The best mirrorless travel lenses under £1,500

Travel photography – with its alluring promise of exotic lands, different cultures and tropical vistas – used to be the preserve of the professionals, as they were the only photographers with the time, funds and gear necessary to capture the best images at the world’s best locations.

But now, thanks to cheaper airfares and more keenly priced kit, great travel images are within reach of all of us. And it’s mirrorless cameras and lenses that sit right at the top of the packing list, as their capabilities now equal those of DSLRs, making them great compact and low-weight alternatives to their chunkier cousins.

Let’s check out the 10 best mirrorless travel lenses under £1,500...

While Canon’s 18-150mm offering gives a colossal zoom range, this 18-35mm equivalent is the perfect choice if you’re concentrating on landscapes. The f/4-5.6 aperture means sharp results at the heart of your image and the ultra-wide, 92° field-of-view ensures you have the scope to capture some stunning views. At just 5.8cm long and 220g in weight, the lens is also compact and won’t significantly eat into your luggage allowance.

The 12 elements in 9 groups offer up 7 rounded diaphragm blades to capture great bokeh, and the 15cm minimum focusing distance means you can get very close to your subject. The 3 stops of image stabilisation also give you assurance that you can use this lens handheld in low light conditions without risking motion blur.

Though wider apertures cause slight corner blur, sharpness is impressive across the whole frame. At its widest focal length, there is very noticeably barrel distortion, which is quite severe when shooting closer subjects.

Pros

Wide angle

Size

Image stabilisation

Cons

Limited range

Barrel distortion

Corner blur

Specification

Minimum aperture: f/22-32

Elements: 12/9

Filter size: 55mm

Minimum focus distance: 15cm

DxL: 61x58mm

Weight: 220g

With the M6 recently joining Canon’s expanding mirrorless range, the 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 is the perfect all-round companion. The 8.3x optical zoom offers an astonishing 29-240mm 35mm equivalent, meaning you can capture landscapes, portraits and even wildlife shots with just one lens.

At 300g and 87mm long, the barrel extends to 135mm, meaning it’s not the most portable lens in test, but you do get a lot of functionality. The built-in 4-stop image stabilisation means you can shoot handheld in low light without the need for a tripod, even when fully zoomed.

The whopping 17 elements in 13 groups include a 7-bladed circular aperture, giving you well rendered bokeh in the out-of-focus areas.

The image quality really impressed us, with great sharpness throughout the range and only very light vignetting, which is slightly more noticeable at longer focal lengths. Chromatic aberration is kept at bay throughout the range, although we did notice some minor barrel distortion at wider focal lengths.

Pros

Zoom range

Image stabilisation

Price

Cons

Plastic build quality

Size

Barrel distortion

Specification

Minimum aperture: f/22-32

Elements: 17/13

Filter size: 55mm

Minimum focus distance: 25cm

DxL: 61x87mm

Weight: 300g

A relatively new lens from Sigma’s much-acclaimed Global Vision range, the 30mm f/1.4 prime offers exceptional optical quality, and is the cheapest autofocus lens in test.

At a very respectable 264g and a compact 74mm, it falls into the portable category well and fits into any traveller’s kit bag with ease. And the 50° field-of-view, fast AF and diminutive size makes this lens perfect for capturing local culture incognito.

The 9 elements in 7 groups include one aspherical, and one double aspherical, lens element to ensure any distortions are kept to a minimum. The 9 rounded diaphragm blades, coupled with the f/1.4 aperture, produce some stunning bokeh in the out-of-focus areas. Its wide aperture makes up for its lack of image stabilisation, giving you more light-gathering capabilities when shooting in low light conditions.

Sharpness in the corners is extremely impressive, even at the widest aperture. Vignetting is noticeable, though chromatic aberration is almost non-existent.

Pros

Wide aperture

Price

Sharpness

Cons

No IS

Minimum aperture of f/16

Fixed focal length

Specification

Minimum aperture: f/16

Elements: 9/7

Filter size: 52mm

Minimum focus distance: 30cm

DxL: 66x74mm

Weight: 264g

Tamron has packed a very wide zoom range of 18-200mm into a rather sleek body, although this lens does weigh in at a fairly hefty 460g. The 10cm body almost doubles in length when fully zoomed in too, measuring 17.5cm.

