Best travel cameras to buy in 2024

We know this has a high price tag, but it’s worth it for how capable this ultra-compact – and actually pocketable – travel camera is.

The long 24-200mm equivalent zoom lens gives you enough range to cover every possible photo situation from portraits to cityscapes and from architecture to landscapes, with impressive image stabilisation and eye-detection autofocus to keep your family photos in perfect sharpness.

It also has a pop-up viewfinder to frame your shots and great video performance too. The only downside here is that some rivals on our list will deliver better results in darker scenarios.

The ZV-1 uses the same overall body design approach and sensor size as the brilliant RX100 models (including the one above), but is a more video-focused camera. It ditches the pop-up viewfinder and comes with a 24-70mm lens that produces great results in low-light conditions, while packing in Sony’s reliable autofocus system.

It’s a top choice for all your stills and candid holiday snaps, but it shines as a vlogging camera, with a fully articulating swivel screen for your compositions, and excellent video quality.

If you love the sound of a digital camera that has a vintage look and works like an old-school film camera, this gorgeous fixed-lens Fujifilm is the way to go. This is our go-to everyday camera, and we love all the classic knobs and dials. It has a single focal length lens, which means no zooming, but we love the ability to customise your settings to get snaps that feel like you shot them on film.

We'd definitely call this much more of an intermediate camera – you'll want to know all about exposure, shutter speed and aperture before you pick one up. This model, and the whole X100 range, have also got a bit of a cult following.

We'll admit that it's hard to find in stock in 2024, with low stock and high demand inflating the price of this camera online. You can set up email alerts via John Lewis to get a notification once they’re available – or join the first-come, first-served waiting list on Wex.

Google's budget-friendly Pixel 7a is an all-around crowd-pleaser for photography. It's one of our favourite phone cameras we've tried, and essentially the overall champion of a recent blind smartphone camera comparison.

That should tell you a lot about how capable this top-value Android is, and how it delivers shots that look great and don't need any editing or tweaks. When it does come to those minor edits, though, Google has included several smart capabilities.

These include the "Magic Eraser" to remove unwanted people from the background and its "Face Unblur" which makes faces less blurry, unsurprisingly. Overall, this is an impressive computational camera, and it's ideal for those everyday snapshots or for capturing travel memories.

Apple’s Pro iPhones get serious camera upgrades every year – and they continue to outclass rivals when it comes to videography. We love the performance of the action mode for stabilised videos, and the cinematic setting makes our everyday clips feel like little movies.

The iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max also churn out tremendous images time after time, and the combination of its 48-megapixel main camera and the abilities of its “ProRAW” setting preserves loads of detail, dynamic range and colour.

Yes, some smartphones have longer zooms, but we find the three lenses on the iPhone more than enough, and they’ll be great for close-ups, landscapes and everything in between. It's worth noting that while there's a 5x zoom on the 15 Pro Max, you still get a 3x zoom on the 15 Pro. Both can be good for different shots, with 3x being a more natural focal length for portraits, and 5x better for subjects in the distance.

Yes, street photography may seem a bit niche, whether we’re talking about hobbyists or professionals. But the distinct documentary look that is intrinsic to the street photographer’s approach has a real appeal for travel photography too, especially if you want to take shots that capture the essence of your destination.

The crucial thing that you’ll want is a discreet camera that you can use without grabbing attention, and that’s where this basic-looking Ricoh comes in. You’ll look like every other tourist while lining up your artistic compositions under the radar.

The Ricoh GR III’s sensor rivals that of the Fujifilm X100V but comes in a far smaller body that is truly pocketable. It delivers excellent results, and there’s a wide range of Ricoh accessories – including conversion lenses, straps and external viewfinders – to further help you level up your photography in 2024.

This Panasonic has a built-in 24-360mm equivalent lens, making it the best and most capable option in our roundup if you’re after a long zoom. This makes it just about as versatile as it gets, and this is the ideal compact for travel, sport and wildlife photography.

You’ll be concerned about the effect of wobbling hands at the furthest limits of the zoom range, but Panasonic has included a clever optical image stabilisation system that works for both photos and videos.

This should counteract the often ruinous effects of a shaky grip. We like the petite size and sleek design too and, overall, we’re seriously impressed at the size of the lens that Panasonic has somehow crammed into this body.

If you want to take pictures underwater, or need a rugged camera to film your hike or climb in 4K resolution, this model is ideal. It has much more familiar and comfortable ergonomics than a GoPro, and is the better pick if you’re more focused on still photos than video.

The plastic casing is waterproof to 15 metres, shatterproof, dustproof and frostproof up -10C. The image quality is a little bit soft overall, but photos taken close up and underwater are seriously impressive – and it’ll easily fit into a pocket or small bag.

Need a camera that's better suited to thrills and adventures? Whether you're surfing, hiking or running, you'll enjoy a capable video and stills camera that delivers high-resolution, waterproofing and stabilisation in a compact package. Ideally, you'll want a camera that you can attach to mounts and tripods too.

We think you're best off looking at the options from GoPro, with the brand's Hero 11 coming in as one of the best all-around action cameras. This can record 4K video, shoot 27-megapixel snaps, and has GoPro's best stabilisation along with 10 metres of water resistance.