• Brilliant all in one camera.
• 50MP photos with incredible autofocus and burst speed.
• 24MP photos in Super 35 mode.
• 8K recordings up to 30fps.
• 4k 120.
• 4k 60 full frame or crop.
• 10 bit recording as well as all-intra recording.
• Dual SD / CFexpress type A slots.
• S-log 3 with 15 stops dynamic range.
• S-Cinetone.
• Fast readout to minimise or eliminate rolling shutter.
• Great button customisation.
• 9.44 million dot viewfinder.

• Very disappointing LCD display for the price point. Doesn’t do much of anything. Poor tilt design and low resolution.
• Over-priced compared to arguably better camera offerings from Nikon that are now available.
• Sony failed to make this a good long term proposition by neglecting to give it firmware updates for features that have come out on lesser cameras (animal eye auto-focus in video, focus breathing compensation etc.)
• No GPS for geo-tagging photos.

My thoughts: The cost is massive, I got it for 15% off which saved me about $2,000. The price has come down since then but I’d still recommend waiting for a discount.

The camera is worth it if you just want one camera that does it all, but is unrealistic for most people to be looking at this camera to travel with.

It is still relatively small in comparison to older DSLRs and cameras on offer from some other brands, making it ideal for walking around with it in the backpack. It weighs about 720 grams with the battery.

The ability to go into APS-C mode and still have 4K at 24, 25, 50 and 60 frames per second gives you so much more variety.

As well as the ability to have a 26MP photo in the same mode, it makes lenses almost dual focal length and means you can travel with less glass.

As far as hybrids go it is up there with the best, although the new offerings from Nikon are arguably better cameras.

For most people who want a Sony camera, the Sony a7 IV (Amazon) would be the best bet.

It’s less than half the cost, shoots 4K60 (with a crop) and has a new and improved design, the screen design from the a7S III and would even weigh a tiny bit less as well.

It shoots good photos with 33MP sensor size and APS-C crop mode will still get you about 12MP.

I also own this camera and travel around Australia with both this and the A1, but when I go overseas the A1 gets the spot in the bag.

There are plenty of offerings from Nikon and Canon to consider as well, with the Z8 being the best of the lot, albeit quite pricey. However I have no experience with these cameras personally.

If you want to save money then the a7 III (Amazon) can often be found on heavily discounted.

I used to travel with the Sony a7R III (Amazon) which has an incredible 42MP sensor and I personally preferred that over the a7 III because of its photo taking abilities.

• Improved processor over previous designs.
• 5.3k footage.
• 4k120 recording.
• Front LCD screen for composing shots.
• Awesome stabilisation and mounting options.
• Waterproof up to 10 metres.

• Randomly freezes after I have charged it and won’t respond, have to remove battery and put it back in.
• When using the phone app you can see what the GoPro sees, but the screen goes black as soon as you record. That’s the main time you want to see the feed on your phone!!
• Battery life could be better.

I bought this because it came with the new processor, I upgraded from the Hero 7.

I haven’t seen the need to upgrade since, GoPro releases yearly but the releases are always underwhelming, it usually takes 3 or 4 years before it’s worth upgrading again.

I went with GoPro because I have used them for years and have had good results with their products and mounting system.

The GoPro Hero 10 is a good choice as you will find it cheaper than the latest offerings and there haven’t been that many worthwhile upgrades.

At the time of writing though the DJI Osmo Action 4 (Amazon) has been released. However don’t fall for the marketing of the larger sensor size, this is still an action camera and the benefits won’t be big in high action bright day scenarios.

It is however a very good option. Some say better than the GoPro but it seems to be a 50/50 split on this.

There is also the GoPro Hero 11 Black (Amazon), which should drop in price soon as the Hero 12 is not far from being released.

• Affordable.
• Lightweight.
• Compact in your bag.
• f/2.8 aperture for better light and background blur.
• Barely any change to weight throughout zoom range, good for gimbals.

• Does not go to 16mm width.
• Does not go to 35mm width.
• Zoom and focus controls are the opposite to the Sony lenses which can be confusing when swapping lenses.
• Ready for a refresh, with a G2 lens needed to improve it.
• No optical image stabilisation in the lens.

