4 Cameras Every Travel Vlogger Should Own

Now that we’ve survived the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), here’s our round up of cameras and accessories that you should keep in your backpack if you want to take videos of your travels.

1. DJI Mavic Pro

DJI

For the past five years, we have known that getting your footage from a bird’s eye view with a drone would take our videos of the world’s best destinations to the next level. Soon after the launch to consumers, drones became more affordable each year, and the hardest part was learning how to pilot them. As that became easier, the next issue was portability. So there was a race amongst developers to design something that could fit in the backpack of the backpackers. In 2016, the survivor of this development race was DJI when they launched the Mavic Pro. It is literally a drone that can fit your pocket, with most of the features we all want.

Besides portability, the Mavic Pro get’s in the air quickly and simply. Once assembled, you don’t have to remove and reattach wings for each flight - they just fold up. It also has many features aimed at keep your investment safe, like coming back to home when the battery is low and the obstacle sensors. The auto-follow feature, which we were eager to see test on this drone, is perfect for the solo traveler who wants clips of themselves kayaking on a river or at the final steps to the summit of an epic hike.

It records 4k video, shoot 12 MP photos and has a three-axis gimbal. However, one of the biggest cons is that it doesn’t have sensors on the back of the unit - which is weird because DJI’s latest Phantom models have sensors on all four corners. Many people have complained, so we’re sure the next generation that will be adjusted. For that, we recommend you get the $99 Care Refresh upgrade - which means DJI will replace your Mavic up to two times in a year. The investment for this drone starts at $999. But, getting the Care Refresh upgrade along with the Fly More bundle - which includes an extra battery, a pouch for the Mavic, extra wings and more - will cost you $1400.

2. Zhiyun Crane gimbal

Zhiyun

Most travel video is shaky video. It’s the nature of the beast. We are hiking, trekking, and more. So to resolve that, get a stabilizer. We tried several types - from a simple monopod to an expensive gimble with a few motors. Other brands offer a camera attached to the gimbal, but if you’ve already have the camera, you don’t really want to invest in another one. We settled on the Zhiyun Crane because it’s the best bang for your buck. It’s a bit of an investment, about $650, but compared to others in it’s class, it’s a huge savings. It’s a three motor gimbal that is easy to assemble and take with you. It’s not too heavy, but does take some getting to used to by the operator. It’s won’t hold heavier DSLR’s, and once you set it your camera weight, it will remember. tSo, we recommend that you practice a bit before it’s go time. If you set it on a tripod, you can control it from your phone with an app. The result of using this gadget immediately upgrades your videos as if you had an entire production team on your shoot.

3. Ricoh Theta S

Ricoh

Facebook and Youtube have made it so easy for us to post our 360° content. The consumer market for these camera has become incredibly affordable over the past few years. They are also super compact, which makes it simply amazing of all the magic that comes from these devices. We tested a handful, but the one that still tops the market is the Ricoh Theta S. Because 360° video, on its output through most video players doesn’t read 4k, we’ve discovered that no matter if you use an $8000 360° rig or a $200 consumer camera, there doesn’t seem to be much difference the quality. However, the photos are dynamic. So when comparing a few, we found that Ricoh will give you the best bang for your buck here. At this year’s CES, Ricoh re-displayed the Theta S and introduced the SC - which is a bit more compact and comes in a variety of colors. It shoots 1080p video and 12 MP photos. You can grab one for under $300.

4. Canon G5x

Canon

For years, the travel vlogger community has raved about the Canon Powershot G7x. It’s not only compact, but produces impeccable video, great sound (even though there aren’t any microphone inputs) and has stellar stabilization. Oh, and it takes amazing photos as well. Though low-light conditions are solid on the G7x, this point-and-shoot doesn’t have a hot-shoe mount. As most travelers now just use it instead of a DSLR altogether, a hot shoe mount could be handy for a video light or mounting an external microphone. So with this next edition, Canon rolled out the G5x, which essentially had the same specs - fixed lens, 20.2 MP, 4.2 optical zoom - but has a bigger body, viewfinder, and a vari-angle LCD. Right now, both are priced around the same, $600. We got the G5x solely because of the hot-shoe mount.

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