All The Gear Yet Know Idea

All The Gear Yet Know Idea is a insight into what is in our camera bag.

A question we always get asked on Instagram or our blog is,

“How did you get that shot”

“ What drone or camera are you using”

“Where can I buy it from at the best price”

So this post will be a guide on all the kit we use. From our main camera all the way down to the filters and spare batteries.

But first a quick introduction to my (Olly) knowledge of cameras and how to take pictures and videos. 

About 6 months ago my knowledge of cameras finished at my iPhone. I had no idea about how light dramatically effects your camera, shutter speeds or exposure. But thanks to a handy website called YouTube and a lot of hours binge watching some of the best photographers and videographers, I slowly started to gain a basic knowledge of how a camera works. 

Luckily I have an amazing girlfriend who happened to study photography at university. So putting my new basically knowledge together with what she knows we ended up with the unexploredfootsteps Instagram page. 

Fast forward those 6 months and we are getting all our kits ready for our next travel adventure. Below is all the gear we use and a link to where to find it at the best price.

Camera Equipment

So let’s start with the BAG we are carrying all this equipment around in.

Manfrotto Bumblebee 220L light camera backpack

(click on the photo for the best price)

This bag comes with some of the best protection for your camera gear that’s on the market. With 3D shock absorbing foam and a reinforced board you can be sure you equipment won’t be getting damaged anytime soon. We have literally climbed up a waterfall and bashed it around doing so and nothing was damaged or wet.

There are a number of compartments on this bag, one designed for your laptop and charger. The main front compartment for your camera, lenses and drone. Then a number of outer pockets for documents headphones and a water bottle. All this is then neatly wrapped up in a lightweight rain cover allowing you to continue shooting whatever the weather.

We easily manage to fit ALL our camera equipment including our drone within this bag and still have a little room for extras. Additionally it is small enough to take on the plane for your hand luggage. 

Cameras

Main camera – Panasonic G80 with kit lens 12-60mm

This camera with the kit lens is great for a beginner who is looking to practise and develop their camera skills. With a flip out screen which allows you to see what you’re shooting at any angle and a water-resistant body, which allows you to shoot some of the best waterfalls in the world. If video is more your thing then this camera can shoot up to 60fps at 1080p for that smooth slow motion or 30fps at 4K. This camera as a package with the kit lens is a total steal. If you were to buy them separate you are looking at a few extra hundred pounds, together it is a great bargain, even if you sold the lens on its own after.

Second Lens – Panasonic 25mm/1.7 ASPH

If you are on a budget then this lens is another great purchase. At a lower aperture than the kit lens it allows your camera to shoot better in low light and also get those beautiful portrait shots with the blurred back ground. 

GoPro- Hero 6

(click on the photo for the best price)

GoPro’s are a must if you want to get those underwater shots. Not only that they are so versatile that you can throw them around to an extent and they won’t break, which is great for travelling. They are super small and can shoot in all different formats. You can also buy a number of accessory kits so you can strap your GoPro to basically anywhere you like. We would recommend this GoPro due to the incredible colours and stability this camera offers. The comparison of quality, colours and stability to the models that came before it are amazing. Check out YouTube videos comparing the 5 to the 6.

Spare batteries

(click on the photo for the best price)

The last thing you want is to be out in the middle of nowhere getting some amazing shots and BOOM your batteries dead. We always travel with another two spare batteries for all our equipment so we never miss a shot. Now you can get the Panasonic branded ones which are expensive. Or just get the aftermarket ones which do the exact same job just as well at a fraction of the price.  GoPro Hero 6

SD cards

(click on the photo for the best price)

Just like the batteries you don’t want to be running out of space once you get a little carried away taking so many shots. I would highly recommend spending a little extra money and buying cards with a quicker write speed especially  if you are going to be shooting videos in 4K or taking lots of images in quick succession. Again like our batteries we always have lots of spare cards and they are easy to lose and corrupt.

ND Filters

(click on the photo for the best price)

This is a must if you are going to be out taking pictures in the middle of the day or in bright light. Essentially the filter is a pair of sunglasses for your camera. Even though it is a small piece of kit it will dramatically improve your images. There are two ways to buy filters, you can either buy a filter for every size lens you own which will quickly start costing you a small fortune ,or the more cost-effective way is work out the size of your biggest lens and buy the filter in this size then purchase some step up rings which are very cheap and will allow the filter to fit all your lens sizes. I would recommend a variable filter this allows you to change the strength of the filter depending on the light conditions.