Cost is a big one but the weight was too hard to pass up.

I previously had the Sony 16-35mm f/4 zeiss lens (Amazon), the original f4. However I found myself never really going past 24mm for photos and rarely for videos as well, although it was handy because 35mm at Super 35 is about a 50mm equivalent.

By changing to the Tamron lens I saved 100 grams in weight, gained access to f/2.8 and physically saved space in the bag as well (slightly).

I purchased the lens second hand as well, saving $300.

In a perfect world I would have the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 GM II, but it does weight a bit more and the cost is more than 3 times as much.

One day that is the lens I will get.

For those who want a cheap f/2.8

For most people, if you don’t want the Tamron but want a cheap zoom with f/2.8 the other option is the Sigma 16-28mm f/2.8 FE (Amazon).

By all accounts an incredible lens, see it in this comparison video here by Dustin Abbott.

For those who want the lightest setup

The Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 PZ (Amazon) is the successor to the lens I used to travel with and weighs an incredible 353 grams!

It has full internal zoom and is great for packing on long hikes due to the light weight design.

For those who want a GM lens

The original Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM (Amazon) will now be cheaper due to the GM II being released, I have seen it discounted up to $1,000 in some stores and there will likely be some appearing on the open market as people look to upgrade.

Not my choice for putting in a backpack due to the weight but an incredible lens optically and if you only travel with the one lens, then the weight won’t matter so much.

Is there anything wider?

There are other zoom lenses available at the super wide end such as the following (links to Amazon).

• Sony 12-24mm f/4 G
• Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8
• Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 GM

However these lenses are quite heavy (the 2.8 lenses are about 800g each) and they also have a bulbous front element meaning they require different filters. They’re quite specialist and not the best for general purpose.

What about prime lenses?

Wide prime lenses are fantastic, I personally own the Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM lens (Amazon) but I don’t take it internationally. It’s a great lens but not quite wide enough.

This just opens up a whole new discussion point, with so many lenses to choose from that I won’t be covering them here.

• Good focal range that covers a wide base.
• f/2.8 at the wide end.
• Great price for performance.
• Very light weight for a telephoto zoom.
• Packs away very small for the focal range.

• Focus and zoom rings opposite to Sony lenses.
• Not a constant aperture.
• No internal zoom.
• No optical image stabilisation.

I have changed from the Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G lens (Amazon) mostly for weight and size reasons.

The 70-300 was 854 grams, whereas the Tamron was only 575 grams. It is also shorter by about 30mm which means it takes up less room in my bag because I can store it vertically.

The other consideration is the cost, this thing is nice and cheap, so I need to worry about it less when travelling and it’s easier to insure.

The Tamron lens I have chosen here is in rare company as it goes quire wide at 28mm, the majority of the telephoto lenses will start around 70mm.

Sony’s competitor lens would be the Sony 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 which also comes in quite cheap but weighs ~200 grams more. However, it goes 4mm wider on one end and gets an extra 40mm reach at the telephoto lens.

I still recommend the Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS lens (Amazon) mentioned above because it is a great lens with OSS (stabilisation) and going to 300mm is cool to have in some scenarios.

There is also another 70-300mm from Tamron (Amazon) available that only weighs in at 544 grams and comes in very cheap, although it’s not as nice as the Sony offering.

If your prefer the 70-200mm range my recommendation would be the Sony 70-200 f/4 G OSS II (Amazon) over either of the GM lenses and also over the original f/4 due to the size reduction physically, the macro abilities and the slightly reduced weight.

However the original Sony 70-200 f/4 (Amazon) will be heavily discounted now.

The original Sony 70-200 f/2.8 GM weighs 1.4 kg and is no good for packing regularly, if you have money to spend on GM lenses then I would go for the Sony 70-200 f/2.8 GM II (Amazon).

But that is only for very extreme cases. Its weight is reduced to 1kg, but it’s still quite niche for general travel.

• 1/1.3″ sensor.
• Only 249 grams (normal battery).
• Can purchase plus sized batteries for longer flight time.
• Latest tracking.
• 10-bit recordings available.
• Tiny physical size great for packing.
• Forwards, sideways and backwards collision detection.

