Camera kit for three weeks in Europe.

Are you going to take everything there?

I suppose it would depend on how you visit there, drive by your own and a free schedule, or join a tour group there have a schedule to meet?

When I visit anywhere (group tour), I would take 7-14 f/4, 12-32, 45-150 (replaced the 14-45 and 45-200) with me anywhere. GX7 and 14-140 II for my wife having GX1 as backup. A total of 1.1Kg for me, 0.7kg for my wife and 0.5kg as backup (in the coach).

I rarely shoot moving object in low lighting, the stabilization of my gear could support me to cover most shooting environment. The mobility of consumer grade zooms give me more benefit than the faster speed. Even when shooting in the mostly low lighting sub-zero winter in the north, I am still happy with the result from my gear.

I would consider which lens would be used most, and the focal length that the remaining lenses to be carried would cover. For my early venturing into M43, I bought a few old Nikon ai lenses with me for the fun. Finally as just a few shots been used, they stayed home forever.

My goal is to make my gear light, sufficient covered, not to affect my movement, not to make me tired easily, not to reduce my appetite to shoot/change lenses/enjoy the scenery at there.

john isaacs wrote:

I will be in Prague, Vienna, and Budapest.

Plan to take the following:

- E-M1 and E-M5. Don't plan to use both often, but want to have a backup.

- Panasonic 12-35 f/2.8. The only weather sealed lens I'm taking. Leaving the Olympus 12-40 f/2.8 behind because I want some consistency in filters.

- Olympus 9-18. While I have both 7-14s, I like the small size and ability to use regular filters. Will bring 52mm polarizer plus 52-58mm step up for other filters as needed.

- Panasonic 14-140 Mk II. I'm slightly torn here, because the option is to take the Panasonic 35-100. Both take 58mm filters, so I can use my Canon 58mm 500D close up lens. This is the lighter of the two, and it can also be an all-around lens when I'm traveling light.

14-140 II is a very sharp lens. Under the good IBIS of EM1/5, it could likely shoot at a >1/10" shutter speed. Plus the usable higher ISO, it might be one of the single lens solution for most application except for the wider coverage of 12 or f/2.8 situation that you might needed.

- Olympus 12mm f/2 prime. I like some faster lenses for shooting indoors, and this is one of them.

Long summer day time in Europe might not required a fast wide angle that much, unless for the Dof.

- Panasonic 25mm f/1.4. My second fastest lens (and I'm not going to take the Nocticron 42.5 f/1.2 due to size and weight considerations). Plus, it uses the same 46mm filters as the 12mm. I could bring the Olympus 25mm f/1.8, but I like the extra ~1/2 stop and shallower DOF. I did swap that stupid lens hood with the shorter one for the 45mm.

Fast primes are good to cover low lighting (evening dinner, indoor of museums, places, cathedrals etc) in complimentary to consumer zooms. Depending on how many/important portrait shooting for your trip, a wider lens like 14~25 might be more useful than >40mm IMHO.

- Olympus 45mm f/1.8. Good for indoors and portrait. Small and light. Not bringing the 75mm f/1.8, again due to size and weight considerations. My main issue with this lens is the 37mm filter size. So I'll bring a 37mm CPL and a 37-46 step-up.

- Olympus 9mm body cap fisheye. It's a toss in, fun to use for certain shots.

When you have 9-18 or 7-14, whats the use of 9mm cap?

Bringing some flash gear (FL300R is great for food, FL36R is great for portraits and macro because I can use diffusers). Bringing a 42" ultra-light travel tripod and extensions to mount on.

After free to shoot >ISO400, I rarely need flash except for the in-camera one. A small one for standby purpose might make sense IMHO.

Bringing a Sirui T-005X tripod (2.3 lbs, <12" long) for night shots and panoramas. Also bringing a panoramic head, nodal slide, L-bracket, and radio trigger with remote shutter cable.

Do you do selfie? Do you do long exposure? If so how often would you do?

I sometimes carried a monopod in the old day, but recently a mini table tripod would do.

Bringing a Panasonic TZ5 that I converted to IR by removing the IR filter, with 720 and 850 filters. Only shoots JPG, but shoots IR fast so I don't need a tripod.

Finally, bringing a Panasonic LF1. Fits in the pocket, shoots RAW, has viewfinder and Wi-Fi remote control. Great for those times when I want to step out without the main camera gear.

Instead of compacts, why not EM5 (a smaller EM10-II mnight be better) + 14-42 EZ and ready to go reasonably small? I doubted that IQ from TZ5/LF1 could satisfy you.

I won't be carrying all at once (in case you are wondering). The joy of m4/3 is that I can lock this all up in a hotel room safe and just take what I need for a given outing.

Looking forward to getting lots of great shots.

YMMV