Buying camera gear can be incredibly fun – it can also be overwhelming. Especially when you’re first starting out. I remember scrolling through endless blog posts and YouTube videos, searching for the best cameras for beginner content creators, the best lenses for travel influencers, DSLR versus mirrorless cameras, etc. And now I find myself in this super unique niche… taking photos of my dog! Does all that same information from other professional photographers apply to me, as a pet photographer?
Now that I’ve gained some experience, I wanted to create this blog post to compile a list of my most essential camera gear – the gear in my kit that I depend on day-after-day as a pet influencer and content creator. Whether you’re a beginner content creator, or someone looking to bring their content creation to the next level, I hope you find this post useful!!
I’m Victoria – dog mom and social media manager for @justbeingfarley. I’m a part-time influencer and content creator, primarily taking photos of my adorable dog, Farley. I started out as a hobby photographer in 2015, mostly capturing memories of my adventures on a little pocket-sized point-and-shoot camera. I upgraded to my first professional camera in 2018. And in the past year I started to earn an income from my photography.
Over the years I have collected a lot of gear… some of it has been great, while some left me wishing I didn’t waste my money. I remember how overwhelming it can be to get started, sifting through pages of information and reviews, trying to decide what you need to just get started. So I wanted to compile a list of the most essential camera gear that I own, the things I can’t live without and depend on every day to create content for social media. I hope this post helps others who are just starting out and trying to decide what gear they should be investing in.
So with no further ado, let’s get into it!!
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means, if you decide to click through and purchase any of the items recommended here, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!!
Sony A7C Camera
The Sony A7C is my main squeeze!! This is the camera I use for all of the photography you see on our social media accounts.
Why did I choose this camera over other options in the Sony mirrorless lineup?? Well, it has a full frame sensor, in a small compact body. Since I like to bring my camera with me everywhere, the smaller body size was a huge selling point.
It also has animal eye autofocus, which, as a pet photographer, is a must!!
I can’t compare the A7C it to anything else in the Sony A7 lineup, because this is my first full frame Sony camera. But I’ve been shooting with this thing since late 2020 and have been really happy with the images I’ve been able to capture!!
Click to view the Sony A7C on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca
Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM Zoom Lens
Let’s get one thing out of the way – I am lazy when it comes to my camera gear. I like to keep things as simple as possible so I can focus on being in the moment when capturing a photo.
That’s why you’ll find the Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM Zoom Lens on my camera 95% of the time. This thing is so versatile, I hardly ever find myself wishing for more in a lens.
At it’s widest, the 24mm focal length allows you to capture a nice wide landscape. Or, more specifically for us pet photographers, capture images of our dog without having to stand too far away from them.
At it’s furthest end, the 70mm focal length allows you to get a bit farther away from your subject and capture more compressed-looking portrait style shots.
But, why did I choose the Sony 24-70mm lens over similar less-expensive options from Sigma or Tamron?? For me it came down to autofocus reliability. The native Sony lens is reported to have faster and more reliable autofocus, and since I’m photographing a dog who doesn’t always like to hold her “poses”, having a fast and responsive autofocus was super important to me.
If I had to say one bad thing about this lens, it is big and heavy. But in my eyes, it’s totally worth it!!
Click to view the Sony 24-70mm Zoom Lens on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca
Sony 24mm F1.4 GM Prime Lens
The only other lens in my kit at the moment is the Sony 24mm F1.4 GM Prime Lens. This lens is a prime lens, meaning it is a single focal length with no ability to zoom. While it isn’t as versatile as the 24-70mm lens, it still serves an important purpose in my kit.
Coming in at under half the weight of the previous lens, this little 24mm prime lens has become my go-to lens for taking photos in the backcountry.
When packing for camping trips in the backcountry, every ounce of weight squeezed into your pack needs to be justified. And while I’d love to bring my trusty 24-70mm zoom lens with me everywhere I go, I just can’t bring myself to lug that additional weight along for a multi-day trip in the mountains.
The 24mm F1.4 prime lens is a super high quality lens, with a nice low aperture of F1.4. The wide field-of-view is great for capturing landscapes, and portrait shots with scenery. The wide aperture would also make this a great lens for astrophotography. I could also see this being a great vlogging lens, since it has a wide angle and is relatively lightweight.
Click to view the Sony 24mm Prime Lens on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca
Peak Design Capture Clip
When I’m out and about taking photos, I want to have somewhere quick and easy to put my camera so that it’s out of the way but still easily accessible.
The Capture Clip by Peak Design checks all these boxes for me!!
The design is super simple. A metal clip fits around the shoulder strap on your backpack, and an Arca-Swiss compatible plate screws into the bottom of your camera. Sliding the plate into the metal clip locks your camera in place. A quick-release button allows the camera to be removed.
My favourite thing about this system is that I never have to take the plate off my camera – since the Capture Clip system uses an Arca-Swiss compatible plate I can move my camera between the Capture Clip and my various Arca-compatible tripods with ease. It’s so convenient!!
