Compact kit with best IQ for travel?

NowHearThis wrote:

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
• Voigt 10.5/0.95 - large, fast, good IQ, expensive, manual focus, not sealed

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

• Oly 17/1.8 - small, fast, good IQ, not sealed
• Pany 20/1.7 - tiny, inexpensive (used), fast (except AF!), good IQ, not sealed
• PL 15/1.7 - small, fast, good IQ, not sealed
• Pany 14/2.5 - tiny, inexpensive (used), average IQ, not sealed
• Sigma 19/2.8 - small, inexpensive, good IQ, not sealed

Zoom options for either body

• Oly 12-40 - already own, good IQ & sealed, but a bit heavy
• Oly 40-150R - already own, small & light, slow, ok in good light
• Pany 12-32 - already own, tiny, average to good IQ in good light, prone to SS on E-PM2
• Pany 35-100 - about 1/2 size of 40-150R (but... I'd probably opt for the 14-150 below for not a lot more cost, and much more versatility)
• Oly 14-150 - same size as 40-150R, all-in-one option, sealed

As I see it, a bare minimum kit in terms of size could be:

1. Laowa 7.5 or Oly 12/2 + E-M5ii

2. Pany 14/2.5 or 20/1.7 + E-PM2

3. Optionally, add one of the zooms in a pocket for extra reach, either the 40-150R, or the 12-32.

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.

Oh, and just to toss another wild card in the mix, I'm still considering testing the waters with an A7/A7R and a small legacy WA in the 20-24mm range.

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).

Seven serious question:

1. Apart from your blog and Flickr account, what do you intend to do with your images?

Mainly, they will just accumulate... but I do hope to sell a few prints along the way, especially after retirement allows more time for this.

1. Do you intend to print you images?

Yes, I have just started printing again after leaving the darkroom behind about 15 years ago. I am using Epson printers at work, and have bought a Canon Pro100 for home.

1. And what size typically?

8x10 - 13x19 mainly, but it depends what people want. I find anything smaller than 12x16 too small personally.

1. What is the max size you'll print?

I can see printing to 30x40 on occasion, which is why I don't want to skimp on lens quality. Already I can see that mFT easily out-performs my b/w 35mm film work in terms of grain and detail, even with fine grained film like Pan F.

1. What type of light will you mostly shoot under (e.g. Sunny day, Night photos)

Landscapes mainly, which includes night shots, and quite often poor conditions and light. Rarely use flash except for family gatherings and even then I prefer to avoid it.

1. What is the largest size you'll print/share taken in low light?

Hard to say, although if light is low, I will typically use a tripod and keep ISO low. >90% of my shots now are at base ISO.

1. Will you use or want to use faster glass or just use a higher ISO for low light photos?

It depends. If I have to travel light, I'd still like to carry a 1.8 prime for low light shots, and when I can carry more, I might have more than one fast lens and/or a good tripod.

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