After almost 5 years of constantly traveling with my beloved Sony RX100, it was time to upgrade my gear to further advance my filmmaking skills. As it always is, the bigger the camera, the heavier the accessories. In this guide, I will show you all the upgrades and gear I carry when I am on the road. The challenge here was to fit all of these upgrades into a 25L backpack from Herschel Supply. Let us begin.
Within this guide, we will focus on keeping the backpack as light as we can without sacrificing the capability to film effectively while traveling.
Quick Summary
Camera: Sony a6500
General Purpose Lens: Sony 16-70mm F4 (SEL1670Z)
Low-light Lens: Sony 35mm f/1.8 (SEL35F18)
Wide Angle Lens: Rokinon 12mm F2.0 (RK12M-E)
Tripod: Rangers 57” Ultra Compact
Charger: Anker Premium 5-Port 60W USB Wall Charger
Power Bank: RAVPower 26800mAh Power Delivery
Lens Cleaning Solution: Lens Cleaning Kit
External Hard Drive: WD My Passport (2 TB)
Other Accessories: Spare Batteries | SanDisk SD Card | Polarizer
Backpack: Herschel Supply Backpack
Cameras
Sony a6500
The Sony a6500 is one of the best crop-sensor mirrorless cameras on the market, and for good reason. It is fast, reliable, and versatile, perfect for both photography and videography. With its fast autofocus and 6K sharpness in 4K format video shooting, I have seen a major improvement in my travel videos.
Above is an example of my travel video shot on the Sony a6500. The body is light and compact compared to a DSLR, making it perfect for traveling.
General Purpose Lens
Sony Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm F4 ZA OSS (SEL1670Z)
This is my preferred choice for the best all-around lens. What that means is that this lens stays on my camera most of the time. The 16-70mm covers most of the range I need while allowing me to zoom into people from afar. The f/4 aperture is also fast enough for most use cases.
If you are looking for a cheaper option, I would recommend the alternative (Sony 18-105mm f/4 Lens (SELP18105G)) instead, as it costs only US$ 598 but offers all the capabilities of my lens, albeit slightly heavier.
Low Light Lens
Sony 35mm f/1.8 Prime Fixed Lens (SEL35F18)
What my general-purpose lens lacks is the ability to shoot well in low light. This lens compensates for that with its faster aperture at f1.8. It is also a great lens for street photography because the bokeh effect on this lens is phenomenal.
Buy Sony 35mm f/1.8 Prime Fixed Lens ($448.00)Wide Angle Lens
Rokinon 12mm F2.0 Ultra Wide Angle Lens (RK12M-E)
This lens is for rare occasions when I want to do astrophotography. With its extremely wide angle and low aperture, I should be able to easily capture the scale of the Milky Way with the landscape. The problem is that this is a manual focusing lens, so I will have to manually focus the shot myself, hence its use for rare occasions.
I'm using a variant version of this lens, as you can see in the photo, but I would recommend that you buy Rokinon instead, as it was recommended by Lonelyspeck.com.
Tripod
Rangers 57” Ultra Compact Tripod
I used a Chinese variant (Jusino B-025) of this tripod, but the size, quality, and price are pretty much the same. I always carry my tripod in my backpack, so the tripod has to be small enough when fully collapsed. This one is around 35cm when collapsed, so it fits well in my backpack. It is also made of metal, so it's durable and sturdy enough to carry the payload.
Buy Rangers 57” Ultra Compact Tripod ($69.99)
Charger
Anker Premium 5-Port 60W USB Wall Charger
This is my universal charger for all of my electronics. With 4 USB ports and one Power Delivery USB-C port, I can charge all of my electronics with just one charger. This is one of the few chargers that are capable of Power Delivery technology, which should allow you to quickly charge powerful devices like the MacBook or the Pixel 2 phones through its USB-C port.
Buy Anker Premium 5-Port 60W USB Wall Charger ($49.99)Power Bank
RAVPower 26800mAh Power Delivery Portable Charger
I am using a Somoss Sense 6+ Pro 20000mAh power bank, but it is only available in Thailand. So, I would recommend you get a RAVPower portable charger with Power Delivery Support. I use this to keep all my electronics topped up during the day. Power Delivery support means that you can quickly charge powerful devices like Macbooks or the Pixel 2 phones as well.
Buy RAVPower 26800mAh Power Delivery Portable Charger ($79.99)Cleaning Solution
Lens Cleaning Kit
Moving from a compact camera to a mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses requires you to keep the sensor clean yourself. At first, I thought I wouldn't need to, but being in the desert for 3 days taught me otherwise. Tiny specks can ruin your videos, so having a cleaning solution ready will come in handy when you need it.
