Hiking Inca Trail in Peru: 19mm Prime or 14-42 Zoom?

zijincheng wrote:

I'm going to Peru to hike the Inca trail in September, and want to bring a camera to take pictures of the breathtaking views (with myself or my friends in the shot), mostly in the daytime. I've been using my G7 for videography for 3 years now, so I know what I'm doing for the most part, the area that needs the most work for photography is framing (I suck really bad at it).

We have to pack light, so I'm stuck with basically just the camera with whatever lens I have on it. So 2 questions:

• First, which lens that I own is best for landscape shots (most of the time with people in the shots)
• Second, how do I practice framing shots for landscape photography with my friends in it?

I have a Panasonic G7 and a Xiaoyi M1 camera, and 4 lenses:

• 19mm f2.8 Sigma EX Prime
• 14-42mm f3.5 Lumix G Vario Zoom
• 12-40mm f3.5 Xiaoyi Zoom (rebranded Kodak Pixpro 12-45mm)
• 42.5mm f1.8 Xiaomi Prime

I'll always prefer having a wider field of view so **IF** you're happy with the image quality produced by the 12-40 and its size/weight, then use that.  Otherwise use the 14-42.

If you want to learn to improve your composition, there are several Youtube landscape photographers who have decent content or you can peruse various landscape photography books at the library.  Besides just looking at the photos, analyze them and write down WHY you like each photo.  I'll tell you this, though: shooting in the early morning and around sunset is usually when the light is best and that makes a huge difference.  Learn to appreciate the effects of different types of light and how to take advantage of it.  Overcast days can be blah for landscapes but they can be great for photographing plants.  Stormy weather can produce dramatic skies and interesting patches of lights.

For Youtube, perhaps have a look at Thomas Heaton's videos.  I also enjoy James Popsys's videos.