Travel lenses advice

sunshadow wrote:

A few months ago I posted this: http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/55912120

Summary: (if you don't want to read through that thread)

- I'm looking to get some different lenses for travel

- My Camera: Panasonic DMC-GF6, no in-body stabilization or e-shutter

- Current Lenses: 14-42mm kit lens (presumably v2), 14mm lens

- I know I will get the 20mm f1.7 because I want a small pancake w/ larger aperture

- I asked about the 14-42mm power OIS to save space, and nixed that after the responses

- I asked about the 14-140mm as a good all-around travel lens. People seemed to like it.

- Someone suggested the 45-150mm as a cheaper alternative

- Someone suggested the 42.5mm f1.7 if I wanted a set of primes

- Someone posted this as a size comparison: http://1.static.img-dpreview.com/files/g/TS560x560~3134778.jpg

After thinking about this for a couple months, I have some more thoughts and questions:

I invested in the m43 camera to have a significantly smaller alternative to my D7100. The more compact, the better. I very briefly considered switching to the GM5 because it's so tiny, but I've discovered I really like the flip-out screen, and I really want to wait another year or two before investing in another body.

- I'm still getting the 20mm pancake, if I buy one new lens, this will be it. I take lots of food photos and this will be great for low-light settings where the f2.5 on the 14mm isn't enough.

- After looking at the photo, there's no way I would take the 45-150mm along w/ the 14-42mm (and the 14mm and the 20mm), that's just too much.

- I'm still concerned about shutter shock on the 14-140mm since my camera doesn't have an e-shutter. Those of you who have this lens and use the lens shutter, have you experienced this, and how bad is it?

- I like the 42.5 f1.7, I will probably get it some day, but I'd like to travel w/ one zoom lens so I'm not going to consider this now

- 45-150mm is a cheaper option than the 14-140mm, and I'm not made of money, so cheaper is enticing. Could I do all I want to with the 14mm, 20mm, and 45-150mm? Keeping in mind that I use my 14mm 80-85% of the time. However it's nice to have the 14-42mm range sometimes.

- Does the 45-150mm lens also suffer from shutter shock?

- I noticed a 45-200mm and 45-175mm lens, also cheap, how do they compare?

- Also noticed a 35-100mm f4.0-5.6. Anybody have thoughts on this? This one might be a better combo w/ the 14mm and 20mm and it's still relatively inexpensive. I wouldn't get as much zoom but I don't have any lenses past 200mm on my D7100 and I find my 18-105mm to be a sufficient zoom. I rarely use the 55-200mm.

Also, just looking at lenses in general, the 12-35mm looks pretty awesome, but out of my price range right now. As long as I have the GF6, I'm looking at mostly panasonic lenses because it doesn't have the in-body image stabilization.

Thanks in advance for any advice

I have the 45-200 (2nd M43 lens I purchased many years ago) and the 45-150 (for travel)

The 45-150 is a nice sharp little lens that fits in my travel bag, as compared to the much physically larger 45-200.I have seen no evidence of shutter shock with my GX7, which can be a little "shocky"

For traveling I much prefer and recommend the 45-150.

I haven't used the 45-175, but I note that the 45-150 has a manual zoom, versus the 45-175 electronic zoom. Power zoom takes up battery power, the manual zoom will be easier on batteries.

I have the 14-42 power zoom, I don't like the power zoom as I have trouble getting the zoom exactly to where I want it, and sometimes its too slow, other times to fast. You can adjust the zoom speed by dedicating a button to that function, but that means I'm losing another button function. I expect the 45-175 would behave the same way.
The 14-42PZ lens is known to be more susceptible to shutter shock than other lenses, I think that's because it is a lightweight lens with lots of light moving parts inside, it's quite possible the 45-175PZ could have similar susceptibility.

As a fellow D7100(+18-140mm) shooter as well as a D90(+18-105mm), I absolutely love both bodies and zoom lenses.  I have only 2 primes in my DX toolbox - 35mm DX and 50mm D - both hardly saw more than 10% of use.  Why so little time with my primes?  Because of the convenience of zooms?  Not really.  For me, the main reason is ergonomics.  Because of those big and heavy DX bodies, I prefer big and heavy zooms for a balanced setup.  I'd choose my Sigma 18-55mm f2.8 over my primes because of ergonomics.

Now onto our m43 system.  Over the past 6 months(including summer vacation in the Caribbeans), I use the 14mmf2.5 50% of the time, always on my GM1.  The 25mm/45mmf1.8 30% of the time on my EM10.  The 9-18m UWA 19%.  The 9mmBCL + O40-150mmf4-5.6 the remaining 1%.  Why so little time with my zooms?  Ergonomics, again.  I love primes when it comes to our m43 system and I have no problems planning my shoots around them.

It looks like you like your 14mm as much as I do mine.  I considered the 20mm but opt for 25mmf1.8 instead for faster AF and better ergonomics on my EM10.  The 45mmf1.8 is actually slightly smaller than the 25mm and it lives just fine on the GM1.

In short, 14mm + 20mm + O40-150 (or Pany equivalent) for the budget you have in mind.  If you can swing it, add a O45mmf1.8 (for ~$250 from ebay)

The  45-175 is a good lens, sharp and non-extending design which is not a target for dust intrusion.  It is not heavy and works well for travel.  The 45-150 is lightweight, inexpensive and a good performer.  The tiny 35-100 is a sharp lens and it certainly is small.  Any of them would be good for travel, but the 45-175 will give you a FF range of 90 to 350 and that might be a consideration if you want a longer reach.