BELINDA VANZANEN - commercial travel and tourism photography

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Ultimate travel photography equipment list for women

Belinda Van Zanen

So you want to get started in travel photography, then you need to start here.  

As a female travel and commercial tourism photographer, I have personally compiled my list of 133 items to get started. 

So you can filter through and find the best gear solution to suit you.

Keep reading:

As a female travel and tourism photographer, I find choosing the right gear is so important .  First of all, size and weight for any travel photographer should be well though out, but being a female, I personally don’t want to be carrying around huge heavy gear.   I want to be focused on telling a story through photography so having lightweight, easy to carry gear is essential to me. 

The list I’ve compiled is gear I always carry and also alternative brands and options, so you can filter through and choose what’s best for you.  

  • Cameras

  • Camera Bags

  • Tripods

  • Lenses

  • Filters

  • Storage

  • Laptops

  • Apps & Navigation for both phone and Laptop

  • First aid and sundry

  • Other

Cameras

Finding the right camera is the first step in becoming a great travel and tourism photographer.  I’ve heard many people say that the equipment doesn’t take the photo the photographer does, which is definitely true, there is so much to learn and get right, but the notion that a camera phone can take a better or just as good a picture than an expensive camera.  Well that I disagree with.  Firstly, a camera phone still costs around $2,000 and is designed for communication not photography, so is no way better than a $2,000 camera designed solely on taking a photo.  Second, how professional would you look, turning up to a commercial photoshoot with just your iPhone?  Yeah, thought so.  So keep reading…

For the camera options, I have decided to focus on the mirrorless camera’s, mainly because they are so lightweight compared to DSLR and also the technology is getting better and better.   Travel photography and the work I do as a commercial Tourism Photographer can involve climbing mountains, being out in the desert and also city and street photography.  Sometimes I can be hiking for 20km, so again, lightweight is important.

  • Canon Eos R5 (Owned and my top choice) This is my go to camera for all of my commercial photoshoots. With 50mega pixels, great tracking and autofocus that is just so quick compared to my previous DSLR camera, I can not fault it and it is perfect for all my commercial tourism needs.  The image is of supreme quality.  It also has great video capabilities (8K) which can come in handy.

  • Leica Q2 (Owned and my top choice) Another camera I use and love, which is 47.3mega pixels and has a fixed 28mm lens with the option to crop in at a loss of pixels.  This is a small super light camera, people don’t even notice it when I pull it out and start shooting with it, which is great for city and street style travel photography.

  • Canon Eos R6

  • Canon Eos R

  • Sony A6000

  • Sony A7s3

  • Sony AyR IV

  • Fujifilm Xt3

  • Fujifilm X-T4

  • Nikon Z6

  • Panasonic Lumix S1R

  • Nikon Z7

Camera Bags

As mentioned above, some of the work I do as a commercial tourism photographer involves hiking for long periods.  Sometimes the spot you want to photograph is a couple of hours walk and not accessible by car.  So a great comfortable backpack that will carry all my equipment is important.   Other times I want to wander around the city I’m staying in and take in the sites.  One thing I am conscious about is standing out.  Safety is always my number 1 priority, so a bag that don’t scream, “hey look I have $20K worth of photo gear in my bag, come mug me” is definitely the way to go.

  • Ona - The Camps Bay Backpack (my top choice shown below 1st and second)

  • Ona - Berlin for Leica (my top choice for easy travel style shown below 4th)

  • Vinta Type2 (my top choice)

  • Lo&Sons - The Claremont (for city travel photography)

  • LoweProTactic 250

  • Lowepro tactic 450

  • Ona - The Bond St (small city bag shown below 3rd)

  • Peak Design Everyday 20L

  • Peter McKinnon Camera pack

  • Thule Aspect

  • Lowepro m-Trekker 150

  • Tenba Solstice Backpack

  • Peak Design Everyday Messenger

Tripods

One thing I’ve noticed when owning a heavy tripod is the decisions to carry it up a mountain or leave it in the car.   Good tripods are expensive but you only have to buy one once, they last a very very very long time.  I’ve often left my tripod in the car and hiked up a mountain only to realise I want to watch the sun go down and geez a tripod would be handy right now..

These tripods are lightweight, so you will never feel like you need to leave it behind in the car.

