Best Camera Gear for Photographing Angkor Wat and Other Angkor Temples

What’s the best camera gear for photographing Angkor Wat and the other Angkor Archaeological Park temples is the first question I get asked by readers and friends heading to Siem Reap who are into photography. As a pro travel photographer of decades experience, and a Cambodian resident of 12 years who has been to the Angkor temples hundreds of times, here’s what to pack for capturing memorable images.

As a Siem Reap based pro photographer I’ve spent a lot of time photographing Angkor Wat and other Angkor temples since we first moved to Cambodia in 2012. With such an abundance of spectacular archaeological sites on our doorstep here, more jaw-dropping archaeological sites further afield, as well as all kinds of other opportunities for making breathtaking images, I must have shot tens of thousands of images.

Whether you’re a photography enthusiast on holidays in Cambodia or a pro photographer visiting Siem Reap and shooting the Angkor temples for the first time, I guarantee your camera will rarely leave your hands. While you’ll want to make a beeline for Angkor Wat at sunrise, do allow time for smaller lesser visited temples and a handful of atmospheric remote temples such as Sambor Prei Kuk, Banteay Chhmar, and the ‘lost city’ of Mahendraparvata on Mount Kulen.

I highly recommend hiring an official temple tour guide the first day for a good introduction to the temples and to get your bearings. Then you can return with a tuk tuk driver on your own to visit different temples or revisit sites you with a good guidebook, such as Michael Coe’s Angkor and the Khmer Civilization. Stick to early mornings and late afternoons. Avoid the middle of the day when it’s far too bright to take photos. Enjoy lunch in town then a swim, massage or snooze before heading out again.

Check out Lara’s incredibly detailed and comprehensive guide to Angkor Wat and Angkor Archaeological Park, which covers everything you need to know, her guide to Angkor without crowds and how to guide a tour guide if you’re not a ‘tour person’, plus our recommendations for where to eat and where to stay in Siem Reap. I’ve compiled what I think are the best hotels for photographers at the end of this post.

Best Camera Gear for Photographing Angkor Wat and the other Angkor Temples

Prior to the pandemic, Lara and I used to host occasional travel writing and photography retreats. In the months leading up to the retreats, I’d be fielding questions from participants as to what cameras they should pack, what’s the best camera gear for photographing Angkor Wat, what lenses should they bring, and, the number one question: “do I need a tripod?” I thought I’d share that photography advice here for our readers.

Your Angkor Photography Questions Answered

Here are some of the common questions about photographing Angkor Wat and the other Angkor Archaeological Park temples that I get and my responses. If you have a photography question, feel free to leave it in the comments below and I’ll add the answer here.

Do I need an interchangeable lens camera?

These days it doesn’t really matter much if you’re using an interchangeable lens camera, it’s the lenses that you need to think about if you’re serious about photographing Angkor Wat and capturing the best possible shots you can.

If you have a fixed-lens camera like a point-and shoot camera, most of the lenses will not be wide enough to get shots that are impressive when you’re actually in the temples, so you’ll just have to make do, or upgrade.

What focal length and lenses will I need?

To take advantage of all the best photo opportunities, you’ll need everything from 12-14mm lenses to around 200mm lenses or more. For the full-frame DSLR photographers that would usually mean a wide-angle zoom (eg. 12-24mm), a mid-range zoom (eg. 24-70mm), and a telephoto zoom (eg. 70-200mm).

For those using cameras with a smaller sensor, the focal length is usually called the ‘equivalent’ focal length, meaning that the focal length is the equivalent of a 35mm full-frame camera. For more on this, you should read this wikipedia entry. Once you’ve taken that into account, the focal length of the lenses I recommend are the same.

While the wide angle lens is great for taking exterior photos of Angkor Wat and the complete temple complex, to capture the grandeur and scale, wide angle lenses come into their own when you’re inside the colossal temple. If you want to get a floor to ceiling shot, it’s handy to have a wide lens, although you might just get by with 24mm as your widest focal length.

A mid-range zoom (eg. 24-70mm) is going to be your main lens for photographing Angkor Wat and the other Angkor temples. I shoot a lot of frames at the 35mm focal length. It’s great for shooting sections of intricate carvings, lintels and bas reliefs in the temples and for shooting down through the columns of arcades.

A real favourite lens of mine for photographing Angkor Wat is a telephoto zoom (eg. 70-200mm). The reason I like it so much is that I can take advantage of ‘compression’, which is where objects in the background are made to appear closer to the object that’s in focus – as with the photo below that I took at the Bayon temple.

The carved face in the background is actually 10 metres away, but the combination of a 200mm focal length and a shallow depth of field manages to make the background face look close to the front one, but out of focus due to the shallow depth of field (f3.2).

Does my camera have to be good in low light?

For photographing Angkor Wat and the temples themselves, not really, as the light in Cambodia is very bright. It’s only in the rainy season that you get overcast weather and a lot of cloud – which is also beautiful to shoot as well, especially when you have the contrast of lush green rice paddies and palm trees against slate-grey skies as a storm rolls in.

One thing that you might need low light capabilities for is shooting one of the traditional Apsara dance performances, which are generally poorly lit.

Another time that low light capabilities really come in handy is if you’re photographing Angkor Wat at dawn and want to capture a ‘noise-free’ image just before daybreak. See below.

Do I need a tripod for photographing Angkor Wat?

Do you work for Nat Geo Traveler? Yes, bring one. Are you serious about capturing that classic Angkor Wat at dawn image? Yes, bring one. But here’s the thing: do you want to carry a tripod around for that one shot? Because that’s probably the only time that you’ll probably need a tripod.

