Best Travel Cameras Outside of Your Phone

Your phone camera may have the best combination of convenience and quality or maybe you are committed to packing your SLR and multiple lenses for every trip. Many of us want or need to pack light and sometimes the same old viewfinder with its ability to instantly post to social media might be weighing a little heavily on us, too.

There are different ways to look at your landscapes and capture them for posterity. Some of these are retro, others are just cool, but they will pack pretty easily and maybe give you a fresh perspective on things.

The digital option is always appealing. Its versatility cannot be denied. For a new kind of convenience, try the Sony Cyber Shot RX 100 V. This camera is not cheap and will run you around $900, but it is compact and will remind you of a high-quality, digital 35 mm analog camera. If you are not a fan of bells and whistles but want to be able to create excellent digital images without compromising luggage space, try this camera.

If you want to go retro, there are some cool options on the market. The incredibly tiny Holga Micro 110 camera will challenge your ability to crop on site, but the enjoyment of these tiny analog images is worth the small investment of $35–70. Developing this film can be a bit of a challenge — you will either have to do it yourself or you can usually find a specialty camera shop to take care of things for you.

And lastly, the tried and true Polaroid has been coming back for a couple of years now, but with each incarnation it gets better. The one drawback is the film is pretty expensive, but, on the other hand, it is already developed.