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Where are you going? What are you photographing?
Most people beginning to travel, decide pretty early on into their travel planning that a nice camera is a must-have tool. It gives you the opportunity to experience the beautiful things you see and do more than once, and to share it with others.
For myself, photography was what inspired my travels, and in the beginning, I had no idea even how to use a camera beyond the dinky thing on my phone. Through tons of trial and error (and missing some amazing opportunistic shots), I have finally come to the point where I can comfortably give some advice on travel photography.
Choosing the right gear for the job can be pretty daunting for photography newbies – so in this article, I will try to keep things very straight forward and general, skipping over the more technical aspects of the gear, and it’s use.
The Basics
Due to the enormous rise in digital cameras, consumers of any skill level can pick up a camera and take a photo – and most cameras, including the high end ones, have point-and-shoot capabilities.
Whether a camera is digital or raw film, they require light to snap a photo and replicate what it took so that the user can view it. Digital cameras are controlled by software that takes this light, processes it, and returns a large quantity of 1’s and 0’s (known as binary), that only a computer (or somebody with too much time) can read. The computer can interpret this binary code into what we see as an image, which is essentially a collection of light that the human brain gives meaning to (ie: a bird, ocean waves, or your best friend with a big grin!).
There are few different types of cameras with varying digital software and mechanics to take in this light and create an image, so I have created a small list of popular digital formats.
What is ISO, Aperture, Exposure Time?
At it’s core, when taking a photo there are three main settings that impact the quality of a photo, those are ISO, Aperture, and Exposure Time. Each has their pros and cons, and must be used adequately with each other – this means that, at all times, these three settings are working together to take the photo you envisioned.
ISO (international standards association):
Is the sensors sensitivity to light. Every camera has an ISO range which, when incremented, doubles each time ie: ISO400 -> ISO800 -> ISO1600, etc. The more sensitive a sensor is (higher ISO), the more “noise” is introduced into the photo. Noise is what makes your photos grainy. The goal is to keep your ISO as low as you can when taking a photo. Obviously, indoors where there is less light, you will require a higher ISO compared to a bright sunny day outside.
Aperture:
Aperture is the equivalence of your eyes pupil.
In less light, you will require a bigger aperture. In bright light, you will want to keep your aperture lower.
Aperture is measured in something called F-stops. Each F-stop controls a diaphragm inside the lens. Each lens will have an F-Stop range such as 1.4-3.6, and some are even fixed. The lower the number (F-stop) the wider the “pupil” is, thus allowing more light to enter the lens.
When changing aperture, the Field Of View is also changed, not unlike your peripheral vision. When you are looking farther away (like a telephoto lens) you only see what you are trying to view (low peripheral capabilities), whereas when you look at your house from the driveway (a wide angle lens), you are using a wider field of view (high peripheral capabilities).
Exposure Time:
Exposure time is the amount of time the camera allows light to enter the sensor. The longer the mechanical or digital shutter is open, the more light the sensor collects. A photo is a single frame of time, so whatever happens in that duration of time that the shutter is open, is picked up by your camera and portrayed as streaks.
Long shutter times on moving objects creates streaks. A good example would be long exposures of cars passing by, creating streaks with their tail lights.
Sometimes, this is exactly what the photographer wants, but many times you want a clean, crisp, clear photo of your subject – like a basketball player dribbling the ball fast. In most cases, when shooting a sports subject, you use very short shutter times to prevent the streaks caused by them moving while you were taking photo.
When utilizing long exposure times, a tripod is necessary!
You can take a look at this cheat sheet to help you know what settings to use when taking a photo.
Types of Cameras: DSLR, Mirrorless, or Compact?
Compacts
I’ll start with compact cameras, because they are by far the most user-friendly and if you spend the right amount of money, they can take pretty decent shots without the need to be a professional. The compact cameras are also known as point-and-shoot cameras, due their simple use and lightweight form.
With simple use comes a few caveats though; they are simple – meaning you have little to no control on what is happening. Most compact cameras these days have automatic zoom, aperture (loosely known as depth of field), ISO, and shot duration (exposure). If they do have manual settings they’re very limited.
