One of the most asked questions I get in my messages every day is about my all important camera gear. For those who don’t know much about me (and you can read my Meet Courtney post here), I am a full time Travel Content Creator and have been working at She Travelled the World since 2017. I started as a complete novice, with no idea about camera gear or where to begin with learning.
Throughout the years I’ve worked my way through camera equipment, starting from a £250 secondhand camera off Gumtree, to finally perfecting my kit. As a full time Travel Creator I need pieces of equipment that not only produce great content quality but are sturdy and reliable. Travelling full time also means I try and be as selective as possible with my kit as every extra piece of equipment adds extra weight, so I only want to bring it if it’s absolutely essential.
This post gives a full rundown of all the camera equipment I travel with. This gear has taken me years to build up but honestly, I survived with just my little second hand camera for many of my initial years of She Travelled the World and I don’t think you need expensive equipment when you’re learning or starting out. However, since stepping into the world of photography even deeper, I’ve been loving my kit I now travel with.
So let’s get straight into it.
For more information about travel photography, you can check out my Travel Photography eBook here.
Cameras
On my trips I travel with two cameras. My main camera is the Olympus OMD E-M1 Mark iii. Olympus definitely isn’t a popular choice in terms of brands but the first camera I ever bought, the secondhand one from Gumtree, was the Olympus OMD E-M10. I used this camera for the first 2 years of my blog and it was the camera I learnt manual photography on, so I never switched.
My camera is mirrorless, meaning it’s slightly smaller than the typical DSLR, but still has great image quality and does the job I need it to pretty well. I really don’t have anything bad to say about my Olympus camera for photography and I really enjoy using it, although Sony cameras do tempt me over from time to time.
The second camera I travel with is the Sony ZV-1. I bought this in early 2023 as an addition to my camera bag as I wanted a camera dedicated to video content. While I do love my Olympus for photos, its video capacity is limited. Sony consistently has great video quality and colour grading, so I knew this would be a great add on to my kit.
The camera is small and light and is perfect to throw into my bag or have on hand. It’s also a great little point and shoot if a just want to bring it out instead of my bigger Olympus camera. The Sony ZV-1 is branded as the perfect vlogging camera and while I don’t vlog, I can voiuch for its lovely video quality.
The one thing I will say is that the Sony ZV-1 has a fixed lens that isn’t interchangeable, so it can be a bit limiting in some filming instances, however for the purpose of throwing it in my bag and having it on the go, it’s great for me. If it was your sole camera, you may want to pick the Sony ZV-10 as it gives you the option to change lenses.
lenses
I travel with three lenses for my Olympus OMD E-M1 mark iii:
- 45mm
- 17mm 1.2f pro
- 40 – 150mm
Shot with 17mm 1.2f pro lens
Shot with 45mm lens
drone
Previously I was travelling with the DJI Mavic Air 2 for 3 years, however after many years, it finally broke. When visiting Bangkok I decided to pick up the DJI Mini 3 Pro, and I’m so glad I did. The drone is much lighter than my Air 2 and it also does vertical photo and video, which of course is perfect for Instagram and other socials.
Drone footage still remains to be some of the best and coolest content out there, and I am still navigating learning how to use mine properly, but it’s a great addition to my kit for sure.
tripods
You may think it’s excessive, but I do in fact travel with 4 different tripods. Why? You may ask. I’m not too sure, but I do use all of them so they are an essential part of my camera equipment. As someone who travels solo more often than not having good, reliable tripods that ensure I can snap some good pictures is a must. Here is a list of the tripods I travel with:
- Manfrotto Compact Action
- 1m phone tripod
- Joby Gorilla Pod
- Ulanzi Small tripod
The Manfrotto Compact Action is my go to tripod for my Olympus Camera and this stands at roughly 1.5m fully extended. It weighs 1kg, so it’s not too heavy for the size of it. I’ve had this tripod since 2018 and while it looks like it’s been through the wars, it’s still going strong and works great for it’s intended purpose. I also have an additional phone extension, which means I can use it for my iPhone too, check out the phone extension I use here.
The phone tripod I use is this one from Amazon. It extends to 1m high and can easily fit in my day bag/bum bag. The tripod comes with a Bluetooth remote, but in all honesty I’ve never used this. While I do like this tripod for most scenarios, because it’s so light it’s not great in outdoor or windy situations, so I mainly reserve this for inside and then use my Manfrotto tripod for the heavy duty cases.
The Joby Gorilla Pod and smaller tripod is mainly reserved for my Sony ZV1. I would reach more for the Gorilla Pod as it feels a little sturdier and can hold my Sony camera better, plus it’s helpful to attach it to different surfaces, not just flat places.
laptop
I always travel with my laptop, the MacBook Pro 13 inch, nowadays to edit and do other work I need to get done. I work with big photo and video files and the Pro works well with such a task. If you weren’t as serious about photography, a laptop may not be necessary as you can import photos straight from your camera to your phone, either through camera wifi or an SD card reader to a lightning port converter.
