Re: One all purpose zoom for travel in Spain.

one blind eye wrote:

Thank you all for the good recommendations, After rethinking, I probably shoot more with my 20mm than with the 45mm. Many have suggested getting an ultra wide angle lens instead of all in one zoom.

How about instead adding a 12mm prime, and /or 7.5 mm fisheye Samyang?

Or, Pan 7-14 or Oly 9-18 zoom?

Either I still carry my 20mm or leave at home. Take the 75mm for telephoto/detail photos.

That way, I could keep my kit small and light. And if I need to change lenses, do it with a keen eye of my surroundings.

Take:

• Panny 20mm f/1.7 (take or leave home)
• Oly 75mm f/1.8

Add:

• 12mm f/2 (small, but expensive! )
• Samyang 7.5mm fisheye (manual focus)
• Oly 9-18 zoom. or
• Panny 7-14 zoom

Thanks.

I once did a 6 week trip to Spain with the 7.5mm fisheye, 12mm f/2 and 45mm f/1.8, and I kept a 14-150mm in the car for certain occasions.

I didn't like it at all.

I do have maybe a couple of nice photos with the fisheye, but ultimately it was dead weight. The fisheye effect massively distorts buildings in a not very nice way, and you're mostly gonna be shooting in a city environment.

At the same time, the 12mm f/2 is not wide enough for most UWA shots you'd wanna do. But it does have one advantage - with IBIS it allows you to shoot hand held blue hour photos.

I have also done one trip with the 9-18mm (on an E-M5) and another with the 7-14mm (on a GX80, which I bought specifically for that trip). I have been to Spain a lot, sorry. Its my favourite country in the world.

The 7-14mm is a better option if you have a Panasonic body (it purple flares on Olympus), and if you're ok with losing the ability to use filters. I was OK with not using a polarizing filter only because I went in autumn and the light was rather soft.

That time I had the 9-18mm, I also had the 25mm and 75mm with me. I found the 75mm focal length useful for very few pictures, as its quite narrow and not very versatile.