The Gear Fstoppers Used To Film Photographing The World 3

Last year we released Photographing The World 3 with Elia Locardi. To film this tutorial we traveled around the world with Elia for 3 months, and in the process, we used a ton of new gear. In this video, we talk about everything we used to produce this tutorial.

Let me first start off by saying that we started production on this tutorial over a year and a half ago and therefore, some of the gear we used is already out of date. At the beginning of this video, we are talking about our upcoming switch to the Panasonic GH5 (which was soon to be released when this was filmed). Since then, we have sold almost all of our Nikon gear, and we now own six GH5 mirrorless cameras. The GH5 is the ultimate "run and gun" video camera, but it's not the best for still photography. So at the moment, we use the GH5 for our videos but we still own a D850 that we use for stills. 

Below you will find a list of all the gear we used to film Photographing The World 3 and below that, I've added a list of the gear that we are currently working with today. 

Gear used to film PTW3

Nikon D750 

Nikon D500

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100

Polaroid 43mm Neutral Density Fader Filter 

GoPro HERO5 Black

GoPro HERO4 Black

Fujifilm X-T2 Mirrorless Digital Camera

Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR Lens

Fujifilm XF 10-24mm f/4 R OIS Lens

Zhiyun-Tech Crane v2 3-Axis Handheld Gimbal Stabilizer

Zhiyun-Tech Smooth-C 3-Axis Handheld Stabilizer for Smartphones

Zhiyun-Tech Smooth-Q Smartphone Gimbal (Jet Black)

Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 Lens for Nikon F

Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical [IF] Lens for Nikon F

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 DI VC USD Lens for Canon Cameras

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 Lens for Nikon F

Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Lens for Nikon F

Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD Lens for Nikon F

Tamron AF18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD AF Lens for Nikon

Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX-II 11-16mm f2.8 Lens for Nikon F

Nikon PC NIKKOR 19mm f/4E ED Tilt-Shift Lens

DJI Mavic Pro

Manfrotto PIXI Mini Table Top Tripod

Gitzo GT2543L Mountaineer Series 2 Carbon Fiber Tripod

Benro TMA38CL Long Series 3 Mach3 Carbon Fiber Tripod

Oben AC-1351 Aluminum Tripod with BA-113 Ball Head

Really Right Stuff TQC-14 Series 1 Carbon Fiber Tripod

Manfrotto 535 Carbon Fiber Video Tripod

Manfrotto MT290XTC3US 290 Xtra Carbon Fiber Tripod

Manfrotto MHXPRO 2-Way, Pan-and-Tilt Head

Synology DiskStation 8TB DS216se 2-Bay NAS Server Kit

Microsoft 15" Surface Book 2 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Notebook

Dell 15.6" XPS 15 9560 Notebook

Our current gear list

Panasonic GH5

Panasonic Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm f/2.8 II ASPH. POWER O.I.S. Lens

Panasonic Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm f/2.8 II POWER O.I.S. Lens 

Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. POWER O.I.S. Lens 

Moza AirCross Gimbal for Mirrorless Cameras 

GoPro 6

DJI Mavic Pro

Synology DS416slim

Dell XPS 15

Benro TMA38CL Long Series 3 Mach3 Carbon Fiber Tripod

Manfrotto PIXI Mini Table Top Tripod

As you can see by the massive amount of cameras above, we have really simplified our gear in the last year. The GH5 is a much smaller camera, and its lenses are about 1/3 of the size of our Nikon equivalents. Our favorite tripod is still the Benro TMA38CL and the DJI Mavic Pro is still an amazing drone. We also upgraded our NAS device to the Synology DS416 which is much smaller than our older unit. We just wrapped up filming PTW4, and we were able to pack everything we needed into two backpacks instead of the 3 or 4 bags we previously had to travel with (we threw tripods into our checked bags with our clothes). 

We will continue to keep you all updated on our favorite gear in the future, and stay tuned for Photographing The World 4 which should be released sometime this Fall. To receive an early bird discount when Photographing the World 4 is released, subscribe to Elia's mailing list below.

Lee Morris's picture

Lee Morris is a professional photographer based in Charleston SC, and is the co-owner of Fstoppers.com

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15 Comments

Good to know. Those of us that do video and stills are looking for that one body and one set of lenses that do both. The more I travel the more I want to simply take less and still do the job. If my amazing D850 only just had killer video autofocus and the body stabilization of the GH5 I would be in heaven. Mission would be accomplished because the stills are bloody fantastic in the D850. So is the video quality . But those two features that are missing are crucial for video. I'm always watching to see what you guys are traveling with so Thanks for posting this. I am lugging the D850 and Nikkors for stills, using it for stationary video, too. But I'm also carrying the Sony A6500 and lenses for run and gun travel. Again, two sets of lenses and two systems.

I imagine Sony is probably your best bet for the best hybrid shooter.

I'm afraid so, Lee. Damn I love the D850. Fearing it might be too late for Nikon with the mirrorless in 2019. I guess these are 1st world problems. Will be adding PTW4 soon as it's out. I think you have a bit of editing to do first on it :) Cheers.

Ya the D850 is awesome. It's a great video camera too... it's just not as good at video as the GH5.

I'm editing PTW4 right now ;)

Take off the flip-flops if you're going to be on TV.

I plan on bringing the flip flop trend to TV

I mean, I want the best for you and all, but there's just some lines in life that shouldn't be crossed. ;)

Regarding the X-T2, those control dials are configurable. Can't remember what the default for the front dial is, but the rear dial allows you to adjust shutter speed up or down 1/3 or 2/3 stop. If you want to go a full stop, you have to turn the physical dial.

The physical dials aren't for everyone. I love it. They're one of the main reasons I bought the camera.

Regarding the battery grip, the charger only charges the two batteries in the grip. To charge the battery inside the camera, you have to use a usb cable and charger, which is way slower. I think the battery grip charges the batteries in two hours.

Did you guys have a problem with the Fuji dropping frames when the camera split files at 4GB, or did you not record any clips long enough for that to be a problem? I can't really rely on my X-T2 for recording interviews because it's dropped frames on me on more than one occasion.

best ever DSLR for photography is the D850, they didnt use it. no sony camera's why not ? the best DSLR and the best mirorless didnt get used,. im puzzled.

This was filmed long before the d850 was out

i see. but its not on your current gear list and i assume that you didnt use the sony's or nikon D850 on the pwt4 ?

I have not found another site as good as this one for down to earth nuts and bolts information... Thanks. I did notice you did not include sliders.Have you replaced them with 4K panning?

Thanks! In town we still use the Rhino slider but on location now we are simply shooting in slow motion and using a gimbal.

i was just wondering why you aren't using Arca-Swiss Tripod-heads? Especially when some of your lenses already have an feet for it?

Thanks for the really honest review of video gear from people who actually have to produce results in real-world conditions. Our experiences have been really similar... including being blown away by iPhone video quality, and ditching the idea of using bigger gimbals that require balancing.