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

If you are still in Hong Kong, why not pay a visit to Sim City (here) where you could find the most reliable 2nd hand camera dealers as well as grey market dealers for your gears. (P.S. without testing to you r 100% satisfaction, never pay...). Fortunately or not, for foreigners local manufacturer's warranty means nothing.

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.

For UWA, IMHO I would prefer 7-14 f/4, not as big as Oly's f/2.8, much cheaper now, similar great IQ to the pro sibling, no purple fringing problem on Panny body... and that 2mm in wider side means a lot ... It gives you a real UWA than 9-18.

Single and twin lens setup indeed has merit of their own. Both options (14-140 II vs 14-42  II + Panny's 45-150, I don't know Oly's version) are offering similarly good IQ.

Single lens would save all the inconvenience of changing lens. 2 days ago I shot in a Temple and changed lenses for 30-40 times for 200 shots....

Twin lenses setup would always allowing us to hold a lighter weight combo (the other lens in bag/pocket). It would be a lot if shooting under 35°C outdoor for a whole day... In future if you have 12-32 or 12-35 f/2.8 replace 14-42II, you might even have a better coverage than 14-140 II.

My wife prefer single lens and I use the twin lenses setup.