When we’re on the road, my wife and I like to document our trip by recording a lot of video, and sometimes even conducting interviews with people we meet.

We wanted to step up our video recording setup without spending a lot of money or taking up much space in the Jeep. Here are the things we keep in our overlanding video kit.

Pixel 3 XL

To avoid spending a lot of money on cameras (and to save space) we decided to use our smartphones for video recording. We had both recently upgraded to Google Pixel 3 XLs, which happen to have some of the best smartphone camera sensors on the market.

Dreamgrip smartphone rig

In order to effectively shoot video with our smartphones, we needed a way to hold them steady, attach accessories, and easily mount the cameras to tripods, etc. We looked around a bit, and found the Dreamgrip Evolution. I just bought the Dreamgrip frame, but they also sell a complete kit in case you don’t want to shop for the other components separately. This rig allows us to mount our light, audio recorder, GoPro, and anything else that needs to move with the camera. It also connects to anything with a standard 1/4″ thread or cold shoe mount (virtually all tripods and camera accessories), and is fully modular so we can use it in a bunch of different configurations, only attaching what we need.

The universal hardware means that if we upgrade our phones, switch to a DSLR, or change out any of our other gear, this will still be compatible.

LED light

For shooting video in low light, it helps to have an adjustable light source. This Raleno LED Light is a fairly inexpensive light source that mounts directly to the Dreamgrip rig, charges via USB, and has adjustable intensity and color temperature.

Audio recorder

One of the main shortcomings of using a smartphone for video recording is the audio quality. To make sure I’m getting good audio, I use a Tascam DR-22WL Audio recorder mounted to the Dreamgrip rig, which gives me better microphones and much more control over the quality of the audio. I still record audio through the phone as well, which helps when syncing the audio later on.

Microphone wind muff

The microphones on the Tascam audio recorder usually sound great, but when we shoot outside on a windy day, they pick up a lot of wind noise. This microphone wind muff fits snugly on the recorder’s mics and eliminates the wind noise issue.

Lavalier microphones

For indoor interviews, lavalier mics offer better and more even sound quality than the built in mics on the audio recorder (or the microphone on my Pixel 3 XL). We don’t need them often, so I didn’t want to spend a ton of money. But when we do need them, these Audio-Technica ATR-3350’s are a really solid low-cost option.

Briefcase/bag

Once I had all of the equipment, I needed a bag to hold all of it together. Normal camera bags didn’t really make sense for our rig, so we instead opted for a laptop bag/briefcase. This Case Logic 18″ laptop case is the perfect size to fit our full rig without having to disassemble it, so we can easily pull it out to start filming and put it away as-is. It’s also slim enough, even with all of our gear in it, to slide under our sleeping platform or between our suitcases on the rear shelf in the Jeep.

Tripods

I wanted three different tripods for different situations:

First, I wanted a small, but stable mini-tripod, mostly for shooting from a tabletop. This Manfrotto mini tripod is perfect; it’s super solid and durable, and fits in the laptop case.

Next, I wanted a small, super-lightweight, and flexible mini-tripod, mostly for the GoPro. This EggSnow Octopus tripod is cheap, light, and great for timelapses or shots on uneven surfaces.

Lastly, I wanted a solid full-size tripod. I looked at a bunch of them and settled on the Neewer 70″ Tripod/monopod. Again, it’s pretty inexpensive, but it’s very lightweight and sturdy, packs up small, and works in several different configurations. This is the only item on the list that doesn’t fit in the laptop case, but it does fit perfectly in the space between the stacked sleeping platforms and the rear shelf.

SD Card Reader

Another limitation of using a smartphone for video recording is hard drive space, especially if you shoot mostly in 4K like we do. Each of our phones has 64GB of space, so I keep this Anker USB-C SD/MicroSD card reader and a couple of Samsung 128GB EVO Select SD cards in my bag, so I can quickly free up space by transferring all of the videos from the phone onto the MicroSD card to be uploaded to the cloud later.

There are similar SD card reader options out there for iPhones with Lightning connectors.

GoPros

We keep our (now very old) GoPro Hero 3 and Hero 4 in our kit as well, for shooting in wet or rough conditions, for when we want to use one of our GoPro mounts, and as a backup to the smartphones. They mount to the Dreamgrip rig as well.

Headphones

I didn’t buy my Bose Quietcomfort 35’s specifically for this, but it definitely helps to have a good set of noise-cancelling headphones to be able to monitor your audio. These are also my everyday music, Netflix, and sometimes sleeping headphones.

Power supply

To keep all of these devices charged, I keep my Anker Powercore+ 26800 powerbank in the kit too. It’s heavy, so when I’m filming I keep it in my pocket rather than mounting it to the rig. I use it to charge the Pixel 3 XLs, the LED light, the audio recorder, my headphones, and a GoPro (I can plug in up to 3 of those at a time). Outside of video recording, I also use it for a lot of other things, like running my USB fans when we’re sleeping in the Jeep, or just keeping our phones charged when we’re off the grid.

Filmic Pro

The stock iOS and Android camera apps are fine, but we really like the control and flexibility of Filmic Pro. Filmic offers manual control and configuration where you want it (resolution, framerate, audio sampling rate, stabilization, focus, zoom, ISO, exposure, white balance, and a lot more), and automation where you don’t. Despite the extra complexity, it’s still beginner-friendly and easy to use.