Travel photography is a broad, catch-all genre that can encompass anything and everything from portraiture to landscapes to interiors to even wildlife and sports. One unifying aspect of the travel genre, though, is efficiency and a desire to have a kit that provides you with the most versatility and capability in the smallest package possible.
When building a kit, you’ll need to assess what kind of photography you primarily want to do, what are your style concerns, your weight and size limits, and, most importantly, what you actually like to use. While smaller tends to be better, sometimes it’s worth the size concession to bring two useful prime lenses rather than a single larger zoom. Or, similarly, if you’re prioritizing image quality and resolution over sleekness, it might be worth bringing the premium full-frame body alongside some trimmed down lens options.
The fun part is piecing together the gear that fits your needs best; here are some starting ideas for Nikon Z gear that’s especially useful to travel photography situations.
Cameras
Portable and Versatile—Nikon Z5 II and Z50 II
Two of the most well-rounded, most “sweet-spot” cameras in Nikon’s lineup, the Z5 II and Z50 II, are perfect travel companions for most shooters.
The Z5 II is the full-frame option here, offering awesome image quality, updated AF performance, and improved speed over its predecessor. New to this model, too, is a Picture Control dial for on-the-fly creative effectives adjustment—perfect for getting the finished, shareable shot straight from the camera. The Z50 II, on the other hand, feels like the little brother of the Z5 II. It features a DX-format sensor along with a slightly smaller and noticeably lighter design that’s even more portable for everyday carry.
Deciding between these cameras is a matter of priorities: the Z5 II is the newer option and the one with a full-frame sensor, which should promise better image quality and a bit more recording versatility. The Z50 II, though, is still a highly capable model and does fit a bit better in a tote bag; plus, as a DX camera, it’s compatible with smaller-sized lenses.
Sleek and Stylish—Nikon Zf and Zfc
If travel is all about style, Nikon’s retro-themed cameras are perfect matches in terms of aesthetics as well as being highly capable cameras in their own right. Mirroring the Z5 II and Z50 II relationship the Nikon Zf is the full-frame model here while the Nikon Zfc is the smaller DX-format camera.
The Zf has a powerful feature set, borrowing a lot of imaging assets from the Z6 II platform and offering a vintage design that makes controlling the camera more tactile and intuitive. Similarly, the Zfc houses much of the Z50’s assets in an even smaller and lighter retro design.
Both of these cameras feel reminiscent of Nikon’s film-era SLRs, like the FM2, with more manual controls and a slimmer design. Both of these cameras are the type of object that you’ll want to show off and carry on your shoulder or around your neck while traveling; they’re meant to look good and be fun to use as well as perform at a high level.
For the Serious Travel Shooters—Nikon Z8 and Z6 III
Finally, for shooters who take their travel shooting seriously, look to the Nikon Z8 and Nikon Z6 III for the best mixture of performance and portability. Compared to the other cameras mentioned here for travel, these two are image quality and features-first models, so they will come in a bit larger and heavier but are still relatively compact and certainly much smaller than the flagship Z9.
The Z8 is one of Nikon’s most popular camera models, offering a bulk of the Z9’s capabilities in a substantially smaller and lighter package. This camera will appeal to travel shooters thanks to its high-res 45MP full-frame sensor, 8K video recording, intelligent AF, and impressive speed that’ll keep up with any kind of subject you run into on your travels.
Similar to how the Z8 is the little brother to the Z9, the Z6 III is the little brother to the Z8. It, too, offers a wealth of flagship technology in an even smaller and lighter design. Nikon’s trickle-down feature sets for their top tier cameras mean you can pick out what’s most important to you and skip certain assets you might deem diminishing returns. For the Z6 III, this means a full-frame partially stacked sensor and impressive video recording capabilities along with top-grade AF, subject detection, and a host of processing tools to enhance your portraits.
The key differentiator between these cameras relates to the sensor, with the Z8 having the higher resolution (45MP vs 24MP) and a fully stacked sensor design that’s generally faster.
For the Person Who Doesn’t Want to Deal with Lenses—COOLPIX P1100
One more camera for good measure, the COOLPIX P1100 is a different beast entirely. This super-zoom point-and-shoot is a popular option for wildlife shooters, thanks to its 125x zoom that covers an equivalent 24-3000mm focal length range.
This is a big camera, though, and the image quality isn’t quite going to be on par with the Z mirrorless models. But it’s a perfect option or even a dedicated second camera if your travels include safaris, wildlife reservations, or other instances of wanting to capture very distant subjects.
Lenses
With your camera picked out, there are a few different methodologies for curating a lens or set of lenses for travel shooting. One option is to go with the compact but high-performance zooms; another is to pick a single, highly versatile zoom to do it all; and a third option is to constrain yourself a bit with one or more primes and photograph your travels from a fixed focal length.