• Easily affected by winds.
• No waypoints.
• No d-log profile (has D-log M).
• Doesn’t work with the DJI RC Pro.

I owned the Mavic Pro, then the Mavic 2 Pro and I currently also own the Mavic 3 (Amazon) with the DJI RC Pro controller (Amazon).

All of which are great drones, the Mavic 3 is far superior, but it’s also 900 grams with the battery and about double the physical size.

The Mini 4 Pro is not the best drone available, it’s just easier to travel with, easier to pack into backpacks, easier to hike with due to the weight reduction and gets the job done most of the time.

When I am in Australia I never use it, the Mavic 3 offers so much better footage, way better controls and also has a variable aperture, but the Mini 4 Pro is way easier to pack for overseas travel.

I can only recommend DJI drones here as I have no experience with other drones. For most people I would recommend the Mini 3 Pro instead of the Mini 4 Pro.

If you do decide to go for the Mini 3 Pro then buy it with the Plus Flymore Kit (Amazon), it has bigger batteries for better flight time.

The changes from the 3 to 4 are not that major and you can pick up the 3 for a lot cheaper now that the 4 is out.

I did used to travel with the Mavic 2 Pro, which is the same weight as the Mavic 3 range, so it is entirely possible to do. It is just awkward going on planes with 7kg carry-0n and you have a jacket full of drone batteries, laptops, lenses etc.

The performance can’t be argued with though, the Mavic 3 Pro (Amazon) would therefore be my ultimate recommendation if you don’t care about the weight differences.

It has 3 cameras, variable aperture, massive battery life and is fully featured with waypoints

Otherwise the DJI Air 3 (Amazon) is slightly lighter and smaller at 720 grams, although I feel they’ve missed the mark here by not having a bigger weight discrepancy between the Air and Mavic lines.

However with 2x cameras and a more stable flight ability it is a great middle ground between the two options. It is also cheaper than the Mavic 3 Pro by a long way.

• 1.5 kg.
• Extends to 180cm.
• 41cm when folded up.
• Detachable monopod.

• Would prefer lever locks
• Will blow in the wind a bit as it is a lighter weight tripod

I wanted good quality with a good working height but didn’t want to pay massive amounts of money either and I landed on this tripod.

It weighs in at 1.45kg which is decent given the extendable size is more than most people will ever use. This isn’t a necessity, some people could do without the weight and size constraints.

Only consider packing a tripod for the chance to to long exposure or bracketed exposure shooting, or maybe for a stand for filming yourself, ask yourself if it’s worth the weight and size.

Don’t buy something cheap but also don’t get the bees knees of tripods for taking around the world in case something happens to it!

This version that I have is the version 1, there is a new updated version but I personally prefer the simpler version 1 which is lighter weight and has less features that I don’t need added to it.

I can’t offer much of an opinion here as I have only used 3 legged thing tripods.

The reason is that I have not had any reason to switch, it has never let me down, has always been sturdy and they have a wide range of tripods for different uses.

For travel a lot of people like the Peak Design tripod, I love Peak Design in general but this tripod to me is too pricey. One day I might switch but not unless my current tripod breaks.

• Super light weight (measured at 980 grams for my setup).
• Strong enough for Sony mirrorless cameras with f/2.8 GM zooms.
• Wireless control of cameras, no need to run cables.
• Great stabilisation algorithms of DJI.
• Very good app and on screen controls.

• Does not work with DJI image transmission module (Amazon).
• Will not fold away in its balanced state.
• Battery cannot be removed.

My first gimbal was the Zhiyun Weebill, then soon after the Weebill-S came out and I bought that.

That gimbal served me well for 3.5 years, but the Zhiyun app is a disgrace and they never fix it, on top of that I had the Zhiyun image transmission module (Amazon) which didn’t work with my new Sony cameras.

That’s part of the reason I wanted to change.

The other reason was to save weight.

My Zhiyun Weebill-S (Amazon) with mounting plates to accommodate the Peak Design Capture (Amazon) setup and with 2x quick releases attached weighed in at 1.40 kg.

