What Equipment Do We Use?
This is all of the equipment that we use. While it might seem overwhelming, we started off in 2015 with just a GoPro Hero 4 and slowly upgraded over the years. We are completely self-taught and learned how to use everything by watching Youtube videos and trail-and-error.
We mostly rely on our Iphone 14 Pro for most of our videos and photos, but there are certain times when it just doesn’t cut it. That’s when we use our Insta360 for drone-esque shots in places drones are banned, our Dji Mavic Mini 3 Pro for when you are able to use a drone, and of course, our reliable camera, the Sony A7III.
Get to know a little more about our equipment by having a look inside our camera bag.
OUR CAMERA: Sony A7III
We recently upgraded from a crop-sensor system to a full-frame system, namely, the Sony A7III. This camera has been our workhorse since the start of 2020 and we honestly cannot recommend it enough.
Here are our top reasons for shooting on the Sony A7III
The Autofocusing System. The number 1 thing we look for in a camera above anything else is the built-in autofocusing system. Since we predominantly take photos of ourselves, we completely rely on the camera to keep us in focus while it takes our photos. The Sony A7III has one of the most accurate autofocus systems in the world and for us, this was a MAJOR selling point.
It’s lightweight. Well, relatively when you compare it to other full-frame cameras, especially DSLRS. As content creators we are typically travelling around not just with camera equipment, but suitcases of dresses, products and other accessories, sometimes for different climates when it’s a multi-destination trip. For that reason, every single gram counts and delivers a punch for it’s size!
Impressive Dynamic Range. One of the biggest reasons for our upgrade to this bad boy was that we were growing incredibly tired of shooting in low-light and high contrast conditions. Our crop-sensor camera simply could not recover the dark areas of an image. To overcome that problem, we would need to take multiple exposures and blend them in post-processing. As we take all our photos ourselves, this became incredibly tedious. To this day, we have never seen a camera with a better ability to balance extreme highlights and shadows. The range gives you so many more options to push exposures and to get extreme with editing - or to correct exposure mistakes while shooting.
Visual Quality. Of course, this is an important factor when making an investment like this. You want something that is going to take the best possible photos each time you press the shutter button. While Canon cameras capture skintones much better than Sony’s do, Sony, in our opinion has superior colours and quality everywhere else. Looking back on our Instagram, it’s quite obvious when we upgraded our camera!
► OUR MOST USED LENS: Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8
This is the most used lens in our bag, and if we could only own one, this would be it. The 28-75mm range will likely cover 90% of the situations you’ll find yourself in while travelling and is basically on our camera most of the time. It’s also incredibly sharp, like sharper than Sony’s lenses and most importantly goes down to F2.8 for those times when you want to create some separation between your subject and the background, or you want to shoot in low light (i.e. sunset).
► OUR FAVOURITE LENS: Sigma Art 35mm F/1.4
35mm is our absolute favourite focal length to shoot so we decided to pick up a prime lens that would give us the ability to stop down to 1.4 and oh my did this lens change our world! The image quality, the sharpness, the ability to shoot in extremely low light, everything about this bad boy has completely blown us away! If you’re not familiar with lenses, a prime lens is a fixed focal length which means that it does not have zoom capabilities, but what it lacks in zoom, it makes up for in aperture! The lower the aperture number (the f/1.4), the more you can blur the background - it also gives you greater range to shoot at night or in extreme low light situations which is something that we’ve always struggled with on zoom lenses. This lens has given us a new found love for photography and has allowed us to get creative with our own style and we’re loving every second of it!
► THE LENS WE USE FOR LANDSCAPES, HOTELS AND OTHER TIGHT SPACES: Tamron 17-28mm F/2.8
We typically use this lens when we need to fit more in the image, sometimes it’s an epic landscape, other times it's a hotel room and we want to ensure that all the elements of the room are being captured in the frame. Hotels especially love wide-angle photography as it makes their rooms look much bigger than they actually are and showcases more of the amenities available. As far as wide angle lenses go, this is as good as it gets and you’ll save yourself over $1,000 if you opt for it over the Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8.
► THE LENS THAT DOES IT ALL: Sony FE 24-105mm F/4
Before we purchased the above lenses we only owned 1 lens, and that was the Sony FE 24-105mm F/4. If you’re just starting out, especially in travel photography, and can only afford 1 lens, let it be this. The 24-105mm range will cover you in literally every situation you could find yourself in while travelling and is the perfect starter lens. The biggest limitation however is that it has a maximum aperture of F4 which means that it’s not particularly great in low-light settings. As we began to expand our skills in photography, we had no choice but to move on, but we miss him daily.
