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The Best Cameras to Use at Festivals

If you’re lucky enough to be heading off to legendary music festivals such as Glastonbury, Boomtown, Secret Garden Party, Reading & Leeds, Bestival, or a host of other niche and smaller music festivals this Summer, then you'll want to be able to capture the memories from that time on a camera that's not only better quality than your smartphone but has a battery that lasts longer too (or none at all!), you'll want a camera that is a lot more reliable and a lot better in low light for both image quality and auto focusing.

We've put together a little list of a few cameras based with key features that make them the best options for festival cameras. Hopefully this guide will help you find the perfect camera for capturing those festival moments.

The Disposable Camera 

Let's start with the most basic option first - the disposable camera. We don't see many of these any more since the digital revolution, but the disposable camera is a great choice for taking to a festival. True, it most definitely won't give you the best results, but it also won't run out of battery and if you lose it you haven't lost all your contacts too!

From a risk adverse standpoint, it's the best camera for festivals, but from a quality point of view - you could do better. Having a little disposable camera like the Kodak Fun Flash or Fujifilm QuickSnap Flash in your back pocket is a fun and unique way to capture some pictures of the crowd or around the campsite, or wherever you go.

See our Film and Single Use range

The Instant Camera

If a disposable cameras isn't quite your thing, step up your analogue game with an instant camera. With an ever growing range of cameras and film available, there's never been a better time to pick up an instant or Instax camera.

Ranging from budget options with the Fujifilm Instax Mini 12, Polaroid Go or the super tiny Fujifilm Instax Pal, right up to the more advanced cameras such as the Polaroid I-2 or Leica SOFORT range, there's plenty to choose from, often in a wide range of vibrant colours to suit you!

See our Instant Camera Range

The Powerful Zoom

When at the festival, whether it's music or arts, you'll want to capture not just the fun around camp with your friends and the various sights you may encounter on any late night adventures, but the bands you went all that way to see!

The only thing to be able to do this with any degree of quality and success is with a powerful zoom camera. A compact digital camera such as the Panasonic Lumix TZ99 that offers a huge 30x optical zoom, gives you the ability to get close to the artists on stage from far away. They're also small enough to slip into a pocket or small bag when you're not using it.

See our Compact Camera Range

The Cheap (but great value) & Cheerful

Understandably you may not want to spend a lot of money on a camera for a festival, due to the blazingly obvious reasons, although I knew a chap at Glastonbury who took his Canon EOS-1D series camera and had no issues apart from having to carry a heavy lump of a camera for the whole weekend.

This is where the great value compact cameras such as the Kodak PIXPRO FZ55 steps in; a great value camera that is small and compact, packs in a 5x optical zoom for getting closer to the action which works in perfect combination with the 16MP sensor to get clear, crisp and colourful shots.

See our Compact Camera Range

The Colourful but Powerful

Being at a festival is more than just a music thing it’s a summer thing. So why not choose a camera that is feature rich, high in quality but radiates summer through a great choice of colour. The AgfaPhoto Realishot range of compact digital cameras are a fun and vibrant range that suit every personality and will be a great companion at any festival this Summer.

See our AgfaPhoto Range

Alternatively, why not kick off your film journey the fun way with the fresh, fuss-free Long Weekend Film Camera. This is an easy-to-use 35mm film camera featuring a built-in flash that’s festival-ready, automatic shooting for near-perfect snaps, and a manual wind & rewind that nods to retro flair. Available in a selection of colours to match your style.

See the Long Weekend Range

The Ultra Rugged & Tough

If you're prone to dropping the odd thing now and again, or you're just looking for a camera that can handle itself in heavy downpours that festivals are legendary for (Glastonbury 2005, anyone?), then no camera is more perfectly suited to you needs than a tough action camera.

Great examples include the latest OM System TG-7 or the Pentax WG-8, both of which are waterproof, shockproof, dustproof, and dare we say it, mud-proof and ready to capture those festival moments in the most extreme weather conditions that Mother Nature can throw at you.

See our Waterproof Camera Range

The Mirrorless

For something a little more advanced, and with the option of using interchangeable lenses, a mirrorless camera is a fantastic way of getting amazing photos at festivals around the UK.

Whether you're using it with a standard lens as a point and shoot, or you're using a fast prime lens or telephoto zoom to get more creative - perhaps to shoot some unique documentary portraits of festival goers - a mirrorless camera will provide you with outstanding image quality and DSLR-like features in an extremely compact body that takes up little more space than a compact camera.

Great examples include the budget-friendly Canon EOS R100, the sleek and stylish LUMIX S9, the 4K video capable Sony ZV-E10 II vlogging camera, or the retro & film inspired Fujifilm X-T30 II.

Want to learn more about mirrorless cameras and what they have to offer? Check out our guide here.

See our Mirrorless Camera Range

Don't Forget!

Once you've chosen your quality compact camera to take with you to festivals this summer, don't forget to stock up on memory cards and spare batteries so you don't get caught out during that weekend away. Keeping your camera in a well-padded bag or case is also generally advised.

Captured any great photos at festivals this Summer? Why not share them with us on Facebook or Instagram – we’d love to see!

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By Park Cameras on 26/06/2025