Travel with 2 small bodies, lens recommendation help

Hello all,

I am thinking about moving from Sony FE system to m4/3 and plan to have 2 small bodies and small lenses for Traveling. Since I don’t like to switch lenses and want to travel light.

1. I plan to have an Olympus Pen-F, but it’s hard to find a used one on eBay and/or the E-P7 which I don’t think they sell in the USA. So I am thinking about an  Olympus E-PL9 and an Panasonic GX9. Is it too confusing to have 2 different brands? I thought I lease I have the flip screen from E-PL9 and EVF from GX9.
2. One body might be paired with a Wide angle lens, still not sure what to get between Olympus 9-18mm or the preorder the Panasonic 9mm 1.7
3. Second body I'd like to Pair with Panasonic 20mm 1.7 which I like its small form factor. Hopefully I can detach the body and lens and put in different pants pockets if I want to.
4. This is my headache, what is a decent travel Telephoto lens. Thinking about Panasonic 45-200mm or 40-150mm (Pana/Oly) or any recommendation? I don't mind if it's slow, but prefer it small, light and sharp enough.
5. from no.5, should I even go with the Olympus macro 60mm or 75mm to cover the semi-telephoto range.

Sorry for my poor English and Thank you in advance

Pad-Thai

Pad-Thai-101 wrote:

Hello all,

I am thinking about moving from Sony FE system to m4/3 and plan to have 2 small bodies and small lenses for Traveling. Since I don’t like to switch lenses and want to travel light.

1. I plan to have an Olympus Pen-F, but it’s hard to find a used one on eBay
2. and/or the E-P7 which I don’t think they sell in the USA. So I am thinking about an Olympus E-PL9 and an Panasonic GX9. Is it too confusing to have 2 different brands? I thought I lease I have the flip screen from E-PL9 and EVF from GX9.
3. One body might be paired with a Wide angle lens, still not sure what to get between Olympus 9-18mm or the preorder the Panasonic 9mm 1.7
4. Second body I'd like to Pair with Panasonic 20mm 1.7 which I like its small form factor. Hopefully I can detach the body and lens and put in different pants pockets if I want to.
5. This is my headache, what is a decent travel Telephoto lens. Thinking about Panasonic 45-200mm or 40-150mm (Pana/Oly) or any recommendation? I don't mind if it's slow, but prefer it small, light and sharp enough.
6. from no.5, should I even go with the Olympus macro 60mm or 75mm to cover the semi-telephoto range.

Sorry for my poor English and Thank you in advance

Pad-Thai

1. I can find a couple of Pen-F's, in the US, on Ebay.

2. No not too confusing to work with different brands. You could replace the EPL9 with an even smaller body. It's old (2013) but he GM1 can be had cheap on Ebay. There are always GF cameras. You stay with a single brand that way.

3. 4. Sounds like a good plan. I would favor the Panasonic 9mm f1.7 over the 9-18 zoom. 20mm f1.7 is a classic. But to be honest, getting the smallish 25mm from Panasonic or Olympus or the small 17mm from Olympus would be good choices. I guess it depends on which focal length you like best.

5. Going for the kit telephoto lens is the cheap way to go and not a bad choice in terms of IQ, though it depends how high your standards are. If you are flexible, you could go all out on the 14-150 from Olympus. Can be had relatively cheap.

6. Yes. Both lenses have excellent IQ. Unless you do macro, I would say the 75mm is better overall.

Now a question of my own: why not downsize your FE setup? You have the A7c around. You can downsize body size more if you go for APSC. Just not small enough?

I always recommend traveler to carry 2 bodies, specially for trips of their life time.

Not necessary to avoid swap lenses, but one main camera and one backup could ensure we can keep on shooting if accident will happen to the main camera.

I had learnt my lesson. I had carried 2 cameras with me in a trip, but the backup is a compact and I never used it seriously. While my main camera was out of service, I was frustrated with the backup camera which was close to useless.