This is a great all-purpose lens though, packing a whopping 17 elements in 13 groups, with 7 diaphragm blades creating near round out-of-focus bokeh. The minimum aperture of f/22 allows you to achieve a very wide depth-of-field, and the 50cm minimum focusing distance is very respectable considering the zoom range.

Tamron has included its Vibration Control (VC) image stabilisation to help you to work handheld in low light. The lens barrel also features a lock switch, so the lens doesn’t accidentally zoom out during transit.

Image centres are impressively sharp, even at wider apertures, and corner softness holds up well. At longer zoom ranges, images appear slightly less sharp, with corner blurring creeping in at 200mm.

Pros

Zoom range

Image stabilisation

Price

Cons

Weight

Size

Softer at 200mm

Specification

Minimum aperture: f/22

Elements: 17/13

Filter size: 62mm

Minimum focus distance: 50cm

DxL: 68x97mm

Weight: 460g

Very similar to the lens on the well received Fuji X100F, this 27mm pancake lens is a great all-round prime. The 41mm equivalent focal length is suited to everything from landscapes to street photography, and Fuji has kept the weight down to a minute 78g, thanks in part to excluding a manual aperture ring on the body

The tiny 2.3cm body houses 7 elements in 5 groups, even including an aspherical element. The autofocus is extremely fast and accurate, even in low light. With a fixed focal length, the lens isn’t hugely versatile, and not suited to portraits, wildlife or landscapes. However, it’s a good all-round focal length for travel, giving a similar angle-of-view as an iPhone. It’s also very small so you can blend into the crowd for stealthy shooting.

Image quality is fantastic, as you’d expect from a prime lens. The centre of the image is extremely sharp and corners suffer very little blur at the widest aperture. There is slight vignetting present, though nothing severe.

Pros

Incredibly sharp

Size

Wide aperture

Cons

Minimum aperture of f/16

No aperture ring

Fixed focal range

Specification

Minimum aperture: f/16

Elements: 7/5

Filter size: 39mm

Minimum focus distance: 34cm

DxL: 61x23mm

Weight: 78g

With Fuji making waves with its stream of new mirrorless releases, its lenses are equally renowned. The 18-135mm offers a huge 27-206mm 35mm equivalent, with a widest aperture of f/3.5. The 490g weight and 9.8cm length (extending to 16cm) make this a relatively big lens, though the range from landscape to portrait means it has a lot to offer.

The weather-resistant body holds 16 elements in 12 groups, including 4 aspherical and 2 anomalous dispersion lenses to combat distortion, while the 7 rounded diaphragm blades offer great bokeh in out-of-focus areas. The internal focusing motor creates AF speeds of 0.1sec and the 5-stop image stabilisation ensures great results handheld.

Sharpness is good either end of the zoom, but corner fall-off is noticeable. Mid-range image quality is great, with respectable sharpness corner to corner. At wider angles there is minimal barrel-distortion, though Fuji attempts to correct this in-camera.

Pros

Zoom range

Image stabilisation

Fast AF

Cons

Size

Weight

Price

Specification

Minimum aperture: f/22

Elements: 16/12

Filter size: 67mm

Minimum focus distance: 45cm

DxL: 76x98mm

Weight: 490g

Samyang’s fisheye is the cheapest lens here, and it’s perfect for getting creative on your travels. The 12mm equivalent focal length produces a whopping 180° diagonal field-of-view on a cropped mirrorless sensor, and the image fills the frame corner to corner instead of in a circular shape. The 30cm minimum focusing distance means you can get relatively close to your subjects to create some interesting effects, or use it to create stunningly wide landscapes of your destination.

The lens is light, at 290g, and extremely compact for shooting incognito. It comprises 11 elements in 8 groups, with 2 aspherical and 3 Extra-low Dispersion elements to combat lens distortion and chromatic aberration, which it does well. Focusing can be tricky as the lens has no autofocus capability, although the depth-of-field is very large, which makes this easier. Central sharpness is brilliant throughout, though corners don’t become perfectly sharp until f/5.6. Chromatic aberration is also a concern, but any fringing is barely noticeable.

