The best lenses for travel photography will enable you to take amazing photos without weighing you down. Travel photography lenses are typically versatile 'superzoom' zooms that stretch from generous wide-angle coverage to decent telephoto reach. You can therefore pack just one lens for your trip, saving space and weight in the process.
With most of your bases covered, you can focus on snapping gorgeous landscapes, stunning sunsets or captivating portraits, and the best part is if you choose to just take one lens with you, you'll never have to faff around with changing it.
When picking a superzoom lens, it’s tempting to go for the biggest zoom range you can get your hands on. However, these lenses tend to be quite large and weighty. They’re still generally more convenient and less heavy than a combination of standard and telephoto zoom lenses, but when you want to travel light or go on walkabout, it’s nicer to have something smaller and more lightweight dangling off your camera strap.
Globetrotting photographer and journalist Matthew is our go-to lens reviewer and has tested more lenses than you've had hot patatas bravas. Here he looks at the best all-in-one lenses for taking on your travels.
Best lenses for travel photography
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Best travel lens for Canon mirrorless cameras
If you're an EOS R-series shooter and want something with a longer focal range than the Canon's two 24-105mm options, then you're in luck as there’s also a superzoom option that isn’t overly big and heavy, and doesn’t cost silly money. It comes in the shape of the RF 24-240mm, which squeezes a very useful 10x zoom range into a reasonably lightweight and weather-sealed build.
Further attractions include a Nano USM autofocus system, which is super-fast for stills and enables smooth and virtually silent focus transitions during movie capture, and a highly effective 5-stop image stabilizer. At the short end of the zoom range, color fringing can be noticeable and barrel distortion is massive, but both of these aberrations are corrected in-camera by default, and when processing raw files. With this lens, Canon is combining optical and digital corrections rather than relying on optical corrections alone.
Read our full Canon RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS USM review
Best travel lens for Nikon mirrorless cameras
The list of travel-friendly credentials for this lens is long and impressive. It’s particularly compact and lightweight for a full-frame lens that boasts such an extensive zoom range, yet has a sturdy construction that includes comprehensive weather seals and a fluorine coating on the front element to repel moisture and grease. Image quality benefits from the inclusion of two aspherical elements, one aspherical ED (Extra-low Dispersion) element and two further ED elements. Nikon’s high-tech ARNEO coating is also applied to minimize ghosting and flare.
Not just for stills, the stepping motor-driven autofocus system enables smooth focus transitions during movie capture, along with minimal focus breathing and focus shift when zooming. Ideal, for full-frame Z-series cameras, the lens is also an interesting travel choice for Nikon's APS-C-sensor cameras, such as the Z50 II, where these cameras' 1.5x crop factor gives this lens an effective zoom range of 36-300mm.
Read our full Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR review
Best travel lens for L-mount
If you're in search of a versatile travel lens for your L-mount mirrorless, the Lumix S 28-200mm f/4-7.1 O.I.S. fits the bill perfectly. This lens stands out as the most compact and lightweight 7x superzoom lens available for any system, making it an ideal companion for travel without adding bulk or weight to your carry-on. Covering a range of commonly needed focal lengths, it's a must-have addition to any travel photographer's gear collection.
There are no compromises on image quality to be found here – the 28-200mm lens performs admirably, with only minor inconsistencies at the extreme end of the zoom. While it may not match the sharpness of prime or professional lenses, Panasonic has achieved commendable results for a lens of this category.
The standout feature of this Lumix S 28-200mm lens is its Dual I.S.2 image stabilization, combining optical stabilization with in-body stabilization. This system is among the best available, significantly enhancing stability for both stills photography and particularly impressive results in handheld video shooting, even at 200mm.
Read our full Panasonic Lumix S 28-200mm f/4-7.1 Macro O.I.S. review
Best travel lens for Micro Four Thirds
Micro Four Thirds format travel zooms from Olympus include the budget-friendly 14-150mm II and the up-market 12-200mm. They’re both very desirable lenses but I prefer this Panasonic option, which splits the two Olympus zooms for selling price, while adding a highly effective 4-stop optical image stabilizer. Thanks to the 2x crop factor of Micro Four Thirds cameras, the effective zoom range is 28-280mm in full-frame terms, thereby nearly matching 18-200mm lenses on APS-C format cameras.