Compact Zoom Trio—17-28mm f/2.8, 28-75mm f/2.8, and 70-180mm f/2.8
Likely the best mixture of speed and focal length versatility, Nikon’s lightweight trio of f/2.8 zooms are awesome travel partners that offer full coverage from ultra-wide to medium telephoto with a constant f/2.8 maximum aperture. The NIKKOR Z 17-28mm f/2.8, NIKKOR Z 28-75mm f/2.8, and NIKKOR Z 70-180mm f/2.8 are smaller, lighter alternatives to the traditional f/2.8 trio of zooms, offering a slightly condensed range along with a much more portable design that’s perfect for travel.
The 17-28mm f/2.8 is the one lens to get if your travels are focused on architecture and interiors, the 28-75mm f/2.8 is the general all-arounder that’s great for most daily shots, and the 70-180mm f/2.8 offers a bit more reach for distant subjects and more selective compositions of details while sightseeing.
The All-In-Ones—28-400mm f/4-8 VR and 24-120mm f/4 S (and 50mm f/1.8?)
For many travel photographers, the idea of bringing multiple lenses on a trip can seem like a waste of precious souvenir space in their bags. Sometimes having a single ultra-versatile lens fits the trip better, especially if your photography on the trip is a bit more casual or spontaneous.
The NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR is the king of spontaneity, covering essentially every focal length you’ll need on a vacation and feature optical VR for added stability throughout the zoom range. This is a great one-lens solution if your travels include a wide array of subject types and if you want to simplify your packing with just one camera body and one lens.
Offering a bit of a narrower range but improved performance and quality, the NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S is a bit wider and longer than the aforementioned 28-75mm, making it a better single lens option for most travel photography scenarios. Also, as an S-line lens, this zoom touts Nikon’s higher-grade optics for improved sharpness and clarity, making it a better match for those working with a Z8 or Z6 III, for instance.
Lastly, I’d like to argue that the 50mm is the original all-in-one lens—despite being a prime, its normal field of view can be just as versatile as a zoom if you’re up for the photographic challenge of interacting with your subjects or backing up whenever possible. The NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 S is my choice here, as it’s Nikon’s best balance of size and image quality if you’re up for the challenge of photographing your travels from a single field of view.
Compact Prime Trio—35mm f/1.4, 50mm f/1.4, and 26mm f/2.8
Much like Nikon’s compact trio of zooms, they’ve also created a series of especially compact, lightweight primes that offer much of the performance, speed, and capabilities of the typical pro-grade optics in a sleeker, more travel-friendly design.
The NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.4 and NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.4 are (surprisingly) smaller and lighter than their f/1.8 peers at the expense of some image quality. Where they excel in this comparison, though, is with a faster design and a svelteness that’s perfect for the traveling shooter. They’re ideal matches for the Zf and Z5 II.
One additional, and even smaller, prime lens option is the NIKKOR Z 26mm f/2.8—a true pancake lens design that mixes a versatile wide-angle field of view and bright-enough f/2.8 maximum aperture with a super-slim profile that’s less than one inch thick.
The DX Lenses—16-50mm f/3.5-6.3, 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3, and 24mm f/1.7
And for those opting for a DX-format camera, choosing DX-specific lenses allow you to take advantage of the weight and size savings of the smaller format. Any of the aforementioned full-frame lenses will work with your DX camera, but you’ll want to account for the 1.5x crop factor when deciding on the ideal focal length (e.g. the 26mm lens will feel more like a 39mm lens). With these DX-specific lenses, though, their wider focal lengths and smaller sizes will typically be a better fit for these cameras.
The NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR is the kit lens for many Nikon DX-format cameras, offering a useful 24-75mm equivalent range in a diminutive size that’s perfect for travel. For a bit more reach, the NIKKOR Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR is an even more versatile all-in-one type zoom offering a 27-210mm equivalent range. And, finally, for the prime lens enthusiast, there’s the 36mm-equivalwnt NIKKOR Z DX 24mm f/1.7, which matches a wide-angle field of view with a bright design for better low-light performance and depth of field control.
There’s no perfect one-size-fits-all choice for building a travel kit. Some photographers prioritize style and size while others look for top-tier functionality and versatility. The fun part about compiling gear for a vacation or any other kind of travel is to create a framework for how you’ll record your time away. Sometimes a bit of constraint is creatively useful, other times the variety of an all-in-one zoom is essential for the myriad subjects you’re bound to see. Regardless of what you choose, do spend some time preparing and becoming acquainted with your gear before traveling to ensure the best results.
