The Ultimate Compact Camera Setup for Travel Photography

As a travel photographer, you’ve likely spent years acquiring camera gear to capture all of your adventures. Whether you’re hiking up a mountain for an epic landscape shot, swimming with sharks or just walking around a new city, every travel moment requires a different piece of kit to truly capture the moment. But carrying all of that camera gear when travelling can be, well, a real pain in the back. This may not be a huge deal for shorter flights, but, when you’re trekking to the other side of the world and facing a 20+ hour commute, the size and weight of your camera bag becomes a factor really fast. As a travel photographer myself, I’ve learned the hard way on a number of trips.

For several years, I hauled a large camera bag with me on multiple trips, thinking that I needed to bring as much camera gear as possible to effectively capture my adventures. What I started to realize, however, is that I didn’t enjoy lugging such a heavy pack around, and I never ended up using all of the camera gear I brought.

So, after years of straining my back on every trip, I decided it was time to build a compact camera setup for most of my travels. I say most of my travels because some adventures do, inevitably, require more camera gear than others. But, for the majority of my trips, I discovered a compact camera set up that just simply works for me.

Now, every travel photographers’ gear requirements will be different, but, if you’re looking to build a compact camera set up for yourself, here’s a rundown of the compact camera setup I use for travel photography to get you started:

Camera Sling

As mentioned above, I used to lug a heavy camera bag around on every trip, filling it with unnecessary (and heavy) camera gear just because I had space to fill. Not only was the camera bag super uncomfortable to carry, but it also just fit under the seat in front of me on a plane, leaving me with barely any foot room or space to stretch my legs on a long flight (ouch!).

As I started to build a compact travel camera setup, I knew that the bag had to be much smaller, so the overall kit was lighter. I also knew that it needed to be small enough to comfortably it under the plane seat in front of me so I could (finally) stretch my legs out. After researching small camera bags online, I decided to purchase a 9L camera sling to carry my precious gear. To date, it’s one of the best purchases I’ve made as a travel photographer.

Camera slings are great for travel photography because, with limited packing space, they force you to choose only the most necessary camera gear for your vacation. I went with a 9L sling option so that I’d still have a fair amount of space for all of my gear, but, if you’re feeling very minimal, you can try a smaller sling, such as a 6L or even 3L.

Mirrorless Camera

To keep the camera setup itself small while maintaining solid image quality, I always opt for a fairly compact full-frame mirrorless camera. My go-to camera for years has been a Sony a7iii. I think this camera strikes a great balance between overall features, image quality and size. Some of the newer full-frame Sony cameras certainly provide more advanced features and better quality sensors. But those cameras are also quite a bit larger than the older a7iii. And, because it’s a slightly older camera now, you can usually pick one up on sale. If you want a full-frame mirrorless camera setup, but want the smallest form factor possible, Sony’s a7c series offers an even smaller footprint than the a7iii, without compromising on any features.

The other route you could take is an APS-C camera. These cameras have a smaller image sensor than their full frame counterparts, but a lot of them provide incredible image quality. The best part about an APS-C camera is that they are incredibly small. To give you an idea, I used to bring a Sony a6000 on all my trips and, because of its small form factor, I’d simply put it in a small camera case and toss it into my backpack with the rest of my travel essentials.

Compact Prime Lens

Snapping travel photos with a prime lens is one of the best ways to take travel photos. There, I said it.

Sure, zoom lenses allow you to quickly zoom in or out on your subjects, allowing you to snap a range of travel photos without moving an inch. In certain circumstances, this can be great. For instance, if you’re trying to snap photos of a mountain peak, but you don’t have the mountaineering skills to get up there yourself, zooming in on it will likely be the best option.

But, in other travel scenarios, such as exploring a new city, you can really start to experience a place by just immersing yourself in it. And, if you’re snapping photos along the way, a prime lens can really help you do just that. Since prime lenses can’t zoom in or out, you have no choice but to move closer or farther away from your subject / scene to snap the photo you want, forcing you to actually engage with the place you’re in. That’s the main reason we travel, isn’t it?

The other great thing about prime lenses is that they’re typically much more compact than zoom lenses, making them super easy to carry around when exploring a new city or going on a hike. For this reason alone, I typically toss one in my camera bag whenever I travel.

