You’ve chosen you bag, shoes, and packable jacket but you’re still not sure what’s the best travel camera to take on your trip. You’ve entered….
“The Great Camera Dilemma!”
Depending on your level of skill, this can be a very daunting task. You’re investing so much time and money into your venture so you want to be sure you capture all of the magical moments. Since most people don’t have Scrooge Mcduck as their uncle, price is one of the biggest factors. To help you make a decision, we’ve broken our selections down into 3 levels, Jetsetter, Traveler, and Backpacker, high, medium, and low cost respectively.
First decision Mirrorless vs DSLR
Previously, if you wanted to upgrade from you point-and-shoot travel camera the only option was SLR or single-lens reflex camera. Now with new technology, numerous mirrorless cameras are available. What is a mirrorless camera? “Compact system cameras (CSC) are often referred to as mirrorless because, unlike single lens reflex (SLR) cameras they don’t have a mirror to bounce light from the lens up into a pentaprism (or pentamirror) viewfinder.” – www.digitalcameraworld.com This allows Mirrorless cameras to be much lighter and more compact than a DSLR. While one type of camera isn’t necessarily better than the other, it just depends on what you plan to do with it.
Mirrorless Cameras
- Light weight
- Compact
- Better at Video
- Limited Lens Selection
- Shorter Battery Life
The smallest, best travel camera on our list is a mirrorless camera. The greatest benefit of mirrorless cameras is there size. If you’re an amateur photographer looking to upgrade your point-and-shoot, mirrorless cameras are one of the best travel camera options. I know several backpackers who swear by the mirrorless cameras I recommend below. Just be sure to charge it each night. Learn more about mirrorless camera setups here.
DSLR Cameras
- Great in Low light
- Plenty of lens and accessory options
- Long Battery Life
- Bulkier
- Not as good shooting video
DSLR cameras are and will continue to be the number one option for best travel camera if you want the best quality photographs. DSLRs offer the most lens options and bodies to choose from but that is changing quickly as manufacturers of mirrorless cameras design new lenses. If you want to have more control over your photographs, then DSLR is the way to go. I travel with a DSLR, and while it takes up a little more space than a mirrorless, I like the lens options I have to chose from. Maybe in a few years when mirrorless cameras have more lenses to choose from I may look to switch, but until then I’m sticking with my Nikon.
Mirrorless Cameras
For Travelers
Olympus OM-D
Perfect travel camera for beginners. This has multiple lenses available and built in wi-fi for easy transfer. The built in wifi is great for uploading pictures quickly to social media. I recently purchased a 6s Plus iPhone and now I do almost 50% of my photo editing on it using Adobe software.
Price $1,299
Thank you very much for this guide! I was looking for some inspiration myself on what to write about the best cameras I can suggest to travelling vloggers. Maybe I take inspiration from this one and put up something myself! I am also glad that you Included much more than the standard canon and nickon suggestions!
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you think we can network and help each other 😀
Oh! also please leave feedback on my blog if you have the time.