To be honest, I was not planning on creating a gear category for my blog. As a minimalist I have distilled my kit to the bare bones essentials I need to do my work and to keep my hiking as light and flexible as possible. However, someone will ultimately end up asking what I am shooting with and I do in fact love gadgets so here we are.

Lens and Camera

Currently, and for the foreseeable future, I am shooting with a Sony A7RIII and the Sony 24-105mm F4 G. This camera and lens combination allows me to shoot everything that I need with respect to my hiking and travel photography/videography needs.

Photography

The 42.4 megapixel sensor gives me all the flexibility I need to both crop and edit my camera raw files. Since I am also selling prints on this blog, having the option to print an image the size of a wall and not lose image quality is also quite beneficial to my clients.

Other notable features that matter to my workflow include:

  • Faster, lower-noise image processing
  • 10 fps shooting with full AF
  • Improved autofocus
  • 5-axis image stabilization, rated at 5.5 stops (CIPA) with 50mm lens
  • 4K footage from ‘Super 35’ crop region oversampled from 5K capture
  • Video AF less inclined to refocus to background
  • ‘Picture Profile’ video gamma/gamut modes including S-Log2 and 3
  • Twin SD Card slots (one UHS-I and one UHS-II compatible)
  • True 14 bit uncompressed Raw, even in continuous drive mode

The 24-105mm range on the lens is fantastic. It obviously comes with some compromises as the F4 aperture is not quite as fast as I would have liked. However, given the low light capabilities of the camera, it is manageable. If I were to be nitpicky, 24mm is also not quite wide enough for certain scenarios. However, I would say that for 95% of the situations I find myself in, this lens does everything I need. It also happens to be the sharpest telephoto lens I have ever owned and this also includes my kit when I was shooting with Canon.

If I were to consider adding another lens to my lineup, it would have to be the Sony 16-35 F2.8 G Master. This lens would address the gaps in my current system. However, spending $3,000 to account for 5% of shooting scenarios that could be improved slightly does not currently seem reasonable. This is especially true when adding another 680 grams to my hiking setup that will mostly be carried around as extra weight and not used very frequently.

Videography

As far as video capabilities are concerned, the Sony A7RIII does everything I need for shooting my silent hiking and travel videos in 4K. The Picture Profile system of color and tonal response borrowed from Sony’s professional video line is already more than I will ever need. I generally shoot everything in HLG which I have set as picture profile 10.

After all, YouTube, Instagram and the various social media platforms I publish to compress video to a high degree. Shooting in 8 bit 4:2:0 versus 10 bit 4:2:2 would not make as big of a difference to me in this regard.

Tripod and Accessories

Additional gear that I use is as follows:

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