Depending on how heavy your camera + lens is, it can get a little awkward to carry all that weight on one side of your body. For that reason, I don’t like to carry my camera around in the Capture Clip for long periods of time. But for short periods when I need somewhere to easily stash my camera away, I love having the option to use the Capture Clip.
Click to view the Peak Design Capture Clip on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca
Peak Design Travel Tripod
If you’ve read this far you may have noticed a trend – camera gear that is light-weight and compact is really important to me. This is especially true when it comes to the tripod that I use.
I feel like I need to explain something about the type of photographer I am. I never have a plan for what I’m going to shoot. Like, ever. So every time I leave the house with my camera, I’m packing as much of my photography gear as I possibly can. Along with like 5 different outfits for my dog. You know, all the essentials.
But my backpack can only fit so much. So with my old bulky tripod I was often left with the difficult decision – do I really need all these cute dog sweaters, or should I ditch them to make space for my tripod? Dog sweaters usually won out, which I will never regret. But it would have been nice to have a tripod with me too, so I could use the self timer and be in some of the shots with Farley!!
The Peak Design Travel Tripod is unlike any other travel tripod I’ve seen on the market. The unique design makes this tripod super compact while still being tall, strong, and durable. It folds up so small that it can fit into the water bottle pocket of my backpack. Which means I never have to make the choice between bringing the tripod or the dog’s sweaters – there’s plenty of room to bring both!!
A feature I really love about the Peak Design tripod is how fast it sets up – I can easily flip the leg locks with one hand and deploy the legs to full length in a few seconds.
And, of course, the integrated ball head is Arca-compatible. So I can seamlessly move my camera between the Capture Clip and the Travel Tripod without any fuss.
Click to view the Peak Design Travel Tripod on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca
Pgytech Mantispod Tripod
This is a new addition to my camera gear kit, so I don’t have a tons of experience with it yet. But it is just so cool, and has so much potential, that I had to include it in this list!
The Pgytech Mantispod is part camera grip, part tabletop tripod, part transformer. The photos below show the mantispod in action with my old Sony A6500 camera, but it can easily accommodate any DSLR camera with a “normal” sized lens.
The Mantispod is marketed as a vlogging tripod, but I can see possibilities for it with photography as well! Handheld and extended mode could be used for selfies, the tabletop tripod could be used for low angle photography, and mantis mode could be used to capture scenes from high angles. I am so excited to test the Mantispod out more in the coming months!!
Click to view the Pgytech Mantispod on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca
GoPro Hero 9 Black
For all the places that my mirrorless camera can’t go, nothing beats an action cam!!
I’ve owned other brands of action cams, but I recently made the switch back to GoPro and I’m really happy I did. I have the GoPro Hero9 Black and I love the front screen and ability to shoot photos in RAW format.
I use the GoPro when I’m out on the paddleboard, or when I want some POV or behind-the-scenes style video footage.
Click to view the GoPro Hero9 on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca
GoPro 3-Way Extension Arm
My most used GoPro accessory is the GoPro 3-Way 2.0 Mount. It functions as a camera grip, tabletop tripod, and selfie stick. It even has an integrated ball head for ultimate flexibility!!
Click to view the GoPro 3-Way Mount on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca
Phone Tripod Mount
I don’t know why, but I had a really hard time finding a good quality tripod for my phone. In this day and age where vertical video is everywhere, most of the phone tripods I found online only held phones in the horizontal orientation… like, what???
My criteria was I wanted something that would hold my phone in both vertical and horizontal orientation, and it had to be quick and easy to set up. Thankfully, I finally found the perfect solution on Amazon.
The Shinewee Phone Tripod Mount is made of aluminum, and the ball head easily allows you to adjust your phone between vertical and horizontal orientations. A kickstand swings out from the bottom which allows the mount to free stand. When the kickstand is rotated in, the bottom of the mount is Arca-compatible and can be mounted into any Arca-style tripod. I love this feature, because it allows me to completely customize my setup for whatever I need at that moment.
Click to view the Phone Tripod Mount on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca
Neewer 18″ Ring Light Kit
Artificial lighting is a total game-changer for indoor photography. A great item to start with for artificial lighting is a ring light since they are affordable, portable, and give great results. I have a super simple Neewer Ring Light Kit that I bought from Amazon.
Click to view the Neewer Ring Light Kit on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca
Adobe Lightroom
So, this one isn’t technically “camera gear”… but I could not do what I do as a photographer, influencer, or content creator without Adobe Lightroom.
Lightroom is the photo editing application that I use to take my camera photos to the next level. It is a non-destructive photo editing software that allows you to adjust lighting, colours, crop, lens correction, sharpening, remove distracting elements, and more. You can also use it to catalogue, organize, and sort your entire photo library. It’s the most popular digital photo editing program for a reason!!
Click to view Lightroom subscription options on Adobe.com
I hope you found this post useful!! If you have questions, or want to chat about any of the camera gear listed here, please feel free to reach out to me via email or Instagram DM.
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