Best Digital Cameras & Digital SLR Cameras for Travel Photography
Many of the cameras listed here may be available for purchase secondhand or new from Amazon.
Fujifilm FinePix F30 For:6 megapixel super CCD. Excellent low light capability. Fast operation. Manual controls. VGA movies. Compact size. Against:XD card. Small built in memory.
Canon Powershot A710 IS For:Image stabilised 35-210mm zoom (35mm equiv). 7 mega pixels. Full manual controls. VGA movies. Fast operation. AA batteries. Against:Time limit of 8 minutes on movies.
Casio Exlim EX-Z850 For: Full manual controls. 8 mega pixels. Compact size. Advanced Bestshot MPEG4 movie modes. Very fast operation. Long battery life. Against:Noisy night time images.
Fujifilm FinePix S8000fd For: 8 mega pixels. 27-486mm (35mm equiv) zoom lens with CCD shift stabilisation. Fast operation. Full manual controls. Powerful flash. High resolution 2.4" LCD. RAW format. Against:Camera does not have a Fujifilm super CCD. Noise at higher ISOs.
Ricoh Caplio GX100 For: 10 mega pixels. Unique 24-75mm (35mm equiv) zoom lens with CCD shift stabilisation. Full manual controls. RAW format. Compact size. High resolution 2.5" TFT. 1cm macro. VGA movies. Against: Noise at lower ISOs. Heavy noise reduction at high ISOs
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 For: Leica 35-350mm (35mm equiv) zoom lens with optical image stabilization. 5 mega pixels. Compact size for a super zoom camera. Widescreen movies. Fast operation. Against:No manual controls. Noise at higher ISOs.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 For:8 mega pixels. 28-504mm (35mm equiv) Leica zoom lens with optical image stabilization. RAW format. Hotshoe. Widescreen movies. Full manual controls. Fast operation. High resolution 2.5" TFT. Against: Noise at higher ISOs. Small sensor.
Nikon Coolpix P5100 For:12 mega pixels. High quality 35-123mm (35mm equiv) zoom lens with vibration reduction. Hotshoe for external flash. Full manual controls. Against:Zoom could be wider . No RAW format.
Canon Powershot SD870 IS For: 8 Mega Pixels. 28-105mm (35mm equiv.) optically stabilised zoom lens. High resolution 3" TFT. Digic III for fast operation. Small & pocketable. Face detection. Against:Limited manual controls. High noise above 400 ISO.
Ricoh Caplio R5 For:Huge 28-200mm (35mm equiv) zoom lens. 7 mega pixels. CCD shift vibration correction. Pocket size compact. VGA movies. Fast operation. Long battery life. Against:Poor focusing in low light.
Samsung NV7 OPS For:Optically stabilised 38-270mm (35mm equiv) Schneider zoom lens. Small size. 7 mega pixels. Full manual controls. MPEG4 movies. Unique LCD navigation system. Against: Excessive image noise.
Canon Powershot G7 For:10 mega pixels. High quality 35-210mm (35mm equiv) optically stabilised zoom lens. Hotshoe for external flash. Fast operation. Digic III processor. XGA movies (at 15 fps). Full manual controls. Against:Expensive. No RAW format.
Canon Powershot SD800 IS For:Optically stabilised 28-105mm (35mm equiv) zoom lens. 7 mega pixels. Fast operation. Digic III processor. Face detection. VGA movies upto 4 gb. Compact. Against: Limited manual controls. Some corner softness in images.
Best Travel Digital Cameras & Digital SLR cameras: ARCHIVES 2007 - 2011
Panasonic DMC-LX3K For:10.1 megapixels. Large 1/1.63 CCD. Superb Leica 24-60mm f2.0 to F2.8 (35mm equiv.) zoom lens. 3" 460,000 pixels LCD. Full manual controls. RAW & Jpeg formats. SD/SDHC/MMC cards. Hotshoe. Compact. Against: Limited telephoto range.
Olympus Pen E-P1 camera For:Ultimate travel camera with DSLR quality in compact body . Micro four thirds lens mount. Interchangeable lenses. Compatible with four thirds lenses via adapter. Full manual control. Extremely compact. 12.3 megapixel four thirds size sensor. Hotshoe. HD movies. RAW & jpeg. Against: No built in flash. Limited lens range. Not weatherproof.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 For:10 mega pixels. Leica 25-300mm (35mm equiv) zoom lens. Optical image stabilization. 3" 460k LCD. HD movies at 1280 x 720 using AVCHD Lite & Dolby stereo sound. HDMI port. Venus engine HD with dual processors. Feature rich. Ideal for travel photography. Against:Limited manual control. Noise at higher ISOs.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 For:Waterproof (upto 10ft) & shock proof (upto 5ft). Great for travel - sun, sea & sand.. HD movies using AVCHD Lite compression. 12.1 megapixels. 28 - 128mm zoom (35mm equiv). Optical image stabilization. 2.7" LCD. HDMI. Comes in silver, orange & green. Against:Noisy at higher ISOs. Limited manual controls.
Sony DSC-H3 For:8 mega pixels. 38-380mm (35mm equiv) Carl Zeiss Super Steady Shot. VGA movies. Very small for superzoom camera. 2.5" TFT. Fast operation. Against:Limited manual controls. Noisy images from 400 ISO.
Canon Powershot SX10 IS For:10 megapixel CCD. 20x optical zoom from 28 - 560mm 35mm equiv.). 2.5" 230k vari-angle LCD. Digic 4 processor for fast operation. Movies with zoom. Full manual control. Face detection. Image stabilization. Against: Movies only VGA and not HD or widescreen.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 For:12.1 megapixels. World's first micro four thirds camera with interchangeable lenses. Smaller than digital SLRs. Full manual controls. Live view. Superb electronic viewfinder with 1,440,000 pixels. 3" 460,000 pixel rotating LCD. Fast operation. 4/3 lenses Adapter.The newPanasonic Lumix GF1 is even smaller & better suited to travel photography. Against:Limited lens range. Expensive.
Olympus Evolt E620 DSLR For:12 megapixels. Small & lightweight for travelling. Interchangeable lenses. In body image stabilization. Swivel 2.7" LCD. Full manual controls. Live View. Face detection. Dust reduction. High quality images. Four Thirds system. Against:None.
Olympus E-410 Digital SLR For:10 megapixels. Very small & lightweight with no grip. Fast operation. Excellent images. Live view through 2.5" TFT. Supersonic wave filter for dust reduction. Low or no noise upto 800 ISO. Against:Small viewfinder.
Nikon D40X Digital SLR Camera For:10 megapixels. Small & lightweight. Interchangeable lenses. High quality images. Bright viewfinder. 2.5" TFT. Best in class resolution. Raw format. Low or no noise upto 800 ISO. Fast operation. 3 fps jpeg. Against:No autofocus with non-AF-S/AF-I lenses.
Canon PowerShot SX200 IS For:12x zoom 28-336mm (35mm equiv.). 12.1 megapixels. 3" LCD. Full manual controls. HD movies at 1280 x 720 30 fps using H.264 codec. 3 colors - red, blue & black. Compact. Face detection. HDMI. Against:No memory card supplied or built in. Slow flash. Heavy noise reduction above 200 ISO.
Nikon D40 Digital SLR Camera For:Compact size for a SLR. Excellent images. Good low light capability. Full manual controls. Interchangeable lenses. Against:None
Many of the cameras listed here may be available for purchase secondhand or new from Amazon.