The RS3 mini with the SmallRig 4195 plate (Amazon) to hold the Peak Design Capture weighs in at only 985 grams (including tripod).

I would have no hesitations in recommending the Zhiyun Weebill S (Amazon) gimbal as a cheaper option, it is what I used for 3.5 years and I did love its design if you add quick release plates. But it might be worth going for the more recent Zhiyun Weebill 3 or the Weebill 3S (Amazon links) if you like the Zhiyun gimbals.

They both come in at roughly 1.1 kg which is manageable and the Weebill 3 also has incredible battery life, rated at ~21 hours! For the Weebill 3S this is 11 hours.

I dislike all the gimmicks like microphone ports and LEDs but some people might enjoy that.

However just beware the app, it is poor in comparison to DJI in my opinion, but has massively improved from the days when I was using the Weebill Lab.

I also could not get the image transmission to work with the Sony a7 IV or the Sony A1 cameras. I am not sure if they intend to solve this issue as they haven’t responded to emails.

For those wanting  the ultimate in lightweight

If you want to have the smallest possible gimbal for travel that can still hold a full-frame mirrorless camera then check out the Zhiyun Crane-M 3S which is about 700 grams!

This lens can take a Sony full-frame mirrorless with most prime lenses (no 135mm f/1.4s, be realistic) and most smaller zoom lenses. It can hold larger lenses but may not have the clearance or be able to balance properly depending on the size and weight distribution.

It is an incredibly lightweight and compotent gimbal though and for travel would be quite hard to beat.

What about the DJI Rs3?

I own the DJI RS3 and use this gimbal when traelling Australia in the 4WD because weight is not an option, however this does weigh 1.4 kg when all setup so I’d recommend saving the weight if travelling long term and going with one of the other offerings above.

This is the gimbal I use with the DJI image transmission modules (Amazon), because the RS3 mini does not work with image transmission.

It does have a removable battery so it can pack up small and it is incredibly strong, at the end of the day the choice is yours but travelling with a 700 or 900 gram gimbal compared to a 1.4 kg gimbal does make a world of difference.

• Incredible battery life.
• Lightning fast performance.
• About 500 grams lighter than the 16 inch. 
• Great speakers for a 14″ laptop.
• Edit with Final Cut Pro.
• Very good screen.
• Personally I like MacOs.
• Super fast SSD.
• Portability is a major plus.

• The 16 inch has a bigger screen.
• 16 inch has better battery life due to the increased battery size.
• 16 inch has better cooling, bigger fans and more space to move air.
• 16 inch in extreme workloads is faster due to the above.
• Expensive.

I used to own a 15 inch Macbook pro (2018 model) and I couldn’t wait to upgrade. That thing was a massive mistake by Apple.

They stuffed up the keyboard, they tried to make it “look nice” at the cost of performance and practicality and it was just slow.

Now with the M2 Max I can edit videos in native resolution (no need for proxy media), I can apply LUTs and colour corrections on the spot to assess footage as I edit, I can add Titles without playback suffering and the export speeds are insane thanks to the encoder/decoder setup on the Max range of chips.

This thing does everything with such speed all the while using far less battery than other laptops.

It is the single biggest change I have ever made performance wise.

I can’t really talk about other laptops here as I don’t have experience with them hands on, however the Dell XPS range seems to be the most popular competitor to the Macbook Pro range.

If you’re buying the Macbook Pros then I would recommend people consider the 14 inch for overseas travel. The 14 inch weighs 500 grams less which is a very noticeable difference and has the same performance for 95% of user tasks.

You will get worse speakers, less battery life and a smaller screen to edit on but the weight savings to me would be worth it for long term travel out of a backpack.

I used to own the M1 Max 10c CPU, 32c GPU with 64GB RAM and 2TB SSD (Amazon link) and I miss it to be honest, so I can definitely recommend that laptop as well. I loved the big screen, the speakers and the battery size being as big as possible.

But you will need to decide whether you want to carry around the extra weight and larger sized device or not. For me right now I am happy, but one day I might pick up a 16″ again when I am catching less flights.

