A lovely view from the carousel.
My wife and I escaped the cold of Chicago in favor of fun and sun at Walt Disney World in Florida. During the trip, I took my DSLR and two lenses on the trip and snapped this photo.
While I'm pleased with how most of the photos turned out on our trip, traveling with my wife and a DSLR was a lesson in compromise. DSLRs are wonderful cameras because they have high-quality sensors and have access to a wide variety of lenses. The ability to choose a lens based on its specialty is appealing to photographers, ensuring that some form of DSLR will probably always exist in the professional realm.
Unfortunately, DSLRs are terrible travel cameras. My 5D occupied over half my bag, even though I only brought two lenses. This made it much more difficult to carry extra items like jackets, sunscreen, and the other necessities of being outdoors all day. It's not the camera's fault, but DSLRs, especially pro bodies, are large because it makes them more stable and easier to handle. These qualities make the camera a poor choice for traveling.
Since returning from our trip, I have been looking into alternative options from point-and-shoot cameras, which are a popular choice for travelers and amateurs just getting started, and retro-styled cameras with permanently mounted primary lenses and features, like a viewfinder, that I prefer over the view screens of the consumer models.
What's your favorite camera to take on trips?