My Gear

Gear is a means to an end - not an end in itself.

Here’s my camera and lens set-up for all my travels and daily life.

1. CAMERAS

   Having used many camera brands over the years, I’ve decided to stick with my Sony a7Cii for my hybrid set-up and Fujifilm X-E5 for my photography-only set-up. I always carry my Sony camera with me in those bigger trips, as I focus more on filming with it than taking photos and I can always rely on it to get the job done. I also bring my Fujifilm camera with me, as I enjoy the experience of taking photos with it. There’s something about taking photos with a Fujifilm camera (other than its colors) that Sony can’t seem to do it for me.

   Recently, I’ve been carrying my Nikon SLR film camera, either the FA or FM3A, just for those moments that are memory worthy to me. There’s something imperfect, hazy and patchily grainy about film photos that better resemble the fleeting nature of human memories.

   I also have the DJI Osmo Action 5 and Pocket 3 cameras for those days when I want to pack light and leave the Sony camera at home.

2. LENSES

   For my hybrid set-up with the Sony a7Cii camera, I have 4 Sony lenses: (1) an all-round 20-70mm f/4 G, (2) a versatile wide angle 16-35mm f/4 G, (3) a vlog-dedicated 16mm f/1.8 G, and (3) night-time filming 35mm f/1.8 G. The first two lenses alone cover all of my daily travel needs. Still, I got the other two lens specifically for their low-light capability, if I ever need to go out at night.

   For my dedicated EDC/travel photography-only Fujifilm X-E5 camera, I got the 23mm f/2.8 WR kit lens along with the 16-50mm f/2.8-4.8 WR zoom kit lens. For travel, I almost always just leave the zoom lens on it to the avoid the hassle of swapping lens constantly. For weekend outings, however, the compact size of the 23mm pancake is unbeatable, especially on a 40mpx sensor that allows more cropping room.

   For my analogue Nikon cameras, I own and only ever need two lenses - the 28mm f/2.8 Ais and the 50mm f/1.8 Ais pancake.

3. AUDIO

   For my travel, I use a Sony ECM-B10 shotgun mic, due to its wireless and compact nature while offering decent sound quality and recording flexibility.

   For most talking head videos, a DJI Mini Mic is perfect - ultralight, discreet and good at preventing audio clipping.

   For voice-overs, a Rode NT-USB+ condenser mic works great plugged directly into a laptop.

4. OTHER ACCESSORIES

   • Camera filters: NiSi Swift VND Kit, Fujifilm and Tiffen filters.

   • Camera bags: PGYTECH OneGo Lite.

   • Camera straps: Fab’ (a Canadian brand) leather straps and Peak Design straps.

   • Tripods: AOKA 28in/1.1lb lightweight carbon tripod and Ulanzi MT-47 metal vlog tripod.

   • Storage solutions: Samsung T7 (mostly) and Sandisk Extreme SSD.

   • Editing hardware: Apple MacBook M1 16’’ Laptop and Ipad Pro 11’’.

   • Editing software: Davinci Resolve for videos and Lightroom for photos.