This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Erika Gay. Find her on Instagram at @erikag0503. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
With March around the corner, vacations and Spring Break trips are already being planned which means shopping for clothes, and accessories, and figuring out what to bring to take pictures for the memories! If you are like me, and a bit of a perfectionist about your photos, you want the best camera to capture these moments. Lucky for you, in this article, I will be giving you recommendations, and don’t worry I will include more affordable options because I know vacation costs add up quickly! If you’re ready to get your camera gear and accessories to make the most of your trip or vacation keep reading!
TikTok Recommendations
Usually, if I am ever in need of a new product or accessory and I want good recommendations and honest reviews, the first place I get is TikTok. It is full of real and sincere people who will help you out which is my favorite! Some of the best digital cameras I’ve seen have been recommended from there. When I think of travel and packing, I think about the limited space in my suitcase and not wanting to lug around big items. This is why I recommend small and handheld digital cameras that can fit in your purses or fanny packs. This brings me to my first recommendation which is the Canon PowerShot SX740. This is around $480 and although that seems pricey for a camera that size it is well worth it! It even has an adjustable screen that you can slip so you can see yourself, perfect for vlogging as well. In addition, you won’t even need to get an sd card reader to transfer the photos because it is directly compatible with the Canon Connect App so you can see your pics right away! This camera is the most popular recommendation I saw while browsing TikTok but don’t worry if this is out of your price range, there are plenty more options. For example, the Kodax Pixpro FZ 55 is a great quality digital camera that is around $120 that you can even buy on Amazon. It is a 16.4 megapixel camera so the quality is still very sharp and it has the basic tools to get you stunning photos. Below you can see shortcut settings that you can use to get a bomb Instagram photo in darker lighting. There are many camera options out there but these two are highly recommended all over social media, by YouTube vloggers and more. As a Canon camera user I can attest that they are worth your money and will get you those shots you need!
Accessorizing Your Camera
With purchasing a new camera there are some important accessories to buy to make sure you can access your photos, keep your storage, and even make it cute and personalized. First and foremost is an SD card. Almost every digital camera requires an SD card to hold your photos on, and depending on how many you take will determine the amount of gigabytes you want. They are easy to use and can be bought on Amazon for around $20. This then gets plugged into a desktop or laptop to transfer the photos out of the camera. This leads me to the next accessory that is very helpful to have if you own a Mac or iPhone and it is an sd card reader that plugs into your devices to transfer the photos that way. It is very affordable and easy to take on the go with your camera. These are just a couple of the basics to ensure you can have your great photos and be ready to easily post them! Now for the fun stuff which is accessorizing your actual camera with a cute camera case, stickers, jewels, and more. You can customize it however you like by adding charms to the wristband or stickers from your trip. Etsy has some cute charms you can purchase so the camera goes with the vacation aesthetic too!
Making It Old School
I don’t know about you but I love a classic picture on film or one that can be printed right after the click, something about it is very nostalgic, and having physical photos right away is so cool. We are in a digital age where everything is kept online or in our phones and sometimes it is fun to make it old school and capture memories on film. This brings me to my next recommendations of cameras which are the classic disposable Fujifilm camera, the Polaroid camera, and the Fujifilm Instant Mini 40. These are obviously going to be more affordable because they are not digitized and capture the raw moments but I think that is what makes them so unique. They range from $25 to $100 for the camera plus film. Although the disposable camera is temporary you can experience the retro feel of sliding the circle to wind up the photo and click! To me, this puts a fun twist on vacation photos and gives you the immediate option to put them in a scrapbook or give them to your friends, rather than storing them in a device. I think most trends come back around and this has become popularized again, for a good reason! The film will never go out of style.
Time To Edit
I have been into photography since I was in High School so I have gotten to learn a lot about cameras and most importantly, editing the photos afterwards. With a good quality camera, usually, there is not much you need to do except fix some lighting or erase a random stranger in the back but I like to be a perfectionist and use my editing skills. If you have a high-quality camera taking great photos, you will want high-quality editing apps and tools to go along with it! I recommend becoming familiar with the Adobe Suite, which includes Photoshop and Lightroom which are my favorites. You can do everything with these apps and it is very easy to learn. You will be surprised how much of a difference little edits can make to your photos so they are very Instagram-worthy. Editing takes practice and time but it becomes something fun to look forward to, especially after the debrief of your vacation. I like to grab some coffee or matcha and lock into my editing!
I am already planning my Spring Break trip and figuring out which camera I want to bring to make sure I get the best picsfor my beach trip! Whether you are a perfectionist about your photos or not these cameras will capture your trip memories and make it fun doing so.
Let us know which is your favorite camera or what you may be purchasing below!
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