Choosing a camera for your travels can be a complicated process… but it doesn’t have to be! Here are two simple pieces of camera advice for beginner travel photographers. Time to figure out which camera and lens is the best fit for you!
“I love your photos! What kind of camera do you use?”
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked this question, I’d be drinking a cocktail in the infinity pool of a 5-star resort in Singapore right now, instead of sheltering in a cold and leaky Kazakh yurt in the pouring rain.
… okay, maybe not. But I’d at least have more money to my name while squatting in said yurt. And probably better socks.
This question appears in my Instagram inbox daily, and I give the same advice every time. Thanks to the rain and my woefully unprepared feet, I now have time to write an answer for everyone!
What camera do you recommend for travel photography?
If you’re asking this question, you’re probably interested in trying your hand at travel photography, and want to know what kind of camera you should invest in to take good travel photos. Good for you for doing some research! A good camera is a big–and expensive–first step into the world of travel photography, and you should make sure you do it right.
I personally shoot with a very dusty and much loved Nikon D7100, and almost always use a Nikon 18-200mm lens.
Update! I recently upgraded to a Sony a7RII mirrorless camera, and it’s all kinds of awesome. Read about my buying process and recommendations here.
But wait! Before you zip out to your nearest camera store/migrate to Amazon/send your camera-wallah to go get you these exact gadgets, allow me to spout a bit more wisdom:
The camera gear you need should be determined by the photos you want to take.
Are you a motivated soul, willing to carry around a heavy camera and a million lenses? A casual snapper wanting something of higher quality than an iPhone for portraits of people you meet? Someone with absolutely no idea what they want aside from sexy-A-F travel photos? (I feel you. Indecisive folks represent!)
Here are the two pieces of advice I’ve been sharing. They’re not brand-specific, so if you’ve already sold your soul to Nikon or Canon, this is still useful!
Read through, consider your needs, then send out your camera-wallah to get you some new kit.
(Or get your gear through the links here so I can buy warm socks next time I’m in civilization.)
2 essential pieces of camera advice for beginner travel photographers
1. Consider a mirrorless camera for travel photography
It’s noon on a scorching summer day, and you’re sweating buckets. You’ve been walking for hours trying to find that guesthouse that may or may not be on the road you’re on. You’re hot, exhausted, and wondering why your backpack feels like it’s filled with rocks, despite containing only clothes.
Oh, that’s right, you have a big DSLR in there, too.
It’s a feeling of death that I’m all too familiar with. Luckily, it’s a feeling you can avoid!
Got a new camera and want to know everything about all the fancy settings on it? Check out the courses by KelbyOne to become a pro!
Death by heat or death by DSLR?
Why should I buy a mirrorless camera for travel photography?
You’re likely familiar with the term “DSLR”: digital single-lens reflex. They’re the big, professional-looking cameras that people like to look legit with these days. They’re big because they contain a mirror–when you take a photo, the light goes through the lens, reflects off the mirror inside the camera, then hits the sensor that records the image.
But there’s a new technology in town! There are now cameras that can do everything a DSLR can, but don’t have a mirror inside–the light goes directly to the sensor. In practical terms, that means they’re half of the size and weight of a DSLR. Hallelujah!
Mirrorless cameras are often a bit more expensive than DSLR bodies, but they’re totally worth the extra investment.
So much smaller than DSLRs! Photo by Kārlis Dambrāns.
Not convinced you need a mirrorless camera?
Want good photos? Always have your camera ready at hand.
You’re much more likely to carry your camera with you everywhere you go if it’s light and easy to carry… which a DSLR is not. Mirrorless cameras, on the other hand, can easily fit into any backpack or handbag, even for serial overpackers. I used to carry around a mirrorless Nikon V1 everywhere until I broke it its time was up.
If a camera that won’t break your back sounds like a good idea, the Sony a6000 and Sony a6300 are highly recommended by professional travel photographers. For more information and recommendations on mirrorless cameras, check out this useful article from the Wirecutter.
Recommended mirrorless cameras
Got a new camera and want to learn how to make those pictures pop even more? Check out the courses by KelbyOne to learn everything about Lightroom!
But I don’t want a mirrorless camera
Oh, you fickle soul, you.
If a mirrorless camera is too taxing on your bank account, and you’re not interested in buying one secondhand, there are plenty of DSLR bodies that will do the trick.
