Going traveling, equipment ideas needed

Jake

Jake

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Jake
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Hi there,

I'm going backpacking and swapping to a Micro 4/3rds system for this. I'm going to get the E-M5ii but wondered what lenses people would generally recommend? I've got an idea in my head BUT I don't know the lens range very well.

Many thanks
Jake
 
Mainly landscapes/city stuff but will be doing some portrait stuff to.

Don't mind swapping lenses.
 
I've gone though quite a number of m4/3 lenses, 14-42mm pancake, 12-32mm pancake, 20mm f1.7 to name a few but settled on the 12-40mm f2.8 pro and 40-150mm f4-5.6, with 45mm for those 'special' shots. The 12-40mm is an excellent zoom lens. Obviously it's bulkier and heavier than the pancakes but it's worth it IMO for the IQ, weather sealing and light. The 40-150mm punches well above its weight, especially considering they are a little over £100 new. Granted it feels very cheap, but this also means it's light and not very bulky, plus IQ is generally very good. The 45mm is one of the best m4/3 lenses IMO and again better than the price would suggest. Pretty small too.
 
It's definitely worth taking a good quality short zoom as you don't want too much kit and changing lenses in dusty conditions (depending on where you are going of course) is not great.

Something for low light is always worth it too.

Agree with snerkler's choices above.
 
jerry12953 said:
in my limited experience you'll need to buy several spare batteries and don't forget to take the charger........
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Agreed, it's very poor on battery life. I bought a couple of Ex Pro ones and they work just as good as the Olympus ones, and much cheaper. I find they take ages to charge, not just the ex pro but even the original Olly ones. Probably takes 3 times longer than my Nikon ones.
 
For travelling I quite like a superzoom and a fast standard prime.

I use m4/3 and have had pretty much most of the lenses except, funnily enough, a superzoom.

A lot depends on how you shoot but the 40-150R is a cracking lens for the tiny price and ideal for travel, that plus a wide prime may be all you need.
 
12-40mm all day long..... constant lens changing means missing shots and the chance of dropping expensive things.... Chuck in the cheap 40-150mm and you're good to go.
 
The 12-40 is truly superb and if your frame of reference is a DSLR then it makes a fantastic choice but if you're used to a m4/3 with primes then it is a bit big.

But then on the 5ii it would be all you need really, plus the 40-150R which really is better than it has any right to be (plus it weighs nothing) and you're covered.

Alternatively the Panny 14mm and Oly 45mm would make a good two lens kit (for me the Oly 17.5mm isn't quite wide enough when I want a wide lens).
 
DekHog said:
12-40mm all day long..... constant lens changing means missing shots and the chance of dropping expensive things.... Chuck in the cheap 40-150mm and you're good to go.
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Agree with this.
 
dandeakin said:
panasonic 14mm f2.5 and 20mm f1.7 with an olympus 45mm - they're all outstanding, particularly the later two. It's a tiny set up.
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Multiple recommendations for the 45mm. Thinking it might be a bit long though to get used much? its the 90mm equivalent after all.
 
snerkler said:
I've gone though quite a number of m4/3 lenses, 14-42mm pancake, 12-32mm pancake, 20mm f1.7 to name a few but settled on the 12-40mm f2.8 pro and 40-150mm f4-5.6, with 45mm for those 'special' shots. The 12-40mm is an excellent zoom lens. Obviously it's bulkier and heavier than the pancakes but it's worth it IMO for the IQ, weather sealing and light. The 40-150mm punches well above its weight, especially considering they are a little over £100 new. Granted it feels very cheap, but this also means it's light and not very bulky, plus IQ is generally very good. The 45mm is one of the best m4/3 lenses IMO and again better than the price would suggest. Pretty small too.
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Hadn't considered the 40-150mm - Thats fairly long. But considering how cheap it is I might get it just to take anyway, even if I only use it half a dozen times?
 
snerkler said:
Agreed, it's very poor on battery life. I bought a couple of Ex Pro ones and they work just as good as the Olympus ones, and much cheaper. I find they take ages to charge, not just the ex pro but even the original Olly ones. Probably takes 3 times longer than my Nikon ones.
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Is the battery grip worth it?
 
my recomendations: travel light, most of the time you don't need a huge amount of kit, unless you have a specific type of shot in mind, see some of the travel portraiture on here with travel flash, reflectors etc. If it's just for memories then take very little. I know it's tempting to take lots but you'll just lug it around and not use it much, if at all.

