Best travel cameras

By Alexandra Savvides on 24 June 2009

Have zoom, will travel? Whether you want a compact camera with a long zoom for travelling or just for everyday use, we've got the ideal camera for every situation.

(Credit: Panasonic)

In the past, the trade-off for having such a small camera has been the lack of optical zoom — most rounded off at a 3x or 4x maximum. Fortunately, manufacturers have taken note and started producing cameras that are both pocketable and perfect for shooting those far-off scenes.

All of the cameras we have featured here have zooms over 7x. The Olympus Mju 9000 has the longest zoom in the smallest body (10x), but the big winner of the bunch in terms of zoom is the Nikon Coolpix P90, which hits 24x optical. Canon's PowerShot SX1 IS gets up to 20x. You do sacrifice a compact body for all that range though, as these two cameras are shaped more like a small digital SLR.

Another feature you may want on a travel camera is a wide-angle lens, ideal for taking panoramic landscape pictures. The cameras listed here with wide-angle lenses of 25mm or less are the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 (25mm) and Samsung WB500 (24mm). Note that the WB500 also now has a companion model called the WB550, which is identical apart from a higher megapixel count, larger LCD screen and HDMI.

High-definition video recording also features on some of the models like the Canon PowerShot SX200 IS, SX1 IS, WB500 and Panasonic TZ7.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 (Full Review, Specs, Images, Video, Where to Buy)

Even though it's no longer the sole contender in the travel camera category, the TZ7 still stands far above its competitors. If it wasn't for the clunky mode dial and lack of manual controls, we would have no qualms about recommending the TZ7.

Topics: canon, compact, digital camera, panasonic, photography, SX200 IS, travel, tz7, zoom, P90, SX1 IS, WB500, wide angle, 9000, mju, nikon, olympus, samsung

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Comments (3)

  • G Style commented on 01/09/2009 01:06 Report abuse

    " but if the battery is dead and your charger is back at your hotel/home, it's worthless."

    Thats why you buy a separate battery as a back-up for those odd occassions where your battery has died. Thought that was quiet logical.

  • T. Nguyen commented on 20/07/2009 21:51 Report abuse

    Well said!

  • Bob Wilson commented on 03/07/2009 06:42 Report abuse

    As someone who has been backpacking for the best part of the last 6 years, I think I'm entitled to an opinion on this.

    These cameras are marketed/lumped together by CNet as 'travel cameras', and yet the only ones that will work if you forget/lose the proprietary battery charger is the heaviest, bulkiest option (SX1 IS).

    Any true 'travel' camera must use standard batteries (AA or AAA). Unfortunately the only compact camera using standard batteries that has decent image quality is one of the most expensive on the market, the Ricoh GX200. Canon's A-range previously hit this sweetspot perfectly, but their latest additions to this range are terrible, and none of their competitors has seised on this market opportunity.

    A camera can have the best IQ, great lens, excellent features and top quality build, but if the battery is dead and your charger is back at your hotel/home, it's worthless.

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