• Great noise cancelling.
• Swipe gestures to change song, pause, change volume or mute ANC to talk.
• Extremely good battery life.
• Comes with the adapter for aeroplanes.
• Customisability for music as well as ANC levels.

• There are newer models out now.

Almost universally regarded as the best noise cancelling over ear headphones on the market and that’s my experience as well.

I came from Bose headphones which were the most comfortable but the Sony has more customisability, longer battery life and is plenty comfortable for long haul flights. It comes with the splitter required for use on airplanes, has the cord if you want to save the bluetooth and is a nice compact design when packed away.

If you’re ever editing video and want to be sure the sound mix is right but are in a hostel or on a plane then headphones are essential and these are the best I’ve tried but you also can’t go wrong with Bose who I’ve also used frequently.

There are newer models released since I purchased these but I don’t see the point in upgrading things until I need to.

These still give me great comfort, noise cancelling and battery life after 4 years.

The latest from Sony is now the Sony WH-1000XM5 (Amazon) for those who are interested.

• Almost waterproof.
• Large rear access to gear.
• 2kg when empty.
• Routing for water bladder.
• Best harness of any camera bag.
• Beautiful zippers, big, beefy, smooth and weather sealed.
• Side pocket mesh for tripods or large waterbottles that is easy to clean and stow away on both sides.
• Tough as nails.
• Straps on the outside for camping gear.
• Filter pockets, hidden passport pockets.
• Fits a 16 inch laptop in two different spots.
• Adjustable torso height fit.
• Lockable zips.

• Personally I don’t use or want side access and it adds an entry point for thieves.
• I’d like it if the front zippers went a little bit lower.
• Not really anywhere comfortable to mount the Peak Design Capture clip.

I had the original Explore bag, then I upgraded to the Shimoda Action X50 (Amazon) which I still have, but it is too big for most airlines carry on limits.

The Explore v2 was tailored more to travelling and landscape photography than the Action series, which is tailored to mountain exploration more than anything.

The Explore v2 has a heap of features making it better for airplane travel, check out this video here for a better run down.

I can’t recommend the Shimoda range of bags enough, I have yet to have an issue with them.

There are two ranges now, both in their respective “version 2”, the Explore and the Action.

For most people Explore is a good way to go, the Action series does have roll-top access which was brilliant for stuffing in shoes, jackets or whatever on bus rides where the size of the bag didn’t matter.

I currently have the Shimoda Explore v2 35, but may change to the Shimoda Action v2 x40 when this one runs its course.

I also have the Peak Design Travel 45L Backpack (Amazon) and love it!

However, it’s a different target audience, not the best for hiking, more for travelling around in a car perhaps, or going from hotel to hotel. It has more features than I have seen in any bag but is heavier and not as comfortable as the Shimoda by quite a way.

There are so many bags out there now it’s impossible to cover them all, because there will never be a perfect bag, everyone’s desires are so minutely different that the smallest changes can have a big impact on a pack’s enjoyability to each person.

• Solves all your problems.
• Holds a bunch of cables without them ever getting tangled.
• Holds a whole lot of spare batteries.
• Holds a massive 27,000 mAh powerbank.
• Holds SD and MicroSD cards if you don’t have a separate case.
• Would keep your gear dry for a long time before water got in if something leaked in your bag.
• Stands upright when open, showing you all the contents.
• Honestly it’s just incredible and is Peak Design’s best product!

• It is a little bulky, but it is so tough and protects your stuff so well that it is worth it.

Incredible. Incredible. Incredible.

I don’t like Peak Designs day bags much, or their tripod, but this is honestly the best organisational tech pouch I’ve ever come across!

I have had mine since I backed the project way back on Kickstarter and it’s in as good a condition as it’s ever been. It is tough, useful, cleverly designed and I love it.

It keeps me so organised knowing all of my charging cables, batteries, chargers, power banks and SD cards are all in one easy to find place that stands upright when opened revealing everything for easy access.

It will last you for life if you manage not to lose it. The zippers will outlast you.

Go see one in person and judge for yourself.

When this came out for Kickstarter there was nothing even close to it in quality and practicality, I have not checked the past 4 years if anyone has released anything to compete because I’ve not had the need to look elsewhere.