DSLRs for beginner travel photographers
- Nikon: Nikon D3300
- Canon: Canon EOS Rebel T6
If you’re not interested in a mirrorless camera or а DSLR, I recommend Road Affair’s guide to the best travel cameras for more information on point and shoot cameras.
2. Invest more money in a good lens than in the camera body itself
People are always so quick to ask me which camera I use… but many entry-level camera bodies are so similar, there’s not much point in distinction! (Except for mirrorless vs. DSLR, of course.)
It’s all about the lens, baby
Lenses come in a million shapes and focal lengths, and make a much bigger difference in the final product than the camera body. When buying a camera, try to save some money by purchasing the camera body and the lens separately, rather than going for the “kit lens” often sold with the camera. Which lens you should buy depends on the kind of photos you like or plan on shooting.
Note: I’ve provided lens recommendations for Nikon and Canon DSLRs, and Sony and Fujifilm mirrorless cameras. Nikon and Canon are your best bet for DSLRs, but Sony and Fujifilm are undoubtedly ahead in the mirrorless race!
A wide angle is necessary to do justice to the absolutely insane interior of the Sheikh Lotfallah mosque in Esfahan, Iran.
Wide angle lenses – For landscape lovers and architecture fiends
If you’re going to be snapping shots of landscapes, architecture, and other vast vistas, or really like getting up close and personal with your subject, get a wide angle lens. In non-technical terms, wide angle lenses will allow you to more of your view into one photo, perfect for natural sights like mountain landscapes, or the interior of dazzling mosques in Iran.
Recommended wide angle lenses:
- Nikon DSLR: Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX
- Canon DSLR: Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6
- Sony mirrorless: Rokinon 12mm f/2.0 CS
- Fujifilm mirrorless: Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8
Prime lenses ensure your snaps are still sharp in low light. Perfect for nighttime strolls and wandering through dark markets and crowded places.
Prime lenses – for people and lovers of nightlife
If you’re a fan of portraits, whether of yourself, your traveling companions, or that super-photogenic old guy posted on a bench over there, consider a prime lens. Prime lenses only have one focal range, so you won’t be able to zoom in or out, but they make up for it by functioning well in low light, and blurring the backgrounds of photos nicely. But how?
Technical terms: Prime lenses allow for lower f-stops (usually 1.2 – 1.8), or higher apertures. The depth of focus will be smaller, but a larger aperture means faster shutter speeds in low light.
Totally not technical terms: The hole the light goes through in the lens can open wider and let more light in, so you can shoot in low light conditions (ex. right after sunset, a dark interior such as a bar or concert) and still be able to get sharp photos. A low f-stop also means photos will have that cool blurred effect in the background, also known as “bokeh”.
See those nicely blurred lights in the back? That, dear friends, is bokeh.
There are also some good, cheap prime lenses available for most camera bodies, which means you can get one and play around with it without breaking the bank.
Recommended prime lenses:
- Nikon DSLR: Nikkor AF FX 50mm f/1.8D
- Canon DSLR: EF 50mm f/1.8
- Sony mirrorless: Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS
- Fujifilm mirrorless: Fujifilm XF 35mm f/2.0 WR
A zoom lens was perfect for shooting at this game of kok buru, headless goat polo (yes, that is a thing), at the World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan.
Telephoto lenses – for nature lovers and photographers from afar
If stalking nature is your calling–I’m looking at you birdwatchers, safari-goers, voyeurs, and spies–you’ll be wanting a telephoto lens.
Telephoto lenses are fucking massive behemoths of a lens that you see professional sports photographers and hardcore birdwatchers using. They’ll let you zoom waaaaaay in on a tiny subject far away.
Be warned, they’re expensive, and not convenient to carry around at all–some are so big that they require an extra tripod just for the lens! Unless you’re planning on going on a trip specifically to watch animals, or are so averse to human interaction that you will only shoot photos of people from about half a mile away (again, I feel you), I don’t recommend buying a telephoto lens until you’re more familiar with your camera. Otherwise, you’re going to end up with a lot of blurry photos (or an aching back) because the more you zoom, the more light or stability you need!
Recommended telephoto lenses:
- Nikon DSLR: Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR
- Canon DSLR: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L
- Sony mirrorless: Sony E 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3 OSS
- Fujifilm mirrorless: Fujinon XC 50-230mm f/4.5-6.7
I went from taking a wide-angle shot of the streets of Karachi, Pakistan to zooming in on this girl in a passing bus in the span of 0.1 seconds! Flexibility at its finest.