Unless you’re into time-lapse photography or long-exposure images, photographing Angkor Wat at dawn is the only time you’ll probably need a tripod. Why do I keep saying probably? Because I’ve seen pretty decent photos of that classic image taken on an iPhone.

Having said that, a lot of visitors do change their mind when they get to Siem Reap and end up purchasing a tripod that probably won’t even survive the flight home. I have seen shop assistants try to demonstrate how to set up poorly-made spindly tripods to visitors with DSLRs around their neck and, on one occasion recently, the tripod literally fell apart as he tried to adjust it. There’s no way I’d risk a US$1,000+ camera on a rubbish US$30 tripod.

If you don’t have a tripod and are passing through Singapore, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City or Hong Kong or Bangkok on your way to Siem Reap, buy a tripod in one of those cities. I personally recommend Manfrotto gear, because the first serious tripod I purchased over 20 years ago is still my only tripod – and it’s done some serious air miles.

The model (055 carbon fibre 3-section tripod) is much improved since I purchased mine and while it may appear expensive, retailing at over US$500, like a good quality lens it’s a photography item that will serve you for many years.

For tripod heads, I’ve settled on the Manfrotto-804RC2 after having two (!) tripod heads broken by clumsy hotel porters trying to snatch my camera gear off me so they get a tip. Otherwise, it’s a solid piece of kit and my latest one has lasted ten years.

What else is there to photograph in Siem Reap?

While photographing Angkor Wat and the other Angkor temples will be the priority for most photographers, hobbyists and pros, as much as we adore visiting Angkor Archaeological Park and never tire of photographing the temples, there is so much more to photograph in Siem Reap and the surrounding villages and countryside.

Here are my picks of other places, experiences and events in Siem Reap that offer abundant photo opportunities. My top piece of advice: plan to visit Siem Reap mid-end of November, as the monsoon is ending and dry season is starting. Everything is still gorgeous, lush and green yet the rains have stopped, and there’s a wonderful clarity to the light. A month later and it will be dusty and brown.

Siem Reap Festivals

From Pchum Ben or Ancestors Festival (akin to the Hungry Ghosts Festival) to Khmer New Year (similar to Thailand’s Songkran), Siem Reap’s festivals offer countless photo ops, from Cambodians enacting traditional rituals and ceremonies outside their homes, in the streets and at the Buddhist pagodas to lively events such as the boat races during the Siem Reap Water Festival.

Local Markets

Like local markets everywhere in Asia, especially wet markets, our Siem Reap’s local markets offer an incredible insight into everyday local life in Cambodia, as well as loads of colour and atmosphere, and plenty of lovely friendly faces. Most sellers are flattered to have their portraits taken as long as you ask nicely first.

Phare Cambodian Circus

A night at the Phare circus is one of the best way to spend an evening in Siem Reap. Expect loads of action, colour, comedy, and drama. We like the high seats in ‘B’ section for the best vantage point for capturing the dare-devil acrobatics. Sitting up the back means I’m also not disturbing others watching the show. You can buy Siem Reap circus tickets here.

Floating Villages

The floating villages on the edge of the Tonle Sap or Great Lake offer an abundance of photo ops, from boats whizzing by on the glassy water to local fisherman, waist-deep in water, throwing out nets, and most people don’t mind you taking photos at all. In fact, all I’ve ever got has been generous smiles.

Cambodian Countryside

Cambodia may not have the steep rice terraces of Sapa in Northern Vietnam, the majestic Mekong river views of Luang Prabang in Laos, or the incredible diversity of landscapes found in Thailand’s Isaan region, but Cambodia’s countryside has its charms: from the lush rice paddies dotted with sugar palms to diminutive villages of traditional wooden houses, but the biggest appeal are its people and their disarming smiles.

Where to Stay Near Angkor Archaeological Park

If you’re planning on spending most of your time in Siem Reap out at Angkor Archaeological Park photographing the temples and looking for hotels close to Angkor Wat then stylish boutique resort Templation is the closest hotel to the temples, with a huge swimming pool, good restaurant, and a library devoted to Angkor and Cambodian history, handy for labelling images in between photo jaunts.

Also located on the road to the temples, luxurious Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor is 12 minutes from Angkor Wat. Siem Reap’s oldest hotel, built in 1932, it oozes history (it still has its original elevator), and is home to Siem Reap’s largest hotel swimming pool, as well as atmospheric Elephant Bar. A great spot for a cocktail while doing some in-camera editing.

Named after the historic pagoda, Wat Bo is Siem Reap’s coolest neighbourhood and student quarter, home to a handful of universities and high schools, with hipster barbershops, backstreet bakeries, cool cafes and bars, laneway student pubs, and many restaurants dotting its streets.

Wat Bo is the address of Siem Reap’s hippest hotel Viroth’s, a photogenic resort with palm-fringed swimming pool; its equally attractive yet more affordable sister hotel, Viroth’s Villa; and Maison 557, a lovely B&B on Wat Bo Road. Nearby are a handful of decent budget- and mid-range hotels including La Niche d’Angkor, Hotel Home Indochine d’Angkor and Ladear Angkor Boutique Hotel. It’s 15 minutes to Angkor Wat by tuk tuk from all hotels.

In nearby Wat Damnak neighbourhood, there’s gay-friendly Rambutan with rooms with terraces surrounding a swimming pool; atmospheric Sala Lodges, with beautiful traditional timber houses on stilts with verandas and a stunning pool; and Hillock’s Hotel and Spa with yet another striking swimming pool. All are around 18 minutes by tuk tuk to Angkor Wat.

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Published 25 February 2016; last updated 8 November 2024

If you have any questions about the gear you’ll need for photographing Angkor Wat and the other temples or any photography questions, feel free to leave them below and I’ll reply.