Travel Camera - Mirrorless or high end point and shoot

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Handle9

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#245184 22-Jan-2019 21:25

We've come to the conclusion that our DSLR is pretty hopeless for travelling, especially with the kids.

We are looking at getting something a bit more appropriate for traveling. Something like a Canon M50 or maybe a Sony DSC-RX100.

Uses are for general photography, especially of the kids. Good video performance would be a bonus.

We're in the Canon world for our low end DSLR but not married to it. I'm interested in people's opinions.

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#2165812 22-Jan-2019 22:05

What about a Travel lens for your canon? I did a number of trips with an 18-250 tamron. Much easier than changing lenses.

But in saying that I did replace it with a Panasonic mirrorless,,..but that was mostly for wifi transfer and video, as my old canon 1000d had no video.

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#2165853 22-Jan-2019 22:40

Depends on what you're happy to cart around while traveling, I guess. A high end point and shoot with a good fast lens built in, and decent sensor, might be perfect. I'm in the Olympus MFT camp, and take a 14-150mm (28-300mm FF equivalent) lens when travel includes flying anywhere but have better lenses when weight isn't such an issue.

Include some hands-on time at a camera shop if you can when you're looking, as I think that how the camera sits in the hand is important, especially when traveling.

It really comes down to you.

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Handle9

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#2165856 22-Jan-2019 22:49

davidcole: What about a Travel lens for your canon? I did a number of trips with an 18-250 tamron. Much easier than changing lenses.

But in saying that I did replace it with a Panasonic mirrorless,,..but that was mostly for wifi transfer and video, as my old canon 1000d had no video.

Having carted the DSLR around Europe at Christmas we came to the conclusion that it's just too bulky, even with the kit lens. Something that is practical to fit in the daybag and plane carryon luggage, along with all the other junk we have to carry for the kids, is the first priority.

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#2165910 23-Jan-2019 07:28

I have a pro dslr but travel with a triple lens mobile phone. Terrible example.

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#2165926 23-Jan-2019 07:51

A few of us on here have mentioned the Sony RX100 series. I have the MK4 and they are up to the MK6 now. The one I have isn't terribly user friendly, but I think they've improved the menu on the later versions.

It's been brilliant for video and for photos. And it's tiny.

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#2165929 23-Jan-2019 08:12

I have the RX100 Mk1. Since I got that I stopped carrying the DSLR on holiday, and I rarely get the DSLR out even at home. It fits into any pocket, takes good photos, and I'm sure the Mk6 is fairly amazing. I also use my phone for day to day stuff.

The DSLR with fast lenses does make nicer photos than the RX100 and much better than the phone, but it's not very practical to take about with you when you have kids.

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#2165930 23-Jan-2019 08:17

This may be blasphemy in this thread but we have a Huawei P20 Pro and Mate 20 Pro and these have become our standard devices for travel photography. They truly are stunning devices.

We took a mirrorless DSLR on our last trip and it ended up staying in it's case after the first day.

Cheers.

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#2165936 23-Jan-2019 08:26

hairy1:

This may be blasphemy in this thread but we have a Huawei P20 Pro and Mate 20 Pro and these have become our standard devices for travel photography. They truly are stunning devices.

We took a mirrorless DSLR on our last trip and it ended up staying in it's case after the first day.

Cheers.

Agree on using a phone.

We did a month in Europe in May last year - iPhone 7 and an iPhone 8+. Can't complain about the photos, and the cameras were always with us. Quick startup (swipe up, select Camera) and good to go.

Handle9

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#2165940 23-Jan-2019 08:29

We have decent camera phones which are fine to a point but I am specifically interested in people's experiences with cameras for travel.

Handle9

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#2165941 23-Jan-2019 08:31

timmmay:
I have the RX100 Mk1. Since I got that I stopped carrying the DSLR on holiday, and I rarely get the DSLR out even at home. It fits into any pocket, takes good photos, and I'm sure the Mk6 is fairly amazing. I also use my phone for day to day stuff.

