Yes DSLRs have come a long way and Mirrorless cameras are ready to replace them for most buyers. Mobile photography has also improved considerably and despite losing thickness, the devices are gaining imaging power. The cameras also offer some really useful features like wireless connectivity and social media support so that travellers can post the amazing photographs on the go. Still that all goes in the favour of simplicity & quality and doesn’t radically change the way we capture photos or the end result.

However, with new formats of media consumptions and some young brands trying to gun down the giants, we have seen some interesting cameras come out recently. We have tried to put together a list of cameras that stand out from the sea of DSLRs and GoPros out there. So if you are an avid traveller and are looking for options to give your photos an edge over what everyone else is posting, this could be worth checking out for you. Some of these cameras are already on sale while the others are expected to come out in the near future.

1- Ricoh Theta S

With the rise of 360 degree videos came in consumer cameras for shooting 360 degree videos. Many of them have essentially been small cameras arranged smartly to cover an entire sphere but then came in the Ricoh Theta with a much smaller and handy design and just two lenses to cover everything. This is made possible with the ultra wide angle lenses that cover everything around it. It can shoot still images and 360 videos and would even allow you to add photo spheres to Google Street View. Video blogging is going to reach another level.

Cost: USD 349.95 (US) / INR 38,799 (India)

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2- Canon ME20F-SH

Before you start judging us for including an interchangeable lens Canon camera, let us tell you that this isn’t any other full frame camera. This is probably the best camera for low light shooting that your money can buy (if you have that much to spend on a camera). The ISO can go up to 4,000,000 (yup, 4 million) and it can literally record things that your eyes can’t see. While the effective resolution is only 2.2 megapixels, each pixel measures 19 microns. The advantage over infrared cameras is that in low light situations, you don’t have to settle for black and white videos. With Canon’s EF mount, there is a wide array of lenses available for the camera. If you are looking to shoot extreme low light photographs as well, Nikon D5 is a good alternative with ISO crossing 3 million.

Cost: USD 19,999

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3- Light L16

If you think good photography is about big lenses and huge camera bodies, this tiny camera will force you to think again. The resulting images aren’t anything radical like you would get on the Theta S but the technology that goes behind this camera is just amazing. The Light L16 comes with 16 sensors having fixed lenses of different focal lengths. 10 of them fire at the same time and can create images of upto 52 megapixels. So you don’t have to fiddle with the settings when you have a one in a lifetime frame in front of you. Just shoot and then you can choose the focal point and aperture later. You can read more about it here.

Cost: Unavailable for order currently

Website

4- Revl Arc

Yes GoPro is awesome and is one of the preferred choices for adventure junkies but it has its fair share of limitations. The quality of images and videos is high but strapped onto your head or motorcycle it has to deal with lot of bumps and shakes. The end result is a shaky video that you have to process extensively to use. Revl Arc offers comparable camera hardware along with both electronic and physical stabilisation to offer smooth videos. Along with that, it also records data like speed, rotation, altitude and G-Force and uses the same to automatically create shareworthy videos. Talk about taking the pain out of video blogging.

Cost: USD 399 for pre-order

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5- Lily

Drone photography is picking up fast and we last year we got to see many interesting drones designed for the job. Lily is one of them and finds a spot on this list because of its portability which makes it easier to carry on a trip. It weighs just 1.2 kgs, is waterproof and as it can float, you can easily land it on water as well. Controlled by a small tracking device that can be worn on wrist, Lily will track you and ensure that you get some really nice photos and videos while you go skateboard or kayaking or biking. Goodbye complicated drone controllers?

Cost: USD 899 for pre-order

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6- iBubble

While Lily will follow you to shoot your photos when you go trekking or biking, iBubble will do the same when you go diving. This diving drone will follow you around when you go diving and keeps track of you with the help of a bracelet similar to the Lily. It also allows manual control when needed and will automatically return to automatic mode when done. The battery life is 1 hour so it should be good to cover most dives. It isn’t as portable as Lily but still not something you won’t be able to carry with you in a bag.

Cost: USD 1899 for pre-order

Website

What other cameras do you think deserve being on this list? Do share with us.

The post DSLRs are passe. These 6 cameras will take your travel photos to next level appeared first on TravHQ.

Sometimes having too much control can make things worse. Take cameras for example. Any traveller with a point and shoot camera would simply press the shutter key on spotting a good frame while someone travelling with a DSLR would probably need much more time to set up according to the frame. Sure the extra time and effort is clearly reflected in the end result but it is easy to mess up the settings for a picture or two when you don’t have enough time to get the settings right. At times you will feel that you could have clicked a better image if you used a narrower aperture or different focal length.

We recently came across a smart camera that breaks out of the conventional camera design and takes a different approach. The camera in question is called L16 and has been developed by a company called Light. The Light L16 claims to offer DSLR quality images while being able to fit in your pocket.

The Light L16 has got 16 camera lens modules on its face with 13 megapixel sensors sitting behind each one of them. When you shoot a picture, 10 of them fire simultaneously and capture the image at multiple fixed focal lengths. These images are then processed to create a final high quality image that can have a resolution of upto 52 megapixels. It runs a powerful Qualcomm chipset to take care of the heavy processing job. The display is a touchscreen making it easy to edit the photos right away and then they can be shared on social platforms using the inbuilt Wi-Fi. It can also record videos in 4K which use a single sensor only.

The list of features doesn’t end there. The focal length can be varied from 35 mm to 150 mm to get the right scene. As the image has been captured using multiple sensors, the camera has a better sense of depth and more image data to make changes. You can choose to select a different point of focus or use a shallower or deeper depth of field. The end result can be equivalent to an image captured at f/1.2. The same can be used to create better results in low light as well.

While we have seen some of the features like the ability to refocus or using multiple images for better low light photos on different devices in the past, the Light L16 packages them nicely while adding lot more to the mix.

Light was founded in 2013 by Dave Grannan and Dr. Rajiv Laroia. Dave has held leadership roles for major brands like Nokia, Sprint PCS and Geoworks. He holds an MBA from University of California, Berkeley. Rajiv previously founded Flarion Technologies which was later acquired by Qualcomm. He holds Ph.D. and Master’s Degree from University of Maryland, College Park and Bachelors from IIT Delhi.

The camera will be built by Foxconn. Foxconn was also an investor in Light’s $25 million Series B round announced earlier this year. The device can be reserved for $199 on their website. You can also browse some sample pictures here.

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