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There are so many different cameras available today to capture your travels, but which one is right for you? My name is Carl Watson, and I have a YouTube channel with feature-length documentaries about my adventures around the world. In this video, I'll be talking about the cameras I use to film my travels, but instead of just talking about myself, I want to help you understand which cameras have the best features for your purposes. After all, when you film your travels yourself, you are looking for a camera based on specific criteria that may differ from the requirements of professional filming. No one tries to film their own travels in IMAX format and lug around those huge cameras. You need something lightweight, compact, easy to
use and set up, and most importantly, something that won't hold you back, because you're shooting real life, where things happen instantly. You know, you can't just say to everyone, "Can you stop what you're doing? I'll set up the camera now, and then we'll continue." You can't do that. This is not a professional film set. You should be able to capture events on the fly, at the very moment they happen. So I'll cover different types of cameras: mirrorless cameras, phone cameras, pocket cameras, action cameras like GoPro, 360-degree cameras, microphones, tripods, and of course, drones. So, let's start with mirrorless cameras. The main camera I use is the Sony a7S III, and I don't want to spend too much time on it because it's very expensive
unless you're doing it professionally or it's not a serious hobby of yours, and you've already tried a few other cameras and want to take it to the next level. If you don't meet these two criteria, it's not worth investing in, because simply buying the best camera won't give you the best shots- you need to learn how to use it. Nevertheless, let me tell you about it in more detail. So, the body is a Sony a7S III, and the lens is a SEL 24-240. This means I can shoot at 24mm, which is convenient for selfies, and when I want to zoom in and capture details, I can increase the focal length to 240mm. I like having this zoom option because if you shoot the entire video in wide shots, your will feel a bit
detached from what's happening. You want to zoom in on the image to see the details. You shouldn't go to the other extreme and shoot on zoom all the time, as this will make viewers uncomfortable, but a combination of wide, medium, and close- ups will provide a much better viewing experience. And a lens with a focal length of up to 240 allows me to shoot wildlife. I often use the zoom to shoot sunsets and things like that. Of course, you can find lenses with even greater zoom, like huge " guns", but these are more for wildlife photography. They are not very practical for filming your travels. Did you buy one, Craig? It is also great for photography. All the photos on my travels are taken with it, and even on automatic settings, the night sky shots are simply
phenomenal. But overall, the kit can be quite heavy. It's a little heavy in the hands. I've gotten used to carrying it, but it's not the easiest or lightest camera to take with you everywhere. It's a kind of sacrifice I make for the quality I strive for in my videos. Having been shooting travel videos for almost 20 years, I have gradually moved from my first Sony Handycam to the Sony a7S I and now the a7S III to get that incredible 4K image that I simply adore. However, again, it is expensive. The body itself costs about $4,000, the lens costs about $1,200, the microphone costs about $400, and even the memory cards cost about $200 each. So it costs a lot of money. However, all the products I mentioned today are available in my Amazon store.
