So what is the best camera for adventure photography?’
What’s your adventure?
Camera gear for photography in general can be hard and camera gear for adventure photography is even harder. But when it comes to choosing the right gear for your adventures there are a few things to keep in mind.
And the first step is to take a look at your adventure, Where are you going? Summer or winter? How much can you carry? How does the packaging setup look? A few extra kilos of gear can play a huge role in your adventure. I did a week long hike in northern Sweden and before the hike I considered a few different options but decided to go with a smaller setup since I didn’t want to carry 3-4 kilos of extra gear for a week. I already had a backpack at 20 kilos or so. And the main purpose of the trip was not the photography but rather the adventure. Which brings us to the second point and that is:
Once you have figured out how to adventure is looking you have to take a look at what is the purpose of capturing it. So What are the things you are going to capture, people or landscapes? Where is the footage going to be used? Is it for publishing, socials, prints? how much quality are you going to need? Is it stills or video? Are you going to need other accessories is also important to keep in mind. All of these are things you have to keep in mind when choosing the perfect gear for you!
My top 3 cameras for adventure photography
With all of these factors in mind I have created a list of my top 3 cameras for adventure photography. Three cameras for three different situations and at different price points.
- But the first camera in my top 3 list is going to be your smartphone. Boring? Maybe, but it is a great piece of gear. I am pretty much counting on you already having a smartphone so the price is pretty much zero. You are most likely going to bring your phone either way. Because it is always good to have with you. That way it is not going to add any extra weight to your gear which can be really helpful on adventures where every gram counts. The biggest con to using your phone is the quality compared to a better camera. Smaller sensor and not as flexible settings.
- The next step up after a phone would be a point and shoot. Here you have a lot of different options for great cameras. Personally I have a Panasonic Lumix lx100 mark ii. Which is a good options but for today’s list I have picked another camera. And that is the Sony rx100. The main reason for this pick is the really good quality you get in that small size camera at a really good price. The camera is around 1200$ and weights in at only 300 grams with battery and card. It has a 20MP one inch sensor. With a 9-72 mm lens which is something like a 24-200mm on a full frame. This makes it to a great versatile camera with its large focal length range, small form factor and good quality.
- The last camera for adventure photography is probably one of my favorite cameras of all time in any part of photography. And it is going to be the Sony a7 Series. This series have a lot of cameras for different purposes which means you can pick the best one for you. If you are going to shoot mainly photos I would go with the a7RIV or III. The 4 is the latest one but the three is still really good and a bit cheaper. The R series have a lot of Megapixels so the photos from these cameras can be used and published pretty much anywhere. But if you know you are going to shoot mostly video then you can go with the sony A7Siii which has better video features than the R-series. The quality you get from the a7 series is extremely good at its size. It is a mirrorless camera that weighs in at around 600-700 grams for the body which is very small for this kind of camera but it is definitely bigger than the other options on the list.
Lenses
You also have to keep in mind that you are going to need at least one lens as well. When it comes to the lenses it is the same as for the body. What you are going to shoot is going to determine what lens you should get. If you have no clue, a good starting point could be a 24-70mm which is a flexible focal length.
Then there are a lot of different brands when it comes to lenses. If you want the absolute best quality I would say go with the Sony G master lenses. They are quite expensive but have really good quality. If you go a little bit cheaper I would recommend Sigma lenses. They have been my favorite lenses with good image quality, great build quality, a little bit cheaper than the Sony lenses. The con with sigma lenses are that they are usually a bit larger and heavier. And my last recommendation is to go with Tamron lenses. They work really well. Not quite the same quality as the G Masters and doesn’t feel quite as well built as the sigma lenses, but quite a bit cheaper.
I hope this post was helpful to you. Good luck and have fun on your next Adventure and if you have some more time before your next adventure make sure to read this post on productivity for photographers.
