Top Cameras for Travellers

I get asked quite a lot about the pictures on my blog. I use a combination of stock photos, my own photos and others that my husband has taken. Cormac, was always a keen amateur photographer, before turning professional 10 years ago.  So I asked him what he thought were the top cameras for travellers. Here’s what he said….

Canon G9X

The Canon G9X is the smallest sensor in a camera to date. Slip it in a pocket and you can forget it’s even there, but pull it out and you have the great image quality of a 1-inch sensor on tap. And getting images onto your phone couldn’t be easier, thanks to the in-camera Wi-Fi wireless networking. It is as happy going to a club with you or wandering a city. Take it up a mountain or get pictures for sharing. It is available in both black or chrome with a faux leather jacket.

Features: Less than 7.5 oz in weight! Wi-Fi, Touchscreen operation, HD Video, 6.5 frames per second JPEG burst shooting

P.S This is the camera I use and I love it! 

Canon EOS M3

The great thing about this camera is that if you are already using Canon gear and you have a bag full of lenses, you can use your EF lenses with an inexpensive adaptor. Mirrorless camera, existing lens collection, happy photographer! 🙂

Whilst the camera has no viewfinder, the rear screen is bright, clear and has a touch screen interface that is fully featured.

If you like taking pictures on your phone, this camera will be really easy and intuitive for you to use. Its a fine camera if you want smaller mirrorless camera but still with the functionality of larger DSLR’s.

Features: You can use all your Canon EF lenses, Its got Wi-Fi, Shoots in full HD video

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II

This is a fresh version of a camera that we first saw shooting film in the 1970’s! Olympus has gone back to its ethos that smaller is better and this camera has all the very latest in high tech features. It is packed full of functionality and has a great low light shooting capabilities for early morning or night photography. TI has touch screen focus options for when you are shooting video and also shooting stills. After framing your picture you can focus and shoot almost instantaneously by simply touching the focus item on the back of the screen. All this and still small enough to fit in a small camera bag.

Features: Interchangeable lens, Wi-Fi, electronic viewfinder, five-axis image stabilization, high-resolution composite image, HD video

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8

The Panasonic G series has been a photographer favourite for a few years. These cameras are loved for their small size and excellent image quality, as well as for the huge range of lenses available from Panasonic, Olympus, and Leica. An added advantage is that the micro 4/3 cameras in this series all share a common lens mount and functionality. This is a good choice if you want a higher megapixel count than the Olympus cameras offer. National Geographic photographer, David Alan Harvey used an earlier version of this surprisingly tiny camera to capture many of the pictures featured in a National Geographic magazine story on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

Features: Interchangeable lens, Wi-Fi, electronic viewfinder, in-body image stabilisation, 4K video

Fuji X100T

I really like this camera for a number of reasons. Its retro looks are some of the best around. The image quality is superb and its fantastically compact. Yo can put it in your pocket and go anywhere. If you aren’t interested in carrying a full camera kit when you travel but still want to exercise your artistic side, go simple with this camera.

Try the non-interchangeable-lens camera that boasts a 35mm-equivalent field of view and get back in to doing some work for your picture. This retro-looking camera boasts Fujifilm’s X-Trans CMOS sensor. It has a radically different way of separating colours, leading to small-sensor image quality that rivals many larger cameras. Only having a single field of view might seem too simple, but limited choice can often lead to better pictures. It’s also great to be free from carrying too many lenses and accessories. Get back to the simplicity of just taking pictures.

Features: Single-focal-length 23mm lens (35mm full-frame field of view), Wi-Fi, hybrid electronic/optical viewfinder, HD video

Fuji X-T1 

If you are into timeless classy looks as well as terrific image quality, then this 1970’s retro styled camera. The styling is a throwback to what film cameras (yes, remember them?) used to look like. The camera uses a pentaprism at the top which holds one of the very best electronic viewfinders around today. Everything about this camera is fast – its autofocus, its image review on screen, it motordrive so you can shoot a lot of pictures in quick succession, fast too! With the small size of this camera and lenses, it means that, even if you decide to carry the whole system with you on your travels, the bag will be less than half the size of a standard DSLR’s.

Features: Interchangeable lens, Wi-Fi, electronic viewfinder, high-speed electronic shutter with speeds up to 1/32000 sec, HD video

Canon 5D Mk III

The Canon 5D Mark III is the true “superstar” camera, with impressive capabilities for both still and video shooting. It suits the needs of well-heeled amateurs and working pros alike, and while its resolution is only very slightly higher than that of the 5D Mark II, the Canon 5D Mark III offers so many improvements over its predecessor that it’ll be an easy upgrade decision for many 5D Mark II owners. Although the 5D Mk IV has just arrived, I like this one better. It has absolutely stunning still and video image quality. The 5D Mk III is both powerful and fast. It has a really accurate AF system with loads of cross-type points, loads of configurability and great frame coverage. The best part about this for travellers is that the camera comes with a weather-sealed body. It is really rugged and can put up with a lot. Just don’t be swinging this around your neck. This camera is expensive and targeted by many thieves.

The Canon EOS 5D Mark III is not only a very capable camera in almost all areas, it’s also fun and exciting to shoot with. It is mentioned really for those advanced amateurs who really want great pictures and a know how to handle a camera.

Features: Multi Exposure Mode, Six Styles, Silent Shooting and lots, lots more!

So there you go, a camera for every eventuality and type of traveller I hope! Something for everyone with some cameras more expensive than others. Decide on your budget and requirements and acknowledge both your skill level and what you want to do with the camera – this should help in your decision making process. Always remember though that it is not the equipment that matters it is your eye and what you see with it.

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Cormac ( husband of The Travel Expert)