Over the years, I have tried to consolidate everything I take on trips in order to minimize the amount being carried without reducing the quality of images and videos. Getting a GoPro and a real camera were my first big purchases on the list because it enabled me to take videos and excellent footage in nearly any environment. The rest are small items that have made life much easier and are well worth their space and weight. Without further ado, here is a list of my travel essentials for photography on the road:
Nikon D-3500. A compact digital camera that offers various features with 18-55mm zoom, this has consistently produced high quality images and is both reliable and durable. Although I cracked the glass screen on the back within a few hours of receiving the camera in the mail, it has been mostly Brie-proof surviving trips all around the world in some of the worst rainy and cold as well as hot and humid conditions. Over-all I have been extremely pleased with its performance and it is reasonably priced compared to similar other brands. Batteries are purchased separate.
GoPro Hero 4- Although it is not the newest version of GoPro on the market (the GoPro 6 was released in Sep 2017), this user-friendly camera has all of the basic features necessary for taking high resolution pictures and videos. Although the short battery life is still an issue, the touch screen back and versatility of settings providing speed and quality makes this a travel necessity. The waterproof case makes it possible to take good quality footage while doing some more shallow scuba diving.
Wasabi GoPro batteries- Ensuring I have extra charged batteries to counter how quickly the GoPro burns through the limited life span (generally they last around 2 hours) is absolutely a necessity. While the Hero 4’s dual battery charger costs about $49, Wasabi Power offers a comparable product for less the cost and the battery life is nearly the exact same. The Wasabi charger also is compatible for the original GoPro batteries. A dual charger, two batteries, and a USB costs only $17.
Anker PowerCore mini Portable USB Charger- There are a variety of portable chargers on the market, but this is one of the most compact. It holds 2 and a half phone charges, but is still easily portable. These portable chargers are good back-ups on the road in case there are any issues with power converters, but they are also convenient to keep on hand for day trips.
Finally, two key items in my camera bag are extra memory cards for my camera (ScanDisk 64GB) and GoPro (ScanDisk Ultra with adapter). Depending on the GB held on the memory cards as well as the length of the trip, these may be unnecessary. However, I have found it to be extremely beneficial on several occasions that I had not emptied the cards, to simply swap them out with the backups.
