Kit for backpacking in Belize

Got frustrated today while doing some repairs on my van, and decided to switch gears from a road trip to something more tropical... a quick search revealed a cheap flight to Belize. So now we will spend the next two days deciding what to take, as we plan to backpack/hostel it. I'm thinking of taking only the E-M5+12-40, E-PM2+12-32, and a Stylus Tough waterproof for snorkelling. If we have to pare down further, I might leave the E-M5 behind, or go with the E-M5 + 12-32 only, and leave the E-PM2 behind. Might also toss in the 7.5 and 40-150R since they are so small.

Alternatively, I could just buy the 14-150II and have an all in one travel lens, but I only have 2 days to do so.

Thoughts?

I'd leave the EPM2: tropical sun without VF can be a challenge. Plus, we have ILC's so sometimes we can I those L's.

I'd take the 7.5, 12-32, and 40-150. Small kit which gives you a large FL range with decent IQ.

Personally I would consider a 15 or 17 prime instead of the 12-32, but that depends on how you value zoomability over faster lens/better IQ (and what you have on hand). Might be good to have something faster for evenings/nights/dark jungle etc.

larsbc wrote:

zuikowesty wrote:

Got frustrated today while doing some repairs on my van, and decided to switch gears from a road trip to something more tropical... a quick search revealed a cheap flight to Belize. So now we will spend the next two days deciding what to take, as we plan to backpack/hostel it. I'm thinking of taking only the E-M5+12-40, E-PM2+12-32, and a Stylus Tough waterproof for snorkelling. If we have to pare down further, I might leave the E-M5 behind, or go with the E-M5 + 12-32 only, and leave the E-PM2 behind. Might also toss in the 7.5 and 40-150R since they are so small.

Alternatively, I could just buy the 14-150II and have an all in one travel lens, but I only have 2 days to do so.

Thoughts?

If you're backpacking, I'd just take one body, the 12-40, and use the Stylus as a backup.

Thanks to all who've offered suggestions. The Stylii in question (I have two) are both circa 2010 compacts, one a waterproof 12Mp model, the other a very compact 14Mp model, which has many miles on it, having travelled nearly everywhere in my pocket until a few years ago when the E-PM2 took its place. I did a quick indoor/outdoor comparison, and determined that the Stylus 5010 still produces quite decent results wide open at the wide end (26mm EFL, one reason I like it for a bit wider than most compacts of the day) in daylight, with respectable sharpness at the edges, compared to the Stylus Tough 3000, which is pretty poor across the board, its only saving grace being the waterproof aspect.

The 5010 is about the size of a deck of cards, so I might just toss it in anyway, and the Tough will have to do for snorkelling. The 5010 does well enough to have produced several full page shots and front and back cover photos from our Greece and Italy photobook, so I think it's worth having along for my wife to use.

I really wish I had a sealed prime (as if there is one in the system - are you listening Oly/Pany?) smaller than the 12-40, because I will probably end up bringing the 12-40 just so I can have a sealed kit, as there is some rain expected, and we will be in the jungle for a few days. I'll just bring the E-M5ii body, and probably stuff the 7.5 and 40-150 in the pack as well. Maybe the 12-32 will get tossed in too; although I'd rather no worry about swapping lenses or keeping track of it all in hostels and AirBnBs that we will be staying at.

Perhaps a bigger decision is whether to bring my MacBook Pro. I have several 7-8" tablets I could bring, but I loathe using them (Android and iPad mini). I might just borrow a Chromebook from work to avoid the risk of losing/damaging the MBP, and still have something more familiar to work with. It will be mainly for booking rooms and transportation and looking things up, as this trip has come together in about 48 hours, so there will be lots of last minute study in airports enroute...

I was very close to cancelling it all day, but as of 24 minutes ago, there's no refunds, so we're committed (which is probably where my wife thinks I should be...)

With any luck, back in a few weeks.

Been to Belize. If it were me, I’d take the stylus and forget the EM-5.

rogerstpierre wrote:

Been to Belize. If it were me, I’d take the stylus and forget the EM-5.

Just returned a few days ago. Ended up taking E-M5ii, 12-40 & 40-150R, plus the two tiny Stylus compacts, waterproof one for swimming and snorkelling, and the other one barely got used, since my Samsung Note 4 has a much better camera, and I nearly always had it with me. We spent the first 4 days inland at San Ignacio, exploring Maya ruins, waterfalls and the jungle, and used the E-M5ii here the most. The 40-150R only came out a few times at the ruins. I found myself wishing I'd tossed the 12-32 in also, as I rarely needed the speed of the 12-40. It was about 3 days before I saw anyone using anything other than a cellphone, and then it was a woman with a D800 in the market, which looked really huge.

The next 6 days we spent in San Pedro and Caye Caulker, and mostly used cell phones, as we were swimming a lot, and only carried a swimsuit and a small pack. Sailed a 36' Cat one night, and was glad I took the E-M5ii then, and also the next day on the same boat doing some sailing and snorkelling. All in all, I probably could have survived just fine with my cell phone and a waterproof case for it, which several people had on the boat.

We kept pretty busy, so there was little time to review photos at night, basically just tried to keep batteries topped up, and even failed at this, mistakenly bringing a dead battery with me one day. Of course, it was the one time I didn't bring the solar battery pack...

The ability to take quick panos with my cell phone often made up for the lack of a wide angle, and the IQ is fairly decent, even though it doesn't shoot RAW.

I'll share some photos once I have some time to review them all. One mistake I made was clearing some space on my phone one night, since they were backed up on Google Photos, but I forgot that it wasn't set to keep original quality, and the compression is noticeable. Next time I will swap SD cards in the phone instead.