Currently I have G85/GX85 be my main camera, GX850 is my back up and for selfie.

Pad-Thai-101 wrote:

Hello all,

I am thinking about moving from Sony FE system to m4/3 and plan to have 2 small bodies and small lenses for Traveling. Since I don’t like to switch lenses and want to travel light.

• I plan to have an Olympus Pen-F, but it’s hard to find a used one on eBay and/or the E-P7 which I don’t think they sell in the USA. So I am thinking about an Olympus E-PL9 and an Panasonic GX9. Is it too confusing to have 2 different brands?

Could be, specially if you are not familiar with either system yet...

• I thought I lease I have the flip screen from E-PL9 and EVF from GX9.

GX9 does not only has a tilt-able evf (for low angle shooting), it also has a flip LCD.

• One body might be paired with a Wide angle lens, still not sure what to get between Olympus 9-18mm or the preorder the Panasonic 9mm 1.7
• Second body I'd like to Pair with Panasonic 20mm 1.7 which I like its small form factor. Hopefully I can detach the body and lens and put in different pants pockets if I want to.
• This is my headache, what is a decent travel Telephoto lens. Thinking about Panasonic 45-200mm or 40-150mm (Pana/Oly) or any recommendation? I don't mind if it's slow, but prefer it small, light and sharp enough.

I would avoid 45-200. This is not a very bad lens but has to stop down to f/7.1~f/8 for the sharpest. So please consider this:

• The balancing of this relatively long and heavy lens (vs GX9 or the smaller size M43 cameras),
• the required shutter speed to stabilized an eq AoV of 400mm,
• f/7.1~f/8 for the best,
• this is also known to suffer from shutter shock so it is safer to use e-shutter.

So you could imagine this lens has quite high demanding on the lighting condition.

I eventually replace 45-200 by the 45-150. Although 45-150 is shorter, the different is usually around 1 or 2 steps only vs the 200. 45-150 is shorter and lighter (only 200g) so more portable and has better balancing on smaller size cameras. It is also very sharp on wide open.

Alternatively if you prefer an internal zoom lens and could operate the zoom by wifi remotely, might also consider the 45-175PZ, which has similar IQ of 45-150 at a few US$ more only.

• from no.5, should I even go with the Olympus macro 60mm or 75mm to cover the semi-telephoto range.

Not a prime guy so can't comment on this. 60 could be useful for macro shooting whereas 75 is a good focal length for portrait.

Sorry for my poor English and Thank you in advance

Pad-Thai

I might also suggest the 14-140 f/3.5-5.6 mk-II. Paring it up with 9 or 20 f/1.7 could be a good combo for most general shooting. This 10x zoom lens can reduce lens swapping, has IQ close to my 12-35 f/2.8 on the short end, and is marginally better than 45-150 on the long end, and is not very large (similar length as 45-150) nor heavy (only 265g).

My 2 cents.

Pad-Thai-101 wrote:

Hello all,

I am thinking about moving from Sony FE system to m4/3 and plan to have 2 small bodies and small lenses for Traveling. Since I don’t like to switch lenses and want to travel light.

1. I plan to have an Olympus Pen-F, but it’s hard to find a used one on eBay and/or the E-P7 which I don’t think they sell in the USA. So I am thinking about an Olympus E-PL9 and an Panasonic GX9. Is it too confusing to have 2 different brands? I thought I lease I have the flip screen from E-PL9 and EVF from GX9.
2. One body might be paired with a Wide angle lens, still not sure what to get between Olympus 9-18mm or the preorder the Panasonic 9mm 1.7
3. Second body I'd like to Pair with Panasonic 20mm 1.7 which I like its small form factor. Hopefully I can detach the body and lens and put in different pants pockets if I want to.
4. This is my headache, what is a decent travel Telephoto lens. Thinking about Panasonic 45-200mm or 40-150mm (Pana/Oly) or any recommendation? I don't mind if it's slow, but prefer it small, light and sharp enough.
5. from no.5, should I even go with the Olympus macro 60mm or 75mm to cover the semi-telephoto range.

