The Best Compact Digital Cameras for Travel, Safari and Wildlife Photography

Even though I am a keen photographer, it is not often that I take my digital camera with me when I take guests out on safari as I prefer not to have the distraction and rather concentrate on making the experience as enjoyable and safe as possible for those who have paid for the privilege. I do however have plenty of other opportunities to go out on my own and photograph some of the incredible scenery and wildlife that Africa has to offer. I have owned and used a large variety of digital cameras that I have chosen for myself specifically for travel and for wildlife photography some have been average and some excellent. With this "best digital camera reviews" page, I hope to pass on some advice and tips to help you get the best compact digital camera for travel, safaris and wildlife photography.

Skip the story, just take me to the best digital cameras for safari and travel or to compare prices in the UK take a look at these compact digital cameras on Twenga.co.uk

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So what is the best digital camera?

That is almost like asking how long is a piece of string, but if we put some constraints on the question, we can start to narrow down the choices.

First decide what we will mostly be using the camera for, in this case:

• Travel Camera (both air travel and on safari)
• Wildlife Photography

And then add them together to get the best digital camera for travel and wildlife photography.

Best Digital Cameras for Travel

So what makes a great travel digital still camera? For me the most important features are:

The camera should be Small

This for a travel camera is very important, it must be easy to place in your hand luggage on the airplane, and then once you are traveling by car or landrover on safari, it has to be easy to carry with you, unless you are a professional photographer, where just about all your luggage will be photography equipment I would highly recommend a compact digital camera for traveling.

I have had a large digital SLR camera with an extra 300mm and wide angle lens before and whilst it cannot be argued that because all the professional photographers use them they have to be the best, you must remember that that is their job and you are on holiday with the idea being to enjoy it. Lugging around all that heavy and bulky equipment is no fun at all!

Don't become a Target

Another good thing to remember is that if you plan to travel around populated areas like towns or cities in any country in the world as a tourist you are immediately a target for thieves, don't make yourself the prime target with a huge camera case and camera round your neck. It is nice to be able to easily slip your camera out of sight sometimes.

Safari Camera

When you go on safari, you most probably will be traveling on a 4x4 and the size of your camera is not that important as long as it is easily available, but if you plan on going on a walking safari, again a small easy to carry camera is highly recommended.

Therefore for me the most important feature of a traveler digital camera is that it must be small.

Best Cameras for Wildlife Photography

When photographing wildlife the most important features to look out for are:

Get in close to the subject

Big Zoom required!
I think the principals for African wildlife photography are the same as that for photographing polar bears in the arctic, you need to get as close to the animal that you wish to photograph as possible. Now part of that is my job as a safari guide, to get you as close to the action that is both safe and comfortable for you and more importantly for the animal, so that we as humans do not disturb it's natural behavior. The rest comes down to your camera and it's zoom and for me the bigger the zoom, the better! In the past this meant huge telescopic lenses, but now there is a large variety of compact superzoom digital cameras to choose from with zooms that go up to 18x (35mm equivalent to over 500mm)

So for me the most important feature on the best wildlife camera is to have a big zoom.

Digital Camera Battery types and Battery life

Battery life and what type of batteries the camera takes is also an important consideration to take into account, remember if you are traveling to remote locations there may not be any electricity to charge your batteries, therefore buying a spare battery or two is a must. You could also consider getting a camera that uses standard AA batteries, but also remember that some remote locations in Africa wont have a shop that sells batteries and it is for that reason I have always either used rechargeable type batteries and also made sure I have plenty of fully charged spares.

Best Camera for Travel and Wildlife Photography

So now we have narrowed down what are the most important features we are looking for in our ultimate travel and wildlife digital camera (best safari camera):

• The camera must be compact - easy to conceal and carry as hand luggage
• The camera must have a large zoom - get in close to that wildlife, including the birds!
• Not too expensive - so that if it gets lost, stolen or broken during travel, it can never be replaced.

 

Below are my recommendations for the best digital camera for travel and wild life photography taking into account the three key features of large zoom and compact size and price.

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38 (FZ35)

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38 is the successor to the very popular FZ28 and has increased resolution: 12.1 Megapixels

Like the FZ28, it still has an awesome super-zoom with an 18x optically stabilised lens (27-486mm, 35mm equivalent) and if that is not enough there are options to add a 1.7x teleconverter to it.

As well as taking great still photos, the Panasonic FZ38 camera also can shoot high definition movies.

For more information and to read why I think this may just be the best digital superzoom camera to take on safari, read my review on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38 >>

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Canon PowerShot SX20 IS

In many ways the latest superzoom camera from Canon is better than the Panasonic.

It has a bigger 20x (28-560mm equiv.) zoom lens, wider aperture range and an excellent 2.5 inch vari-angle LCD screen that folds away to protect it when not in use.

So make no mistake, this is an excellent camera and is an excellent choice as a safari camera. For me the only down sides compared to the Panasonic Lumix FZ38 (FZ35 ) are that it is slightly bigger and heavier and as far as I know you cannot add a teleconverter lens to it.

