we're planning a trip to Italy and will be doing some hiking along the Ligurian Coast... my preference is to travel as light as possible - so if i just took one lens along, which one would be best?
12-40 is the lightest option... reach is a bit limited, but perhaps not overly so for the terrain? when i'm walking the trails in Algonquin park i tend to opt for the 40-150, but then, i'm often looking at wildlife or trying to zone in on something a little more interesting than just a humongous forest of trees....
incidentally, this trip is more about walking/hiking/seeing the sights than photography and i don't want to weigh myself down with too much gear.... did a trip like this back a few years ago when i was still walking around with my canon crop sensor dslr with a 16-85mmm... my recollection is that the kids with the point and shoot cameras on auto were doing way better at catching nice shots than i was because i mostly was mucking about with the settings... another trip we went on i carried my sony nex7 with a 16-80mm lens which i found pretty good... i kind of figure the 12-100 on the micro 4/3 will be somewhat similar, but i don't actually have one and it's a tad pricey... (yes - i know - very much first world problems)...
Last time I could only take "one lens", I took the X100 which is a prime 35mm-equivalent. I actually found it quite liberating and it makes you think more about what shots you can get with what you have.
If I were you, I'd take the 12-40mm - more for the f-stop than anything else - but the 12-100mm must be quite tempting if the lens has decent IQ and you think you'd miss having some reach.
@humphreyhippo well - that's the question... how much reach will i want? for city streets, i generally find the 12-40 works just fine... in the bush, i like the longer lens (y'know, in case i see a moose ;p)... just not sure what to expect in the European countryside... just took a look at my shots from Croatia in 2014 - many were taken very wide... a few were taken at 70mm (my lens must only have gone to 70, not 80)... that would be 70 on a crop sensor, so not quite sure what this would equate to on micro 4/3 - 50mm maybe? and 40mm isn't too much shorter than that... hmmmmm.... oh, and i don't think the f stop would matter too too much... i generally find the olympus does quite well on a high ISO... hmmmmmmmm
Hi Northy, this is great news, that you are planning a trip to Italy. How exciting. I'm not sure, if my humble opinion is of help. But I try to give my two cents nevertheless. I went swiftly through my raw pics of our Cinque Terre Hicking Trip a few years ago.I had my Sony 18-250 a-mount with me. My travel lens, but it was used mostly somewhat between 18-40mm. At least for the architectural shots of the romantic villages on the coast. I wanted to give you the hint, to probably carry a little tripod or camerastand, for evening shots. For long exposures and to bring out the colours!!! Haha, no need for colours when Northy is on the way. Enjoy your planning.
I was going to say 12-100 but knowing your liking for arty type shots i think you would miss the f2 of the 12-40 lens. My general walk about is a 17-70 for such situations on a crop sensor. So the 12-40 seems the best fit IMHO.
@northy I'd take the 12-40 and a pair of pocket binoculars. If you see a moose (lol!?), you can still have the pleasure of a good look at it and not really worry about having to take a shot of everything. I guess that's why I found the X100 liberating. It releases you from feeling like you have to document everything because there are some shots you simply can't get.
@northy Are you limiting your trip to the Ligurian coast? If you come a little more East , like Verona or Venice, I'd love to meet you, no matter what lens are you taking with you ;-). Let me know!
If you are serious about reducing weight and are prepared to take a hit on aperture and image quality, then:
Olympus 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 pancake weighs 93g and costs 250$
Olympus 40-150mm F4.0-5.6 weighs 190g and costs 150$
I have the latter and it is not a rubbish lens, despite the price.
I have an EM10 and do a lot of mountain hiking and I normally take three lenses. The one I would least like to leave behind is the Olympus 9-18mm 4/5.6 which weighs 155g. It's a good lens for mountain landscapes and skies.
You don't' need anyone else's advice... you know better than anyone else what suits your style of photography. If you want some memory shots... buy a cheap point-and-shoot.
thanks everyone for weighing in... i do find all this discussion immensely helpful... the trip is still a few weeks away and i may go into the camera shop near my office to "look" at other lenses...
