What's the Best Travel Camera for 2013?

What's the best travel camera? It's one that's light and compact enough to fit in a pocket or carry-on, rugged enough you won't need to worry about it getting damaged if your suitcase is tossed by baggage handlers, and capable of shooting high-quality photos that you'll be proud to show your family and friends when you return. And on top of that, wouldn't it be great if this camera were waterproof, shockproof, freezeproof, dustproof and had a built-in GPS system to geo-tag all of your photos and pinpoint exactly where you shot them?

If this sounds like your idea of the best travel camera, then take a look at these rugged cameras. They're the perfect travel companions.

(Image: Nikon Coolpix AW100. Available on Amazon. See link below.)

Which one is right for you?

The models shown below on this page are some of the best rugged cameras on the market today. New camera models are introduced every year, so what may have been "best" last year may not still be at the top of the rankings this year.

Right now, the Nikon camera shown below is currently the most popular among the three, the Canon is another favorite, and the Pentax is the most economical of the bunch. Take a look at the travel cameras below and see which one is right for you.

(Image: Canon Powershot D20. Available on amazon. See link below.)

If you're looking for the perfect travel camera, look no further than the Nikon Coolpix AW110. With a width of 4.4 inches, a height of 2.6 inches and a depth of a mere 1.0 inches, the AW110 can easily slide into a pocket and be ready for action whenever you are, and at 6.9 ounces (including the battery and memory card), it's light enough not to weigh you down. But don't let the small size fool you.

This camera has one of the highest resolutions (16 MP) of any of the rugged cameras on the market, is waterproof to 59 feet, shockproof to falls from 6.6 feet, dustproof, and freezeproof to 14 degrees Fahrenheit. In addition, the AW100 offers 5x optical zoom, full 1080p HD video, GPS tagging, a built-in compass, 20 scene modes, and continuous shooting up to 6 frames at approx. 8 frames per second. As if that weren't enough, it also has a sweep panorama mode to capture gorgeous panoramic images on your travels.

The AW110 was just released this year to replace the AW100, which was a customer favorite. With over 500 reviews, the Coolpix AW100 has a 3.8- out of 5-star rating on Amazon. If you're looking for a good travel camera, you won't go wrong with this one.

The PowerShot D20 is Canon's latest entry in the rugged camera market, replacing the earlier D10. This new model is another great choice for a travel camera, as it is compact (4.4 x 2.8 x 1.1 in), rugged (waterproof to 33 feet,shockproof to 5 feet) and able to shoot great photos and video with a 12.1 MP CMOS sensor, 28mm wide-angle lens, 5x optical zoom and full 1080p HD video. It weighs a bit more than the Nikon Coolpix above (8.4 oz with battery for the Canon vs. 6.3 oz. for the Nikon), but it's still light enough to go with you everywhere. And with the built-in GPS function, you'll be able to geo tag your photos wherever you go. This camera is too new to have a lot of reviews from average users, but on Amazon, the first reviews are coming in extremely positive - as of this writing, the model has a 4.6- out of 5-star rating.

If the rugged camera models above are out of your price range, the Pentax Optio WG-1 may be the best travel camera for you. This model is a slim 1.1 inches wide, 2.3 inches deep and 4.5 inches long and weighs only 5.9 oz with the battery. Customers rate it 3.4 out of 5 stars with over 100 ratings

The models shown above aren't the only options on the market. The list below shows the bestsellers in Amazon's point-and-shoot camera category and is updated daily to show what's hot. These cameras may not have the compact rugged design of the models shown above, but they may have some other features you'd prefer.