly good video performances in an incredibly small and light package. It can be mounted almost anywhere (head, chest, handlebars, etc, etc) and can be used underwater. For filming bike rides, we prefer to use the chest mount, but the result can be quite shaky; keep reading…
Evo Gimbal SS 3 axis (Buy on Amazon)
Ever watched Nate Hills #followcamfriday YouTube channel? Do it now:
So, how come is his footage so smooth? The Evo gimbals. It will actively stabilize the camera during the shooting and as opposed to post-processing stabilization, the result is GREAT!
Google’s phone Pixel (Buy on Amazon)
You can buy all the gizmos available, but if you don’t carry them with you at all time it’s worthless. Our phone is always in our pocket, ready to shoot. The camera on the Pixel gives stunning results! We always leave the HDR option turned ON to capture shadows & highlights and the automatic post-processing JUST WORKS. It’s kindof frustrating to see that our phone is almost as good as our Sony 16-55mm kit lens… If you have a Google phone, make sure to install the Snapseed app; it’s the Google app to retouch the photos (to adjust contrast, shadows, add some vignette, lens blur, etc, etc).