• See through window to see what’s inside.
• Almost a waterproof design, close to it.
• Has internal organisational zippers and compartments.
• Has a large area for bulky accessories.

• None, as far as accessory pouches go this does everything.

This just is a well built but simple accessory case that fits well with the Shimoda bags that I use.

This holds all of my GoPro accessories in the one place. The colour reminds me personally of water and the build quality is such that I would use the case around the water without any stress.

Therefore it made sense for me to pair this with my GoPro gear which is the camera that comes out for water sports.

#coolstorysteve

No recommendations here guys, this is up to you, any old case will get the job done for this purpose and it really comes down to what you want it to do.

Accessory cases are a dime a dozen so just grab whatever works for you.

• Holds 8 circular filters.
• Has a slim profile for travel.
• Very good quality build.
• Offers good protection for your filters.

• I don’t have 8 filters so there’s a bit of dead space.

It’s just a brilliant bit of kit from a trusted manufacturer.

A lot of filter cases are so thick but this one is nice and compact!

I get it, because filters need protecting, but this filter case actually has two different layers of protection, I just take out the middle section which is a nice 8-way filter case that doesn’t take up too much room in my bag.

I don’t even use the outer case.

It depends on how many filters you have, this will hold 8 filters and I doubt most people are travelling with more than that.

Then it depends on what sort of protection level you require, this for me is more than enough but you be the judge for your own filter set.

• Sturdy.
• Slim.
• Lightweight.
• Comes with a cover/bag for storage, or for using the core unit as check in.

• The dividers aren’t as creative as Peak Designs.
• Not a fan of side access personally but most core units have this now days.

This core unit is nice and sturdy without being too bulky, it has its own cover that you can zip up over it for storage and the dividers are solid and lightweight.

I do have a mixture of the Shimoda dividers and the Peak Design dividers that fold into shelves, because those Peak Design dividers are super helpful for customsing the setup inside the bag.

This depends on your bag really as all the brands have their own stuff.

If you plan on using a hiking backpack and throwing a camera core unit inside that, then check out the Peak Design Camera Cube as an alternative to the Shimoda ones.

Peak Design also have the best dividers with their foldable shelving system that I think exist right now. The downside is it is heavier than the Shimoda core unit, but it has a zippered lid so it will be protected from all angles.

I use the Shimode one because I use their bags and the PD one is too wide, but I still use PD dividers.

• Almost waterproof.
• Gives you peace of mind if your gear is exposed to heavy rain for extended periods, it won’t penetrate the bag and then the dry sack inside.

• Can be annoying if you need to access your camera gear.

This is only necessary if you think your bag will be exposed to extreme rain or that it might fall into the water (eg: bag is tied to kayak for some reason).

A camera bag that is wax treated such as the Shimoda bag will generally be fine in all conditions, especially with the rain cover on top, but it is not submersible.

If you plan on doing water sports and taking expensive gear, it might be worth having the gear inside the bag also inside a dry bag such as this.

Not necessary for everyone but handy in Southeast Asia or Central America where it is tropical and can rain bullets.

It would only be necessary for extended journeys where your bag is exposed to the weather more than you would be comfortable with.

• Protect your memory cards from extreme impact.
• Weather resistant.
• Holds MicroSD as well.
• Good price.
• Holds all your cards in one place to make finding them easier.
• Very slimline.

• Only holds 3 SD cards, fine for me but others might want more.

I used to think I wouldn’t need an SD card case but I was wrong. I started with the Pelican 0915D (Amazon) which was brilliant as it held even more cards, however it was slightly more bulky.

This thing fits in pockets better, it holds less but I found that I never filled up the Pelican case when travelling overseas and I have now made that a case I use when travelling out of my car instead.

I recommend this Smallrig case or this Pelican case. There are a lot of copy cat designs out there now which might also be good quality but I haven’t tested them, Pelican is a known brand.

An SD card wallet might be less bulky but it would not offer the same weather or impact protection and sometimes don’t offer microSD card slots.

Then there’s things on Amazon that look very similar to the Pelican 0915 case, so if you want to try them you can go down that path.