For more information read my review on the Canon PowerShot SX20 IS >>

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Panasonic FZ38 (FZ35) vs PowerShot SX20 IS

As you can see by the stats below both cameras are very similar in most areas. The Panasonic is slightly smaller and lighter and yoiu have the option of getting yourself a teleconverter lens. The Canon has a bigger 20x zoom and the excellent flip out and rotate LCD screen. Either camera will make an excellent choice as a safari camera.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38	Canon PowerShot SX20 IS
Recommended price: $399 • £399	$399 • £399
Zoom tele (T): 486mm (18x) Aperture range: F2.8 - F4.4 Continuous Drive: 2.3 fps 5 images ISO rating: Auto, Hi Auto (1600-6400), 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600	560mm (20x) F2.8-5.7 1.0 fps until card is full Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
Max Res: 4000 x 3000 Effective pixels: 12.1 million	4000 x 3000 12.1 million
Max Movie: 1280 x 720 @ 30 fps	1280 x 720 @ 30fps
Dimensions: 118x76x89mm Weight (+ batteries): 397g (14 oz)	124x88x87mm 560g (19.7 oz)

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 is the successor to the very popular FZ18 and has increased resolution: 10.1 Megapixels

It has an awesome super-zoom with an 18x optically stabilised lens (27-486mm, 35mm equivalent) and if that is not enough there are options to add a 1.7x teleconverter to it.

As well as the zoom for taking great close ups of wildlife, the 27mm wide-angle feature is ideal for your broad African landscapes allowing you to capture a wider view.

The 10.1-megapixel resolution will allow you to greatly enlarge your favorite photos while still keeping outstanding detail. The Panasonic FZ28 is one of the best super-zooms available and perfect for taking on Safari.

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Canon Powershot SX10 IS

Canon's latest super-zoom, taking over from the fantastic PowerShot S5 IS. Unlike the Panasonic, it uses AA batteries to power it.

The massive 20x zoom (28-560mm equivalent), is perfect for getting close into the action.

The Canon Powershot SX10 IS boasts 10 Megapixels with the latest DIGIC 4 processor adds AF tracking, more efficient video compression, and a clever self-timer mode which waits for a new person to appear before starting the countdown. On the down side, there’s no HD or RAW and the continuous shooting is relatively slow compared to the Panasonic. This camera is still highly Recommended as the best camera for safaris, but compare closely with Panasonic’s FZ28 (see below) before making your choice.

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The Canon Powershot SX10 IS and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28.

As you can see by the stats below both cameras are very similar in most regards. When choosing my personal replacement camera recently I eventually went for the Panasonic and only because it is lighter and smaller than the Cannon and the fact that it comes with a rechargeable battery as apposed to using AA batteries. But I think whichever you choose for your next safari holiday you won't be disappointed.

	Canon Powershot SX10 IS	Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28
Zoom tele (T)	560 mm (20 x)	486 mm (18 x)
Dimensions	128 x 88 x 87 mm	118 x 75 x 88 mm (4.6 x 3 x 3.5 in)
Image stabilization	Yes	Yes
Format	SLR-like	SLR-like
Price guide	£322	£260
Max resolution	3648 x 2736	3648x 2736
Effective pixels	10.0 million	10.1 million
Battery / Charger	No	Yes
Battery	AA batteries (NiMH recommended)	Lithium-Ion rechargeable
Weight (inc. batteries)	600g	417g
UK Shoppers Buy this camera in the UK:
US Shoppers Buy this camera in the USA:

 

Other SuperZoom Cameras Worth Considering

Other than the above recommendations for the best camera to take on safari, you may wish to also take a look at the options below, all great cameras and all that meet our requirements of being compact enough to easily carry whilst traveling, have a great zoom on it to get nice close up photos of the wildlife and must be not too expensive:

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18

The older version of the ultimate Safari Camera above, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 is still an excellent camera and one that I still currently use (take a look at some photos I recently took with it: Houseboat Safari in Zimbabwe Wildlife Gallery)

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 is an 8.1 Megapixel super-zoom with an 18x optically stabilised lens. The FZ18 may be styled like the pricier FZ50, but is much smaller and lighter and so ideal as a super zoom travel camera. There's full manual control, easy access to settings and impressively for its price, a RAW mode. The 18x range gives you great flexibility from 28mm wide angle to extreme 504mm telephoto and unlike rivals, there's little fringing when zoomed-in. It is still one of the best super-zooms available.

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Canon PowerShot S5 IS

The Canon PowerShot S5 IS is an 8 Megapixel super-zoom camera with a 12x optically-stabilised lens and a 2.5in flip-out screen. The 12x optical zoom has an equivalent range of 36-432mm. Not as impressive as the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 but still pretty good none the less. The two features that are better on this camera than the Panasonic-FZ18 are the flip out screen, which can be hidden to protect it and the video mode, which is of a better quality.

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Further Reading

• For more of the best super-zoom cameras for safaris, wildlife and traveling, including which camera has the largest zoom and the highest image resolution, take a look at this page on the Safari Holiday Blog: Best Cameras for Safari: Super-Zooms
  
  
• Telephoto Lenses for the Panasonic DMC-FZ28 & DMC-FZ18
  If you would like to turn your SuperZoom camera into a "MegaZoom", check out this article on Olympus TCON-17 and Panasonic DMW-LT55 Telephoto Lenses

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Photo Galleries

Example photos taken with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 For some examples of photos taken with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18, check out my personal photo Gallery of Photographs of The Gambia.	NEW: Example photos taken with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 and the Olympus TCON-17 Tele Converter lens.