Buy Lens Cleaning Kit ($8.99)Hard Drives
WD My Passport Portable External Hard drive (2 TB)
I have 2 identical My Passport HDs with 2TB each to back up my photos and videos. One, I take with me on the road, and the other is safe at home. I have had the opportunity to experience the worst fear a photographer could ever face firsthand not too long ago, when my bag was stolen together with my external HD. It was a hard lesson learned, and that is why I now have two HD backups, and you should too.
Buy Western Digital My Passport HD ($69.99)Other Accessories
Spare Batteries
Spare batteries are always a good idea for Sony Mirrorless cameras, which are known to have a terrible battery life.
SanDisk Extreme 128GB SDXC UHS-I Card
The Sony 6500 is quite picky about its SD Card since it will only allow shooting 4K in the highest quality (100M) with an SD Card that has SDXC U3. Simply look at your SD Card and see if there is a "U" symbol with a little "3" inside. If not, then you will need a new card.
Buy SanDisk Extreme 128GB SDXC UHS-I Card ($55.00)B+W 55mm Circular Polarizer
This is optional, but the filter will reduce the bright light coming through the lens during midday and enhance the color saturation a little. It is perfect for landscape photography on bright days. This particular one (55mm) is for my general-purpose lens mentioned previously.
Buy B+W 55mm Circular Polarizer ($62.95)Backpack
Herschel Supply Little America Daypack
Last but not least, the thing I can't live without is my Indian Blue Herschel Supply's backpack. I carry everything I need for the day with this backpack, including camera gear, snacks, and water. The main reason why I love this backpack is the unique style it has, which is hard to find in a travel day pack.
Buy Herschel Supply Little America backpack ($99.99)Total Cost: US$ 3,473.66
"Three thousand dollars? That's expensive!" I'm not gonna lie, it wasn't cheap buying all this stuff, but remember that I bought many of these items over the span of 3 years, so feel free to pick what works best for you. I hope you'll find this list useful. If so, feel free to hit share, tweet, and comment below.
Want to take your photography game to the next level? Here are some resources to help you upgrade your work and photography gear:
Further Reading for Resources
Looking for more articles to help you with your travel, whether it be camera gear or clothing? Here is a collection of articles you might like:
- Ever wondered what a full-time travel blogger like myself carries in my camera bag? Check out: What's In My Camera Bag in 2025?
- Finding a great camera bag you can travel with is not as easy as it sounds. If you are looking for one, here are the 10 Best Camera Bags for Travel, Backpacking, and Hiking You Should Buy.
- Now, if you are looking for a camera sling/shoulder bag instead of a full-fledged camera backpack to travel with, here are the 11 Best Camera Sling/Shoulder Bags For Travel.
- Looking for the most versatile camera sling bag? Check out: A Traveler's Review: WANDRD Roam (Rogue) Sling.
- For a smaller setup, the Nomatic McKinnon Sling is a great camera bag to check out. Here is A Traveler's Review: Nomatic McKinnon Camera Sling 8L.
- If you are looking for gifts to buy for your photographer loved ones, check out: 12 Cool Gifts To Buy For Travel Photographers.
- Traveling light with camera gear is all about balancing between what you need and what you want. Here are the 8 Best Tips For Traveling Light With Camera Gear.
- Full-frame or APS-C Cameras? Here's my take on which camera format to pick for travel: 5 Reasons Why I'm Sticking With a Sony APS-C Camera
- Picking a camera body is one thing, but picking the lenses is a whole different game. Here is the ultimate guide to the best travel lenses for the Sony a6500.
- Looking for the best street and travel photography lens? Here is why the Sigma 56mm F1.4 is the Best Travel Photography Lens for Sony APS-C.
- GoPro is good and all, but did you know that there are many other GoPro alternatives that are better and cheaper? Here are the 8 Best GoPro Alternatives You Should Buy in 2025.
- Looking for a great drone to travel with? Why the DJI Mavic Mini is the Best Drone for Travelers.
- The best travel drone just got even better. Here is A Traveler's Review of The DJI Mini 2 and why it is the best travel drone to buy.
- Already have a Mavic Mini or looking to buy one? Here are 25 Tips and Tricks for New DJI Mavic Mini Owners.
- For more travel drone options, be sure to check out the 8 Best Drones For Travel To Buy In 2025.
- If you are a light-weight traveler and are looking for powerful gear to go with your setup, check out the extremely lightweight photography gear guide.