Sorry for my poor English and Thank you in advance

Pad-Thai

FWIW, my two-camera MFT travel kit includes these lenses:

• Panasonic 14-140
• Panasonic 7-14/4
• Panasonic 20/1.7
• Olympus 45/1.8 (though I'd probably get Panasonic's 42.5/1.7 if I were starting over)

For wider scenics, rather than use the UWA zoom, I often shoot the scene in segments and Merge to Pano in Lightroom Classic. I use the 7-14 mainly for interiors.

GX9 is my main travel camera, and that generally suffices because the 14-140 allows me to get by with almost no lens swapping while outdoors. A second body comes in handy at night, when I use the primes, and when I'm wandering from indoors to outdoors a lot. My second body is a GX8. If I don't bring the GX8, I'll sometimes bring my LX100, more as an emergency backup rather than a "second body". Its bright, wide zoom is especially handy indoors.

bluevellet wrote:

Pad-Thai-101 wrote:

Hello all,

I am thinking about moving from Sony FE system to m4/3 and plan to have 2 small bodies and small lenses for Traveling. Since I don’t like to switch lenses and want to travel light.

1. I plan to have an Olympus Pen-F, but it’s hard to find a used one on eBay
2. and/or the E-P7 which I don’t think they sell in the USA. So I am thinking about an Olympus E-PL9 and an Panasonic GX9. Is it too confusing to have 2 different brands? I thought I lease I have the flip screen from E-PL9 and EVF from GX9.
3. One body might be paired with a Wide angle lens, still not sure what to get between Olympus 9-18mm or the preorder the Panasonic 9mm 1.7
4. Second body I'd like to Pair with Panasonic 20mm 1.7 which I like its small form factor. Hopefully I can detach the body and lens and put in different pants pockets if I want to.
5. This is my headache, what is a decent travel Telephoto lens. Thinking about Panasonic 45-200mm or 40-150mm (Pana/Oly) or any recommendation? I don't mind if it's slow, but prefer it small, light and sharp enough.
6. from no.5, should I even go with the Olympus macro 60mm or 75mm to cover the semi-telephoto range.

Sorry for my poor English and Thank you in advance

Pad-Thai

1. I can find a couple of Pen-F's, in the US, on Ebay.

Pen-F on Ebay, I found few but they really Jack up the price too much

2. No not too confusing to work with different brands. You could replace the EPL9 with an even smaller body. It's old (2013) but he GM1 can be had cheap on Ebay. There are always GF cameras. You stay with a single brand that way.

I held GM1 before, it's so small, kind of a bit too small for my hand.

3. 4. Sounds like a good plan. I would favor the Panasonic 9mm f1.7 over the 9-18 zoom. 20mm f1.7 is a classic. But to be honest, getting the smallish 25mm from Panasonic or Olympus or the small 17mm from Olympus would be good choices. I guess it depends on which focal length you like best.

5. Going for the kit telephoto lens is the cheap way to go and not a bad choice in terms of IQ, though it depends how high your standards are. If you are flexible, you could go all out on the 14-150 from Olympus. Can be had relatively cheap.

How can I forget about 14-150mm, I'll have a look at the review. Thanks

6. Yes. Both lenses have excellent IQ. Unless you do macro, I would say the 75mm is better overall.

Now a question of my own: why not downsize your FE setup? You have the A7c around. You can downsize body size more if you go for APSC. Just not small enough?

I thought about Sony APS-C too, but I tend to like the 4:3 picture ratio more and how small the lenses m4/3 have

I put together a 2 small body kit as well, mainly for air travel. Unfortunately since Covid hit I haven't been able to use it much. FWIW, it consists of 2 Pen-Fs (1 black, 1 silver), the 12/2, 20/1.8 and 35-100/4-5.6. It actually weighs less 3 lbs. and can handle most situations I deal with.

alcelc wrote:

I always recommend traveler to carry 2 bodies, specially for trips of their life time.