I have a store on American Amazon and British Amazon. If you buy things through my Amazon store, it costs you nothing, but it helps me and supports the channel. So, having said that, maybe you should buy this. Buy from my Amazon store , because then I will receive a hefty commission. Actually, you know what? Don't buy just one. Buy 10 of these cameras. This is my best advice. And I believe that if you had 10 of them, you would have reliable backups and would almost guarantee yourself success as a YouTuber. So, traveling with all my filming equipment, plus a laptop, hard drives, and everything else needed to film trips, makes my backpack very, very heavy. So in the rest of my stuff, I try to be as light as possible, which
brings me nicely to the sponsor of this video -Unbound Merino. Unbound Merino is clothing for travelers, created by travelers. But how do they help me travel more easily? Well, their clothes are made from premium merino wool, which is simply incredible for travel. It's breathable, temperature-regulating, wrinkle-resistant, quick- drying, sustainably sourced, and, perhaps most importantly for travel, naturally odor-resistant, meaning I can wear the same clothes day after day and they'll still smell good. This means less laundry, fewer decisions, and significantly fewer unnecessary items. When I travel, I like to do a variety of things, from outdoor activities to exploring cities, and Unbound Merino clothing has a simple and stylish design without huge logos
, so it's suitable for many different situations, and therefore I can take less stuff. Plus, because merino wool regulates temperature, I don't need to bring very thick clothes to stay warm. So all their things fit compactly and conveniently in my luggage. If you want to try Unbound Merino products for yourself, scan the QR code or follow the link in the description and you will receive a 10% discount on your first purchase. Now let's get back to which cameras are best for capturing your travels. Okay, next- phone recording. Before spending a penny on a camera to film your travels, it's worth trying to film it on your phone first, because many people see a travel film and think, "Oh, I wish I had a video like that about my adventures." But when it
comes to filming, they don't really like the process, they don't like editing, and they don't really want to put in the effort. They only want a finished result. So imagine, you thought, "Oh, I'm going to start filming my travels." You spent a ton of money on equipment, started filming, and realized, "Oh, I do n't really like this." You wasted a lot of money. So start by using your phone. Cameras in phones today are of very high quality. I mean, I have an iPhone 17 Pro, but most phone models have perfectly adequate cameras for shooting YouTube videos. And although I have a Sony a7S III main camera, I constantly use my phone
when I film my travels. Especially when I'm on the go, like on moving days, when I 'm getting on a boat, plane, or bus and my main camera is packed, I can quickly shoot something on my phone while we're moving. This is also useful at parties, when you can have a few drinks and almost forget you have an expensive professional camera with you. I just leave her locked in the room and film what I need on my phone. If you're still going to shoot only on your phone, there are a few things I would recommend purchasing. Firstly, it is a mini tripod or stabilizer to make it more convenient to hold the phone and stabilize the image while shooting. There are now many different models for this.
You can even find ones that fold out into a full-size tripod. Another thing I would recommend buying is a microphone: either a directional microphone that simply plugs into your phone, or a lavalier microphone if you're going to be recording yourself. The sound on the phone is pretty good, but I often have to add subtitles to videos shot on the phone due to the large amount of background noise. Well, we managed. We returned just in time. They drove at full speed. I will miss these guys. This bike, strangely enough, is also my best friend.
DJI Osmo Pocket 4. I bought the Pocket 3 about a year ago and recently upgraded. And if you want to start filming your travels, this is the camera I would recommend buying. And I will explain why. First, just look how small it is. She is absolutely tiny. It weighs almost nothing. And, as the name suggests, it fits easily in your pocket. And even if you add an extra battery and a small mini tripod, it still remains very compact. And again, you can take it apart with one click, and both parts will still fit in your pocket. Secondly, remember, I said at the very beginning that the camera shouldn't slow you down. To turn this camera on, I just flip the screen down and it's ready to go. And if I want to shoot a vertical video for social media, I just rotate
the screen and shoot vertically. Another great thing about it being so small is its invisibility. For example, when I have my big Sony a7s, sometimes when shooting outdoors you can attract a lot of attention with a big camera with a microphone on top. You can shoot outdoors with this camera and no one will even bat an eye. One of the main reasons I bought the previous model was for my coast-to- coast trip across Canada. I knew I would be traveling alone and passing through many different cities. Sometimes you walk down the street of a big city, filming and talking to a big camera, and you feel a little awkward. You feel very constrained. And with this thing, no one notices what you're doing. And it was especially helpful when I was traveling by train
and wanted to take my lunches off. But at lunchtime, you usually sit with three other people at a small, cramped table. If I got my big camera out, I would punch people in the face and just disrupt everyone. And with this one-well, I told everyone I was filming anyway. I'm not talking about filming people without their consent. But this did not affect their comfort at all. I would just take out the camera, put it on the table, and people would say, "Oh, that's cool. Is this a small camera? and so on. And I talked to them about it. This meant I could film myself tasting the dish, enjoying it, and film the food itself without disturbing others or spoiling anyone's dining experience.