- Looking to plan your first backpacking trip around the world? Check out: How To Plan A Backpacking Trip.
- For more resources like this, visit my Resources page.
- Want to learn how I was able to take so many good pictures of myself while I travel solo? Check out: How To Take Great Pictures of Yourself.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.
8 Comments
Hey Pete, thanks for the list and, btw, your videos are amazing! I'm trying to decide on my first interchangeable lens camera, mainly over the a6500 and the new a7iii. Would you still choose the a6500 today? any drawbacks with the a6500? cheers!
Hey Francisco, Thank you for the comment! A7iii is better in every way, newer with more up to date features from Sony, full-frame so bigger photos, better battery, dual sd card slots but the downside is that it is a full frame camera which means bigger size, bigger and more expensive lens.
a6500 is more than a year old now but still very capable, with features almost on par with a7iii. Lighter, smaller body, smaller and cheaper APS-C lens, but it's a crop sensor so you are getting smaller resolution when it comes to photography.
The video, on the other hand, a6500 is a beast still as it shoots 4K with 6K natively and downside to 4K so you are getting a much sharper 4K footage than regular 4K. I believe the a73 also does the same here.
It will all depend on what you want out of it. a73 is 600 USD more than a6500 and the cost will be even more when you look at the lens, but it's future proof. It sure is a hard question. I would recommend going to the store and see both for yourself. :)
I hope this helps!
Thanks for that, Pete. It was very helpfull. I'll go to a store to check both. I would like to buy a good all round camera for both, even though video is my main focus. Regarding the lenses you recommended, are they APS-C only? The full frame lenses do are expensive. Do you reckon it's worth to invest in the a7iii and on a budget lens or kit in the first instance and grow from there, as a future proof solution?
The budget keeps growing when considering the a7iii. the a6500 is more or less half the price of the a7iii in australia. Thanks for your help! 😃
Hi again!
So after a lot of research (and ofcourse reading your post), this is what I came up with , and need your inputs on what might go wrong :
A6300 (chose this over A6500 as it was 400$ cheaper , downside being image stabilization, I believe slow mo and timelapse is possible with 6300 but not sure , I don't mind spending the extra 400$ honestly..what do you think? )
Sigma 30mm 1.4 DC DN (chose this over Sony 35mm 1.8 OSS as its 100$ cheaper , downside being slow autofocus) - main use low light potraits.
Sony 16-70mm (one you have mentioned) - primary use as general purpose - street photography , potrait from far when i Don't want people to know i am shooting them)
Sony FE 70-200mm F4 G OSS primary purpose - telephoto for shooting wildlife (do you think I should opt for 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS ingstead? I am not sure why the 70-300 is cheaper than 70-200) considering I am using a6300 which isn't full frame, does it mean I can achieve 300mm with the 200mm?
I am not sure which from the above could also function as a lens for landscapes (not just focusing on a mountain but the entire scenery) could you suggest something for landscape?
Sorry for so many questions and thank you in advance!
Hi Ananya,
Oh, awesome! The a6300 is good too! It lacks in-body stabilization and touch-screen but if you have lenses with optical stabilization than it doesn't really matter, plus I never really use the touchscreen so you pick the right choice. For slow-mo and timelapse, you can do that on a6300 with 120 fps and sony timelapse app respectively. The a6500 has an S&Q mode that allows you to playback those videos in slow-mo/timelapse but the bitrate is quite low and i think you better off doing it the manual way like on a6300. :)
Those are some nice lens selection! You've got portrait covered, zoom covered and telephoto covered so you are pretty good for any situation. For landscape, to be honest, the 16-70mm f4 is quite wide already and I often use that for landscape too but if you are looking for a wider one, either the Sony 10 - 18mm f4 lens or for a much more affordable option, Rokinon 12mm f2 (manual).
I am scheduled to post a new post tomorrow on which lens to pick for a6500/a6300 for the kind of travelers you are, so stay tuned to the blog and you will have more info for you to decide. :)
I hope these help!
yes so a6300 + gimball with a rokinon it is. I think my budget crossed a bot because of the telephoto but I really wanted one. I was in Alaska last summer and wanted to picture wildlife and was left wanting more zoom.
Thanks again. I love your blog it is extremely to the point and concise and the media is wonderful.
gimbal*
Yes, I don't have the telephoto lens myself but it will surely come in handy for trips like safaris or wildlife adventures where you will need a powerful zoom lens. No problem! I'm glad you like the blog! Much appreciated. :)
PS. The new article about the lenses is now live so do check it out on the front page of the blog. :)