The Best Gear for Solo Travel Vloggers
Going on a trip and want to vlog your experience? At least come prepared! Here's our top essentials for the traveling solo artist.
Solo vlogging allows viewers to see into the lives of people as they go about their daily routines through their cameras. The same goes for solo travel vlogging, which allows travelers to narrate experiences in a more natural way, giving the viewer the impression that they are traveling across the world with the storytellers.
If you want to be a travel vlogger, one of the most essential decisions you'll have to make is which pieces of gear to acquire so you can capture yourself and the environment around you when you travel. We've got you covered.
At A Glance:
- Cybershot RX100 VII — $1,298 — Perfect for traveling and vlogging
- Insta360 ONE X2 Action Camera — $429.99 — Creative freedom in 360°
- Peak Design Travel Tripod — $349.95 — Portable and easy-to-setup tripod
- Lume Cube Panel Go LED Light — $99.95 — Adjustable bi-color LED Light
- JOBY Wavo Mobile — $39.95 — Lightweight Microphone
Easy to hold in one hand while talking to the camera.
Made for ANY camera.
To Know:
Sony's RX100 compact camera series is considered to be the best of the best when it comes to compact cameras. It's compact, light, fast, and of high quality. Burst shooting at a whopping 24 frames per second is possible in both JPEG and Raw formats, with full autofocus. It has a 1-inch sensor and a 24-70mm f/1.8-2.8 lens, and it can shoot 4K video and super-slow-motion footage.
What We Love:
24-200mm SUPER ZOOM
Built-in ZEISS® Vario-Sonnar T* 24–200 mm F2.8-4.5 zoom lens covers a broad zoom range equivalent to two standard zoom lenses (24–70 mm and 70–200 mm), all in a very compact size.
FANTASTIC IMAGES & VIDEOS
Real-time Tracking and Real-time Eye AF, and 4K HDR (HLG) video with external audio let you capture reliably stunning imagery wherever you go.
COMPACT
Fits your hoodie pocket! Pro photography, videography, and vlogging in your pocket or Fanny Sling!
Sony
Cyber-Shot DSC-RX100 VII Digital Camera
This is the do it all pocket-sized compact camera you've been looking for! Vlog, shoot video or pictures wherever you go reliably with the Sony RX100 VII!
Buy for $1,298.00
To Know:
A small camera that can be attached to almost any part of your body or sports equipment and captures everything you want in a smooth, stable manner. To keep your footage impossibly smooth, Insta360 employs proprietary FlowState stabilization. There is no equipment. It's not a problem. There's nothing here but buttery action, and it's ready to share. Simply connect the camera to the Charge Case's onboard Lightning connector or the included Type-C cable to use it on iOS or Android. At the touch of a button, it records 30- or 60-second clips — anytime, anywhere. It then employs artificial intelligence to assist you in finding and editing your best shots, which is a fantastic feature I had no idea existed in modern cameras.
What We Love:
STABILE AND SMOOTH
ONE X2 uses proprietary FlowState stabilization to keep your footage impossibly smooth. No gear. No hassle.
SUPER FAST HYPERLAPSE
ONE X2 shoots stabilized hyper lapses and recommends the perfect playback speed for your shot.
AI POWERFUL EDITING!
Insta360 uses AI-powered FlashCut to find your best shots and edit them together on beat.
Insta360
ONE X2 Action Camera
Don't go second best! Arguably the number one 360 camera out there is the Insta360 ONE X2 with super 5.7K resolution and H.265 encoding, FlowState Stabilization
Buy for $429.99
To Know:
For years, Peak Design has been rethinking the camera accessory market. Peak Design claims a maximum payload of 9.1kg (20lbs) for the Travel Tripod, despite the fact that it is a travel tripod. It's the same for both versions of the tripod, and it'll suffice for most camera setups. Peak Design Tripod also has 5-section legs that allow it to collapse to 39.1cm in length and 7.9cm in diameter when not in use. Despite its short collapsed length, it extends to a maximum height of 152.4cm with the center column raised or 130.2cm with the center column down. Most of the time, the shorter length is fine for me, but the center column must be popped up a little to allow the tripod head to be tilted.
What We Love:
Travel Tripod
The most portable, packable, and easy-to-setup professional tripod on the market.
Compact Ball Head
Ultra-smooth, omnidirectional ball head with one single adjustment ring. No bulky or confusing knobs and a simple locking ring for total security.
Mobile Mount
Built-in and stowable mobile mount to securely grip any phone/case
.
The Details
Brand: Peak Design
Price: $349.95
Product Type: Tripod
Best For: Solo Content Creators, Vloggers, Travel Diaries.
Peak Design
Travel Tripod
Can a tripod be sexy? Oh yes, it can! Enter the Peak Design Travel Tripod. A pro-level, lightweight, travel tripod in a truly portable form
Buy for $349.95
To Know:
The Lume Cube Panel Go LED Light will brighten up your next video takes and photos and help your content to look the best. Compatible and attachable to tripods, DSLR and Mirrorless Cameras, this pocket-sized LED light provides soft and professional illumination with fully adjustable controls. The intuitive LCD screen will give you all the information you need, including variable color temperature and up to 16 hours’ worth of run time.
What We Love:
SOFT DIFFUSER INCLUDED
The silicone diffusion cover is ideal for imparting a luminescence to my skin, resulting in a crisp, clear, and even image.
SMALL SIZE, STRONG POWER
While it is small, don't let that fool you into thinking it's of poor quality or that it won't make a difference. It's extremely bright and holds LED power admirably.
RUN TIME
16 hours of runtime will give you plenty of flexibility during your solo creation processes.
The Details:
Brand: Lume Cube
Price: $99.95
Product Type: Portable LED Light
Best For: Portraits, vlogs, food photography, and videography.
Lume Cube
Panel Go On Camera LED Light
Looking for a powerful, yet compact on-camera light? The Panel GO is an adjustable bi-color LED light with 1-100% brightness and 3200K-5600K color temperature
Buy for $99.99
To Know:
The JOBY Wavo Mobile could be your next purchase if you need internal audio for small-scale video shoots. You get professional quality audio from any soundtrack you create for only $39.95, the lowest price point on this list. It's the lightest and smallest microphone on the list, weighing only 0.04 kg. Put it in your bag, and you're done! In your backpack, you've got a studio.
What We Love:
Seamless Weight
The microphone improves sound quality without adding unnecessary weight to the TelePod, which is particularly useful if you're using it as a selfie stick for extended periods of time.
Cardioid Directional Pattern
Wavo will only pick up your voice and drown out all other noises. It has a noticeable reduction in wind noise, thanks to the furry cover, which made a significant difference.
JOBY
Wavo - Affordable Shotgun Microphone
Looking for a high quality on-camera mic that doesn't break the bank? The Joby Wavo is a unidirectional, shock-isolated mic that focuses on the subject
Buy for $79.95How We Tested:
As a solo travel creator, using these pieces has been a super fun experience and I’m happy to have had the opportunity to test them in the field. Over the last few years, we've learned a lot about filming and cameras, and we're excited to share some of our favorite vlogging gear with you today. There are a lot of different parts to the camera equipment we use to make travel videos, but I'm only going to talk about the cameras, my go-to tripod, portable lighting, and mic in this post.
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