Compact kit with best IQ for travel?

zuikowesty wrote:

I am planning to pare down my travel kit as I approach retirement, with plans for some extended travel in remote parts of the world, and would like to find a few lenses suited for these needs. As much as I love my 12-40 and 7-14, they are both too large for the task, especially the 7-14, when I am talking about travelling for weeks or even months at a time, with only carry-on sized baggage. Not sure what I will do for a computer, but that's another story...

However, I also don't want to sacrifice IQ. I am thinking that a few primes, and maybe a compact tele-zoom is all I will want to carry between my wife and I, to pair with our E-PM2 + E-M5ii bodies.

Here is my list of candidates:

Ultra wide to wide, primary lens on my E-M5ii

• Laowa 7.5/2 - small, fast, good IQ, manual focus, not sealed
• Oly 12/2 - small, fast, good IQ, expensive, not sealed
• PL 12/1.4 - largish, fast, good IQ, expensive, sealed

If you're thinking about the 12mm f1.4, why not bring your 12-40mm and bump the ISO if you need to?

Wide option, primary lens on my wife's E-PM2

• PL 15/1.7 - small, fast, good IQ, not sealed

Zoom options for either body

• Oly 12-40 - already own, good IQ & sealed, but a bit heavy
• Oly 14-150 - same size as 40-150R, all-in-one option, sealed

If I add the 14-150, then things become much more versatile, with one wide range zoom on one body, and the pancake just comes out at night for low light and pocketable use, while I have an UWA or WA as my primary lens.

I'm interested to hear opinions from those of you who have used both the pro zooms, and some of the mentioned primes (those in bold are the ones I am most seriously considering).

I travel a lot and see you trying to put together a flexible travel kit. It can be a tough task and trying to decide what to take and leave can be nerve wracking!

I love my primes, but after a certain point, I realized that I was carrying too many lenses and spending inordinate amounts of time and mental energy futzing with me gear rather than soaking in where I was! Not good!

To forego all the blah blah blah blah on my part… keep it simple. BUT take your best lenses and/or lenses you love, have worked with enough, are happy with the results AND you enjoy shooting with! Travel is special, why compromise TOO MUCH?

• 7-14mm (hopefully, it's the Panasonic f4?) You have it, you love it and all your other choices are compromises. It can be used for walking around. As you know, none of the WA lenses you listed can match the 7-14mm
• 14-150mm - super versatile and weather-sealed. It's nice to have that amount of reach without having to swap lenses.
• 15mm for low light. It's a little wider than the 17mm, so better for narrow streets and interiors.

That's it. If you're carrying two cameras, during the day the 7-14mm lives on one, the 14-150mm on the other. Pop the 15mm on either for night time. Very versatile!

I've pared my travel kit down to 3 or 4 lenses. 7-14mm f4, 12-40mm, 17.5mm for low light and an adapted 75mm f2.5. Lately I've been opting for the 14-140mm II during the day instead of the 12-40mm. I always have my 7-14mm f4!