Camera gear I travel with

Last Updated on March 28, 2020

I often get questions about the camera equipment I use which is why I decided to put this page together to share the best camera gear for traveling. If you have any other questions regarding the gear I use, feel free to email me.I have been using Canon dSLRs since 2009 and have always been happy with Canon. I would like to upgrade to a better model at some point, but while I am still traveling full-time, I prefer a more basic model. I’ve learned that the frequent use of a camera in deserts, at beaches, in crazy humid places or extreme heat has caused my cameras to have a rather short life span, which is why I don’t want to invest in a more expensive model (the Canon EOS 5DFull Frame Camera would be a camera I’d love to get). If you’re looking for an easy-to-use camera for traveling, Canon has various inexpensive models.

Best camera for traveling

I love my lightweight 20 ounces (0.57kg) Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens

Lenses

The EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens came with the camera, and I also have a zoom lens and a wide-angle lens:

– Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM Telephoto Zoom Lens
– Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X116 Pro DX II Digital Zoom Lens

In addition to the camera itself, I carry:

• Camera Cleaning Kit for DSLR Lenses, Sensors, and LCD Screens
• 2 spare Battery Packs
• 4 – 5 16GB SD cards (I usually don’t overwrite the images on the SD cards until I’ve backed up my photos in two different places.)
• External hard drive (I’ve been using the My Passport Ultra Portable External USB 3.0 Hard Drive for a few years now and haven’t had any issues with them (yet… knock on wood!))

Camera accessories for traveling

I use modstraps camera straps and the matching cute modstraps bag in which I carry the additional accessories.

Selfie stick

Yes, I finally caved in and bought a Selfie Stick. Let me tell you though – if you’re traveling solo (or as a couple) and you want decent-looking photos of yourself, you’ll be thankful to travel with a selfie stick, which allows you to take a shot from a much more flattering angle than the length of your arm allows.

Underwater Camera

I bought a Nikon COOLPIX before my trip to the Philippines, where I was hoping to swim with whale sharks and knew I’d want to take some underwater shots. So I looked for a lightweight, small and inexpensive underwater camera for traveling, and I am quite pleased with the quality of the images of the Nikon COOLPIX… what do you think?
(If I were to upgrade to a better model, I’d get the Olympus TG-3 Waterproof 16 MP Digital Camera for traveling.)

Post-processing for travel photos

I try not to edit my photos too much, and have found Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to be an easy-to-use photo editing software for some light retouching. (Note: You can do much more than just retouching with Lightroom, I just don’t use any of the HDR and other features!)