zuikowesty wrote:
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...
iPad with lots of memory, slim Mac Book Pro, or Microsoft Surface Book Pro is an option possibly.
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.
note: a few primes can add up to the size and weight of a 12-40 rather easily.
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
Reordering your list.
- Oly 12-40 - already own, good IQ & sealed, but a bit heavy
- Pany 12-32 - already own, tiny, average to good IQ in good light, prone to SS on E-PM2
- Oly 14-150 - same size as 40-150R, all-in-one option, sealed
- 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 40-150R - already own, small & light, slow, ok in good light
The 35-100 is small and would pair up well with the 12-32 (or a 14-42) but not much else in terms of zooms, IMO. The 40-150 is not too much bigger, and provides more reach for an extra 40% length and 40% weight (but it's still crazy light). It's about the same length as the 12-40/2.8 (approx).
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- And what size typically?
8x10 - 13x19 mainly, but it depends what people want. I find anything smaller than 12x16 too small personally.
I'm partial to 16x20's myself for many things, but am doing more 11x14's too (mostly for other people) because it's soooo close the shape 4/3 sensor - I only end up cropping off a tiny bit on the left and right side of the image.
- 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 Pen F.
- 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.
- 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.
This is exactly what I do.
- 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.
-- hide signature --
NHT
//life motto
if (sad() == true) {
sad().stop();
beAwesome();
}
Awesome! Did I pass the test?
I would certainly say so, but for some reason this was a bit harder for me to write up a helpful opinion and suggestions then I first thought. I hope this helps in some way...
A good two prime, and small zoom kit would be: O12/2, O17/1.8 for the primes, and 12-32 and 35-100 for the zoom lenses. This would give you plenty of wide angle, a good general purpose lens, and something small, but with more range if you need it. I would also upgrade the PM2 to the EPL8 (the 0-sec Anti-Shock in that camera will eliminate SS on the P12-32). So what are the downsides? I don't think you have 3 of the lenses so you're looking at $1200+ for the lenses and another $450 for the camera. Also the only lenses that can deliver enough quality for a 30x40" print will be the primes. The zooms would not be good enough for me. You could use the 14-150 instead, of the two zooms but all you save is swapping lenses - you won't gain anything in IQ and it's heavier than the two separate zooms.
My personal choice is to always use a great zoom as my main lens, mostly for flexibility and not being locked into one or two focal lengths. Then supplement primes for specialty uses (low light, portraits, etc). So even though it would be bigger, what I would use if my situation was like you would be Olympus 12-40/2.8 on the E-M5 II, Replace the PM2 with an EPL8 and use your 12-32 on it. Then I'd get either the PL15/1.7 or the O17/1.8 (get the 15 if you won't use MF much, otherwise get the Oly) and one other prime - maybe the Loawa if you want a wider option, maybe the O45/1.8 if you want a longer focal length with a fast aperture. This would give you two nice kits, one smallish, the other very small. And you can swap to the prime you need when the situation presents itself.
Pros are: 3 of the 4 lenses you use will be good enough for a 30x40 print (use the high-res mode obviously), Also you own two of the lenses right now so that saves on cost. EPL8 means no shutter shock like the EM5II. Cons are: it's a little bigger and heavier kit - but not by much.
If you do need longer focal lengths, the Panasonic 35-100 is sooo small and that adding this would not be that big of a deal and fit in just about any bag/luggage that you would be putting the other gear in. But this could be your 5th lens...
Lastly, if people haven't purchased the 12-40 yet, I will sometimes offer up a suggestion of getting the PL12-60 instead (depending on needs), it's only a little slower at the long end, (which is why I have an even faster prime), but gives you more telephoto, is over 2 oz lighter (~60g), and optically on par with 12-40. You, however, already have the 12-40 so I don't think swappng one for the other is necessarily the best option for you - even though for me it would eliminate any need for the 35-100.
.
My ideal kit is one great zoom (PL12-60), and 1-2 primes (the 42.5/1.7 will be one, the other will likely be the 25/1.7 unless I can get a killer deal on the 15/1.7 then I'll get that instead. A small tripod kinda like this. (I'll use my bigger one when I know I'm going to a specific destination solely for photography - not sightseeing, not touristy stuff), a Godox TT350o Flash - quite powerful, great color, light weight, cheap, with lithium batteries it lasts for a really, really long time, and a good small bag to carry it all - sometimes having the right bag can really make the difference.
-- hide signature --
NHT
//life motto
if (sad() == true) {
sad().stop();
beAwesome();
}
