The Best Travel Cameras We’ve Tested for 2025

You won’t find a better small camera for vacation photos. The Fuji X100VI turns heads with its retro-chic style and delivers the goods with a large APS-C image sensor and a 35mm f/2 prime lens. Additionally, it’s easy to achieve good results thanks to Fuji’s impressive set of Film Simulation color profiles. The camera also features dust and splash protection, complementing its sleek exterior, making it the perfect camera to take on your next trip abroad or night out on the town.

Photo pros on vacation: Pro photographers deserve time off, but that doesn’t mean that vacation snapshots are out of the question. The X100VI is an ideal choice for working photogs and shutterbugs to use during downtime, while still capturing images that’ll please discerning eyes.

Travel photographers: Photographers who go to exotic and esoteric locations to make images for travelogues or their own personal satisfaction will adore the X100VI. It is light enough to carry all day, weather-sealed, and its picture quality is top-notch.

Action cameras are a wise choice for travel because they are small, tough, waterproof, and well-stabilized for handheld recording. The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro is a winner on all fronts; it records clear footage at up to 4K120 quality with 10-bit color, includes a flat profile for expert editors, and features dual front and rear touch screens, as well as external mic support to enhance the production quality of your vlogs and home movies. We also appreciate the battery life; the Osmo runs for hours on a single charge, and a charging case with room for three spare batteries is available as an accessory, allowing you to record all day if needed.

Beachgoers: The Osmo is fully waterproof, so you can use it comfortably at the beach, on a snorkeling trip, or poolside. If your travel plans include the water, the Action 5 Pro is your best bet for video.

Adventurers: If your travel plans include a hike through the woods to find an epic waterfall, kayaking, surfing, free climbing, or any other activity you want to capture for posterity, the Osmo Action 5 Pro is what you want to document it. It’s easily mountable and supports voice commands, allowing you to use it hands-free as well.

The waterproof Insta360 X5 uses two lenses to capture a 360-degree view of everything surrounding the camera (including you), making it an excellent choice for self-recorded travel vlogs. You’ll need to devote some time to editing video when you get home, but an app-based workflow makes it easy to zoom in and out of the spherical footage to guide your viewers through a scene. Time-lapse, photo, and single-lens modes round out the features.

Travel vloggers: The X5’s dual lenses capture everything around you, making it a fantastic choice for capturing the feel of a foreign city or the tranquility of a secluded spot. Creative options, such as hyperlapse, add some spice to your travel logs, and the Insta360 smartphone app lets you edit and share footage on the go.

Beachgoers: You don’t have to worry about getting the X5 wet; it works underwater to 49 feet, so you can use it to record ocean life when snorkeling or to show off your graceful diving board skills.

The Camp Snap Screen-Free Digital Camera wins big points for its affordable price and ease of use. It mixes the convenience of digital photography with the capture experience and low-fi aesthetics of a disposable film camera. Its picture quality is grody, but that’s the point. This camera is designed for having fun taking photos.

Kids up through college age: The Screen-Free digital started as a camera for children to use at summer camps that don’t allow devices with screens, but it is a good choice for kids of all ages.

Screen-free vacations: Looking to get away from it all? If you want something to snap sunset photos and catch candid moments when you’re taking time away from LCDs, this is it.

The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 has taken the YouTube world by storm. It seems as if every travel vlogger uses one, and that’s not by accident. The Pocket 3 features a gimbal-stabilized camera with a Type 1 sensor, allowing for video recording that surpasses what smartphones can offer. Additionally, it boasts powered pan and tilt movements, enhancing the professional look of your footage beyond what a handheld phone or camera alone can achieve. We also like its accessory library, which includes an extended-life battery grip and wireless microphone kit. It’s a small, versatile video camera.

Travel vloggers: The Osmo Pocket 3 is among the most popular cameras for YouTube, and is especially useful for travel channels. It’s small enough to take anywhere, and an integrated gimbal adds serious production value, while leaving you the flexibility to record handheld and move around.

The Nikon Z50II is our Editors’ Choice among mid-entry-level mirrorless cameras due to its balanced all-around performance. It’s an especially good option for travelers who don’t want to forgo the creative freedom afforded by an interchangeable lens camera. The Z50II is small and lightweight, featuring smart autofocus with subject detection for people and animals, as well as a swing-out LCD, making it ideal for capturing vacation selfies. It sets itself apart from other entry models by including some dust and splash protection; the camera isn’t as thoroughly sealed as pro Nikons, but it is better for outdoor use versus other affordable ILCs.

Family vacationers: If you want to capture memorable photos of your kids’ first trip to Disney or take stunning photos of landscapes and wildlife at a national park, you’ll want a mirrorless camera, and the Z50II is the best entry-level model available.

Travel photographers: If photography is the reason for your trip, the Z50II is a good pick among mirrorless options. It works with a full set of Z series lenses, includes weather sealing, and its autofocus is quite good, too.

The Lumix ZS99 is as good a pocket zoom camera as I’ve ever used. Its 30x lens covers everything from wide vistas to wildlife, and it’s small enough to slide into your pocket. Upper-end smartphones offer plenty of zoom these days, but the ZS99 is there for photographers who prefer to use a dedicated camera.

Family vacationers: If you want to get pictures on your next family vacation while also enforcing a no-phones rule for the kids, give the ZS99 a look. Its 30x lens covers all kinds of scenes, and there are plenty of built-in filters to explore.

National park visitors: If you want to get photos of some cool animals and landscapes at a national park or on a western road tri,p the ZS99 fits the bill. Its lens has more optical zoom power than smartphones, while still fitting into your pocket.

Are you tired of the ease and perfection of digital photography? Take yourself back in time to the film era with the Kodak Ektar H35N. The one-button compact uses 35mm film but features a half-frame design, allowing for 72 shots per roll instead of the typical 36. The extra frames are welcome news, given the rising costs of both film and processing. The camera technically doesn’t need a battery to work, unless you use the flash, in which case a AAA cell is required. As for picture quality, the lens delivers dreamy results with ready flare and includes a built-in star filter to add some pop to scenes with bright points of light.

Film enthusiasts: If you’re looking for a compact, straightforward film camera to use on your next trip or vacation, the Kodak Ektar H35N is a strong recommendation. It doesn’t cost much, yields 72 pictures on a standard 35mm film roll, and offers easy one-button operation. Plus, your photos are sure to stand out amidst a sea of digital snaps.

Love the wide-angle look of your smartphone? Crave the image quality of full-frame? Have a few extra thousand dollars burning a hole in your pocket? There aren’t a lot of cameras like the Leica Q3, given its impeccably sharp, fixed 28mm Summilux lens, 60MP full-frame image sensor, and sleek, stunning design. It’s small enough to carry anywhere and includes IP54 weather protection, so you don’t have to run for cover from rain clouds.

First-class fliers: If you always find yourself in first class and spend time among the fanciful crowd, the Leica Q3 serves as much as a fashion statement as it does a camera. Its classic European styling fits right in at gallery openings.

Travel photographers: While it may be seen as a fashion accessory for some, talented photographers will adore the Q3 for its lightweight build, fantastic lens, and full-frame picture quality.

The compact and lightweight Sony a7C II doesn’t compromise picture quality to achieve its slim form. It squeezes a full-frame sensor into an APS-C-sized body while still incorporating a 5-axis image stabilizer. Sony offers an appropriately compact 28-60mm starter lens as a kit option, and you can supplement it with smaller lenses, such as the FE PZ 16-35mm F4 G or FE 24mm F2.8 G.

Travel photographers: The a7C II packs a lot of picture quality into a light body. Its stabilized, full-frame sensor catches images that will satisfy pro photographers, and it works with a nice set of appropriately compact prime and zoom lenses.