  • Manfrotto BeFree GT Pro Carbon Fibre with ball head (my pick)

  • Gitzo GK2545T Traveler Carbon Fibre with Ball head (owned and my pick)

  • Benro foto FIF19AIBO

  • Benro Travel Angel 

  • Manfrotto Befree 2N1

  • Manfrotto Element M2

  • Induro CLT203 Classic Series 2 Stealth Carbon Fibre with ball head

  • Oben CT-2381 Carbon Fibre with Ball Head

  • Oben CT-3535 Carbon Fibre travel with ball head

  • Gitzo GK1545T Series 1 Traveler Carbon Fibre with Ball head

  • MeFoto Classic Carbon Fibre Globetrotter

Lenses

Lenses are probably more controversial than the camera.  Everyone has an opinion.  Some will say stick with prime lenses they are way sharper and cleaner images, zoom lenses have come a long way from back 10 years ago and personally I have found with the work I do, I only need to carry 3 lenses which cover all the perspectives I need. From Wide 15mm to zoom 200mm.

  • Canon RF 15-35mm F2.8 L IS USM (own and recommend) A beautiful piece of glass, this is so smooth, so quick and so crisp.  Perfect for those wide landscape vista style shots.

  • Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8L III USM

  • Sony 16-35mm f2.8 Vario Sonnar 

  • Nikon 14-24mm f2.8G ED IF AFS

  • Canon RF 24-70mm F2.8L IS USM

  • Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8L II USM (own and recommend) Probably my most used lens for its versatility.

  • Nikon 24-70mm f2.8E ED IF AFS

  • Sony FE 24-70mm f2.8 GM

  • Canon RF 70-200mm f2.8 L IS USM

  • Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS III USM (own and recommend, I don’t leave home without it).

  • Nikon 70-200mm f2.8

  • Sony 70-200mm f2.8 GM

  • Fujinon XF18-55mm f2.8 R LM OIS

Filters

Filters are great for both protecting your lens from dust, splashes and scratches, enhancing colour and creating movement.

I use the UV filter when protecting my lens and no other filter is needed, the Circular Polarizing filter for reducing glare and reflections, they also make the clouds stand out and the skies bluer and then a Variable ND filter if I want to slow down the shutter speed in brighter lighting conditions to bring in motion such as water or people etc.  

  • Leica Filter UVa II E49 (owned and recommended)

  • Gobe ND2-400 Variable ND (owned and recommended)

  • Tiffen Black Pro Mist

  • Nisi V5 Advance Filter Kit

  • Hoya Circular Polarizing Filter

  • Polar pro Quartzline Circular Polarizing filter (recommend)

  • Polar Pro VND Filter Peter McKinnon Edition

  • Polar Pro Basecamp Ultralight Matte Box VND kit

Storage

As a travel and tourism photographer I want the best possible digital information so naturally I shoot in RAW instead of JPEG which is a compressed version of the image.  Cameras are constantly improving, more megapixels, more dynamic range.  With this the file sizes are increasing and increasing, which is fantastic for the print but not so great for storage.  Aside from which SD card to use in camera (opt for the faster read/write) but also you need to store the images somewhere when you have downloaded from your camera to your laptop.  I always carry a bunch of spare memory cards especially when travelling.  I always download my memory cards from my camera, straight on my storage device each day.

I will not clear a memory card even after I have transferred to my storage devise until I have sent my images on to my client.  This way I have a backup incase I lose my drive or something happens to it.  All the storage devises listed below are rugged drop resistance, partial water resistance, but I still recommend keeping them safe and keep them seperate from where you store you memory cards.

  • Sandisk SD Extreme Pro 170mB 64GB (owned recommend)

  • Sandisk CF Extreme Pro 160MB 64GB (owned recommend)

  • Sandisk CFExpress Extreme Pro 1700MB Read 1200MB Write 128GB (owned recommend)

  • Lacie Rugged Mini 2TB (owned and recommend)

  • Transcend Storejet 25M3 2TB

  • Adata SD700 External SSD 1TB

  • Silicon Power Armor A80 2TB

  • Buffalo Ministation Extreme 2TB

  • Lacie Rugged RAID 4TB

  • Adata HD710 1TB

  • Lacie Rugged SSD Pro

  • Sandisk Extreme 900 SSD

  • Samsung Portable SSD X5

  • Sandisk Extreme Pro Portable SSD

Laptops

Wherever you go, be that hiking, or catching a plane, weight is important, but so is quality.  If you edit solely on a Laptop, then I recommend at least a 15inch laptop with good storage space and Ram as the programs used to edit the massive files can cause your computer to run slow which can be frustrating.  You also want a clear bright screen so you can see as much detail as possible.  I usually carry a laptop to edit while travelling but then I have a desktop to edit with when I am at home.  

