"TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY" Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

LEFT: A Lisbon sidewalk and artful cropping turn a family snapshot into a graphic design. (Olympus XA II, Kodachrome 64.)

SLR vs. Point-and-Shoot

Today's 35mm and APS cameras generally fall into two categories:

Single-lens reflexes 

These cameras, traditionally used by professional photographers and serious amateurs, have interchangeable lenses and through-the-lens viewing. You can buy a good basic consumer-grade SLR for less than 300 U.S. dollars or Euros (body only) and equip it with the lens of your choice. 

For travel, light weight is more important than a plethora of features. The Canon Rebel 2000 and Pentax ZX series are good choices in compact 35mm SLRs. 

Pass up the standard 28-85 or 35-85mm "kit lens" and buy a good 28-105mm or 24-85mm zoom. (Canon makes a 28-105mm "IS" or "image-stabilizer" zoom that minimizes camera shake.) Another option is one of the 28-200 or 28-300mm zooms from third-party lens vendors like Tamron and Sigma, although these add weight and bulk.

In APS, Minolta makes a series of weathertight SLRs with compact lenses that were developed especially for the APS format. Canon and Nikon APS SLRs are compatible with other lenses in their catalogs, which is good to know if you're interested in birdwatching or sports photography and need an extreme telephoto lens.

Unfortunately, all SLRs are bulkier than most travelers would like them to be. Increasingly, I find myself leaving my Canon Rebel G at home and traveling with my pocket-size Ricoh GR-1 camera (which replaced an Olympus XA II that I used happily until bifocals made it impossible for me to focus reliably with its rangefinder). Unless you like the idea of having several pounds of camera and protruding lens dangling from a neckstrap throughout the day, give serious consideration to:

Point-and-shoot cameras

Modern "P&S" cameras start at well under 100 dollars or Euros, with some models from high-end vendors like Rollei and Leica costing more than 10 times that figure. Your basic choices include fixed-lens and zoom-lens models. Most amateur photographers prefer zoom lenses for ease of framing scenes. However, fixed-lens cameras (like my own Ricoh GR-1 and my old Olympus XA II) have two advantages over zoom models:

• The lens openings tend to be wider, which means better photos under low-light conditions and the ability to blur backgrounds while keeping the subject of your photo in sharp focus.

• You're forced to move around to frame your subject, which often results in better pictures. (Long telephotos tend to compress perspective, which means that a person standing in front of an object seems to be in the same plane as the object at long focal lengths.)

Chances are, you'll prefer a zoom model, so here's a suggestion: Buy a camera with a moderate zoom--say, 24-85mm or 28-105mm in a 35mm camera--rather than a model with a longer zoom. Long zooms on P&S cameras tend to have very small lens openings, which can make it difficult or impossible to get photos under low-light conditions. Camera shake is also more noticeable at long focal lengths, especially when you're forced to use a slow shutter speed because of a small lens opening.

Another tip: Don't buy a camera unless you've handled it and compared it with other brands. The camera should feel comfortable in your hand, with controls (especially zoom levers or buttons) that are easy to use. If you wear glasses, make sure that you can see most of the picture area through the viewfinder.

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