The second caveat to compact point-and-shoot cameras is that the sensors that take in light are very small in comparison to that of a DSLR, which we’ll speak of later.
Remember that cameras take pictures of light – the smaller the sensor is, the less light the camera can take in. When a point-and-shoot camera can’t take in the optimal amount of light, it’s software will make use (automatically) of it’s ISO and/or it’s exposure time. Remember that ISO can make a photo look very grainy if used incorrectly, and the longer the exposure time, the more blurry a photo of an object will be – especially if it is a moving object, or the camera isn’t on a tripod.
Compact cameras will incorrectly use these settings to get more light, even if it isn’t optimal. Unless you spend the money on an advanced compact camera, changing lenses isn’t even an option – and if they are, they are not nearly as capable as a DSLR or mirrorless format.
Today’s phones are nearly or more capable than many compact cameras – if you choose this route simply based on the cost, I suggest testing them against your phone’s camera and make your decision then. Phone cameras may be enough for you and do offer the convenience of direct uploading to your favorite social media apps.
Pros: Small and light, easy to use, point and shoot capabilities
Cons: Too simple, little to no manual control, high cost for weather resistant capabilities to camera cost ratio, changing lenses is often not an option
DSLR – Digital Single Lens Reflex
The name may seem complicated, but in essence, a DSLR camera uses a mechanical shutter to control light on a mirror. The mirror reflects light onto a sensor which is then created into a digital photo.
DSLR’s have been the go to camera format amongst professionals and amateurs alike, for quite some time. This is due to their ability to take high quality manually or automatically taken photos.
The mirror allows DSLR’s to collect light far better than a simple digital sensor ever could simply because they are bigger.
There are two basic types of DSLR’s, one is a Full Frame Sensor, and the other is a Cropped Sensor. Both work identically, but as you may have guessed, a Full Frame Sensor can take in more light than a cropped one, in turn creating much crisper photos in low light.
The obvious caveat to the DSLR is it’s size and weight. They aren’t light, and also have mechanical components that are sensitive to the bashes and bruises acquired during travel.
If the DSLR is chosen for travel, spending the money on something that is weather resistant is a must, dust and water can severely damage the sensitive components of the DSLR. Many weather resistant DSLR cameras are very expensive, not only due to their resistance, but they are often higher end, using high end components and full frame sensors.
If you choose a DSLR and want to stay cheap, entry level DSLR cameras that Nikon and Canon manufacture with cropped sensors are a great place to start practicing your manual photography.
Purchasing lenses can be daunting for DSLR cameras due to the two different sensor sizes. Some cameras (like the Nikons) are interchangeable, and will work, but the field of view will change. For Nikon cameras they have DX style and FX style bodies/lenses. It is recommended (especially for beginners) to match the lenses accordingly to the body.
We personally use the Nikon D3300/D3400 for our travels because the lenses and bodies are cheap, if anything happens to them it’s not a huge loss like it might be with a $2-4000 camera.
Pros: Great low light photography, manual/auto settings, large variety of lens choices for different types of photography
Cons: Heavy, expensive, maybe more complicated for newbies, sensitive mechanical components
Mirrorless
Some people say Mirrorless cameras are the way of the future. Many professionals are switching to mirrorless cameras due to their DSLR quality photos and extremely lightweight form.
Mirrorless cameras are one of the best alternatives to the DSLR but also come with a high price tag. Their lenses also always seem to be harder to find for the prices that are similar to the quality of a DSLR lens.
Entry level DSLR cameras (with interchangeable lenses) start at $400-$700 CAD, but most quality mirrorless cameras that have the ability to change lenses start around $1000CAD.
A great place to start looking would be at the Sony Alpha Series. For a little bit less than the average, you can get an entry level lens and body, which would be great for a beginner looking into the learning about high end amateur photography.
The biggest plus for traveling photographers using a mirrorless camera is that there are no sensitive/moving components. Cases are small and provide great protection for the camera even while you’re using it. Their high quality video capabilities are accompanied by an affordable range of gimbals, tripods and underwater cases that provide the flexibility that every traveler requires. Due to the lack of moving components there is much less time between shots, meaning the mirrorless format can out shoot a DSLR in speed and quantity of photos taken.
