Compact kit with best IQ for travel?

My pick:

- Olympus 12-50mm F3.5-6.3

- Olympus 40-150mm F4-5.6

- Panasonic Lumix G 20mm F1.7

Went Japan last week with this combo, on my OM-D E-M10 body. I can testify that this combo is more than enough to capture all type of photography throughout the 7 days trip. My whole system was purchased through Craiglist, as such as unrealistically high IQ to price ratio.

To be fair, 12-50mm is not the lens with best IQ, in various review it only beats the II R kit lens marginally. However, it certainly a "swiss army knife" that is designed to cut through anything, be it wet or dusty. The lens excel at street photography setting by offering super fast AF. Optimal sharpness can be achieved at >20mm-50mm range and its is still rather impressive if you can let go 12-17mm focal length.

Coming next is the 40-150mm F4-5.6 Lens. Despite not weather sealed like the 12-50, it has superb telephoto quality. At its widest, it can be used for tele-portrait. While at its furthest, it can hunt down wild games with ease. Surprisingly the lens is quite usable in low-light condition, you can safely use it during civil dawn time. Forget about shrinking the aperture, its optimal sharpness is achieved at F4-F5.6.

Finally I guess we all agreed the Panny 20mm is among the best lens for travel lovers. As a compact pancake that features almost the best sharpness, the lens can be used for almost any situation except sport photography. While day time photography is mainly covered by the above two lens. All night time, indoor and low-light situations, the 20mm is the only lens I can count on. I tested the lens limit by shooting the night sky and result is stellar satisfaction.