Buying a camera can be challenging. There are hundreds of cameras to choose from, each one with different features. Prices range from $100 to thousands of dollars. So the thought of buying a camera can be overwhelming.

I’m often asked by family and friends about the camera I would recommend. But it really comes down to what features of the camera are important to them, and of course, budget.

Here are three things you should consider when buying a camera that will work for your needs.

Portability

My go-to camera is my Canon 6D. It’s fantastic for almost every setting and gives me the image quality I am looking for. But it’s not a camera that can fit in my pocket. Carrying around a DSLR camera can be a pain. Especially if you want to have options and need to carry different lenses as well – let alone a flash.

If you’re looking for something more portable than a DSLR, check out mirrorless cameras. They are smaller, usually have a larger sensor size than the smaller point-and-shoots, and offer lenses that allow more variety to your photography. But a mirrorless camera can cost a little more than your point-and-shoot option.

The point-and-shoot camera is small and portable, but you often sacrifice image quality. It’s usually a good fit for almost anyone’s budget. But you’ll want to consider some of the other elements listed below to see if you’re okay giving up some image quality for a smaller size camera and a smaller budget.

Sensor Size – Bigger is Better

When buying a camera, many people will simply look at the megapixels listed for the camera. The more the better, right? While that may be true, the sensor size plays a more important role in image quality than the megapixels of the camera.

For example, the sensor size on your cell phone’s camera is pretty small (4.54×3.42mm). A point-and-shoot is a little bigger (6.16×4.62 mm), but we’re still looking at a very small sensor.

A mirrorless camera has a range of sensor sizes, but typically are 17.3×13 mm (known as 4/3) or 23.6×15.8 mm (known as an APS-C).

A DSLR camera is best known for two sensor sizes:

• APS-C (23.6×15.8 mm), which is also known as a cropped sensor
• Full frame (36×23.9 mm – the same size as 35mm film)

Many of the photos I captured prior to 2015 were taken with the Canon 60D, which has a cropped sensor, and they were great quality. But I love having the full frame Canon 6D.

The larger the sensor, the higher the price will be. Your budget will often determine the size of the sensor you can afford – but note that the closer you can get to a cropped sensor or full frame, the better image quality you’ll have.

Wide-angle, Zoom and Telephoto Features

The more versatility you have with a camera, the more you’ll be able to use one camera in multiple settings. In travel photography, you need to be able to stay wide to capture vistas, and zoom in to capture a candid shot of your child playing on the beach.

Point-and-shoot cameras only have the lens options built into the camera. They often tout a digital zoom that will bring your subject in even closer. But using the full extent of a digital zoom will cause you to loose image quality. Here’s why:

The optical zoom uses the glass lenses to bring the subject closer – much like a telescope uses lenses to bring the moon closer. A digital zoom takes a portion of the image captured by the optical zoom and enlarges it. In short, the digital zoom would be like zooming in on a photo you’ve already taken – the further in you go, the more pixelated or grainy the photo becomes. While it’s awesome to think you can zoom in 100x, the image quality will quickly be lost on most point-and-shoot cameras.

However, if you go with a camera that allows you to change lenses, you’ll have the versatility you want to take the wide-angle shots and the close up shots. But the lenses will be an additional expense, so you’ll once again have to take your available budget into account.

Personally, I prefer to go with the different lenses so I have a higher image quality – which is why I bought a Sony mirrorless when all I was really looking for was a point-and-shoot. I couldn’t step away from the versatility I wanted and sacrifice image quality.

Conclusion

Some final advice I would offer up when it comes to buying a camera is: Don’t worry about which brand.

Many photographers will debate between Canon and Nikon. I use Canon and love how user-friendly the cameras are. I’ve also been very pleased with image quality. But that’s also because that’s what I know. Had I started with a Nikon, Olympus or Sony, I would likely be loyal to those brands. But for now, I stick with Canon and my mirrorless entry-level Sony.

You can do some research, much of which can be done online. But I also encourage you to check out a few at your local camera store or electronics store to get a feel for the camera you’ll ultimately go with.

• DSLR is great for the highest image quality, offers a lot of variety (lenses, ISO, manual settings, etc.), but it isn’t the most portable and priced $1,000+, depending on sensor size.
• Mirrorless is great for high image quality and offers versatility as well. The price range starts lower than a DSRL ($400), but can also be just as expensive as an DSLR.
• A point-and-shoot is low in image quality and offers limited versatility. The price range is $100 to $500, and it’s very portable – can fit in a pocket.

Now that you’ve got your camera figured out, it’s time to find the best travel tips so you’ll have more opportunities to use it!

If you have questions about buying a camera and which one you should go with, feel free to leave a comment below and let’s get a discussion going.

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