X mount lenses for travel to Japan (with kids)?

Hello,

I've been to Japan during spring 2019, with my wife and 2 young children (1,5 & 5). Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka-Nara-Hiroshima & the southwest Islands of Ishigaki.

Don't underestimate the annoyance of kids :-). My piece of advice: keep it light and simple. I had to carry plenty of kids stuff all day (food, diaper, drink, clothes...) and having 2 or 3 kg for gear would have been a huge pain. + I've always disliked changing the optic in the middle of touristy places, whatever the country.

At that time, I went there with the X-T10 & XF23mm F1.4 - although I had also the XF55-200mm & XF56mm F1.2 at home. I really don't regret my choice, its nice aperture allows you to take pictures day & night and the focal length is perfect 90% of the time.

In Hakone, I missed a telephoto because the Mount Fuji is really very far away. Again, no regret because having this extra weight just for a few pictures for the 3 weeks is non-sense in my humble opinion. Off-topic, but my day-trip to Hakone was pretty worthless: a very tiring day filled with transports to go there and around the place, for not much to see. The four of us fell asleep in the train back to Tokyo. Too bad no one took a picture of us :-).

Now I've changed material but if I went there again, I'd pick my X-S10 + XF16mm F1.4, or the X100V. Same philosophy: keep it light and simple. I think the 23mm focal length isn't wide enough in some cases in Japan, around temples you need mobility and it's not always easy with the crowds. But again, it's cherry picking, 90% of the time the 23mm was more than good enough. With XF16mm 1.4, I believe you'll be happy in 98% of the time.

If you don't feel at ease with only one lens, take also the 18-55mm with you, which you mention is a trusty friend. Stay within your zone of comfort.

16-80 F4: I find it pretty big/heavy and its lack of aperture is for me an absolute no-go for Japan; especially because the evenings in the cities are great of photography.

I took my laptop with me, not much for my photography but to check my organization with subways every evening - and occasionally allow my daughter to watch Frozen :-).

90mm f2: I don't have it, because I think it would be difficult for me to use within family meetings. The 56mm F1.2 (the old one) is optically marvellous, successful pictures are fantastic, but it's a nightmare to use with an awfully slow autofocus - impossible to use with moving targets, even slow. I have a love/hate relationship with this one. For Japan, I never considered a portrait or telephoto lens. Maybe with another brand with a decent autofocus.

Enjoy your trip!