@vignouse haha! true... and thanks! except i *was* asking... mostly because i'm struggling to imagine what type of territory i'll be in and therefore which lens would suit best :) i still have my TG tough which i will bring with me as a "back up" camera and because it's pretty handy to have around...
@laroque tx Tim... i'm not sure i could bring myself to take a huge hit on IQ... i have the cheap 40-150 and never loved it... replaced it with a good quality version lens and just not sure i could bring myself to go back! the 9-18 sounds interesting... i do have a fisheye (have i mentioned that i'm bit of a gear junky?) but not something that runs in between... and yes, i am anticipating landscape and maybe architecture, narrow streets - all if which i expect would benefit from the wider angle... tx!!!
@caterina oh! that would have been lovely! unfortunately we are part of a group and the only extra time we will have is a day which i think we'll be spending in Florence :(
@quietpurplehaze thanks Hazel... i am very much leaning that way...
@humphreyhippo very true... i am working on @vignouse nifty fifty sooc month and it really does make it easier when you have only the one choice!
@rjb71 tx! and yes - you have a good point about missing the f/2.8... but i could always toss the cheap nifty fifty f/1.7 in my bag to carry along ;p
@kali66 i hadn't thought of that... i'll definitely look into it... tx!!
@mona65 thank you so much for weighing in - your travel shots are fantastic and it's so helpful for me to know that many were at the wider angle... and yes - i'm looking into ordering a migo splat mini tripod thing... although when i was in Croatia i mostly would just balance my camera on my bag, a wall or a handy post :)
@helstor oh wow - that's a nice light weight lens! my 40-150 weighs almost 2 pounds! i do have the cheaper one that weighs less than 200gm, but i have not been happy with the image quality it produces... good point about the canon... i do have a couple good (one VERY good) point and shoot cameras... they never seem to be my "go to"s however...
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If I were you, I'd take the 12-40mm - more for the f-stop than anything else - but the 12-100mm must be quite tempting if the lens has decent IQ and you think you'd miss having some reach.
Olympus 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 pancake weighs 93g and costs 250$
Olympus 40-150mm F4.0-5.6 weighs 190g and costs 150$
I have the latter and it is not a rubbish lens, despite the price.
I have an EM10 and do a lot of mountain hiking and I normally take three lenses. The one I would least like to leave behind is the Olympus 9-18mm 4/5.6 which weighs 155g. It's a good lens for mountain landscapes and skies.
@vignouse haha! true... and thanks! except i *was* asking... mostly because i'm struggling to imagine what type of territory i'll be in and therefore which lens would suit best :) i still have my TG tough which i will bring with me as a "back up" camera and because it's pretty handy to have around...
@laroque tx Tim... i'm not sure i could bring myself to take a huge hit on IQ... i have the cheap 40-150 and never loved it... replaced it with a good quality version lens and just not sure i could bring myself to go back! the 9-18 sounds interesting... i do have a fisheye (have i mentioned that i'm bit of a gear junky?) but not something that runs in between... and yes, i am anticipating landscape and maybe architecture, narrow streets - all if which i expect would benefit from the wider angle... tx!!!
@caterina oh! that would have been lovely! unfortunately we are part of a group and the only extra time we will have is a day which i think we'll be spending in Florence :(
@quietpurplehaze thanks Hazel... i am very much leaning that way...
@humphreyhippo very true... i am working on @vignouse nifty fifty sooc month and it really does make it easier when you have only the one choice!
@rjb71 tx! and yes - you have a good point about missing the f/2.8... but i could always toss the cheap nifty fifty f/1.7 in my bag to carry along ;p
@kali66 i hadn't thought of that... i'll definitely look into it... tx!!
@mona65 thank you so much for weighing in - your travel shots are fantastic and it's so helpful for me to know that many were at the wider angle... and yes - i'm looking into ordering a migo splat mini tripod thing... although when i was in Croatia i mostly would just balance my camera on my bag, a wall or a handy post :)
If I could only take one it would be the 14-140mm (265g).
My "ultra" lightweight kit is the Canon G7X and a gorillapod ;-)
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