Top ten compact cameras for travellers

I would have mentioned the RX1(R). The cameras listed are quite nice for just about anything you might want to shoot (depending on your style/preferences). Selection also depends on your destination and the adventures you plan and how much gear you want to carry.
 
Not a bad list at all, I think! I can live with pretty much all of the entries there, although I'd maybe drop the X-E2 or the GX7 and replace it with one of the Sigma DP Merrills.
 
Owning both the XT and the X100, I'd still be torn between which to take on a trip if space was REALLY tight.

- 35mm equivalent field of view is nice
- f2 gets the job done
- X100 is TINY compared to the XT

I like shooting with the XT more, for all the reasons they list, but only the 27 f2.8 pancake gets it into that small form factor range (or the 18 f2, but that lens is optically much worse), and that lens doesn't hold a candle to the x100's. Not for nothing do I say that I will never give the x100 up...
 
I'd have just included one Fuji and no more than two m43 (one per brand) and added some fixed lens compacts like the RX100 or G1X mkII. Or maybe something from the Nikon 1 system? But basically it's a pretty silly list to even really try to compile - really just about ANY m43 or APS mirrorless camera is as good as another with up to date sensors. And if you're gonna include APS mirrorless, APS DSLRs are roughly as compact in some cases. I must be getting jaded, but I see stuff like this as pretty pointless, or worse, a way to gin up advertising...

-Ray
 
Guess I have a totally different idea of what 'travel' means.

My list would include the LX7 - probably a PM2 or a PL5 with a pancake - probably the underrated Samsung TL500/EX1 - definitely the Coolpix A - and also the camera I'm testing now, the EOS-M + 22mm pancake.

I've shot with almost all of them - and used correctly, they can all deliver fine results - but more importantly, they're all somewhere between pocketable to semi-pocketable, depending of course on the size of one's pockets.

On further reflection, I definitely have a different idea of what a 'travel camera' should do or be.
 
I agree with you to the point that I personally would never carry a camera that isn't jacket-pocketable, but carrying a dedicated camera bag does not make travel, or even adventurous travel, impossible, so it makes sense that they included some of the larger mirrorless cameras. None of these are particularly humongous, in particular when compared to the FF DSLR + fast zoom lens(es) some are intent on schlepping around the world. I think they did a good job of offering a mix of sizes and capabilities.
 
Those? For Travel? Nope. If I'm travelling, I dont want to be carrying ILC gear. the FZ200 would probably come closest but I'm puzzled about why they didnt include the TZ60 (for example).

I agree about leaving the ILC's home if I'm traveling. It's an opinion that I've come to only lately. I'd personally strongly consider a Panasonic LX100, any of the Fuji X100's, any of the Sony RX100's, the Panasonic FZ1000 and FZ200, the Sony RX10 and the Olympus Stylus 1.
 
I haven't been traveling lately, but the more I think about it, the more I think the camera should just stay at home. Enjoy the trip. There's already a bazillion beautiful photos of wherever you are going. They're a lot like wedding photos. You view them once when your trip is done (or the wedding is over) and they are promptly forgotten about for all eternity.
 
Bob Krist is one of the NG photographers that I went to his seminars about travel photography... He is also a Nikon's official photographer eg Nikon training videos, advertised df, etc... He used to shoot 2 D90's in 2009 due to lighter weight with apsc when pros were all full frame. Now he is shooting mirrorless with A6000 and RX10 (maybe also he is doing more videos):

Mirrorless, Mirrorless, on the wall…. |

DSC0003-1024x505.jpg

His travel kit for Bali (left to right) a Sony RX10 with its built-in equivalent 24-200mm f/2.8 Zeiss, a 35mm f1.8 Sony prime, a Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 E, and a Sony A6000 mounted with a Sony 10-18mm ultrawide zoom. While the RX10 has a built-in ND filter, the A6000 doesn’t, so those three lenses are each fitted with a Variable ND filter.
 
Interesting. Those are all great cameras. Although I haven't tried them, if NG is recommending them I bet they would all be good for travel.
I usually travel for business so the smaller and lighter the better.
I used to take a an LX1, then LX3, then switched to Canon S95, then Canon S100, then to RX100 for a few years. Now it's the Coolpix A!
Notice the trend for a larger sensor, just like the camera manufacturers are doing.
If I am travel with time to focusing (pun intended) on photography, then a Domke bag with the Nikon Df and an assortment of lenses go along. That happens less frequently than I would like. And then there is always the iPhone when nothing else is at hand.
 
Most of my best photos are taken while traveling, and I really enjoy the process. It's worth taking less other crap to take a little more photography stuff - the E-M1, A7r, rx100 covers all my bases with lens selection based on destination.
 
I haven't been traveling lately, but the more I think about it, the more I think the camera should just stay at home. Enjoy the trip. There's already a bazillion beautiful photos of wherever you are going. They're a lot like wedding photos. You view them once when your trip is done (or the wedding is over) and they are promptly forgotten about for all eternity.
I get what you're saying, and when I'm travelling there're certainly plenty of moments (sometimes days on end) that I just live in the moment and don't take photos - but still, photography is a great way to get you to view your destination differently, and the memories, to me, are priceless. I do view my old images with some regularity and they always bring back loads of memories. I guess it's just a matter of achieving a sensible balance. Also, how many images have you seen from Mauritania, let alone beautiful ones? ;)

(Edit) one thing I do feel strongly about is that, to me, cameras should not get in the way when I don't feel like taking photos; therefore all my cameras fit in my clothes or my tiny daypack that I'd be carrying anyway. When I do wanna take a photo, I just whip out the camera, take the shot(s), and return to "just enjoying the moment" mode as soon as the camera's back in its pocket.
 
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