Pros

Lightweight

Wide field-of-view

Wide aperture

Cons

Hard to focus

Manual only

Limited uses

Specification

Minimum aperture: f/22

Elements: 11/8

Filter size: N/A

Minimum focus distance: 30cm

DxL: 60x65mm

Weight: 290g

Panasonic’s 14-42mm pancake lens (28-84mm equivalent) offers a perfect zoom range for travel. At a very compact 2.7cm in length, its diminutive size makes it a very covert lens which takes up little space in your kit bag. The 110g weight gives this a very lightweight and balanced feel, which lessens the effect of motion blur at longer focal lengths.

The f/3.5-5.6 variable aperture offers some impressive sharpness, and the unassuming nature means you can blend in with the tourists to capture some great close-up shots. The inclusion of Panasonic’s image stabilisation gives you up to 3 stops, which lets you work at longer shutter speeds or with less light.

There are switches on the barrel to control zoom and focus, and while the electronic zoom may feel a bit unintuitive, both switches work well. Images are very sharp at the centre, though there is some minor blurring in the corners and obvious vignetting. At 14mm there is noticeable pin-cushion distortion, though it can be corrected in post.

Pros

Size

Price

Stabilisation

Cons

Limited range

Pin-cushion distortion

Unintuitive zoom

Specification

Minimum aperture: f/22

Elements: 9/8

Filter size: 46mm

Minimum focus distance: 20cm

DxL: 56x49mm

Weight: 110g

Micro Four Thirds users have a large selection of lenses at their disposal, given that they can use both Panasonic and Olympus glass. But the Tamron 14-150mm f/3.5-5.8 is a great alternative. With a 35mm equivalent of 28-300mm, this 285g lens is very portable and capable of capturing a wide range of scenes, from landscape to wildlife.

Despite its compact 8cm length (13cm when fully zoomed), the Tamron packs 17 elements in 13 groups, including Low Dispersion (LD), and aspherical elements to combat chromatic aberration.

As with the other Tamron here, there’s a lock switch to ensure no unwanted lens barrel creep, though Vibration Control is lacking. This won’t bother Olympus users, as they have built-in image stabilisation, but some Panasonic bodies don’t.

Images suffer very noticeably from soft corners and chromatic aberration at the widest aperture. Vignetting is also quite pronounced wide open, creating a darker area around the edge of the image.

Pros

Zoom range

Weight

Lock switch

Cons

No image stabilisation

Soft corners

Chromatic aberration

Specification

Minimum aperture: f/22

Elements: 17/13

Filter size: 52mm

Minimum focus distance: 50cm

DxL: 64x80mm

Weight: 285g

If you shoot with a Micro Four Thirds CSC, the Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.ZUIKO is ideal for wildlife, portrait and action photographers. It’s the second lens to join the Olympus PRO series alongside the 12-40mm f/2.8 wide-angle (£799). The lens has a constant f/2.8 maximum aperture, which allows the photographer to not only capture images with a shallow depth-of-field, but also to use faster shutter speeds in low light.

Featuring a professional-level build quality including weather-proofing, Olympus designed this lens for use with its OM-D and PEN CSCs. But it can be paired with all Micro Four Thirds (MFT) cameras, which makes it compatible with Panasonic models too. Great news if you’re looking for a fast lens to combine with your 12fps GH4! What’s more, thanks to the 2x crop factor from the MFT sensor, the focal length of 40-150mm doubles to 80-300mm. This brings it into wildlife photography territory. If even more focal length is required, the lens can be paired with the Olympus 1.4x teleconverter, which increases the focal range to 112-420mm.

For Micro Four Thirds users craving longer focal lengths, Olympus’s latest addition to its already impressive lens line-up is as good as it gets.

Specification

Lens mount: Micro Four Thirds

Max aperture: f/2.8

Min aperture: f/22

Minimum focus distance: 70cm

Filter size: 72mm

Weight: 760g