It has a 3-axis stabilizer, which allows you to get incredibly smooth footage while moving. It also has a built-in ActiveTrack 7.0 tracking feature. So if I'm shooting in selfie mode, it follows my head wherever I go. But what's really handy when traveling solo, when filming yourself, is that I can put the camera on a mini tripod, control it through an app on my phone, and set it to follow me as I walk around different places. You know, sometimes in the comments to the video they write: "Oh, you said you were traveling alone, so who is filming your trip?" It's like, well, it's still me, just using the right cameras.
Thanks to this, I got footage of me walking through squares and cities. I filmed myself climbing mountains in Jasper and stuff like that. So, this tracking feature is very, very useful. And all this may be great, but you probably ask: what about the quality? Well, the quad has a new 1- inch CMOS sensor with stops of dynamic range, it can shoot up to 4K and up to 240 frames per second, which means you can get some really cool slow-motion footage if you want. You can also zoom in on the image using the camera. So when shooting in 4K, there's a two-times digital zoom without loss of quality, and you can even zoom up to four times, but you'll lose a little in quality. There is a pretty good built-in microphone for sound, but you can
connect a DJI Mic, even two of them, if you want to record a conversation between two people at the same time. Day six is complete. How was it for us Today was a great day, actually. Today was probably my best day. I think I was the least tired at the end of the day. Yes. Luxurious views. One of the nice things is the dual recording: the camera records sound from both your clip-on microphone and the built-in one. And during installation, you can select the desired sound source. This is especially useful if you're on the go and mostly filming yourself, but want to capture other sound that your microphone doesn't pick up, then you can use the sound from the built-in
microphone. You can insert a memory card, but there's also 128GB of built-in storage, so you'll never run out of space while you're on the go. And honestly, this is a camera I will be using more and more often on my travels. While I still have a basic mirrorless camera for my main shots, for those moments on the go when I want to be discreet, or I'm shooting solo trips, or I'm looking to get more interesting shots, this camera is a godsend and definitely worth trying. cameras. I currently use a GoPro Hero Black 13. I've used DJI Osmo Action cameras before, they're also great, but this is the one I have now. Previously, about five or even ten years ago, there was a trend in travel vlogs where people would film their entire vlog exclusively on a
GoPro. And the problem is that they only shoot at a very wide angle, and that brings us back to what I was saying earlier. If your entire video is shot at such a wide angle, viewers feel detached from what's happening on the screen. But if you use them for their intended purpose, that is, for action filming, then they are simply incredible. For example, for water activities- whether it's rafting, snorkeling, or diving -they're great for such shots. Or for other activities like driving, skiing, or rock climbing where you need your hands free to do the action but still want to capture it-just strap the GoPro to your head and you've got all the action in the frame. So if you're going on a trip full of outdoor activities, they'll be very appropriate, but
remember what they're designed for. Next up- 360-degree cameras. And again, it's a very useful tool if used as intended. A few years ago, I bought one of the earlier Insta360 models and used it to video my trip across America. And while I really enjoyed the film, I was disappointed with the quality of the 360-degree footage. She just didn't meet the standard I expected. I now have a DJI Osmo 360 camera and its lens is much better. The video quality is much higher than what I had before. And you can take really cool shots with it. For example, on my recent trip from London to
Lake Como, when we were driving my friend Adam's Aston Martin. I stuck this thing out the car window while we were driving the Stelvio, and the footage I managed to capture was simply incredible. Again, this is very handy for getting a "third person" view when you're shooting alone. But there are two reasons why I wouldn't use it as my main camera: first, the quality is still not at the level I would like for all video. And secondly, it's time for installation. I need to take the clips, upload them to the DJI Studio app, export them as 360 MP4, then add them to the editing program, and from there I can change the camera angle-it's really cool and can be really useful. But if my entire trip was filmed like this, I would spend forever
editing. So, 360- degree cameras are an incredible tool, they can be very useful, but I wouldn't use them as the primary source for my videos. Okay, let's move on to drones. I have a DJI Mini 4 Pro, and yes, it is simply an incredible device. I have owned several drones over the years. I used to have a Mavic Pro, but the quality of the Mini Pro has caught up to the level I need, so I'm very happy with the quality of the footage I get from it.