Multipurpose lenses – For flexibility in your shooting
For those, like me, who never have any clue what they’ll be snapping photos of unless it hits them in the face (sometimes literally), look for a lens with a wide focal range.
I already mentioned that I use a Nikon 18-200mm lens. That means that I can get a somewhat wide angle at 18mm, perfect for shooting landscapes, and slight telephoto functionality at 200mm, allowing me to creep on critters in nature when we’re out and about. The best of both worlds!
The importance of the wide focal range goes beyond simple convenience. Firstly, having such a wide range covered means that I rarely have to switch lenses. Most amateur photographers start out with something like an 18-55mm kit lens, and a 70-300mm “zoom” lens.
The problem: you’ll need to change lenses if, for example, you go from zooming in on a distant elephant to shooting a portrait of your safari companion. Every time you need to switch lenses you’ll…
- Lose time while fumbling with lenses, and often miss out on the opportune moment!
- Let dust into your camera body and lenses, which will collect on the sensor and make for all kinds of super fugly spots all over your photos. The only way to get those to go away is to clean the sensor, which is a decent undertaking and requires even more equipment. Pass.
The spots! They burn! So much of my time has been lost to editing dust spots out of my photos…
Convinced yet? Here are recommended multi-purpose lenses:
- Nikon DSLR: Nikkor 18-200mm f/4.5-5.6 VR
- Canon DSLR: Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6
- Sony mirrorless: Sony 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3
- Fujifilm mirrorless: Fujinon XF 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6
Your next steps to becoming a better travel photographer
Check out your budget, and sift through the recommendations in this article. You have two decisions to make:
- What kind of camera body suits you? Mirrorless or DSLR?
- What kind of lens best fits your needs?
If you have any more questions, I try to answer every comment on every post. If not–happy snapping!
Yay transparency! There are affiliate links in this article. Basically, that means if you click on a link and eventually buy whatever was linked, we’ll get a small commission of the sale at no extra cost to you. We promise we’d never link you to anything we wouldn’t buy ourselves.
Great article …can you please tell me which one is the best from dslr (Nikon D5100 or D5200 or Nikon D3300) and also from mirror-less (Sony NEX 5n or Samsung NX30) … and also mention the overall winner too ?
Hey Mudassar,
Depends on what you’re looking for, and what your budget is. Of the Nikon options, the 5200 is the best in terms of features, though a bit more expensive. Based on the logic in this article, I’d say save and go with the D3300 and buy some nice lenses, if you’re going with a DSLR.
As for mirrorless, go with Sony. Samsung is just playing catchup in the market, while Sony is making leaps and bounds with its mirrorless cameras, and will thus be more likely to continue producing accessories and lenses to go with them.
If budget is not a problem, I vote to go with the Sony, as that’s the camera you’re most likely to carry around with you everywhere. That’s what matters most!
thank you for your reply … Samsung NX30 and D5200 or of same price … while Sony NEX 5n is about $50 cheaper … 18 – 55mm lens is included in the price for all …
but sony NEX 5n is missing is viewfinder … doesn’t it matter ?
Thank you so much Alex. I was sure that I wanted to buy a DSLR (Nikon D3400) and was not sure if I wanna go for a 70-300mm lens. Now I am going to explore Mirrorless as well.
Glad I could point you in the right direction! Like I mentioned already, be careful with the 70-300… it can be a tricky beast 😉
Good info!! I did a similar post although yours has much more detail on lens recommendations… Love it
Great insights.
I’m getting interested in photography again after a coupe of decades of just snapping. In the 1980s / 90s I used a film Olympus (OM2N) SLR with various lenses and found I rarely actually changed a lens “in the field” – only at home before going out. (It seems a bit like conducting open heart surgery – best done in sterile controlled conditions, not in a forest or street or party). I like capturing wildlife. And even with architecture or streetscapes I like to zoom in and capture some detail, so a good telephoto is important to me, and the ability to zoom.
Big zooms are bulky and expensive on full frame or APS-C DLSRs, cheaper and more portable on CSCs with e.g. four thirds sensors, and of course massive ultrazooms are affordable and portable exist on bridge cameras with 1/2.3 sensors. Smaller sensors involve a compromise in overall quality and detail. Bridge cameras with 50x or more zooms tend to be large, and I agree with your observation that a larger camera tends to stay at home more. So I’m considering a four thirds CSC (perhaps Olympus E-M10 II) with a 14-150 lens for general use (similar range to your 18-200 on APS-C), and a 75-300 zoom for use when targeting wildlife.
