Equipment guide · Updated quarterly
The freelance photographer’s kit list.
Three tiers per category — starter, working, top. Honest trade-offs, no “best ever” bait. This is what working freelance shooters actually buy with their own money in 2026.
The body
Cameras
The camera body matters less than the lens for stills, and less than the codec for video. Here is what working freelance shooters actually buy, sorted by where you are in your career.
Starter
Sony ZV-E10
~ €650
APS-C, flip screen, clean autofocus. Good first body if you are mixing photo and video for clients. Skip if you are committing to full-frame from day one.
Check current price →
Working
Sony a7 IV
~ €2,400
The workhorse. Full-frame, dual card slots, 33MP, 4K60. If you are shooting paid client work weekly, this is the body that pays itself off.
Check current price →
Top
Sony a7R V
~ €4,200
61 MP, AI autofocus, in-body stabilisation. For commercial product, real estate, and large-format prints. Overkill for weddings and lifestyle.
Check current price →The actual image
Lenses
Spend more here than on the body. Two solid primes plus one zoom will cover 90% of paid work for most freelancers. These three are the most-recommended workhorses for Sony E-mount.
Starter
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG DN Art
~ €750
The lens you will never sell. Sharp wide open, beautiful rendering, light enough to carry all day. Documentary, weddings, lifestyle — all of it.
Check current price →
Working
Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II
~ €2,200
The reason most pros pay the GM tax. One lens, every focal length you need on a job, and the autofocus is now finally fast enough to keep up with the bodies.
Check current price →
Top
Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II
~ €1,800
Portrait lens, end of conversation. Lighter and faster-focusing than the original GM. If headshots are 30%+ of your work, just buy it.
Check current price →The cheat code
Lighting
Most beginner shooters skip lighting and blame their camera. One soft, controllable light beats any sensor upgrade. Start with one. Add a second when you start losing jobs because you only have one.
Starter
Godox SL60IIBi (60W bi-color)
~ €170
Bi-color, silent fan, mains-powered. Perfect first key light for talking-head video and indoor product. Replace its fragile barndoors with a softbox immediately.
Check current price →
Working
Aputure Amaran 100x S
~ €270
Real Aputure quality at half the price of the 200d. App control, robust build. The light most YouTubers and small studios actually use day-to-day.
Check current price →
Top
Aputure 300X
~ €1,150
Bi-color, battery-capable with the right grip. The benchmark for serious solo shooters. Loud fan in quiet rooms — mute it for interview audio.
Check current price →Things that hold things
Tripods & stabilisation
Buy a tripod that outlives three cameras. The cheap carbon stuff fails at the joints within a year of weekly use. Two recommendations — one travel, one studio.
Travel
Peak Design Travel Tripod
~ €380
Folds tiny. Quick to deploy. Lives in your bag. The travel tripod most working pros actually carry — alternatives are 30% cheaper and 50% slower to set up.
Check current price →
Studio
Manfrotto MT055CXPRO4
~ €450
Heavy. Reliable. Holds anything up to a medium-format body. The 90° column horizontal mount alone justifies the price for product work.
Check current price →
Gimbal
DJI RS 4
~ €580
For client video where handheld is not an option. Better than the original RS 3 in balance time and weight. Skip the Pro version unless you are using cinema cameras.
Check current price →The boring one that saves jobs
Backup & storage
You will lose a client’s photos exactly once before this becomes the most important section. Two SSDs, one NAS, one cloud. Skip none of them.
Fast SSD
Samsung T7 Shield 2 TB
~ €180
Rugged, IP65, USB-C. Lives in the field bag. Two of these in rotation are the working memory of a freelance photographer.
Check current price →
NAS
Synology DS224+
~ €380
Two-bay NAS with mirroring. Pair with two 12 TB drives. This is your “jobs are safe at home” backup — not optional.
Check current price →Cloud
Backblaze (subscription)
~ €9 / TB / mo
Off-site backup, automatic, encrypted. Pair with the NAS and the SSDs for the 3-2-1 rule. The day a hard drive dies, this is what saves the contract.
Check current price →