When you’re interested in cruising to exotic destinations, exploring fascinating ruins and soaking in unusual cultures, you’ll always want to try and capture the moment on camera. But these days it can be tricky to know which type of camera to take with you, never mind which brand or specific model. But don’t worry, the team at Six Star Cruises are here to help you make your mind up to find the one best-suited to your needs.

Now, for people who have a good knowledge of photography, this blog isn’t really for you, and you’ll notice that I’ve not covered every different type of camera out there – there are too many subtle differences. Plus if you’re that serious about capturing photos, you’ll already know everything you need to. This is a cruise blog, not a photography blog. However, if you’re more of a novice, I think you’ll find some useful advice here.

The Digital Camera

This is your typical camera on the market these days. Most of the ones you’re probably acquainted with are standard compact cameras – they’re quite thin, lightweight and easy to carry around. You can get them quite cheaply too, although I’d recommend avoiding anything under £100. That price range is really for children. If you just want something to capture the memories, then anything between £100 and £150 will do a perfectly fine job.

Of course if you want to splash out, you could find yourself paying upwards of £500. These may be less sleek but they offer higher specs. Don’t be fooled by the megapixel count alone – it’s easy to get 16-20MP for around £130 if you shop around. But the difference in sensor type, and the number of controls you have, is the key. Sometimes higher megapixels with poor sensors leads to worse images, and you’ll only be able to save a handful to your memory card.

The Smartphone

Remember that sort of brief couple of decades when a mobile phone was just a mobile phone? It didn’t sort emails, it didn’t come equipped with all kinds of games, and it certainly didn’t take pictures? It wasn’t long before these features became standard though, and now the camera phone is taken for granted.

Now, a camera phone isn’t ever going to be as good as most dedicated cameras. For a start, smartphones generally have digital zoom only (though there are a couple of phones, and accessories, that add in optical zoom features just starting to launch onto the market), and sensors aren’t as strong.

But for convenience, the smart phone cannot be beaten. Chances are you’ll already be carrying it, meaning you don’t need an extra piece of tech to keep safe. And again, if you just want to put memories into pictures, smart phones will do that for you with no major issues. Definitely the best option if you have a decent phone and you aren’t too worried about quality, and that’s something you couldn’t have said even a couple of years ago. Technology, eh?

The DSLR

If you want to take your photography a bit more seriously when you’re on your luxury cruise, then you need to start thinking about a DSLR. Now straight away, it’s worth flagging that these cameras are much more bulky, as not only is the camera unit itself bigger to deal with the increased specifications, the lenses are detachable and, for lack of a better word, chunkier.

But look past this downside and you’ll soon start seeing the benefits. DSLR cameras are what the pros use, as well as serious amateurs, because it’s where you’ll start getting higher image quality, as well as the chance to control more of the features to get the shots you want.

But of course, you get what you pay for. The cheapest DSLR cameras cost around the £250 mark, and some of the higher end models will easily cost you 10x that or more. So if you want to be serious about your camera, you need to be serious about your budget.

That covers the three main types. There are plenty of sub-types that I’ve not covered, such as hybrid compact cameras and Superzoom digital compacts, but these three categories give you the gist of what to expect. From here, you can understand what is best for you, so you don’t get taken advantage of when you’re shopping for your holiday camera. Happy shooting!

By Ian Lewis
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