Read our article to learn why cameras best for travel usually have expensive lenses these days and what to look for when making your next purchase, along with lens recommendations for the best travel pictures.
Introduction:
This is the year when content creation has become a full-time job, and the demand for hardware needed to create high-quality content is at an all-time high. As more content is created outside the house, travel content creators and vloggers seek lightweight gear that is manageable to carry yet captures professional-looking photos and videos on the go.
Such cameras must incorporate complex optical formulas, fast-focusing silent motors, and advanced coatings, all of which contribute to the high overall price we are witnessing this year. In this article, we investigate in detail why camera lenses are expensive this year, especially for travel cameras, and also lay down tips for those researching the best cameras for travel to make your next purchase a sound one.
Why are Travel Camera Lenses Expensive?
Compact Design Requirements
For travel content, the need for high performance in a compact package puts enormous pressure on the OEMs. This is primarily due to the design and manufacturing challenges of the camera bodies and lenses, which are significantly more complex than those of regular cameras for other niches.
This extra effort and need for higher-quality materials increase the overall cost of cameras best for travel and their lenses. Nowadays, you will come across such (mirrorless) cameras from leading brands that have short flange distances and work with compact prime or zoom lenses, dominating the travel camera industry.
High-Tier Optical Formulas
As more content is created outside the home, such as through travel or daily Vlogging, camera brands are now pushing the limits to incorporate a significantly higher number of optical elements arranged in complex groups inside their lenses. New models typically feature multiple aspherical, extra-low dispersion, and high-refractive glass elements, all of which contribute to higher costs.
Special Coatings
The cameras best for travel, and their similar class lenses now utilize advanced nano-structured coatings and multi-layer treatments to address outdoor shooting issues such as ghosting, chromatic aberrations, and flares. These coatings are applied to maintain high contrast and preserve accurate color accuracy. This also incurs a sizable cost due to additional steps in production, resulting in increased time and cost per lens.
Weather Sealings
All these high-end electronics, packed inside a compact body, require proper protection during outdoor shooting. For this, manufacturers use rubber gaskets at the lens mount and high-end seals around its rings and buttons to protect the electronics and optics inside. It is also common to add extra consideration when designing barrel components that resist ingress in challenging environments, which all adds to extra costs.
Faster Autofocus Systems
Travelers and vloggers are always shooting changing environments and fast-moving objects in street scenes, action sports, or wildlife. Faster movement means the camera lens has to keep up with the focusing speed and work reliably for quick subject recognition, eye detection, and smooth focus transitions, especially in videos.
Manufacturers use faster and more expensive focusing motors to enable continuous autofocus and subject-tracking features. Moreover, they also have to work on additional firmware development for the camera and its lens, as well as fine-tune across multiple mounts to achieve the fastest results, all of which pushes the prices up.
Affordable Travel Camera Lens
The prices of compact camera lenses suitable for outdoor shooting have certainly gone up, but there are still standout lenses from third-party manufacturers that deliver excellent value. One such example is the SIRUI AURORA Series 35mm F1.4 Full-frame Autofocus Lens, which is extremely affordable yet rivals top-tier lenses this year, worth more than $1k.
The Aurora is designed with an f/1.4 aperture tuned for a 35mm construction, making it suitable for travelers and outdoor vloggers who shoot with a seamless, natural-looking perspective. It also works fantastically in low light, thanks to its super-bright aperture.
This also creates a smooth, shallow depth of field, allowing travelers to blur busy backgrounds and draw more attention to themselves from their viewers. Weighing just 500 grams and costing roughly $500, the Aurora lens is the best option, offering a balance of optical quality, build, and price.
Conclusion
All the cameras best for travel this year are pushing the limits in terms of design, function, and performance, but this is also adding to the price of the camera lens. The SIRUI Aurora breaks this trend and offers a sub-$500 lens that also outperforms lenses double its price.