The DSLR with fast lenses does make nicer photos than the RX100 and much better than the phone, but it's not very practical to take about with you when you have kids.

If it died tomorrow would you replace it with another RX100 or a Mirrorless camera. The cost is much the same hence my question.

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#2165944 23-Jan-2019 08:38

The Sony RX100 and RX10 models are amazing devices and take some wicked photos. The RX100 VI has a 24-200mm zoom while the RX10 IV is a 24-600mm model. The 100 is a pocket sized camera and is ideal for travelling with. The RX10 is DSLR sized but with the advantage of not having interchangeable lens. I've got the RX10 III and took it to Japan with me for 2 weeks and I could not fault it at all. A great camera with so many features in it. I would highly recommend the Sony cameras. They are pricey but definitely worth it imo.

Handsomedan

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#2165979 23-Jan-2019 10:06

For travel, I have a range of choices and generally take the following:

Nikon A300 (basically a pocket camera the size of a mobile phone, but with 8x optical zoom)

Panasonic Lumix TZ70 (ultimate travel camera) 30x zoom, very compact, EVF, Leica Lens, quality photos in most travel conditions

Canon DSLR with 18-55 & 75-300 kit lenses (usually ends up not being used)

iPhone

Mostly, I end up using the Panasonic, but the Nikon is good for throwing in a pocket, as it's good enough for snapshots, has a decent zoom and is very, very compact.

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#2165981 23-Jan-2019 10:08

I have a Canon SX720HS which I find is very good. https://www.dpreview.com/products/canon/compacts/canon_sx720hs

I bought it mainly for the 40X zoom. It's a couple of years old and there is a later model out now with extra features like bluetooth.

There is a wide portfolio of shooting modes from fully automatic to fully manual. It does very good video as well.

If I were to buy another camera I'd happily buy this or similar.

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dejadeadnz

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#2166522 23-Jan-2019 21:21

My number one advice (as someone who shoots Sony - albeit an A6500 with various lenses and a partner who shoots Sony as well and own a Fujifilm x100F) is that if you are considering the RX100 series cameras, go out and try them before you buy. Yes, the form factor is hugely appealing and the MK VI zoom range is very handy but I have also seen people in our circles who bought it solely on reputation end up hating it because of the clunky Sony interface and physical form factor. With those two aspects of Sony cameras, people either love them or hate them.

Handle9: I see you say that you are wanting to photograph the kids and to take photos whilst traveling. Are you wanting to go deeper into photography (in the sense of focusing more on image quality and also focussing on the "art" more, e.g. composition) or are you more just into capturing memories/snapshots? Nothing whatsoever wrong with the latter, despite the snobbery of a lot of photographers. But if it's the former, it's worth considering deliberately constraining yourself to a fixed focal-length lens on something like the X100F. The image quality and low light performance of the x100F will also blow away the RX100. And if you like dials and the general operational "feel" of DSLRs (minus the size), you will also love it.

I think the best choices for you might be two diametrically opposite cameras -- one has a smaller and more minimalist form factor and is more versatile; the other is larger (but still a small camera), with less flexibility but may offer much better-targeted results and shooting experience. If you want to see what kind of results the x100F (and/or its predecessors) can generate, look up Joe Allam's channel on Youtube and search for Valerie Jardin on Google. The latter especially is an amazing street and travel photographer.

shim99

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#2166600 23-Jan-2019 23:41

We went through similar considerations in 2015 when travelling through Europe and ended up with the fujifilm x100t (predecessor of the x100f). I personally really like the fixed focal length which means you need to move to compose the image rather than relying on zoom, it also has a very natural looking image. Interface and controls take some time to get used to but the film styles you can replicate are pretty amazing. The thing I notice is the lcd on the camera doesn’t do justice to the quality of the images, viewed on a computer or smartphone (Fuji app pretty easy to use) shows much greater clarity and depth than the lcd on the camera (at least for the x100t). The one thing to watch out for is that because it has physical dials for shutter, aperture and expoure sometimes they can move when taking in and out of bag etc so worth checking before first photo of session else you can end up with some funny outcomes

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