My favorite gear for travel assignments.

The Challenge

Pretty much every day, and especially since my TED Talk, I’ve been getting messages asking about production techniques or which lens, camera or gimbal to buy.

Some questions are relatively easy to answer, for example, “I’m using the Panasonic GH4 and plan to update to the GH5. Have you seen a significant increase in quality and features?” (Answer: Yes.)

Some are much harder to answer, especially when people don’t provide enough context like budget, or if they are shooting locally or overseas.  Obviously these considerations should have a significant impact on what and how much can you pack.

The Solution

It’s becoming impossible to reply to everybody in a timeline manner. To simplify things I’ve created a list with the filmmaking gear I’m using most often for travel assignments, especially when working alone or with a skeleton crew. The list isn’t organized in any particular order. I just kept adding stuff as I was thinking on how I unpack and prepare for a travel assignment. I am not including super obvious things like HDMI cables or battery chargers, but added a few things that are easy to forget, like international power adapters, or difficult to find. Among those thins are the exact kind of SD card one needs to shoot 4k 422 10 bit at at 400 mbs.

Disclosure

I participe in Amazon’s Associates Program and B&H’s Affiliate program, but I only recommend products that I use and trust. Some links are affiliate links which means I may get a few pennies if you decide to purchase something.