My small Photography Kit for 2025
In today’s blog, we’re taking a look at my small photography kit that I’m using in 2025. It’s mainly for my daily and travel photography, which is where I spend about 90% of my creative time.
Most of my gear is second-hand because I always want to buy tech at the lowest possible price—I either wait for good deals or buy used items from marketplaces. I’m not a fan of buying gear as soon as it comes out or paying full price.
The second-hand market is always full of interesting equipment, and it’s kind of my secret hack for rotating gear and trying out new lenses and cameras. Always try to find a good deal so you can ideally resell the item later without losing value. It can be a bit of a challenge sometimes, but if you put in the effort to search, you can keep upgrading your gear until you reach a setup that really works for you—and that you’ll want to stick with long-term.
Let’s not drag it out—let’s dive right in.
Sony Alpha A7R V
This Is My Workhorse for 2025
For the past two years, I was shooting with the Sony A7 IV and I was really happy with it. But then I came across a great deal on this camera. It was in like-new condition, had only 10,000 shutter counts, and was selling for half the usual price—so I didn’t hesitate and bought it. And I have to say, I don’t regret it one bit.
The camera offers an incredible 61-megapixel resolution, which means you can crop images heavily with no noticeable loss in quality, or print them in large formats. That kind of resolution is amazing—and seriously addictive.
Compared to the A7 IV, it has a higher-resolution display, a better electronic viewfinder (though I personally don’t use it—actually, I only used it once just to compare 😄), and it also has a much nicer shutter sound, which any photo geek will appreciate 😄.
Another upgrade over the A7 IV is the reduced crop in 60fps video mode—while the A7 IV had a 1.5x crop, the A7R V only has a 1.2x crop.
If I had to point out a downside, it would be how quickly this camera can eat up memory cards and storage space. A single uncompressed RAW file at 61 megapixels is about 130 MB.
Sony FE 24-70 mm f/2,8 GM II
This Lens Is Simply Amazing
Ever since I got it, I’ve barely taken it off my camera. It’s incredibly sharp and renders every detail beautifully. It’s really fascinating to see how far technology has come—zoom lenses, in my opinion, are now on par with prime lenses in terms of sharpness.
The constant f/2.8 aperture across the entire zoom range is more than sufficient. When paired with the Sony A7R V, which has improved in-body stabilization, I can comfortably shoot handheld at shutter speeds around 0.4 seconds. That means I almost never need to carry a tripod—unless I’m shooting a commercial job. For everyday shooting, street photography, or travel, it’s more than enough.
The 24–70mm range is practically perfect for everything. It’s wide enough for 95% of the shots I take, and I rarely find myself wishing for something wider than 24mm. On the other end, 70mm is great for isolating details or shooting subjects that are a bit further away.
The lens is robust, weather-sealed, and I’ve shot with it in heavy rain, snow, and dusty environments multiple times—never had a single issue.
If you’re looking for a lens that can handle almost anything and rarely needs to come off your camera, this is the one.
SONY FE 50 mm f/1,4 G Master
I Primarily Use This Lens for Paid Photography Projects
This is the lens I mainly reach for when I’m shooting a paid project. It’s suitable for almost any type of assignment—I’ve used it to photograph cars, food for a restaurant, and even portrait sessions. Occasionally, I also use it for night street photography.
Compared to the 24–70mm, it’s much lighter and more comfortable to carry around. It delivers excellent optical quality, and thanks to the wide f/1.4 aperture, you can easily separate your subject from the background with beautiful depth of field.
It’s simply a versatile lens for client work.
Subjects shot at around 50mm usually have the most natural and realistic look, closely matching how we see things with the human eye. That’s why I always reach for this lens when I need to capture something as accurately as possible, and there’s no room for overly creative interpretation.
MacBook Pro 14" M4 PRO
This Is the Computer I Use for All My Photo and Project Editing
For a long time, I was using my old 2017 iMac, but over time it just couldn’t keep up anymore. Editing photos on it became more of a struggle than a joy, so I decided to upgrade to this MacBook Pro.
It’s configured with 48GB of RAM, an M4 Pro 14-core processor, and a 1TB SSD. I really enjoy the display resolution and the overall speed of the machine—even when working with large files.
At home, I use it with a 27-inch Apple Studio Display as an external monitor. One thing I love about this setup is that the monitor connects and charges the laptop with a single cable, which makes it super easy to unplug the MacBook and take it anywhere to work on the go.
If I were to configure it again, I’d probably go with a larger internal drive. But at the time of purchase, I needed the upgrade as soon as possible—so I went with the configuration that had the shortest delivery time.
Canon EOS 300 V + Canon EF 50mm f/1.8
This is my favorite film camera. It was the first film camera I ever bought—and later sold. After some time, I decided to buy it back, and I found the lens and camera together for about 25 euros on a marketplace, so I didn’t hesitate.
What I really like about this camera is that, compared to my Sony, it’s almost weightless, which makes it much less annoying to carry around all day or pack for a trip. I often use it when traveling abroad, especially when I don’t want to worry too much about technically perfect shots and just want to capture candid moments.
I most often shoot with it using my favorite film, Kodak Ultramax 400. Another thing I like about the camera is how quickly it focuses for its age, and the fact that it has all the smart modes you’d expect from a typical mirrorless camera—manual mode, aperture priority, shutter priority, and even continuous shooting.
Sony HDR-CX115
I bought this pocket camera from 2010 just for fun on a marketplace, just like the previous film camera. I was bored one evening, scrolling through classifieds, and saw it listed for about 15 euros. I thought I’d give it a try and see what kind of footage it would produce.
In the end, it became one of my favorite travel companions. I use it to shoot reels—you might’ve seen some from Berlin if you’ve been following me for a while. I love that it’s small, weighs around 200 grams, and I can carry it around the city without it bothering me.
Lately, I’ve even started using it for filming sports, paired with a fisheye lens. I really enjoy the nostalgic, colorful look it produces—it has that old-school vibe that this camera captures so well. Another big plus is the impressive battery life—around 2 hours of continuous recording—and I believe it's still using the original battery. If I bought a new one, it would probably last even longer.
A huge bonus is that it shoots in Full HD, so I can fit about 350 minutes of footage on a 64GB card with no problem. Honestly, a great deal for 15 euros, don’t you think?
WD My Passport for Mac 2TB
I've been using these external hard drives for a long time, and I'm satisfied with them. I usually have all my data backed up twice, just in case something were to happen to one of the drives. I always keep the drives at home by my computer and never take them anywhere. Whenever I'm somewhere where I need to transfer data, the internal storage on my MacBook has always been sufficient.
iPhone 14 Pro
This is my primary device for uploading all my content to social media. I also often use it to edit videos that I turn into reels—either filmed with the retro Sony camera I mentioned earlier or shot on my iPhone.
It’s been through a lot with me. The battery could definitely use a replacement by now, but it’s still my reliable companion, and I see no reason to upgrade to a newer model. Lately, I’ve been struggling a bit with the limited 256GB of storage, but it’s nothing I can’t manage.
What I really enjoy is how fast AirDrop transfers photos from my MacBook, and the overall connectivity with my other Apple devices makes the whole process smooth and convenient.