Second Trip to the British Virgin Islands - Dialing in the gear...

This was my second trip to the British Virgin Islands, drawing upon the lessons learned last year. In my bag this year was two E-M1 Mark III's, along with a bunch of Olympus glass and a handful of filters, trying to keep it down to only what will fit into the "camera cube" in my Wandrd Prvke 21L.

In terms of the photos that I chose to process and share on social media while I was on the trip (read: going out of my way to share, given connectivity issues), here's the breakdown per lens...

• Olympus 8-25/4 - 131 😳
• 40-150/2.8 - 35 (9 with the MC-14)
• 60/2.8 Macro - 24
• 17/1.2 - 13
• 25/1.8 - 3

Typically this meant having the 40-150/2.8 on a strap, and another with the 8-25/4 on my hip in my beloved SpiderHolster (note, this was before I "corrected" my strap setup since I forgot to bring my spare bracket which has a Peak attachment point on it - this photo was taken in jest):

One of the big changes over last year was bringing the OM Systems 8-25/4 instead of the Olympus 7-14/2.8 and boy oh boy that was definitely the right call. As you can see above, it was far and away the lens I used the most. It is simply one of the most versatile lenses I've own and will always be in my travel bag from this point forward.

It really is the perfect super-wide "travel" lens if you're doing a lot of shooting in good light. The size isn'tt significantly different than the 7-14 in any practical sense, but I greatly prefer it for a few reasons...

• The focal range is wide enough for capturing dramatic landscapes, exteriors, etc but its also long enough to hone in on the details and to pick up a portrait shot here and there
• So far I can't complain about the image quality, granted I'm only viewing on my phone and the camera's displays
• It is much more resistant to ghosting compared to the 7-14/2.8
• It takes 72mm filters, which I can share with the 40-150/2.8

Another standout of my second trip to the British Virgin Islands was the 60/2.8 macro. It was a great way to see the island literally through a different lens - exploring the details in the little things you often would walk by without noticing or, even worse, carelessly stepping on! The lens is a delight to use and takes up relatively little space in my bag, making it a no brainier to bring with me everywhere. In addition to getting the really small stuff, it's also been great to capture the tiny Brown Anoles all over the island with it's 120mm-equiv lens providing just enough zoom to get close without scaring them off.

While I used it a little less than last time, the 40-150/2.8 reasserted its place in my pack nearly every time I used it. From "compressed" landscapes capturing the layers of islands among the mist or zooming in on the various creatures on the island, this lens almost always puts a smile on my face!

This year also saw the addition of the Wandrd Roam (now Rogue) 6L. I bought this a while back and have used it here and there, but it really proved it's worth here. With a compact MFT setup, it's pretty much the perfect size. If I was actively shooting with two bodies it was mostly holding spare lenses, filters and my relatively-compact tripod. Being a sling bag it's very easy to rotate around to get into it, but it also comes with a "cross strap" to keep it in place which was great for all the rock scrambling I was doing by the shoreline. This was so, so much better than hauling around the Prvke (which I love) which gets pretty hot after a while and is much harder to get into for a quick lens change.

All in all, a great trip. Next year, I'll be considering upgrading to OM-1 for quicker focus stacking and the ND64 (among other things). Lens wises, I won't be bringing the 25/1.8 again - the 17/1.2 serves me better in the conditions where I need it (indoors at night).

Full Disclosure: All photos processed from JPEGs on my phone with SnapSeed to varying degrees.

Looks like you had a great trip. Very pleasing images.

Adrian Harris wrote:

Looks like you had a great trip. Very pleasing images.

Looks like a great trip with some great photos.

Great selection of cameras gear for the trip.  Great job of explaining your selection with photos to show why.  Others might choice other MFT gear for this trip.  We are so lucky to have a great selection of great gear to choice from.

DLBlack wrote:

Looks like a great trip with some great photos.

Great selection of cameras gear for the trip. Great job of explaining your selection with photos to show why. Others might choice other MFT gear for this trip. We are so lucky to have a great selection of great gear to choice from.

Amen. We're really spoiled for choice. Honestly one of the biggest takeaways from this trip was "I don't need anything else" - which was a little different than last year. At this point I'm not really considering adding anything, mainly taking away. I might even take away a lens so I can bring a flash for macro photography.