Not only are mirrorless cameras as capable as a DSLR, they are even more so when it comes to software. Companies such as Sony are offering high quality mirrorless cameras that have facial recognition, object tracking, GPS location, Wi-Fi, and more built right into the camera, sparing you much of the pain related to photo sorting and uploading!
Pros: Lightweight, compact, no sensitive/moving parts, high quality photos, high tech software, affordable accessories, fast shooting capabilities
Cons: Can be an expensive initial cost, Damage may be hard or expensive to fix
Gear
We’ve spoken about the three main current digital camera options, all offering their own pros and cons, but we have yet to speak of gear.
Choosing your gear is crucial when traveling, you have to take into account the weight, the space it takes up, the convenience of use, and whether or not you will actually use the gear in the first place.
Camera Bag
Camera bags are all about preference and usage.
We have multiple bags depending on our excursion – a single camera, single lens bag, and a full equipment bag that we haul all of our gear in. Amazon Basics sells a great bag for very cheap – we have personally dragged it across a few countries, and haven’t questioned our purchase once.
Some things to look out for are adjustable hip and chest straps to help with weight distribution, laptop slots, lens slots, and whether or not you have multiple cameras.
Camera Straps
Spend money on a good camera strap – in the heat poor quality straps will rub your neck raw. We personally use shoulder straps to prevent any skin contact when we know that we are walking long distances with a camera in hand. This is especially important when lugging a DSLR around for miles!
Equipment Accessories
There are a few pieces of equipment that are a must while you travel.
- Quality Tripod – Something sturdy, and stable in the wind, highly adjustable and lightweight
- External Flash – It never fails, you stay out way to late and see the beauty of the night, but your built in flash isn’t powerful enough, and doesn’t have the ability to direct it’s light properly to capture the moment your witnessing.
- Short and Long Lens – It’s not recommended to change DSLR lenses in the field, so a second camera can be handy if you have a short and long lens.
- Lens Hoods and Filters
- Covers – Don’t get caught in the rain without plastic or nylon camera covers. Don’t forget to cover your camera carry case/bag either!
- GoPro or equivalent – When were out and about, we always bring our GoPro, sometimes you don’t get the chance to snap that perfect photo, and a video could capture the moment so much better!
- Extra batteries and Lens/Body cleaning kit – This should be a given, never leave without extra batteries and a cleaning kit!
- THE MOST CRUCIAL – Memory cards! Bring lots – you’ll take tons of photos and/or forget your memory cards back at base camp, always keep extra memory cards stashed in carry bags or other equipment that you take everywhere – one thing we love about our camera straps is that they have a little pocket where we always keep an extra memory card – just in case! To help spare yourself some pain, try to keep all your memory cards the same type – even if you need to use adapters to achieve it. ie: GoPro takes microSD while DSLR might take SD, only buy microSD with adapters to fit your DSLR.
Drones
If you are considering a drone please be aware that many countries have a ban on them, where you will be left with a choice at the airport; don’t go, or leave the drone and go anyway. Do your research before you leave!
Make an Educated Choice
This article is very basic, teaching only the basics of the three pillars of photography (iso, aperture, exposure time), but it should help you choose the right camera for yourself.
If you are a beginner with very little experience in photography, I highly suggest purchasing a cheaper DSLR camera, such as the D3000 series Nikon, or the Canon equivalency. It will you teach the basics of how cameras work at a more fundamental level than a mirrorless, while not digging into film development.
If you are sure photography is something that you will do on a regular basis, and you want amazing versatility and quality photos, then a mirrorless camera is, in my opinion, the best option for avid travelers. You simply can’t beat the weight, versatility, and photo quality for the price (although can still be very expensive) of a mirrorless camera.
The compact camera has come a long ways in the point-and-shoot world, but is still fundamentally lack-luster in terms of photo quality. If the compact camera is your choice simply based on cost, or convenience, a quality camera phone may be the best option for you.
Hopefully this article was informative enough to help you make a decision, and if you have any questions, feel free to comment below!
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