XF16-80mm vs. XF18-135mm for travel/landscape/architecture photography

Gaber wrote:

I'm willing to bring the 27mm pancake around town as a walk-around lens on any given day and just use that one and maybe a fast prime for the evening. No sense bringing every lens with you on vacation. 16-80 is the best range.

My approach has evolved to: bring a bag with whatever gear I think I'll need and keep it wherever we're staying. Whenever I leave the place to go out for the day, take one lens (ideally - or two if needed). If I'm hitting a zoo that day, take a tele and maybe carry my RX100 to handle the wider view. If I'm not going to go back to the rental, then bring along a faster prime/midrange to switch to when done with the zoo, for evening shots. I try to avoid having much in the car while out and about and try to avoid lens changes.

Going to an amusement park, I might leave the ILC behind and bring just the RX100. Going to the boardwalk at night, a fast prime or midrange zoom.

I might have a bit of stuff back at the rental and a number of batteries to keep charged, but while we're out & about, there's little to worry about.

One thing I've found after reviewing photos and EXIF data is that I can probably get by with an 18-55. Zoo shots ... meh ... they're a record that I went to the zoo, but what am I going to do with them ? Comparing what I shoot with an 18-55 to what I shoot with an 18-200, with the 18-200, I tend to shoot a lot near 18-55 or so, then a bunch at 200, and most of those are pretty forgettable. The biggest exception is sometimes it's nice to have a long tele for things like shorebirds or wild horses (Assateague Island) or other things that maybe aren't going to be great photos, because they're just opportunistic, but are still good memories of a time & place. My RX10 III does a good job with that, so I can bring an ILC with a midrange zoom and a fast prime, plus the RX100 and RX10. (And then choose between them on a given day). I just wish that other brands offered RX100/RX10 alternatives so you could have the same UI/controls across all your cameras.

- Dennis
--

Gallery at http://kingofthebeasts.smugmug.com