The 7 Best Travel Cameras

The Leica Q3 is a nearly perfect travel camera for some photographers and the absolutely wrong one for others. Most Leicas, definitely the Q3, are small and light (for a full-frame camera), and they're less intrusive when you put them in someone’s face to take a portrait. All of which is to say, if your travel photography fits what the Leica Q3 excels at—the fixed 28-mm lens makes it great for street, landscape, and portraiture—it's an amazing camera.

The 60-MP sensor is capable of truly gorgeous RAW files with 15 stops of dynamic range and that unmistakably Leica color rendering. The 28-mm f1.7 Summilux APSH lens is capable of manual focusing, autofocusing, and macro shooting, which gives it an added bit of versatility. The autofocus system uses both phase and contrast detection, and it works pretty well, though it struggles in faster-moving situations. The good news is that the 5.76 million–dot OLED EVF is bright and sharp and makes manual focusing very nearly as easy as the auto system. Again, this is not a camera for everyone, but for the right person it's about as close to perfect as you'll get.

The Fujifilm X100VI is the darling of, well, everyone. It doesn't quite fit in your pocket (well, maybe, depends on your pants), but it's compact and easy to carry around all day. The 40-MP APS-C sensor rivals full-frame sensors when it comes to resolution and detail, and the 35-mm-equivalent lens is perfect for everything from street to landscape, making it a good all-around travel lens. It is a fixed lens, but I've never found that particularly limiting, especially for travel photography. Don't forget Fuji's film simulations, which are legendary for a reason. They're a perfect way to capture creative looks without spending a bunch of time editing. And the X100VI with the Fujifilm app on your phone makes it easy to get those vacation snaps onto social media.

The X100V has six stops of in-body stabilization, meaning it works quite well even in low light. The hybrid LCD/optical viewfinder is excellent. The 6.2K/30 fps or 4K/60 fps video is plenty good enough for most use cases. There are also some nice extras here, like the internal ND filter, and the fact that it has a leaf shutter with flash sync speeds up to 1/2,000 of a second.

The GoPro Hero 13 Black is my top pick when I hit the road. The interchangeable lens system gives it the edge over other action cameras, offering shooting possibilities that just aren't there with others. Throw the Hero 13 Black and the Ultra Wide Lens in your bag and you've got a great way to capture everything you do—climbing, hiking, diving, snorkeling, and other situations where a traditional camera or even your phone would potentially be destroyed. The GoPro won't bat an eye.

Insta360's X5 360 camera is the best 360 camera for travel or anything else. It features twin 1/1.28-inch sensors, which capture 8K video. Before you get too excited though, know that the 8K resolution has to be cropped and reframed for rectangular video formats. You still get high-quality clips sharp enough to mix with other video sources. The dynamic range of the X5 is impressive for such a small sensor, and skin tones are very good, making it excellent for point-of-view shots. The X5 has great battery life and the ability to replace the lenses should you damage them (this is an action camera, to some extent). Insta360 has a replacement lens kit for $30, which will get you back up and running without needing a new camera. If you're traveling with it, I'd probably go ahead and buy them ahead of time. As a bonus, you can use the Insta360 X5 in single-lens mode, which turns it into a traditional, 4K-capable action cam. The video quality isn’t GoPro-level, but it’s decent enough that casual users won’t need two cameras.

DJI's Mini 4 Pro is the best travel drone. It weighs less than 250 grams, which means you don't need to register it in most places, and it produces excellent video footage. The 1/1.3-inch 48-MP sensor can shoot 4K/60 fps and slow motion 4K/100 fps. You also get high-end features like support for 10-bit D-Log M for postproduction color grading and HLG support for better HDR footage.

The Mini 4 Pro also has some excellent obstacle-avoidance features which are key when you're flying in unfamiliar places. There are sensors pointing in every direction to prevent the drone from careening into trees, walls, power poles, and other potential hazards. Flight times are around half an hour (34 minutes on average in my testing), so I do recommend the Fly More package that gets you a few extra batteries.