M43 is a beast for travel photography, no pain, high gain

Went to Japan 2 weeks ago with my EM1 Mk II and 3 lenses (12-40 f2.8, 100-300 f4-5.6 II, 17 f1.8, all combine with the camera filled up just half of my backpack). Came back with lots of good pictures and without breaking my neck or back even though I carried all of my camera gears with me for 8 continuous days and walked A LOT. Once again it proved that M43's portability for travel photography is unmatched within the ILC world, and it doesn't sacrifice IQ either. I still don't have time to play with the RAW files, but the JPEGs straight out of the camera are already amazing.

Shinkyo Bridge, Nikko

Ryuzu Falls (Upstream), Nikko

Ryuzu Falls, Nikko

The eagles are coming!

Sky Tree, Landmark of Tokyo

Tokyo Skyline, Who needs high ISO when you can do over 1 sec handheld exposure?

Sensō-ji, Looks like model when seeing from above

Po Sen Tsui wrote:

Went to Japan 2 weeks ago with my EM1 Mk II and 3 lenses (12-40 f2.8, 100-300 f4-5.6 II, 17 f1.8, all combine with the camera filled up just half of my backpack). Came back with lots of good pictures and without breaking my neck or back even though I carried all of my camera gears with me for 8 continuous days and walked A LOT. Once again it proved that M43's portability for travel photography is unmatched within the ILC world, and it doesn't sacrifice IQ either. I still don't have time to play with the RAW files, but the JPEGs straight out of the camera are already amazing.

Nice work! I backpacked for a month on the main island back in 2010 so it brought back some memories and also different areas that I had not seen.

Back then I went with my Canon 7D1, a couple of F2.8 zooms and primes. Although I had been dabbling in m43 with the GF1 and G3 to see if they could replace my DSLRs, they never stuck until late 2012 when I picked up an E-M5 mki and a bunch of lenses. That marked a slow sell off of most of my Canon gear as it was an amazing camera. It was compact, light and gave me image quality similar to my APS-C DSLR. It was also image stabilized whereas not all my DSLR lenses had that. I could often push the shutter speeds and eek out lower ISOs or even forego a tripod in many situations.

Anyhow, replicating the coverage of gear I took to Japan in a m43 format would lessen the load by a few lbs. Although I know APS-C and full frame sensors have improved and m43 seems to be relatively stagnant, I would be happy to travel Japan with a m43 system. Actually, looking back at my 2010 photos, I think I'd be okay for most stuff with my G5x which is a 1" sensor and my cell phone. I think products are getting better and better but also my tolerance for a bit softer or noisier photos has gone way up as I get older and have a family in tow.