5 best new cameras for travelers

Posted by John P. Bradford // November 9, 2016

For travelers who are serious about their photos, smartphone snaps just dont cut itno matter how good the latest iPhone camera may be.

Its almost always worth lugging around a proper camera if youre heading out on a trip-of-a-lifetime, whether its on safari or to Machu Picchu. We recently reviewed the upcoming Hasselblad X1D; below, youll find five more new releases thatll elevate your vacation photos, whether youre a total novice or a professional shutterbug.

The rugged Fujifilm XP90 comes in four vibrant colors.

Fit for Adventurers

The reasons for bringing along a dedicated pocket camera are few and far between these daysunless, of course, its rugged and waterproof, like the compact Fujifilm XP90 ($200). How else are you going to get those one-of-a-kind underwater shots while snorkeling in the Andaman Islands? Youll also feel comfortable using it on boats, pool decks, and in other splash-prone places. The list of benefits goes on: Its stylish and lightweight, and although its affordable, its also practically indestructible. Itll survive drops of up to 5.8 feet and can plunge to depths of 50 feet.

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The Tiny Powerhouse

If you want a camera thatll fit unobtrusively in your pocket (or clutch), but want more power and capability than any smartphone provides, go for the Lumix by Panasonic ($700). It has an F1.4-2.8 24-72mm Leica lens, a 1.4 aperture thats great for low-light shots, and a 1-inch sensor thats almost twice as big as the iPhone 7s. Its that sensor that makes the biggest difference: It lets in and processes enough light to deliver clean, clear, and natural-looking images from candlelit dinners and strobe-lit dance floors alike.

Pro tip: When youre shooting 4K video footage, use the Post Focus feature to extract still images from your flick, retroactively change the focus of a shot, or merge similar images together to create the perfect frame.

The Olympus Pen F borrows its look from the companys vintage models.

Style and Substance

This slim, mirrorless update of a classic 1960s camera features retro design touchesmetal dials and controls, leather grain, a separate viewfinderthat belie the digital smarts within. Among them are an ultrafast autofocus, 5-axis image stabilization, and a fully swiveling touchscreen, all meant to help you nail those easy-to-miss shots. (Whether that means lions on the prowl in Botswana or celeb sightings in Hollywood is up to you.)

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The Olympus Pen F ($1,200) is Instagram-ready, too: Add effects on the fly with dedicated dials on the front and back, which let you play with color saturation or choose from preset filters, and upload with the help of built-in Wi-Fi.

Leicas competitor to the old-fashoned Polaroid camera.

Like a Polaroid on Steroids

Pictures taken with instant cameras arent known for their realistic color, but their faded, grainy look and real-time tangibility go hand in hand with todays lust for all things analog. And if youre going instant, you can now skip the Polaroid and go with a Leica. (Yes, really!) The vintage-looking Sofort comes in mint, orange, or white, with a retractable 60mm f/12.7 Leica lens, built-in flash, and an optical viewfinder ($299). A cinch to operate, the camera features several preset modes, like Party & People or Double Exposure, and spits out textured keepsake prints on standard Fujifilm Instax cartridges or Leicas own black-and-white instant film (featuring cream-colored borders). It even amps up your selfie game, thanks to a reflector mirror on the front.

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A hefty (if not huge) powerhouse for travelers, the Nikon D500.

The DSLR That Does It All

If taking best-in-class pictures is one of the reasons you travel, then you need to take a high-performance camera. Problem is, many of these are heavy and bulky. The Nikon D500 isnt exactly an exception to the ruleits drop-, dust-, and water-resistant carbon-fiber body weighs almost 2 poundsbut it makes its pro-level competitors look like giants ($1,800).

Among its high-performance features are a precise, fast, 153-point autofocus; dual memory card slots (including a next-gen XQD 2.0 memory card slot for smooth and speedy continuous shooting, even with high-resolution images); and compatibility with a multitude of different lenses. With the D500s 4K video shooting and inputs for both microphones and headphones, you can consider it your camcorder replacement, too.

This article originally published at Bloomberg here

5 best new cameras for travelers