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Travel lens for X-S10, 18-55 / 16-80 + prime?

Started 6 months ago | Questions thread
Jeff Biscuits Senior Member • Posts: 1,167
Re: Travel lens for X-S10, 18-55 / 16-80 + prime?
1

As already noted, it’s a massively personal choice. Personally I can’t get enthused about zooms that stop at 18mm, and if I were prioritising light/compact kit I’d take either of the XC zooms (16-50 or 15-45) over the 18-55.

The 16-80 is incredibly versatile and usable. It’s the only zoom I’ve really stuck with—though for me the question of “do I want to take it with me and use it?” is a far more important question for kit than “does it produce the absolute best available image quality?” Don’t worry about f/4 if you’re shooting interiors as the excellent OIS more than compensates.

As for the prime, pairing a prime with a zoom is pretty sensible, but which one is hugely dependent on what you want. If I’m hiking then I pair the 16-80 with the Samyang 12mm f/2, which is an excellent landscape lens and just about wide enough to represent a substantial step from the 16 (the 14 is a very nice lens but IMO it struggles to justify itself if you’re already packing a 16). Whereas I’m in a city I’d probably default to one of the 23mm options—all of which are good—or maybe the 27 if I wanted minimum bulk. (Well, in reality I’d normally take two or maybe three primes, but then I’m not a fan of zooms except for hiking.)

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