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A bewildering array of equipment is available to travel photographers. Cameras, lenses and accessories of every description fill the pages of magazines and compete for attention on dealers' shelves.

However, travel photography is about images - cameras and lenses are merely the tools of the trade. The technical quality and aesthetic value of an image are quite different. Both are desirable, but they should not be confused. Better equipment makes a difference when it overcomes performance limitations, but is unlikely to enhance the aesthetic value of images. It is with this distinction firmly in mind that equipment for travel photography should be chosen.

The process of choosing equipment begins with clarification of objectives. What is it that you intend to do, and how will the images be used? It is important to be honest with yourself at this stage because a wrong decision may ultimately prove expensive. A good initial approach is to ask whether you can manage with cheaper or smaller equipment, and even without each proposed additional item. Everything has not only a cost but also a weight and volume. Read the relevant specifications and consider the type of photographer for whom each item has been designed.

If your principal objective is to record family holiday activities, or create an album of pictures of a once-in-a-lifetime round-the-world trip, then a relatively simple compact camera with a zoom lens may suffice. It will be light and easy to use, and will provide images of a quality suitable for 6"x 4" or 7"x 5" album prints. Camera phones are also improving rapidly. They are compact and lightweight, and currently offer 2 megapixel images good enough to produce 6"x 4" snapshots. It may be significant that a picture agency dedicated to selling images acquired by the general public using mobile camera phones, known as Scoopt, has now been set up.

If you are an enthusiastic amateur photographer and willing to pay more for better quality but bulkier and heavier equipment, a "prosumer" camera may satisfy your requirements. These products are aimed at those who want reasonably sophisticated equipment at a modest price, and have a wider choice of interchangeable lenses and some of the features of professional equipment. Committed travel photographers for whom it is a priority to bring home high-quality images will be able to justify investing in the sophistication and flexibility of a top-end single-lens reflex (SLR) camera. Equipment of this type offers the ultimate in automation, and every professional feature imaginable. Good-quality lenses and camera construction, and endless accessories, makes these models heavier and rather bulkier than cheaper options. However, they are practical when travelling and capable of producing excellent results.

Travel photographers striving to make a living from their activities sometimes find it worthwhile carrying the bulk and weight of medium format equipment. Cameras of this type produce larger, better-quality images which meet the most exacting of requirements. However, when heavy lenses and accessories are added the burden that must be carried may become intolerable. This is a very significant consideration for a travel photographer who may eventually find excess baggage a mental and physical barrier to obtaining the best images.

Public domain image by Andros Virviescas - freeimages.com

Waterproof cameras are clearly designed specifically to allow exploration of the underwater world, but cheaper models can also be useful for sun and sand holidays where water is an ever-present hazard. The two basic options are a tailor-made underwater camera with appropriate rubber seals, and an underwater housing designed specifically to suit a particular camera. Both must be used with care as contamination of seals or careless handling can lead to disastrous flooding.

The choice of a digital or film-based system must be based upon personal objectives and budget. However, for a travel photographer, reliability, flexibility, ruggedness, bulk and weight, power consumption, features and ease of use are major considerations. The decision is important because it sets the future pattern for purchasing lenses and accessories.

Digital systems are developing rapidly and are arguably the future of photography. Compact and "prosumer" models, 35mm-style SLRs and medium format cameras are all available. They store images as electronic data and hence use no film. Images can be uploaded onto a computer or portable storage device and manipulated using software. They are typically viewed on a computer or television screen, and printed using an ink-jet printer or at a commercial digital photo kiosk.

The advantages of digital imaging are that:

Disadvantages are that:

Film-based cameras are also available as compacts and 35mm SLRs, and in Advanced Photographic System (APS), panoramic and medium format. Some excellent manual cameras require no batteries and hence protect the traveller from the hazard of power failure. Film should not be dismissed in the face of the ever increasing sophistication of digital equipment. Both equipment and film are highly developed and extremely capable.

The advantages of film-based equipment are:

The disadvantages of film-based equipment include: