I love photography gear and gadgets, and I often get asked how I travel with my photography gear. First, let me put this out there, I am not a professional photographer. However, I often get stopped when walking with my camera by people thinking I am. Which makes me laugh, but it also adds a bit of unnecessary pressure. Let me explain.
What do I carry?
I like tech gear and gadgets. I have a Macbook Pro 16-Inch. I have accessories, a hub, and a magic mouse. I also own a 1st generation iPad pro-12-inch, with a 1st generation apple pencil. I then have an iPhone 12 Pro Max. I carry a Hero 9 Black GoPro, a 100w battery to fuel my MacBook and accessories on the go. My camera gear list is detailed below, and to be fair. It’s a lot. Not exactly the latest by today’s standards, but still, when all laid out, it makes me look like somebody that knows what they are doing. Is it the best travel photography gear or the must-have photography gear list? Probably not, but I like it. However, I use everything extensively, for nonsense, but extensively nonetheless.
How do I travel with this gear?
We have gone on big airlines on most of our holidays and adventures. This includes large luggage allowances, and I haven’t had to worry about slim lining.
Travelling around the Caribbean has given us the pleasure of flying in what an American we met called our plane a ‘puddle jumper’. These are small planes with around 20 seats, no overhead bins, and enough room under the seats to only hold a small bag meant to hop from one regional airport to the next.
The approved weight of carry-on ranges, but the average is around 7lbs. However, I carry my carry-on backpack, which is close to 30lbs.
Some airlines haven’t checked, and I’m thankful for every journey this has happened. The others checked the weight and said, that’s way too much, I opened my bag to show them the contents, and they said, “oh, cameras gear, yes, that’s fine”, and again thankfully, let me on our way.
My photography gear
I have what I think is a great backpack, it is many years old, and apart from a few parts of the bag, mainly the bottom part is showing a little bit of wear, nevertheless, this bag has travelled the world, and has been an excellent bag, that I’ve used to carry gear, out on hikes or around many cities. So I think it’s the best travel photography bag.
The bag in question is a Mountian range F-Stop Loki Ul. Newer models have replaced this bag; you can view other items on their website Shop F-Stop Gear, but this bag has been with me wherever I go.
Here you can see my bag with the camera insert they call an ICU.
The ICU is padded and removable, allowing you to change the velcro dividers to allow many configuration options. The medium ICU was enough for me and allowed me a bit more space to add additional items at the top of the bag. You may also notice a 3litre bladder peeking from behind that slots into a sleeve for water/beer consumption on long trips.
Removing the ICU allows the bag to become a normal backpack that I have used on mountain bike rides that have been longer than a few hours.
Breakdown of my gear and gadgets
Here is everything I hold in my internal ICU.
Everything I hold in my internal ICU
- Cannon 5d Mkii – (not sure it’s the best camera for travel photography)
- Cannon 70-200mm IS 2 Lens – with lens hood
- Cannon 24-70mm Lens – with lens hood
- Cannon Extender 2x
- 2x battery in the camera and additional 4x spare batteries
- GoPro Hero 9 Black
- GoPro mini tripod
- GoPro double charger and extra battery
- SanDisk 1TB Drive
- 2TB Transcend drive
- 1 USB-C Hub
- 1 Circular polariser
- 1x Blower
- OmniCharge Omni 20+ battery to power everything, including my MacBook pro
Items not on display but have in my bag.
- MacBook Pro 16inch
- IPad Pro 12.4 inch (1st generation)
How do I travel with gear on a plane?
I have read other people’s experiences regarding taking photography gear as a carry-on, and I will admit I get a little nervous approaching the check-in desks. However, I have been fortunate to cope on all our journeys. Only on the small Bombadier Twon Dc plane did my bag need to go in the back when walking on the plane, but you are handed it back as you leave the plane, so it’s all good.
Here is a selection of small planes I have managed to get my 30lb photography gear and gadgets on as carry-on.
The following photos give an impression of the space inside these aircraft.
This bag has travelled with the same gear to places such as New Zealand, Vietnam & Cambodia, Miami, Jamaica, St Martin, St Kitts, Antigua, and Dominica. Future travels will include Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines.
As I’ve said, I’m not sure this is the perfect travel photography setup. Carrying a smartphone is enough to capture 99% of any travel photo. However, there are some subjects and instances in which a dedicated camera beats a camera phone.
When I manage to capture a great shot that can’t be captured with a camera phone, the weight and effort in carrying around all that equipment makes it all worthwhile.
Over time I may refine my photography gear. Many options do a great job, and like everything, it’s not about the equipment but the user. At the moment, I have invested in a lot of gear, which is probably partly why I’m hard-headed in keeping this gear list the way it is. Moreover, I have all this gear and enjoy learning with it. That one great photo out of a hundred makes me happy, and I can’t see myself stopping for a long time.
As long as the scenery changes, I’ll be there with all my gear, wondering what I’m doing and clicking away like a madman.