Mid-Range Zoom Lens

Now, prime lenses do help elevate the travel photography experience in my opinion. But certain travel photography experiences just require the versatility and speed of a good mid-range zoom, such as a 24-70mm. For instance, if you’re snapping some photos of an epic mountain scene during sunrise, you may want to capture a wide angle shot of the entire landscape, and then zoom in to the peaks to make them look larger. Sure, you could use a pair of wide angle and telephoto primes to capture both of these shots. But, with the sun quickly rising, you may miss out on the epic golden lighting while you’re switching lenses. Zoom lenses eliminate this issue.

The main downside of zoom lenses when traveling is that they can be quite a bit heavier than prime lenses, making them a bit of a pain to carry around all day. But I always bring my Sony 24-105mm lens when I travel because some travel photo opportunities simply demand it, such as guided excursions where you may not have the time to change lenses in between shots.

Action Camera

Now, depending on the type of trip you embark on, you may not need an action camera. But I typically find myself in locations offering saltwater, tropical fish and sharks, so I always pack one.

Modern action cameras have come a long way from their original forms. The latest GoPro offers 27 megapixel photos, ensuring you capture super sharp shots of all your underwater adventures. In addition, the latest GoPro also delivers 5.3K resolution, allowing you to capture incredible video content too.

Modern action cameras are not only super simple to use, but also really small. This means that you can easily pack them into most camera bags without even really noticing they’re there. So, if you are planning on heading out on some epic underwater adventures during your travels, or you just want a small, easy to use camera option for whatever adventures come your way, consider picking up a new action camera. It’ll help keep your overall camera kit small without compromising on image quality.

Essential Travel Camera Accessories

Now, having a solid travel camera kit filled with lenses and action cameras is great and all, but, to really bring your compact travel camera setup to the next level, you need to make sure you save a bit of space for essential travel photography accessories too.

If you’re going to bring one lens filter, make sure it’s a circular polarizer filter. These filters act like sunglasses for your camera lens, cutting down the reflections in your images and creating more of a saturated, contrasty look. Since a lot of travel excursions happen during the day when the sun’s light is at its harshest, a circular polarizer helps counteract the washed out lighting, making your photo more vivid. If you need a circular polarizer, you can check out one of my favourites here.

To simultaneously keep my camera set up small and safe, I use a compact camera wrist strap so that I don’t accidentally drop my camera while I’m out exploring. Depending on the trip, I also bring a very small and slim camera neck strap so that I don’t have to hold my camera in my hand for long adventures.

As an iPhone user, I also bring an iPhone SD card reader, so that I can quickly upload my RAW image files to Lightroom mobile, allowing me to edit and post my travel photos when I’m on the go.

Lastly, and arguably most importantly, I always bring a small, compact air blower. Why? Because, when I travelled to Quebec a number of years ago, I started snapping photos of an epic mountain view and noticed little dots in all of my images. After trying to wipe off the camera lens and realizing that dust on the lens wasn’t the issue, I removed the lens and noticed dust and debris sitting on my camera’s sensor. A word of warning - if you have dust and debris on your camera’s sensor, do not remove it using a cloth or, even worse, your finger. Luckily, I had an old compact camera air blower in my bag that my dad gave me years before. After Googling how to use it, I held my camera up with the sensor facing downwards, and then blew air into the sensor. After a few puffs, the sensor looked good as new. Long story short, bring an air blower.

Learn more about essential travel camera accessories here.

Conclusion

Packing all of your precious camera gear for an epic adventure can be fun, but, once you start lugging your heavy camera bag around an airport, you can quickly start to regret bringing so much of it. To create the ultimate camera setup for travel photography (and save your back), pack a mirrorless camera body, a small, versatile prime lens and a mid-range zoom. These three pieces of camera kit should work for the majority of photos you’ll take on most trips. If you’re heading on a trip that involves water, consider throwing in a small action camera, too. Complete your travel camera kit with a few well-selected camera accessories, and then toss everything into a compact camera sling. Trust me. With a small travel camera set up like this, your travel photos, and your back, won’t suffer.