3 Best Affordable Cameras for Adventure Photography
May 3, 2021
When it comes to outdoor photography, choosing the right equipment is important. You need gear that is weather resistant and lightweight, but still capable of producing high quality images. In short, you’re looking for the best cameras for adventure photography!
Whether you’re traveling through multiple countries, backpacking and documenting long hikes, or like me, lugging your camera gear on multi-day sea kayaking adventures, there are a lot of things you need to consider that make a “good” camera for adventure photography. For me, the most important things in a good camera for adventure photography are…
- Image Quality
- Battery Life
- Water Resistance
- Weight
It’s also important to remember that when you’re trekking through the Armenian Highlands, or dragging your camera out on water-based expeditions, you are going to go through cameras more quickly than the average photographer. Unless you’ve got a massive budget and several sponsorships, probably you need not only a camera that lasts, but one that you can afford to replace.
Best Cameras for Adventure Photography
1) Canon Rebel SL 3
I’m on my second Canon camera, as my first “bit the dust” after three years of heavy use on a backpacking trip in Armenia. Since then, I shot briefly with a Nikon before switching to the Canon Rebel SL 3. This is the perfect camera for beginning adventure photography, and what I would recommend for anyone who wants to take beautiful travel photos on the road or trail.
edit: I am now on my third as of 2023. Dropped the old SL 3 on a backpacking trip. It’s still useable, but sustained damage. I decided to replace with a second SL 3 even though I now have the budget for a more expensive camera. I just cannot beat the weight and water resistance/battery life of this camera, especially since almost all of the commercial photography I’ve done involves multi-day trips and travel.
The Canon Rebel SL 3 is perfect for adventure photographers. Here’s why:
It’s relatively lightweight and small. Whether you’re traveling, backpacking, or paddling, you want a compact camera that doesn’t compromise quality.
It’s weather resistant. My Canon Rebel SL 3 has withstood freezing rain, hail, and -40 F temperatures. Ice has formed ON the camera. Bonus: the battery life regularly survives full weeks of heavy use without recharging.
Color quality: no camera captures colors the way a Canon does. I have had no problem creating and selling print quality images with this camera, and have shot several images that have been printed as full spreads in magazines on this camera.
The price. The EOS Rebel SL 3 will run you about $700 for the camera body. This is pretty much the best bang for your buck you can get on a camera for adventure photography. A close competitor would be the Sony a6000 in image quality and price (arguably better image quality), but by choosing Sony you sacrifice that battery life and weather resistance. Personally, when taking long trips in a variety of weather conditions, weather resistance and battery life is more important than the low light performance of a Sony camera.
A compressed version of a photo I shot on a Canon SL 3 that appeared in Country Living Magazine. Not bad for a budget Adventure Photography Camera!
That might not be the right choice for you. If you’re planning to do more road-trip based travel and less trekking in the wilderness for extended periods of time, a Sony camera might make more sense.
2) Go Pro Hero 9
If you plan on capturing incredible action shots and videos optimized for social media, you need a Go Pro. The Go Pro Hero 9 is the latest add on to my adventure photography kit, and long over due. As video becomes more and more a necessity for content creators, a Go Pro offers high quality video options while being light weight. For me, the biggest selling point is the Go Pro’s ability to take underwater photo and video.
2023 Update: Personally, I don’t use the Go Pro as much as I thought I would. I mostly shoot on the Canon (above) and my iPhone 8. For people focusing more on video and action content, a GoPro is still a must!
You need a Go Pro for Adventure Photography. Here’s why:
A Go Pro will likely not produce print-quality images. A Go Pro will set you up with actions shots from places you can’t bring a DSLR easily, like deep in the wilderness, or the top of a wave. More importantly, video is becoming an essential part of any social media savvy photographers toolkit.
A Go Pro is your easiest backcountry camera, great for social media and blogs. Adding adventure video to your toolkit is something you absolutely need to make you as an adventure photographer and content creator stand out.
Basically, being a fine art photographer is totally fine. You’ll get a few gigs, and sell a few prints. But if you’re hoping to go beyond that, the world is leaning toward video. And for versatile, high quality, adventure videos from a camera that fits in any bag, you can’t do better than the Go Pro Hero 9.
The other nice thing about a Go Pro is the different options you have for mounts and filming. Mount the Go Pro to your helmet for wild surf videos, use the 3-in-1 selfie stick/tripod to take better selfies and backpacking shots in new and unique way.
3) The Camera you Have
Let me tell you a secret. You don’t need to spend any money at all to start taking incredible adventure photos. Honestly, about 80% of good photos comes down to the photographer. I would say 10% is luck. The least important 10% is the camera you have. Don’t believe me? Here are some images that I took on a humble iPhone.
A key part of adventure photography is editing. All of my iPhone photos have been edited in Adobe Lightroom. These images were edited with my custom Lightroom presets (photo filters) designed to edit adventure photos shot on any camera in just one click. Use the code HELLO50 for 50% off presets and enjoy your adventure photography journey!
4) Other Recommended Equipment
My go to lens for my Canon SL 3 is EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6. It’s a macro lens, but it’s perfect for wildlife and capturing unique landscape shoots. The quality is unbeatable for the price. It’s a perfect “do everything” lens and it costs almost as much as the camera, but it is worth it.
If you’re looking to get serious about photography, but can’t break the bank, the Canon Rebel SL 3 paired with the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 is a great place to start. All of the images below were shot on a combination of this lens and camera body. Probably, I’ll be upgrading from this set soon. When I do, I’ll update you I promise.
Adobe Photoshop is great for blending multiple images, and Adobe Lightroom is the software you absolutely should master to start editing photos. If you only make one purchase when starting out, invest in a Lightroom subscription before a camera. Learn how to edit and take photos on any camera before you start learning on a more complicated and expensive DSLR.
I use a Sherpa Adventure Gear roll top bag for my camera equipment/lenses on day trips; it is water resistant and has side zipper access. It’s a very easy bag to pack smart.
Gear is important, but it certainly isn’t everything. I definitely don’t recommend spending money on a new camera if you just yesterday decided you want to be an adventure photographer. Instead, spend some time learning about some of the composition and fundamental aspects of photography.
The most important thing for starting adventure photography?
If you only do one thing to market yourself, start a blog. No, not an Instagram. Instagram is cool and a good way to grow on a superficial level, but 90% of the photo licensing requests and paid photography projects have come through the blog you are reading right now. Photographers get paid more and more sooner in their careers when they are found through Google and not on Instagram.
Marketers looking for photographers start at google, not at Instagram. You want your page to pop up right up top on google when a marketer searches “hiking photos grand canyon”. The best way to do that is to have a blog and update it regularly. The best way to rank on google as a photographer for that area would be to write an article along the lines of “20 best photography locations in the Grand Canyon”.
I would recommend blogging through WordPress.org rather than a Wix or Squarespace site whenever possible and learning a little about SEO and website building in the process. WordPress sites are more involved than Squarespace, but ultimately WordPress has more for someone looking to become SEO savvy.