Not necessary to avoid swap lenses, but one main camera and one backup could ensure we can keep on shooting if accident will happen to the main camera.

I had learnt my lesson. I had carried 2 cameras with me in a trip, but the backup is a compact and I never used it seriously. While my main camera was out of service, I was frustrated with the backup camera which was close to useless.

Currently I have G85/GX85 be my main camera, GX850 is my back up and for selfie.

Pad-Thai-101 wrote:

Hello all,

I am thinking about moving from Sony FE system to m4/3 and plan to have 2 small bodies and small lenses for Traveling. Since I don’t like to switch lenses and want to travel light.

• I plan to have an Olympus Pen-F, but it’s hard to find a used one on eBay and/or the E-P7 which I don’t think they sell in the USA. So I am thinking about an Olympus E-PL9 and an Panasonic GX9. Is it too confusing to have 2 different brands?

Could be, specially if you are not familiar with either system yet...

• I thought I lease I have the flip screen from E-PL9 and EVF from GX9.

GX9 does not only has a tilt-able evf (for low angle shooting), it also has a flip LCD.

• One body might be paired with a Wide angle lens, still not sure what to get between Olympus 9-18mm or the preorder the Panasonic 9mm 1.7
• Second body I'd like to Pair with Panasonic 20mm 1.7 which I like its small form factor. Hopefully I can detach the body and lens and put in different pants pockets if I want to.
• This is my headache, what is a decent travel Telephoto lens. Thinking about Panasonic 45-200mm or 40-150mm (Pana/Oly) or any recommendation? I don't mind if it's slow, but prefer it small, light and sharp enough.

I would avoid 45-200. This is not a very bad lens but has to stop down to f/7.1~f/8 for the sharpest. So please consider this:

• The balancing of this relatively long and heavy lens (vs GX9 or the smaller size M43 cameras),
• the required shutter speed to stabilized an eq AoV of 400mm,
• f/7.1~f/8 for the best,
• this is also known to suffer from shutter shock so it is safer to use e-shutter.

So you could imagine this lens has quite high demanding on the lighting condition.

I eventually replace 45-200 by the 45-150. Although 45-150 is shorter, the different is usually around 1 or 2 steps only vs the 200. 45-150 is shorter and lighter (only 200g) so more portable and has better balancing on smaller size cameras. It is also very sharp on wide open.

Alternatively if you prefer an internal zoom lens and could operate the zoom by wifi remotely, might also consider the 45-175PZ, which has similar IQ of 45-150 at a few US$ more only.

• from no.5, should I even go with the Olympus macro 60mm or 75mm to cover the semi-telephoto range.

Not a prime guy so can't comment on this. 60 could be useful for macro shooting whereas 75 is a good focal length for portrait.

Sorry for my poor English and Thank you in advance

Pad-Thai

I might also suggest the 14-140 f/3.5-5.6 mk-II. Paring it up with 9 or 20 f/1.7 could be a good combo for most general shooting. This 10x zoom lens can reduce lens swapping, has IQ close to my 12-35 f/2.8 on the short end, and is marginally better than 45-150 on the long end, and is not very large (similar length as 45-150) nor heavy (only 265g).

My 2 cents.

Thank you, 14-140mm HD seems interesting, I'll check on that

Jacques Cornell wrote:

Pad-Thai-101 wrote:

Hello all,

I am thinking about moving from Sony FE system to m4/3 and plan to have 2 small bodies and small lenses for Traveling. Since I don’t like to switch lenses and want to travel light.