It delivers this in a remarkably compact package that weighs a mere 265g. That’s only about half the weight of some APS-C format 18-200mm lenses, making the Panasonic particularly travel-friendly. Even so, it packs a fast autofocus system and quality glass, including three aspherical elements and two ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements. For a superzoom lens, sharpness is both very good and highly consistent throughout the entire zoom range.
Read our full Panasonic LUMIX G VARIO 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 II ASPH Power OIS review
Best travel lens for Sony cameras
The big thing about ‘travel lenses’ is that they’re supposed to be sufficiently small and lightweight for the journey, and this Sigma obliges in both respects. There’s nothing new about superzoom lenses that aim to give you a ‘one lens for everything’ solution that saves packing multiple lenses, but I’ve often encountered a problem. The vast majority of APS-C and full-frame superzooms that I’ve used in the past leave me wishing for greater wide-angle coverage.
This full-frame Sigma for Sony and L-mount mirrorless cameras boldly goes where no superzoom has gone before. It delivers a stonking 94.5-degree maximum viewing angle, courtesy of its relatively short 20mm minimum focal length. I love it!
There’s no shortage of quality either. The optical path features plenty of specialist glass including four DS Asp (Double Sided Aspherical), one FLD (‘Fluorite’ Low Dispersion) and three SLD (Special Low Dispersion) elements, plus a sprinkling of HR (High Refractive index) elements in the line-up. Meanwhile, autofocus is driven by a fast and near-silent HLA (High-response Linear Actuator) system. Sharpness is very good for a superzoom lens and it can even capture extreme close-ups at up to 0.5x macro magnification.
Read our full Sigma 20-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DG | C review
Best travel lens for APS-C cameras
The Sigma 16-300mm f/3.5-6.7 DC OS | C is a formidable travel lens and is a brilliant solution if you're short of space (or weight) and only have room to take one lens on your travels, with its monster 18.8x range equating to 24-450mm in full-frame terms on APS-C-sensor Sony, Fujifilm, and L-mount cameras (25.6-480mm on Canon cameras).
The main consideration is that it prioritizes zoom range flexibility and versatility over outright image quality, so if you're looking for the very best top-of-the-line quality, then it won't be for you. Its fastest apertures range from f/3.5 at the wide end to a fairly sluggish f/6.7 at the telephoto, so likewise, if you're looking to photograph fast-paced sport or blur backgrounds with a wide aperture, then this lens won't be the best option.
However, if you're in the market for a travel lens that you can keep on all day for landscapes and travel shots, both wide-angle at 16mm and zoomed in at 300mm, it's a brilliant option. Its super-fast and quiet autofocus and 1:2 macro capabilities also bolster its value further and make it brilliant value for money.
Read our hands-on Sigma 16-300mm f/3.5-6.7 DC OS | C review
Lab data and comparisons
The graphs below show the comparative performance of the lenses in this guide, based on our in-house lab tests. Most have fairly similar scores for averaged sharpness, although the Panasonic 14-140mm MFT and Sigma 16-300mm APS-C lenses didn't fare so well in our tests.
Scores for sharpness, distortion and color fringing are averaged from data taken across the entire image frame, from the center to the edges and corners, throughout the aperture range. For zoom lenses, the scores are also averaged from data measured at all marked focal lengths, and the same applies to distortion.
Bear in mind that these average values don't fully reflect specific areas of performance. For example, a zoom lens might have noticeable barrel and pincushion distortion at its shortest and longest focal lengths respectively, which tends to average out when looking at the data overall. For more detailed graphs of each lens's performance, which give the full picture, check out the graphs in our full standalone lens reviews.
How we test travel lenses
We test lenses using both real world sample images and lab tests. Our lab tests are carried out scientifically in controlled conditions using the Imatest testing suite, which consists of custom charts and analysis software that measures resolution in line widths/picture height, a measurement widely used in lens and camera testing. We find the combination of lab and real-word testing works best, as each reveals different qualities and characteristics.