  • Macbook Pro 15inch 2018 i9 R-32GB S-1TB (owed and recommend)

  • Macbook Pro 16inch 2019 i9 R-64G S-1Tb to 8TB

  • Macbook Pro 13 inch i7 R-32GB S-1TB

  • Dell XPS 15inch i7 R-64GB S-2TB

  • HP Zbook Studio x360 G5 i9 R-64GB S-4TB

  • HP Spectre x360 15inch i7 R-16GB S-2TB

  • Lenovo Thinkpad x1 Yoga 4th gen i7 R-16GB S-2TB

  • Acer Concept D7 i7 R32-GB S-1TB

  • Microsoft surface pro 6 i7 R-16GB S-1TB

  • HP Envy 13 inch 2019 i7 R-16GB S-1TB

  • Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 15 inch i7 R-32GB S-1TB

  • MSI Prestige 15 i7 R-32GB S-1TB

  • Razer Blade 15 studio edition i7 R-32 S-1TB

Apps and navigation for both phone and laptop

There are some fantastic phone apps out there, some are really important such as navigation, tides, weather and to control your drone, some can tell you what time of day is magic hour in your location.  Some you use while on location and others are loaded on to your laptop so you can edit you photos.  Below is my list of what I use and can not live without (slight exaggeration).

I use all of these listed below.

Phone - Google Maps (download route) for safety I download my route prior to leaving mobile reception and have “find my location” available just in case I’m out of range then at least someone can find me if needed but also the GPS can continue to track you route whilst out of range.

  • Phone - Alltrails

  • Phone - Willy Weather great for weather, tides, sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset

  • Phone - Clear Outside will give you how much cloud cover will be at a certain time of day

  • Phone - SkyView point the phone camera to find out where a certain star constellation is or to track where the moon is going to be.

  • Laptop - Photoshop I use this program to edit my photos

  • Phone - DJI Go4 To control my drone

  • Phone - Open Sky to see if I am able to fly my drone in a certain location

  • Phone - Canon Camera Connect.  I use this to control my camera whilst on a tripod, for self portraits, for a remote shutter etc.

  • Phone - Magic Hour tell you what time magic hour is in your location. Magic hour is golden hour, that time around sunrise and sunset when the light is at its best.

  • Phone - Unfold (best for instagram stories)

  • Laptop - LightRoom another photo editing app.  I use photoshop more, but sometimes Lightroom is quicker.

  • Laptop - Premier Pro for Video editing

  • Phone - Spotify (download playlist) need those tunes whilst on a photoshoot.  Just remember to download your playlist while you are in mobile range otherwise it won’t work.

  • Phone -  Vic Emergeny or state equivalent, this is a must as I have been in a location when a fire breaks out, this way I get a notification to let me know to leave if needed.

First Aid and sundry

When out travelling, I always carry a some sort of first aid kit.  Depending on what I’m doing, it may be just a couple of items, but if I’m in the bush, I carry more.  Better to be safe than sorry!

  • Regular bandage

  • Snake bandage

  • Stingoes

  • Inspect repellant

  • Hand Sanitiser

  • Aloe vera

  • SPF 50+ Sunscreen

  • Lip Balm

  • Torch

  • Anti inflammatory

  • Disinfectant cream

  • Water bottle (opt for a filtrated water bottle such as the Larq so if you run out of water you can easily refill and have filtered water)

  • $50 (I always carry at least a $50 note, you never know when you may need it)

  • Protein Bar

  • Swiss army knife (this has come to my aid on so many occasions, sometimes just to cut a piece of cheese, other times for the little screwdriver or to dig a little hole. I also feel a little safer with it in my backpack)

Other

  • New Balance Freshfoam Crag (own and recommend) When I have to walk 10km to get to a location, I want comfortable shoes, these are comfy and non slip, they also look pretty good too!

  • Solomon Hiking Boots (owned and recommend) great for long hikes, these are also just above my ankle so I feel protected from rolling my ankle on rocks.

  • Comfortable clothing that you can easily move, squat, get in to position in

  • Hat

  • Lightweight Scarf can be used as a face covering if needed

  • Lightweight Raincoat

  • Notebook to write down what you feel when at a location, or to just write down a location you need to get back cause you ran out of time or weather wasn’t what you had in mind.

  • Pen

  • Debit Card

  • Licence always carry some form of identification

  • Phone

  • Duct Tape (not sinister in any way)

  • 3 spare batteries for your camera (always carry more than 1 battery.  I always have at least 3 batteries fully charged before I head out on a shoot, if shooting in cold weather such as snow, batteries deplete quicker, also spare drone batteries can charge your mobile phone so this can also come in handy)

  • Camera Battery charger

  • 3 spare memory cards for your camera

  • Lens cloth

  • Phone charger

  • Memory card reader

  • Laptop Charger

So I know this is a really long list, some of them are items you can filter through and choose the best version for yourself depending on your circumstances.   Some are items I would say never leave home without them.  Depending on where you are going and what you are photographing, some you can probably leave in the car and not have to travel up a mountain with.  But keep in mind when checking off the list, can I do without this item and is it safe to leave it behind?  

I have no doubt left something off this list that is super important, so if I did, let me know.