BEST CAMERA FOR BEGINNERS: Sony A6400
Interested in getting into higher-end photography at a lower price point? This is the camera for you. It’s absolutely comparable to our Sony A7III and even better, it’s half the price! The only difference is that it’s a crop sensor camera and unfortunately, Sony doesn’t have a large selection of lenses for it’s crop sensor lineup. That is slowly changing as they release more and more each year but not nearly as large as the selection their full-frame lineup offers. It also lacks in dynamic range when compared to full-frame cameras but for the price point, you really can’t complain. We built our Instagram to over 100,000 followers on a crop-sensor camera so there is absolutely no reason for you not to consider it!
OUR DRONE: DJI Mavic Pro 3 Mini
Drones have (literally) elevated our photography and content creation skills to a completely new level. We recently upgraded our drone to the DJI Mavic Pro 3 Mini (we previously owned the DJI Mavic Pro 1 & 2) and it’s the best thing since sliced bread. It shoots in vertical mode so it’s perfect for social media. Also it’s very small and quiet, and it’s also super light which means Kaan dosen’t have to carry around too much weight.
Understandably, it is quite expensive so if you’re just getting into drone photography/videography and don’t have a big budget, the DJI Mavic Mini 3 is a fantastic entry level option that still packs a punch!
If you haven’t noticed by now, we are obsessed with our Insta360. The Insta360 X3 is the ultimate tool for capturing your most adventurous moments in 360-degree glory! With its dual 200-degree lenses and up to 5.7K resolution, this compact camera lets you create immersive content like never before. And the best part? The included extended selfie stick allows you to get creative with your shots and capture every angle with ease- we have both the 1 meter stick and the 3 meter one. Whether you're an amateur or a pro, the user-friendly app and intuitive interface make it simple to create and share stunning 360-degree videos and photos that will blow your followers' minds. So get ready to up your content game and let the Insta360 X3 take you on an unforgettable journey!
HOW WE EDIT: THE LOST PRESETS
Taking photos is only half the story! Once you’ve got the gear, taken the photos, it’s time to get them to look good! Over the past few years, we have developed our very own editing style - which we are extremely proud of - and after countless hours spent trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t, we have created our very own photo filters which have been made to be as universal as possible - so the same edit will work on almost every image! Head over to our preset shop and use the code “IReadYourBlog” for 10% off any order!
THE BEST TRAVEL TRIPOD: Manfrotto Element Traveller Tripod
One of the questions we get asked the most is “how do you take your photos,” and the answer to that question is, with a tripod. There are so many different types of tripods out there but when it comes to travel, but honestly speaking, no one makes better tripods than Manfrotto. We love this particular model because it packs small and stretches long (Kaan is 188cm and it comes up to his eye level), features a universal ball head, a 360-degree dial that lets you adjust which angle you want in order to get the perfect shot every time, and most importantly, it’s L-I-G-H-T!
OUR CAMERA BAG: MOSISO DSLR Camera Backpack
We just purchased this backpack and couldn’t be more happy, especially for the it’s price point. It’s customizable, big enough to fit multiple bodies and lenses, all our chargers and cords, and the laptop sleeve fits our 15” MacBook Pro easily - unlike many of the other camera backpacks out there. It has a hard cover which gives all of our equipment an extra layer of protection, and it also has a side strap for a tripod which means we have 1 less thing to carry on our adventures! 5 Stars from us!
THE BEST HARD DRIVES: Crucial Memory X6 and X8 SSDs.
As a creator, you know that every moment counts. That's why you need storage that's not only fast and reliable, but also rugged enough to withstand the rigors of life on the road. Enter the Crucial Memory X6 and X8 SSDs. With their lightning-fast read and write speeds, you can transfer files, edit videos, and access your data with ease, no matter where you are. And because they're drop-proof and shock-resistant, you don't have to worry about damage when you're out exploring the world. Plus, with up to 4TB of storage capacity, the X6 and X8 SSDs give you plenty of room to store all your photos, videos, and other content. So whether you're filming a travel vlog, working on a project for a client, or just need a reliable backup for your pictures and other data, say goodbye to those pesky old hard-drives that you're currently using and treat yourself to the Crucial Memory X6 and X8 SSDs. The ultimate memory storage devices!
BEST SELFIE IPHONE TRIPOD: UBeesize 5’1 Tripod
This is the tripod we use when we are doing our Instagram stories, cooking series, or anything where we need our phone to take photos or videos of us. This tripod is lightweight and easy to carry, and it goes up to five feet.
BEST LIGHTING FOR VIDEOS: Newmowa Portable Light, Mountdog Soft Box Light, & Ulanzi Portable Light.
We decided to get these lights for my beauty tutorials and when taking videos in low light. You can’t always depend on good natural light every day, so this helps us when shooting indoors.