1. I plan to have an Olympus Pen-F, but it’s hard to find a used one on eBay and/or the E-P7 which I don’t think they sell in the USA. So I am thinking about an Olympus E-PL9 and an Panasonic GX9. Is it too confusing to have 2 different brands? I thought I lease I have the flip screen from E-PL9 and EVF from GX9.
2. One body might be paired with a Wide angle lens, still not sure what to get between Olympus 9-18mm or the preorder the Panasonic 9mm 1.7
3. Second body I'd like to Pair with Panasonic 20mm 1.7 which I like its small form factor. Hopefully I can detach the body and lens and put in different pants pockets if I want to.
4. This is my headache, what is a decent travel Telephoto lens. Thinking about Panasonic 45-200mm or 40-150mm (Pana/Oly) or any recommendation? I don't mind if it's slow, but prefer it small, light and sharp enough.
5. from no.5, should I even go with the Olympus macro 60mm or 75mm to cover the semi-telephoto range.

Sorry for my poor English and Thank you in advance

Pad-Thai

FWIW, my two-camera MFT travel kit includes these lenses:

• Panasonic 14-140
• Panasonic 7-14/4
• Panasonic 20/1.7
• Olympus 45/1.8 (though I'd probably get Panasonic's 42.5/1.7 if I were starting over)

For wider scenics, rather than use the UWA zoom, I often shoot the scene in segments and Merge to Pano in Lightroom Classic. I use the 7-14 mainly for interiors.

GX9 is my main travel camera, and that generally suffices because the 14-140 allows me to get by with almost no lens swapping while outdoors. A second body comes in handy at night, when I use the primes, and when I'm wandering from indoors to outdoors a lot. My second body is a GX8. If I don't bring the GX8, I'll sometimes bring my LX100, more as an emergency backup rather than a "second body". Its bright, wide zoom is especially handy indoors.

Thank you, I'll check on 14-140mm

larsbc wrote:

Pad-Thai-101 wrote:

Hello all,

I am thinking about moving from Sony FE system to m4/3 and plan to have 2 small bodies and small lenses for Traveling. Since I don’t like to switch lenses and want to travel light.

1. I plan to have an Olympus Pen-F, but it’s hard to find a used one on eBay and/or the E-P7 which I don’t think they sell in the USA. So I am thinking about an Olympus E-PL9 and an Panasonic GX9. Is it too confusing to have 2 different brands? I thought I lease I have the flip screen from E-PL9 and EVF from GX9.

For a while I shot with a Panasonic GX7 and Olympus EM5 II. It was manageable but now I am shooting with two Panasonics and I prefer that more, even though there are still differences between the cameras (GX9 & G9).

1. One body might be paired with a Wide angle lens, still not sure what to get between Olympus 9-18mm or the preorder the Panasonic 9mm 1.7

I had the Olympus 9-18 but wasn't 100% pleased with image quality although it was pretty good. But the lens also started displaying the occasional error when I extended it from its collapsed position. I sold it and replaced with the better (but larger & heavier) Panasonic 8-18. I'm planning on buying the 9/1.7 when it is released and I'll use it for travel.

1. Second body I'd like to Pair with Panasonic 20mm 1.7 which I like its small form factor. Hopefully I can detach the body and lens and put in different pants pockets if I want to.

I like the 20/1.7 but don't use it much anymore since I now have a 15 and 25. But I'll occasionally use it if I want the compact size. I find the GX series of cameras big & heavy enough that carrying one in my pants pocket is uncomfortable. I have carried a GX7 + 20 in my jacket pocket, though.

1. This is my headache, what is a decent travel Telephoto lens. Thinking about Panasonic 45-200mm or 40-150mm (Pana/Oly) or any recommendation? I don't mind if it's slow, but prefer it small, light and sharp enough.

You might also consider the 35-100/4-5.6. I've read many good things about it although I've never used one myself. I have had the 45-200 and it was way too soft at 200.

Thank you, 35-100mm 4-5.6 seems interesting for being very small. And seems I have to skip 45-200mm

tammons wrote:

Pad-Thai-101 wrote:

Hello all,

I am thinking about moving from Sony FE system to m4/3 and plan to have 2 small bodies and small lenses for Traveling. Since I don’t like to switch lenses and want to travel light.

