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Compact, bridge, reflex, mirrorless, Does it sound like Chinese? Surely not, but you probably want to buy a camera to take pictures on your trips, and you just haven’t decided. Is that? Quiet, we have all been through that at some point in life, and it is reasonable, that in the market, there is such a variety of cameras that you do not know where to start.
We are not going to tell you which model would suit you best, the final decision has to be yours, and you will see that it will depend on several factors. Still, we will give you the necessary clues so that you can succeed with your choice and get the camera of photos more appropriate for your trips.
Best Bridge camera offers larger optical zooms, a reflex-style grip, and better controls. They increase their benefits, and also their price. If we want a camera that shoots automatically without more excellent photographic knowledge, but we want to play and learn from photography and try semi-automatic or manual programs, this would be our ideal team.
01. The First Thing to Keep in Mind
The first is first. There are several factors that you must take into account when choosing a camera. With which to take photos of your trips, and we do not talk about brands, fashions, or the recommendations of your “wedge it.” We talk about five basic principles that you have to ask, yes or no.
What Do I Want the Photos for?
It is basic. In addition to having a memory of your travels, are the photos that are only going to see the light on your social networks? Then with a compactor on your mobile, you probably have enough. Will they be photos you are going to print? Then you will need higher resolution, although, with portable and compact you could have enough, it is advisable to have more top-quality optics.
Size Matters?
Of course, the larger the size, the more weight and traveling can be a nuisance. Keep in mind that an SLR camera with one or two lenses occupies a lot and weighs its own, and much of your backpack space will be eaten.
If you want a great team of high quality, you have to be willing to carry it, but if lightness is more essential for you you will have to opt for smaller options, although sometimes not necessarily worse.
Where am I going to travel?
It depends on the type of trip you will need some benefits and others. If you are an urban traveler, who visits cities, monuments, and museums, a compact camera may be enough.
But if you make nature trips in very different conditions, you will need something more advanced, with exceptionally bright objectives if you frequent forests or jungles. Besides, if it is a long trip, it is convenient that you consider how you can keep the photos while traveling. How much do I know about photography? It is a subject on which we must be honest with ourselves.
If your knowledge is nil or scarce, and you are not interested in photography, you will never take advantage of a camera that offers excellent manual benefits, even though they all provide some automatic mode.
If you are what makes night photos of a landscape with flash “because the camera has decided so,” you should feel identified. Of course, if you are interested and want to learn, there are reflex or mirrorless initiation cameras that can help you manage, they can be the gateway to the world of photography, and knowing the commandments of travel photography can help you.
How much do I want to spend?
It’s a tricky topic too. Our budget may decide for us or, at least, make us wait a little longer until we save what is necessary. You have decent compact cameras for 100 euros or even less and from there. To whatever you want (or can) spend.
02. Types of Cameras
There are several types of cameras. Let’s see what advantages and disadvantages each of them offers when what we are looking for is an excellent travel camera.
Compact cameras:
They are small, light, and could even fit in the pants pocket. Although there are exceptions, they usually only offer automatic modes, so the camera will decide for us what each photo will look like.
They are advisable if we want to go with very light luggage if simple photos are enough and we prefer not to complicate ourselves in learning about photography. They fulfill urban trips, but at the minimum, if you look for some creativity, they will fall short.
Bridge cameras:
A bridge camera is an advanced compact camera, and its name comes from it because it acts as a bridge between compact and reflex cameras. The objective integrated into the body, is not interchangeable, but it is longer than the compact ones, they also offer manual modes with which we will be the ones who make the decisions.
As you can imagine, they are more significant than compact ones but smaller than SLRs, as are their features. They meet on a wide range of trips, but in nature, night, or action photography, you can fall short.
SLR cameras:
They are the reference cameras of a lifetime, the ones that professionals use, although from a reflex SLR to a professional, there is a whole world. Its name is because a mirror system reflects the image that enters through the lens to the viewfinder where we look. They offer the possibility of changing the objective, which can be very useful when traveling, although this implies an increase in weight in our luggage.
They are fast. We can use them manually, and the configuration possibilities are high, but they are large and heavy, which can make us hate them if we like to travel light. Good photos have a price, not only economical (you can find basic SLR from € 300), but logistics, and even more if we add a tripod to our backpack to get good night photos.
Mirrorless cameras:
For many, mirrorless or mirrorless cameras, also known as CSC or Evil, are the future of SLR cameras, although in many cases, they are already present. They offer the performance of SLR cameras, but the mirror is suppressed, and an electronic viewfinder is used.
High resolution, speed, interchangeable lenses, great manual options. All the good things about an SLR but in a much smaller size and weight, so they seem to be ideal for traveling.
Of course, the battery consumption is much higher than in an SLR, and that travel will force us to take certain precautions. The price, for the moment, is still a small inconvenience in many of the mirrorless.
Megapixels and image sensor. The higher the sensor, the more quality our image will have. We must bear in mind that megapixels do not always mean better quality, so we must take into account the lens aperture.
Camera opening (also known as f-number).
The opening is what allows higher sensitivity and treatment of light so that we will see better results (especially in low-light circumstances).
A warning about this indicator: a smaller number f indicates a more significant opening. That is, an aperture of f / 1.7 will always be better than a one-off / 2.0.
Optical zoom:
The higher the optical zoom, the better photographs we can take of objects away from our camera. It must be borne in mind that in this type of equipment, the zoom will stand out a lot concerning the camera body.
Sometimes it is uncomfortable, so we recommend that if we are going to use zoom frequently, we have a tripod to be able to take our photographs better.
3. Which One Suits You Best?
It is a dilemma. We are deciding on an SLR “because yes” can be a mistake if we believe that we are not going to get much out of it and if weight and space are something that worries us in our luggage.
If you like photography, you tend always to choose a compact one, likely, and it will soon fall short and frustrate the photographer inside.
A bridge could be a good option, the mounted zoom lenses can give us a lot of play, but we will have to settle for what we have because the objective is not interchangeable.
However, the latest mirrorless camera models of compact size and lightweight, to which we can change the objectives if we need it. And with which we can experience the world of photography through its high configuration possibilities. It seems that they can be the ideal option for many travelers looking for high performance and excellent image quality without this taking its toll on the weight of your backpack.