It is important to know that it weighs 249g, and many drone restrictions and registration requirements apply to devices weighing 250g or more. So this saves you a lot of registration hassle. There are two things I mostly use a drone for. These are either establishing shots, such as when we arrive at a new location, to get a bird's eye view of the scene so the audience can understand the geography and surroundings. Or when we reached an incredible viewpoint, and although everything looks amazing in person, a regular camera shot doesn't capture the beauty of the view and the feeling of being there. That's when launching a drone can truly convey not only the beauty and scale of a place, but also what you feel when you're there. And
when I take these shots, one way to convey a sense of scale is to have something in the foreground and also in the background. Look at this shot I took on Bromo: I've already flown away, and it's just flying towards different craters- it looks nice, but a bit static. Whereas when I flew a little further and flew over the King Kong Hill lookout, the shot became much more dynamic, as the drone flies past the foreground, revealing the crater in front of us. You can buy FPV drones, and you've probably seen footage like this on Instagram or YouTube, where the camera seems to be flying from a bird's eye view, diving over
cliffs and waterfalls, performing all these incredible tricks. They look amazing, but they don't serve the purpose of my films, because when people watch my documentaries, I want them to feel like they're part of the journey. I don't want to draw attention to the fact that they're watching the video. I just want them to feel like they are part of this journey. If I have this spectacular FPV shot, it may look incredible, but it will distract the viewer from the experience itself. Because if I just put in a simple drone shot showing the environment, people will look at it and say, "Oh, wow, what a beautiful place." But if I put in this fancy FPV footage, they'll say, "Oh, wow, what an incredible
shot." And they will start thinking about the process of filming, rather than the feeling of being in that place. And when it comes to filming and editing, the golden rule I always say is: remember the words of Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park. " Yes, but your scientists were so worried about whether they could, that they didn't stop to think about whether they should do it." So just because you can get such spectacular shots, it doesn't necessarily mean you should do it. It all depends on what kind of video you are shooting and what impression you want to leave on the viewer. Another drone I have and use sometimes is the DJI Neo, and it's really handy when I'm traveling alone and want to take a quick photo of myself while hiking or
biking, because it just takes off from the palm of your hand and tracks you as you walk or move. With the Mini 4 Pro, you need to take it out of the bag, unfold it, pull out the controller, turn on both devices, wait for them to sync, and then take off. Whereas this one-two clicks of a button and it's already in the air. The video quality I get from this camera is n't quite up to the standards I strive for. DJI Neo 2 was released, and apparently it has been improved quite a bit. I'll probably wait until version three or four before upgrading, and then it will become truly useful. So now I rarely use it because the quality is not yet up to the standards I need for my films. I am often asked about the rules for using drones in different
countries, and this is something that is definitely worth checking before traveling, because in some countries drones are banned altogether. So if you arrive with a drone in your bag, they will scan it and just take it away from you. For other trips, like a safari in Africa a few years ago, I knew I wouldn't be able to use the drone in any of the national parks, and we were only going to national parks, so I didn't even bring one with me. There's no point in lugging it around if I'm not going to use it. During our honeymoon in New Zealand, I think I only used the drone twice because there are so many restrictions in so many places.
