Upgrading lenses for travel

Daniel42 wrote:

Hey everyone,

I'm a Gx8 user and have been using it with the panasonic 14-42mm. I have been traveling with this combo for the past five months. While I have been pretty happy with it, there have been more than a few instances when I felt very limited by the lack of a wider option and a longer reach. I feel that my photography has improved and I now aim to take pictures that have some artistic value in my eyes rather than taking pictures for the sake of preserving memories.

I have recently reached Hong Kong and have already spent hours wandering around it's many photography shops. I'm looking to upgrade my lens collection to address the issues that I mentioned. If possible I will try to find the Oly 9-18 for landscapes and other wide angle photography. I am unsure about how to lengthen my reach. I have looked at the Olympus 40-150 that I can get 2nd hand for pretty cheap. I have also seen the Olympus 14-150 ii and the Panasonic 14-140.

I would prefer to buy one lens as a walk around lens and use the wide lens only when needed. That said I don't want to compromise IQ too much and I understand that that is the case many times with super zoom lenses.

Will the difference between a 2 lens combo and one super zoom be very noticeable?

I would love to read everyone's thought on the subject. Especially from people who have used the super zoom lenses while traveling.

There are a few ways to go…

Panasonic 45-150mm is the natural companion to the 14-42mm II. It's not as convenient or simple as the 14-140mm II.

SELL the 14-42mm and put that toward the 14-140mm. It's a fun lens, with surprisingly good image quality, roughly on par with the 14-42mm and 45-150mm combo.

I'd suggest the 7-14mm f4 over the 9-18mm. The 7mm end is pretty amazing to have at your disposal. Coupled with the 14-140mm, it's an excellent, all-around set. All you'd need is a fast prime for low light, like the 15mm or 20mm.

Other options involve any of the weathersealed 12-xx mm zoom lenses. The 12-35mm or 12-40mm (which I happily use with my GX8), or the recently announced Panasonic 12-60mm. There are very few reviews and the one that did appear used a faulty copy of the lens.