If you are looking for the best camera for travel and vlogging, you need to consider some main aspects in your search: portability, image quality, and audio recording quality.
What is the best camera for travel and vlogging? It just depends on your purpose. Canon M50 is the camera with the best cost-benefit and options for vloggers and travelers who want a “professional look”. The best action cam is GoPro Hero 8, and the best compact camera choice for travel and vlogging is the Canon G7x Mark II. However, there are cheaper options that can serve your objectives.
Portability
It’s important because you’ll travel and carry your camera with you almost all the time. You also must hold it a lot while you are vlogging, so it’s the smart option to go for a light camera.
Image quality
Image quality is fundamental today, and it’s a very important point if you want to boost your video quality. The way to find the best quality is to take a better look in specs like dynamic range (higher is better), ISO noise (lower noise is better), and tonal range (higher is better).
Audio quality
The audio quality is another basis of the great vlog production. Because of that, it’s essential to consider this while you are searching for your travel and blogging camera.
Some cameras have a good native microphone, which helps a lot. However, if you own a higher budget, it’s worth considering a camera with a microphone jack to use with an external mic.
Choose the best camera for travel and vlogging for you
You can extract exceptional results from all the options here, so direct your choice to what is the focus of your vlogs. After determining your focus, you can find a camera that will fit your purpose. In this post, the best travel and vlogging cameras were divided by purpose, and you can see it below:
1. Action cameras
If you want to take more action shots, swimming or doing some adventure sport, maybe the Action camera is the best choice for you. They are very portable, with good image quality, which is better than smartphones, but worse than mirrorless.
They are usually waterproof, and because of that, you can take amazing pictures and videos underwater.
BEST CHOICE
Go Pro Hero 7 Black
PROS
✓ Great dynamic range
✓ Good image stabilization
✓ Built-in waterproof case
CONS
✗ Close price to Hero 8
✗ Less accessories than GoPro Hero 8
$229
BEST PREMIUM
Go Pro Hero 8 Black
PROS
✓ Best stabilization and timelapse options
✓ Built-in waterproof case
CONS
✗ No improve on quality from Hero 7
✗ Seems fragile than Hero 7
$299
BEST BUDGET
Xiaomi Mi Mijia
PROS
✓ Good quality for the price
✓ Shoot in 4k and F-log (as Hero 7/8)
CONS
✗ Few accessories
✗ Need an external case to record underwater
$94.32
2. Point-and-shoot cameras
Otherwise, if you are starting now and just want to click and record good videos, it’s an excellent idea to pick a point-and-shoot camera (= Compact camera). They are easy to use, and you don’t need too much study to record good videos. Besides, their image quality can be greater than action cameras, and similar to entry-level mirrorless.
These cameras hold smaller sensors than mirrorless cameras, which can reduce the blurry background (Bokeh effect) in the videos. They also have just a single lens, with less flexibility while producing than mirrorless cameras because of that.
BEST CHOICE
Canon G7 X Mark II
PROS
✓ Good performance in low light
✓ Good auto-focus
✓ Built-in ND filter
✓ Good dynamic range (12.7 EV)
✓ 180° Flip LCD screen
CONS
✗ No built-in viewfinder
✗ No 4k video
✗ Low battery life than average
$499
BEST PREMIUM
Sony RX100 VII
PROS
✓ Good quality lens
✓ Good dynamic range (12.4 EV)
✓ Best autofocus
✓ Great stabilized 4k video
✓ Good viewfinder
✓ 180° Flip LCD screen
CONS
✗ Inferior than Canon G7x II in low light
✗ Lack of ND filter
$1198
BEST BUDGET
Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS70
PROS
✓ Long battery life
✓ Shoot in 4k
✓ Image stabilization
✓ Remote control with smartphone
✓ 180° Flip LCD screen
CONS
✗ Lower dynamic range (10.6 ev)
✗ More noise in low light
✗ Lack of ND filter
$297,99
3. Mirrorless cameras
If you want more flexibility, with a lot of lens options and the best image quality, the mirrorless cameras are the best choice. Since they are made to photographers and videomakers, they have the best sensors and image quality.
You can use it with different lenses, which opens more creative options. However, this higher flexibility has costs, and you must pay extra hundreds (or maybe thousands) dollars to buy a good lens collection. Also, depending on your lens choice, they can significantly increase your equipment weight, reducing the camera portability.
For these reasons, mirrorless cameras are good, but may not be the best choice for your goal, and you need to consider these points.
BEST CHOICE
Canon EOS M50
PROS
✓ 4k video (24 fps)
✓ Good image colors
✓ 180° Flip LCD screen
✓ Microphone jack
✓ Cheaper lenses
CONS
✗ Croped 4k video
✗ Few lens options
✗ Less battery life than competition
$499
BEST PREMIUM
Sony a7III
PROS
✓ 4k video (up to 30 fps)
✓ The best image quality
✓ Full-Frame sensor
✓ Best autofocus
✓ Good battery life (710 shots)
✓ Microphone jack
CONS
✗ Lack of budget lenses
✗ LCD don’t flip 180°
$1998
BEST BUDGET
Sony a6000
PROS
✓ Great quality for the price
✓ Good autofocus
✓ Great dynamic range (as Canon M50)
✓ More lens options
CONS
✗ LCD don’t flip 180°
✗ More expensive lenses
✗ No 4k video
✗ No microphone jack
$398
(body only)
Claudio Pereira
Author
He is a brazilian writing in english, a student of Medical School, and a Photographer during the free time. His passion for photography started in 2012 . After discover it, he never stopped.