• Small.
• Internal backup recording.
• Good battery life.
• Redundancy recording.
• Good quality audio.
• Never have to sync audio with camera again.
• Lightweight to travel with.
• 32-bit float.

• DJI has a very handy competitor.
• Having to use Rode app to make changes to transmitter settings etc.

At the time the Rode Wireless Pro was released DJI also released the DJI Mic 2 which is a very popular and capable wireless microphone system.

Watching reviews on Youtube and I found that most people concluded that DJI has a better UI but that the Rode system had better audio. Coupled with the fact it has a bigger battery and much more internal audio as well as coming with good quality lavaliers and the choice was made for me.

Considering I already knew how to navigate the Rode wireless system, the complicated UI was a non-issue for me and I have needed to delve back in history before to capture audio from a long time ago, which makes the Rode’s larger storage handy for me.

Go for this or the DJI Mic 2 (Amazon), seriously you can’t go wrong. They’re both great, ignore people that try talk one system down, both are brilliant and you won’t lose either way.

• Fully digital design.
• No cables.
• No battery or charging needed.
• Lightweight and compact.
• Change the direction of the pick-up on the fly.
• Clean audio.
• Can choose automatic levels for changing environment.

• Has to be used in hot shoe mount of the camera, can’t be used with laptop for example.
• Specific to a select few Sony cameras.

When I upgraded my cameras to the Sony A1 and the Sony a7 IV it made sense to improve the form factor of the microphones for overseas travel.

This thing is fully featured but a lot smaller than some of the other shotgun microphones I have, plus I didn’t need to remember to charge it or anything like that.

Another shotgun microphone that I own and use frequently is the Rode Videomic NTG (Amazon).

This is an amazing shotgun mic that charges via usb, is automatically powered on and off as you connect and disconnect from the camera, can feed audio direct to your laptop via USB and has all the gain control, lo-cut filters and safety channel features that Rode are so good at providing.

It is also a very light weight option, although physically bigger than the Sony ECM-B1M it works with any camera setup offering more flexibility.

• Tiny form factor.
• Cheap to buy.
• Looks neater than having the DJI mic or Wireless Go II clipped to your shirt.
• Good audio.

• Cord is quite weak, if it gets caught on something it might snap.

It takes up bugger all space, looks neater on your shirt than wearing the wireless transmitter on your shirt and provides nice audio.

Worst case scenario if this breaks you can always just record straight into the wireless transmitter until you find a replacement.

There are so many lavalier microphones out there, stick with a reputable brand and you can’t go wrong.

• Can charge on flights, in airports, at restaurants or wherever when you’re travelling.
• 25,000 mah enough to do smaller laptops (1 charge).
• Still has a USB-A port for backwards compatibility.
• USB-C outputs.
• Lighter weight then my previous power bank.

• The larger capacity you go, the more weight you carry around all the time.
• Most people will be fine with a 10-20k power bank to reduce cost and weight.
• Could use an extra port.

I still sometimes use an Alster Plus 27,000mAh power bank but this Cygnett option is lighter weight and slighlty smaller physically.

The Alster Plus is 650 grams, has multiple outputs, ridiculous fast charge and isn’t too big considering its capacity but I have heard of the units failing and they are no longer in production.

So for me the Cygnett was a better choice, to save weight but also to get a newer item to travel with and keep the older bank at home where if it fails it doesn’t matter.

Generally speaking: Anker, Belkin and Cygnett are good.

The closest thing to the Alster Plus I have is the HyperJuice 265W power bank but this thing weighs 765 grams!

Amazing, but heavy for backpacking and the limited use you’ll get out of it.

There are heaps of options out there that appear to be country specific, just make sure if you get one that it has the required outputs to charge what you want.

Just because a power bank has 20,000 mah capacity does not mean that it can charge a laptop, it needs to be able to output enough power (generally speaking you want 60W output or higher).

The same would apply for drone batteries, it’s not all about capacity but also the output. Try find something with both USB-C and USB-A ports that can also charge up fast.

Remember that  you carry this weight around all the time, for most people a 10K power bank like this Belkin 10K with USB-C (Amazon) will be ideal as you’ll never be that far between hostels or hotels and it only weighs ~210 grams.