Tripod/ Gorilla Pod

(click on the photo for the best price)Although we don’t currently use a large tripod we are finding ourselves in more situations where having one would make our lives so much easier. It would allow us to place the camera in some crazy locations and positions and being able to capture the unique shots. The only downside is they are a lot bigger to carry around, therefore we only use the gorilla pod which is still great as it allows your to attach the camera to pretty much anywhere, although it isn’t as stable.

Now let’s talk about DRONES!

This is probably the number one question we get asked.

DJI Mavic Pro

(click on the photo for the best price)This drone is incredible. If you are someone looking to buy their first drone, or starting to get into photography and are planning on travelling this is the drone for you. Although DJI have made the SPARK and the AIR the Mavic still has some big advantages over the other two smaller models. Being slightly bigger than the other two means the battery is bigger, which means a longer flight time. Not only that it means you can fly the Mavic higher and further. The other advantage of having a slightly bigger drone is that it will handle better in the high winds. This gives you a better chance of getting those perfect focused shots. Your final choice will predominatly come down to how much room you have in your bag and how much weight you want to carry. All three drones are great but for someone looking for a slightly high spec of drone the Mavic is the one.

If you really want to up your photography game then you can always upgrade from the Mavic and get your hands on the DJI PHANTOM 4 Pro. This come will a longer flight time and a huge upgrade on the camera quality. 

Again just like our cameras we always have spare Batteries and Micro SD Cards. The drones take micro SD cards so unfortunately you can’t switch them from your camera. For the best prices on drone battery’s and micro SD card check the link below.

(click on the photo for the best price)

ND filtersfor your drone is also a huge MUST. High up in the sky it is bright and I mean very bright. Luckily the lens on the drone is all one size so you can easily buy a pack of filters in a number of strength and are easily interchangeable depending on the weather and location.

Editing

Apple 15” MacBook Pro

(click on the photo for the best price)

This is really down to personal preference as to which sort of laptop you use to edit your images and videos. We both love Apple Macs and believe they are by far the easiest devices to use when it comes to picture and video editing. It helps we both have iPhones so everything nicely syncs together. The only thing you really need to be aware of is the amount of RAM your device has. The more RAM your laptop has the quicker it will perform the tasks. This is especially important when editing videos as low RAM will lead to major lagging.

Iphone 8 Plus

Mobile phones have come along way since your first Nokia playing snake. This also includes the cameras and the software built inside allowing you to take all sorts of videos and photo’s. Our phones are one of our go to cameras when we haven’t got our big camera bag on us or we need something quick on hand to capture the moment. Getting a device with a large storage is also a must, even with the iCloud you will still fill this bad boy up quickly.

IPad Mini

With both of us tapping away trying to edit and writing blog posts having two devices is very handy. The iPad is perfect for people who are planning to travel and don’t want to spend the money on a laptop. We mainly use ours for watching movies but I have actually written this whole post on our iPad mini. 

Headphones

(click on the photo for the best price)

Now you can stick to your standard apple headphone/earpods which get pretty uncomfortable after length of time. This is why you need a nice comfy pair preferably wireless with noise cancelling. To drown out the screaming babies on the plane or just send you to sleep at night. There are so many different types and brands so i cant give a detailed review. But these are the ones i use and they are extremely comfortable and are not stupidly expensive.

A handy top tip to save money on music whilst you are travelling is to take advantage of the big company’s offers such as Amazon. They regularly promote free trials for a month or two of their music streaming and downloading service. Sign up, then feel free to cancel your free trial at any point. This way you canlisten to a months worth of free music. You can just change your email address and sign up again or just find a new offer.

Below is a link to an amazing offer Amazon are giving away. Use the link to sign up free now

Portable Battery Charger

(click on the photo for the best price)

There are lots of types of portable chargers. I would recommend getting a larger bank which gives you multiple charges throughout the day.

Hard Drive

(click on the photo for the best price)This is how you will be storing all of you work and it is very important to have more than one!! You hear horror stories of people who backup all their work to one hard drive, and then they drop it. Or some how becomes corrupt and you have lost everything. This is another plus with using a Mac, all our work is saved to the iCloud and hard drives. Again its better to get a larger storage size rather than run out of space.

Adobe Suite

The software we use to edit all our images and videos is the Adobe suite package, this included Lightroom and Premier Pro. We both have used YouTube again in order to learn how to use this software and then add our own style.