I was initially tempted by Panasonic’s Lumix FZ1000 with 1 inch sensor and non-exchangeable 16x zoom (equivalent to 25-400 in 35mm camera terms) but it’s bulky and 400 telephoto is a bit limiting. (I can hold a camera quite steadily), and I imagine a four thirds sensor provides more detail and quality. Aperture is f2.8 at wide angle end and f4 at telephoto, compared with Olympus lenses f4 – f5.6 and f4.8 to f6.7 …
Decisions, decisions …
Sounds like you’re more than just a beginner, Don 😉 I laughed out loud at your lens changing analogy — spot on!
My two cents: if you’re invested enough to be considering longer telephoto ranges, you might as well invest in a camera with better image quality to begin with (the Olympus, if that’s what’s grabbing your eye). The reviews for the FZ1000 are looking very dubious regarding image quality around 400mm, particularly when shooting in Auto.
The RX10 III (25x zoom, f2.8 – f4) seems to be the absolute best of the non-exchangeable lens cameras for my purposes, but *very* expensive. And 1″ sensor probably limiting compared to even the four thirds of the Olympus or APS-C of Fuji X-T10.
I’m also wondering if weather sealing would be important. That only seems to be provided on higher end cameras – e.g. Olympus E-M5 or Fuji X-T1 or Panasonic GX8 – which adds to the price considerably.
I have weathersealing on my main camera and lens (Olympus OMD EM1 and 12-40mm ƒ2.8) and it gives me a bit of comfort. But, of course, changing a lens is like opening up the chest cavity – there’s the actual sensor right there! – and best not done in a sandstorm.
I had a Canon 650D and it was big and bulky and so were the lenses. I had some nice glass, but there’s a limit to my carrying capacity!
The micro Four-Thirds standard is convenient. Some tiny cameras, such as the PM-2 or the excellent blogging camera EPL-8. A small step up from point and shoot, and good to slip into a jacket pocket or belt pouch. And you can put a specialised lens on them, though the 14-42 collapsible kitlens is good for size.
This article made me think about this time when I was at a festival. I was in the media tent with a bunch of others that had their DSLRs. I had decided to pack light and only brought my Sony this trip. I knew my camera was probably better than some of theirs (and not on others) but I couldn’t help but feel funny that mine was smaller!! I know it is a mindset shift to go to mirrorless, but it was the strangest feeling. I wanted my big bulky trusty Nikon. I have since gotten over it but it was an experience I wasn’t expecting.
Haha we know what you mean. Sometimes a big camera just seems more legit.
I am using a canon EOS100 DSLR and when I bought it I was so undecided between a Sony mirorrless. After a year I know that next time I will definitely go with a mirrorles camera! Great tips. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you liked our tips. Thanks for reading.
I was just wondering what kind of settings you use on your camera? I am a really beginner photographer and am trying to improve as much as I can. Any help or advice would be great! Thanks!
That’s a very difficult questions. Settings depend on the light, on what your photographing, and on what you want the photo to look like, among other things. There is no one set of settings that works best. Your best bet is to experiment.
Stumble across your site while I’m searching for a lens for my a6300. Can you recommend a lens, mainly for travel and Everyday walk around. I mainly shoot landscape and portrait.
If you’re shooting a lot of landscapes and portraits, you’ll want a lens that can go a bit wider (landscape) in addition to offering a decent portrait range (usually around 35-70mm).
Have you considered the Sony 18-105mm? http://amzn.to/2rRB57a It has the versatility you need for travel, and offers a bit of wide angle for landscapes. It’s also a bit cheaper than other comparable lenses, which is always a plus 🙂
I was looking for the best place/area to stay for couples traveling to Armenia and I stumble upon your blog re the Armenia trip (which my boyfriend I could relate for being in our 20s and unmarried and doesnt have plans on having babies hihi). And hey! Filipina here! 😛
Then I saw your Georgia blog, coz we’re also going there. Then I saw this camera recommendations, coz we’re still deciding on what camera to get. It’s like, everything we needed to know in planning our trip is found here! I’m so glad to came across your site. Thank you! 🙂
We’re very happy that you found our blog, too. It’s always great to hear out content is useful for other travelers. Cheers and have fun!
Amazing photographs.Thanks for sharing such great tips with us.Will must consider this next time.
Glad it’s useful!