Gadgets & Gear: Our Camera Equipment

If you’ve browsed anywhere on our website, its pretty apparent we like taking photos.

A lot.

Seeing as we’ve been getting a ton of emails regarding the gear we use, and how we like it we decided we were way over due for a gear review!

So here we go, another installment of, “Whats In The Van- Photography Edition” Sit back, there’s a lot of info, all with links for your quick shopping pleasure!

Cannon DSLR:

The 70D might be my best friend in the world…

Cannon 70D :How much do we love this camera? Too much to even begin to explain! This is our “go-to” camera for high quality shots. 75% of all the images you’ll find on our site were shot using this incredible camera. We won’t drone on about all the amazing specs on this powerful camera- there is ALOT of information, and if you’re a photo freak you can really geek out on this stuff. If you’re dying for all the specifics Cannon has all the info.

Pros: Advanced picture equality, with reduced noise, built in stabilization and wifi capable. If you can learn it with this camera you can do it!

Cons: The only one we can ever come up with is weight. Weighing in at a whopping 26.7 ounces ( approximately 1.67 pounds) it can be a bit cumbersome to tote around all day especially if you’re doing some heavy duty hiking. However, we do it all the time, and once you get used to it, well it really isn’t all that terrible.

Accessories:

The thing about having a camera as amazing as the 70D is that once you see all that it can do with just the basics, you start to wonder what would be possible with a few fancy add-ons. The good news for you, is we’ve already tried a ton of the options out there and narrowed down the list to a few of our favorites so far!

• Lenses: The kit lens that comes with the 70D is a great starter, but if you really want to get the most out of all your snaps try out some of these:
  • Wide Angle
  • Telephoto Zoom

• Camalapse :This is one super cool gizmo! With a tripod mount on one side and camera mount on the other, the cam lapse allows you to take amazing panoramic time-lapse videos or panoramic still shots. A full 360  degree turn takes 1 hour, with slow speed rotations and tripod mounting capability limits image distortion and shake. Love it!

• Tripods: If you’re not used to using one of these you really should get on board! With all our coming and going I really, really like to free shoot, but having a tripod handy lets us do a lot of things that wouldn’t be possible without one- long exposures, time lapse shots, and even the occasional non-selfie selfie. We have one we really love:
  • Neewer Carbon Fiber Tripod

Gopro

Ok, so you’ve heard of them! If you don’t already own one we can attest they are every bit as awesome as everyone makes them out to be. These amazing cameras seem to be able to do it all especially when paired with the right accessories. They’re fairly tough too. Until very recently we’ve been shooting with the original GoPro Hero- talk about a dinosaur, but hey if it’s not broke, why fix it. An upgrade led us to the Go Pro Hero Black. We did a lot of research before purchasing and for us the final decision just came down to personal preference, we promise you won’t go wrong with any of these awesome models!

Just hanging out with our GoPro

Go Pro Accessories:

There are literally hundreds of options for accessory shopping if you’re a GoPro owner. So many in fact that it would take a whole other post to fill you in on all of them. So for now here are six of our most used most loved accessories!

• Chest Harness
• Suction Cup Mount
• Floating Handle
• Lights For Underwater Filming
• Selfie Stick
• Gorilla Pod

Sony a6000

For the longest, longest time even before our first GoPro purchase we used a Pentax Optio camera for all our lightweight on the go shooting, the best part about it was it’s waterproof capabilities. We still have that camera and use it occasionally ( although Pentax no longer makes it)- but with the many advancements in technology since that time we naturally needed an upgrade and that led us directly to Sony’s mirrorless a6000.

Comparing costs this is camera cost us almost 3x the price of our Pentax. But its worth every single penny. The a6000 has all the function of a hefty DSLR thrown into a tiny lightweight super powerful package (weighs less than 1 pound).

Accessories:

• Lenses: Just like with a big hefty DSLR the a600o is compatible with a multitude of lenses for a variety of shooting conditions. Here are some of our favorites:
  • Wide Angle
  • Mid Range And Portraits

• Neewer Waterproof Housing Unlike the Pentax, the a6000 was not built to be waterproof. Cameras aren’t cheap. If I’m taking one under the water I want to make sure, that its going to be well protected and that the case it’s in isn’t going to utterly ruin the quality of the photos we’re taking. All that being said, I also don’t want to pay thousands of dollars for my underwater gear-that’s where the Neewer comes into play. Waterproof up to 130 feet ( about the max we dive), it’s durable, lightweight, and most importantly reliable. It’s a great alternative to purchasing a separate thousand plus dollar underwater camera just to capture deep water adventures which happen less often than we’d like.

DJI Phantom 4 Pro

I think this is the closest we will ever come to loving an inanimate object. Hardcore. This is our drone, and its pure magic.  We fly it every chance we get. No matter how often we look at the footage I’m always blown away by what I see.  There is no other device you could buy that would give you images quite like what you can get with a Phantom drone and little bit of practice.

Who needs a plane when you have a drone!

There are lots of drone options out there but personally there is not another single company we would purchase from other than Phantom, simply put they are the best. They make quite a few models to choose from, so you can find just the right model to suit your needs and your budget:

• DJI Phantom 4 Pro
• DJI Phantom 4
• DJI Mavic Pro
• DJI Phantom 3

Just a bit of unsolicited and friendly advice- if you do purchase one of these beauts, make sure you familiarize yourself with FFA guidelines ( yep they apply to drones too) and that you practice flying yours in a hazard free area before getting too brave. Warranties don’t cover stupidity! I still get nervous every time we send ours out over water!

Cell Phone Cameras

We’ve both have an  iPhone 6s. Yeah, yeah I know there are better options out there, BUT we aren’t in the business of spending money if we don’t have to, and my old trusty 6s works just fine. With all our fancy camera equipment we just rambled on about you’re probably wondering why I even bothered to list this. Well….facts, no matter how many thousands and thousands of dollars of camera equipment one owns, sometimes all you’ve got on you is your phone.

With photo technology improving by the day some phone cameras are just as powerful as some DSLR’s that are out there. Personally, we reach for our phone pretty frequently when filming or for the quick Instagram shot (@venture_wild) so yeah, we use our phones for quick snaps, and I’m not embarrassed to admit it!

Snapped with a cell phone!

Accessories:

We’ve tried some of the little lens and other add-ons for our “phone cameras” and maybe its just that we’re buying wrong, but I have yet to find one that I would even consider sharing with you all. Long story very short: they all sucked.

But…there is one iPhone accessory we both love. love. looooooove, and that is our Evo 3-axis stabilizer & gimbal. It allows us to take professional quality stable videos ( no more bouncing around for us) with our iPhones, pretty neat huh? Check it out:

Evo 3 Axis Stabilizer