1. I plan to have an Olympus Pen-F, but it’s hard to find a used one on eBay and/or the E-P7 which I don’t think they sell in the USA. So I am thinking about an Olympus E-PL9 and an Panasonic GX9. Is it too confusing to have 2 different brands? I thought I lease I have the flip screen from E-PL9 and EVF from GX9.
2. One body might be paired with a Wide angle lens, still not sure what to get between Olympus 9-18mm or the preorder the Panasonic 9mm 1.7
3. Second body I'd like to Pair with Panasonic 20mm 1.7 which I like its small form factor. Hopefully I can detach the body and lens and put in different pants pockets if I want to.
4. This is my headache, what is a decent travel Telephoto lens. Thinking about Panasonic 45-200mm or 40-150mm (Pana/Oly) or any recommendation? I don't mind if it's slow, but prefer it small, light and sharp enough.
5. from no.5, should I even go with the Olympus macro 60mm or 75mm to cover the semi-telephoto range.

Sorry for my poor English and Thank you in advance

Pad-Thai

I would suggest to get two bodies that use the same battery.

Awesome recommendation! thank you.

Pad-Thai-101 wrote:

...Is it too confusing to have 2 different brands?

If you are very familiar with at least one of them to the point where it is almost automatic then it isn't too bad. But, unless it's not possible, I'd stick with one brand with similar menus, controls, nomenclature, and ideally the same batteries. For example, E-M5iii and E-M10iv.

...Hopefully I can detach the body and lens and put in different pants pockets if I want to.

That is possible, of course, but dirt when mounting, fumbling with one hand to get it out of a snug pocket, maybe dropping it...I would rather carry a man-purse and have the lens(es) mounted and the camera(s) ready to use. That would also let you consider the OM-D style bodies, which can be much lighter and less expensive than the Pen F and have the EVF centered.

...Thinking about Panasonic 45-200mm or 40-150mm (Pana/Oly) or any recommendation? I don't mind if it's slow, but prefer it small, light and sharp enough.

Hard to beat the Olympus 40-150 plastic fantastic. I haven't used the Panasonic version.

from no.5, should I even go with the Olympus macro 60mm or 75mm to cover the semi-telephoto range.

The 40-150 makes more sense to me for travel.

Gary Martin wrote:

I put together a 2 small body kit as well, mainly for air travel. Unfortunately since Covid hit I haven't been able to use it much. FWIW, it consists of 2 Pen-Fs (1 black, 1 silver), the 12/2, 20/1.8 and 35-100/4-5.6. It actually weighs less 3 lbs. and can handle most situations I deal with.

Thank you. Pen-F silver is really beautiful. I'll keep looking on Ebay.

Pad-Thai-101 wrote:

Gary Martin wrote:

I put together a 2 small body kit as well, mainly for air travel. Unfortunately since Covid hit I haven't been able to use it much. FWIW, it consists of 2 Pen-Fs (1 black, 1 silver), the 12/2, 20/1.8 and 35-100/4-5.6. It actually weighs less 3 lbs. and can handle most situations I deal with.

Thank you. Pen-F silver is really beautiful. I'll keep looking on Ebay.

I bought both my Pen's as refurbs directly from Olympus, keep an eye out there.

uniball wrote:

My former travel kit:

GX9 + P14-140

GM1 + PL15, O25/1.8, P12-32

My current travel kit:

RX100m3 24-70mm/f1.8-2.8

RX100m6 24-200mm/f2.8-4.5

The sensors are very close up to ISO1600. Pocketability redefined.

Thank you, RX100m6 cover 24-200mm is another great idea

john isaacs wrote:

Pad-Thai-101 wrote:

Hello all,

I am thinking about moving from Sony FE system to m4/3 and plan to have 2 small bodies and small lenses for Traveling. Since I don’t like to switch lenses and want to travel light.

