I’m a travel photographer, and this Canon Power Shot is the one compact camera I’m packing for my next city break — plus it's on sale for it's lowest price yet | Tech Radar

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I’m a travel photographer, and this Canon Power Shot is the one compact camera I’m packing for my next city break — plus it's on sale for it's lowest price yet

The Canon Power Shot V1 is the perfect pocket rocket to capture travels, holiday snaps, vlogging and videos

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If you're like me, you've probably made the shift from the best DSLRs to mirrorless cameras, which we were promised would be smaller, lighter and faster. But while my Canon EOS R6 Mark II is undoubtedly lighter and smaller than the DSLRs I owned before it, it's not exactly pocketable.

But it's for this reason that my 'proper' camera gets left at home when I’m on holiday, because they’re just a bit too big and bulky to carry around when I’m being a tourist on holiday and taking snaps.

The best camera is the one you have with you and that's a pedigree which often falls to my phone, but a premium compact camera is what I really need – something I can slip easily in a pocket but with more powerful features, manual modes and better quality than my phone, so I can still get the shots I need when the inspiration strikes.

I’ve tried many of the top models over the years, including the Sony RX1R III, the Ricoh GR IV, the Fujifilm X100VI and the Panasonic Lumix L10. However, I think the Canon Power Shot V1 has gone under the radar. It packs some incredible features into a small compact body — even better, it’s currently on sale ahead of Amazon Prime Day — available now for just $849 at Amazon US or £829 at Amazon UK.

The Power Shot V1 (middle), alongside the Power Shot V10 vlogging camera with built-in stand (left), and the viral Power Shot G7X Mark III (right) (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

It’s no secret that the ‘V’ in the Power Shot V1 stands for ‘video’, but it's a very capable camera for stills photography, too. Considering the V1 weighs just 0.94lb / 426g and easily fits in a coat or baggy trouser pocket, the Power Shot V1 fits in a brilliant 1.4-inch CMOS 22.3MP sensor, 8x larger than the 1/2.3-type found in many cheap compact cameras and phones. This provides much better dynamic range and shallow depth of field abilities.

Its zoom lens retracts to make the camera portable when not in use, but in action it gives users a full-frame focal length equivalent of 16mm at the wide end and 50mm when zoomed in — that's a 3.1x optixal zoom, with a bright maximum aperture of f/2.8. This is perfect for holiday snaps where you can capture everything from wide-angle vistas to close-ups and portraits.

Dual Pixel CMOS AF II is employed for instant focusing on subjects and smooth tracking. Plus it features a built-in 3-stop ND filter to block out light. While an ND filter is fantastic for shooting video in bright light, it’s also great for still photos, too – here the ND can be used to block out light and extend shutter speeds to create expressive motion in moving clouds or rushing water within your frame.

Some travel snaps, taken with the Power Shot V1(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

For still photos I love that the V1 features all the usual creative ‘PASM’ exposure modes for taking control over key settings for ISO, aperture and shutter speed, plus it’s also capable of shooting 15fps with its mechanical shutter or a blistering 30 fps with the electronic one.

The Power Shot V1 is an excellent choice for video, too. The built-in fan keeps things cool and you can record unlimited 4K 60p with a 1.4x crop — your battery will drain or memory card fill up before the camera ever overheats. The vari-angle screen makes travel vlogging a cinch, and the microphone provides high quality audio.

The Canon Power Shot V1 is more recent than the popular Power Shot G7 X Mark III, so it features newer features yet is significantly more affordable, so for me it’s a bit of a steal! It’s also on sale ahead of Prime Day and you can currently save up to 17% on its listing price with savings of up to $180 / £130, which you could put towards your next vacation!

Today's best Canon Power Shot V1 camera deal (US)

This pre-Prime Day deal gives you 17% off its listing price of

1029, now down to

849. That’s a saving of $180 which you could put towards your next vacation! The Power Shot V1 offers a serious amount of camera for your money with its 1.4-type 22.3MP sensor, active cooling, 3x optical zoom, stabilization and 4K 30P uncropped video. If you buy the camera at Adorama, there's an 'Included Value' bundle which adds a 64GB memory and camera case at no extra cost, link below.

Today's best Canon Power Shot V1 camera deal (UK)

There's also a price cut for the Canon Power Shot V1 in the UK, but and while it's perhaps not as impressive, a saving of over £100 is not to be sniffed at – that goes a long way towards buying accessories like a case, memory cards or even towards flights for your next trip abroad.

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I started writing for photography magazines and websites back in 2012. I'm an expert gear reviewer, Photoshop specialist and have been a deputy editor of some of the world’s most beloved photography magazines

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