Many countries have signs prohibiting drone flights, no- fly zones, etc. So it's worth knowing about this, and also just being a careful drone pilot. For example, if I'm at a crowded observation deck and want to take a drone shot, I think in advance about what shot I need and try to take it as quickly as possible so as not to disturb others. There's nothing worse than trying to enjoy a beautiful moment, like a sunset, and then a drone buzzes around like an annoying insect. So just be mindful of other people around you when flying your drone. As for microphones, I use a shotgun microphone on my camera. You should never rely on the camera's built-in audio, as it is often of poor quality. You should buy an
external microphone. And the reason I prefer a shotgun mic over a lavalier mic is that if I use a lavalier, it's only good for recording me. But if I'm traveling with friends or in a group and I want to record myself talking and then another person says something, with a shotgun microphone I can just point the camera at the person who's talking and record it all. Additionally, you also want to capture the sounds of your surroundings, whether it's a waterfall, city traffic, or anything else. You want the audience to hear what it's like to actually be in that place. Often when filming, people forget about sound,
but it is very, very, very important. So you need a good microphone to record not only your voice, but also the sounds of the environment you are in. This is simply incredible. Much better than I expected. I thought it would be pretty, but it's just one of the best things I've ever seen. This, this justifies every minute of its popularity. Yes. Lavalier microphones are everywhere these days. I see them being used by a wide variety of content creators. It's a DJI microphone and it delivers fantastic quality, but it just drives me crazy when I see content creators holding a
lapel pin in their hand. It's called a buttonhole because it can be attached to a T-shirt and your hands remain free. In fact, these even have a magnet, so I can just put the magnet on the back, and there you go, hands free. This is the whole point of the buttonhole. The only time you should hold it in your hand is if you're doing an interview and it's the only microphone you have. That is, you record yourself, and then someone else, and that's it. If you're talking to the camera yourself and holding a buttonhole in your hand, you just look like a complete idiot. Attach it. That's what it's needed for. So, enough grumbling. I'm going to start experimenting on my trips with using a shotgun mic and a
lavalier so I can have a great sound for my voice, but at the same time record everything else on the shotgun. So we'll be experimenting with that soon but yeah. As for which one to choose, just think about what style of video you're making and what kind of sound you want to achieve. If it's just a video of you talking and you don't care too much about other sound, then these things are perfect. If you want to record yourself, many other people, and surrounding sounds, it's better to choose a shotgun microphone. And the last thing worth talking about is tripods. Tripods, selfie sticks, and all that kind of stuff come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. So it all depends on what kind of camera you have, how heavy it is, and what you
actually need it for. Personally, I use a brand called Ulanzi for my Sony a7s III I can just hold the camera like this when I'm filming myself, but it also extends out a bit if I need more length and works as a mini tripod. I use this for 95 % of my shoots, but I also bring a real tripod with me. I very rarely take it with me, for example, on a hike or if I'm just shooting something in the city; but there are situations, like at the beginning or end of the day, when I want to talk to the camera to, you know, capture my thoughts and feelings on film. And I can't get the angle I need using just this thing, so I set up a normal tripod and talk to the camera like that. One important thing to buy if you have multiple camera tripods is one of these
quick-release mounts. So, I have the same mount on my main tripod as on this one. So if I want to quickly switch between different tripods, instead of unscrewing the mount, with the quick release it, well, does exactly what the name says. You just do this, and it's removed, and when you put it back, you can continue working. Well, that Thank you very much for watching. I hope this was helpful. If you have any additional questions about cameras, please leave them in the comments. Or if you liked this video and would like to see more tips in the future, leave your suggestions. I can tell you more about filming, editing, or anything else. If you haven't seen the recent series on Indonesia, be sure to check it out. And the next video on
my channel will be released next week-it will be my European road trip from London to Lake Como. And a week after that, I'm off to film my next adventure- a trip through Central Asia: to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. So it's coming out on Christmas Eve, along with some other mini- trips I'll be doing in the meantime. So, as always, thanks for watching. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe-well, you know how it goes. And see you in the next video. I don't want to be There's a show. There is a show there.