1. I plan to have an Olympus Pen-F, but it’s hard to find a used one on eBay and/or the E-P7 which I don’t think they sell in the USA. So I am thinking about an Olympus E-PL9 and an Panasonic GX9. Is it too confusing to have 2 different brands? I thought I lease I have the flip screen from E-PL9 and EVF from GX9.
2. One body might be paired with a Wide angle lens, still not sure what to get between Olympus 9-18mm or the preorder the Panasonic 9mm 1.7
3. Second body I'd like to Pair with Panasonic 20mm 1.7 which I like its small form factor. Hopefully I can detach the body and lens and put in different pants pockets if I want to.
4. This is my headache, what is a decent travel Telephoto lens. Thinking about Panasonic 45-200mm or 40-150mm (Pana/Oly) or any recommendation? I don't mind if it's slow, but prefer it small, light and sharp enough.
5. from no.5, should I even go with the Olympus macro 60mm or 75mm to cover the semi-telephoto range.

Sorry for my poor English and Thank you in advance

Pad-Thai

I recommend two bodies that take the same battery. That way, batteries are interchangeable. Two chargers unless the cameras can be charged with USB; then you can do without a charger but I still recommend taking one.

I like to travel with an ultra-wide lens on one, and a super zoom on the other. And I bring at least one fast prime for low light / indoor use. For example, the Olympus 9-18 and 14-150 make a very light pairing. I like the focal length overlap of the lenses, saves swapping between cameras (sometimes). I also always bring the 17mm f/1.8. I sometimes add the 45mm f/1.8 if I expect to be photographing people (portraits, concerts, and so on).

If you want Panasonic bodies, then unless the bodies have stabilization, I recommend Panasonic zooms. The Panasonic 8-18 is currently my favorite ultra-wide lens, and the Panasonic 14-140 is also very good. But, if you don't need extreme telephoto, the Panasonic 12-60 Leica is an excellent choice.

Thank you. I will check on Pana 14-140mm. If for the bright zoom, I will go for Oly 12-40mm 2.8.

Pad-Thai-101 wrote:

Hello all,

I am thinking about moving from Sony FE system to m4/3 and plan to have 2 small bodies and small lenses for Traveling. Since I don’t like to switch lenses and want to travel light.

1. I plan to have an Olympus Pen-F, but it’s hard to find a used one on eBay and/or the E-P7 which I don’t think they sell in the USA. So I am thinking about an Olympus E-PL9 and an Panasonic GX9. Is it too confusing to have 2 different brands? I thought I lease I have the flip screen from E-PL9 and EVF from GX9.
2. One body might be paired with a Wide angle lens, still not sure what to get between Olympus 9-18mm or the preorder the Panasonic 9mm 1.7
3. Second body I'd like to Pair with Panasonic 20mm 1.7 which I like its small form factor. Hopefully I can detach the body and lens and put in different pants pockets if I want to.
4. This is my headache, what is a decent travel Telephoto lens. Thinking about Panasonic 45-200mm or 40-150mm (Pana/Oly) or any recommendation? I don't mind if it's slow, but prefer it small, light and sharp enough.
5. from no.5, should I even go with the Olympus macro 60mm or 75mm to cover the semi-telephoto range.

Sorry for my poor English and Thank you in advance

Pad-Thai

For me lightness and compactness are musts when travelling. Therefore:

Lumix 12-32/3.5-5.6

Lumix 35-100/4-5.6

Both very light, compact, and very competent.

I sometimes travel with the Lumix 12-60/3.5-5.6, which is a very good performer but  bulkier and heavier.

Lumix 20/1.7 a good backup to put in the suitcase or for night shots.

Camera body: Olympus OMD 5iii, with a Fuji X30 as a backup. If I wanted an M43 second body, my Lumix GX7 would be ideal (or one of its successors). My GX8 is fantastic, but quite a bit heavier.