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Traveling with your camera
Since I use my bike quite a lot for location scouting, I thought it would be fun to share what I take with me and give some tips and tricks that I’ve learned along the way. When traveling, you only want what is practical and what is needed. everything else will just take up space in your bag and add unnecessary weight. Below are all the essentials I take with me when cycling with my camera.
Camera body
Let’s start off with one of the most essential pieces, my camera. I use the Sony a7 II as my camera body. this is a full frame mirrorless body. As it is a mirrorless camera, it is small, compact and weighs less than a big DSLR. Perfect to take with you when you’re cycling or traveling.
Lenses
Because you can only carry so much, I only have two lenses with me when traveling. A 50mm f/1.8 and a 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3. With the zoom lens, I can at least make the wide and close-ups without needing too many lenses with me.
The 50mm, to me, is a no-brainer. It is small, compact, and it will also give you that beautiful bokeh shot. The 50mm is a very versatile focal length as it’s not too far zoomed in or out. It is also perfect for those portrait pictures you shoot along the way.
Whenever I need an even wider shot than 24mm, I just take multiple photos and stitch them together. This way you can go as wide as you’ll ever need.
Strap/tripod
I don’t use a strap often, only when I walk from location to location or filming handheld. That’s why I find it important that I can easily attach and detach the strap from my camera. I use the “slide light” strap from Peak Design. This strap is easy to adjust in length and it attaches/detaches real quick to and from the camera.
The tripod I use is the Joby Gorillapod 5K with a Peak Design plate. This one is a very sturdy and flexible tripod. It is compact and fits nicely in the front of my bag. I mostly use it for my camera, but when I want to record a voiceover or sounds, I also use it for my microphone.
Audio pouch
Don’t you ever travel and have the impulse to shoot a vacation video? As almost every camera can also shoot video, a microphone is not a bad thing to have with you.
I always carry a pouch with some general audio gear. In this pouch I carry the following things:
-Rode VideoMic Pro
-4x AA batteries
-2x 9V batteries for the microphone
-Extra tripod plate for the microphone
-USB Card reader for SD cards
-USB flash drive
-Audio cables
Cycling supplies
Not something many photographers take with them, but when cycling you better be prepared. So I always have some tools with me for whenever I run into problems with my bike. Some of these are also just nice to have with you in general.
-A spare inner tube
-Inner tube repair kit
-A wrench
-Multitool
-Small pump
-Gloves
-Bike lights
-Rubber bands
Some additional stuff
Besides the main gear, I also have some generally practical stuff which is useful to have with you. And you’ll be happy you have them when you need them.
-A power bank
-USB cable
-USB charging brick
-USB battery dock for camera batteries
–Spare camera batteries
-Rubber band
–Pens and markers
–Lens cleaning cloth
-Lens cleaning pen
–Grey cards
–Bottle of water
When I’m on my bike I just keep my bottle of water in the bottle holder on my bike. Whenever I’m photographing without my bike, I don’t need my bike supplies in my bag, which will leave some space for my bottle in my bag.
–Food
–Sunglasses
-Earbuds
–Small Notebook
-Sunscreen (For when it’s summer)
-Aspirin
-Deodorant
–Capture clip by Peak Design
The capture clip is a clip you can put on your bag or belt. Whenever you need to quickly change lenses, you can clip your camera into it and have both hands free.
Camera bag
The camera bag is what you’ll be carrying around all day and is the main thing protecting your gear. My camera bag is the Peak Design everyday messenger bag. I know, I know, another Peak Design product 
. Actually, everything listed above, and even more, fits in this bag. The only complaint I have about it is, you guessed it, it’s a messenger bag. When you wear it for a longer period of time while walking, it will get very sore on the shoulder. But when cycling, and you are leaning more forward, it rests more on your back. If you use the chest strap on the bag, it doesn’t tear on your shoulder at all. I have cycled hours at a time with this bag fully packed and had no problems. It just are the long walks that get tedious. But besides that, it’s a very practical bag for photography.
Support my blog
As you can tell, I am a bit of a Peak Design fanboy, but not without reason. Their products are high quality, beautifully designed and you get a lifetime warranty with all of their products. To help support this blog, I have teamed up with Peak Design’s affiliate program. If you are planning to buy one of Peak Design’s products, and want to support this blog without any additional costs, consider using my affiliate link and I will be forever thankful =D
Use this link to the Peak Design web shop to support my blog:
www.peakdesign.com?rfsn=2382985.b7514c4
This Post Has 6 Comments
Good for you to be able to both afford and carry all that … expect some good shots!
Those shots will definitely be coming! Thx =D
look forward to it!
I am looking forward to seeing your photos. I am not a serious photographer, only use of camera on my phone.
Thank you! I’m also not that a serious photographer haha. For me, it is just a hobby. The first photo in this post (the one of my camera) is actually taken with my phone. In my opinion, a phone is a great camera too =D
I simply must tell you that you have an excellent and unique post that I really enjoyed reading.