This goes for everything, clothes, camera stuff, toiletries - everything. Stick to the basics, for clothes plan to use laundrettes to save you carrying to much, or buy local clothes if required.
 
Phate Brutus mk1 said:
Multiple recommendations for the 45mm. Thinking it might be a bit long though to get used much? its the 90mm equivalent afteor all.
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90 is pretty close to 85 and that's a classic portrait length... my most used lens on MFT was a 50mm for quite some time and if you like tighter shots the 45mm is a nice choice but I agree that for many people it's a bit long.

Can't see anyone mentioning the Oly 17mm f1.8 or 25mm f1.8. I have both and the 17mm in particular is a lovely little metal lens which seems to focus faster than the Panny 20mm f1.7 but the latter is small and when mounted makes for a very compact package.

When going abroad I prefer to have an interchangeable lens camera with just one fastish lens and another small camera with a fixed zoom, my Panasonic LX or recently my LF1. I think that newer quality compact cameras are quite good and come in useful as companions to interchangeable lens cameras for wider or longer shots.
 
Byker28i said:
my recomendations: travel light, most of the time you don't need a huge amount of kit, unless you have a specific type of shot in mind, see some of the travel portraiture on here with travel flash, reflectors etc. If it's just for memories then take very little. I know it's tempting to take lots but you'll just lug it around and not use it much, if at all.

This goes for everything, clothes, camera stuff, toiletries - everything. Stick to the basics, for clothes plan to use laundrettes to save you carrying to much, or buy local clothes if required.
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This.

I'm currently travelling and presently I'm in Borneo. I'm getting by with just the RX100 and a Gorilla Pod and it's doing great :)

I'm glad I'm not carrying around lots of camera kit in a very humid 37c!

Sure, there are the odd time where I miss the dslr, but the benefits of having such a small and light (but very capable still) camera far outweigh the few times I needed the dslr.
 
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Thanks for the replies all.

OK I'll invest in spare batteries. I'll take 3 in total, alternate between days and keep one as a spare/emergency. I'll check out a grip.

Completely agree about the travelling lightly (in general, not just camera gear) - to give you an idea. My girlfriend and I have carefully planned to follow the hot climates so we only have to take warm weather clothing to reduce the weight of everything we carry, this in itself is saving us a lot!

I'm not going to fall to the temptation of taking too much. I'll be taking fast primes...because I like fast primes! But overall not a huge amount, can't decide on whether or not to take some ND grads, they weigh nothing and can go in a slim pocket easily enough...I probably will.

Confirmed are:

12-40 f/2.8 Pro - This is coming with the camera.
7-14 f/2.8 Pro - I do underwater photography as well so will want this in the long run, plus good for landscapes. I've been waiting for this lens for a while.

Those two are for definite. I like the idea of the 17mm, I love my current 35L, so it'll be ideal.
 
Recently back from a holiday and I took a Fuji CSC (1.5x crop) with a selection of lenses covering 10-230mm (15-345mm EFL, 35mm - 7.5-122.5mm 4/3). Used the WA twice and the telephoto 3 times (IIRC) with the 18-135 covering 90%+ of my needs. Unless you're expecting low light, I wouldn't take a selection of fast primes, modern zooms are pretty damn close in terms of IQ but obviously can't really do the shallow DoF that fast primes can, although even fast primes struggle a bit with that on 4/3 sensors. Grip? If you like them, get one. I don't and swapping batteries is hardly a chore. Took 3 and swapped once. Same with filters, the only one I used is a polarizer.
 
I like grips, I have one on my 5D3, hence thinking for the E-M5ii. Not sure how much weight it adds though.
 
Nod said:
Recently back from a holiday and I took a Fuji CSC (1.5x crop) with a selection of lenses covering 10-230mm (15-345mm EFL, 35mm - 7.5-122.5mm 4/3). Used the WA twice and the telephoto 3 times (IIRC) with the 18-135 covering 90%+ of my needs. Unless you're expecting low light, I wouldn't take a selection of fast primes, modern zooms are pretty damn close in terms of IQ but obviously can't really do the shallow DoF that fast primes can, although even fast primes struggle a bit with that on 4/3 sensors. Grip? If you like them, get one. I don't and swapping batteries is hardly a chore. Took 3 and swapped once. Same with filters, the only one I used is a polarizer.
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Problem is I'm just not a fan of these lenses which cover a huge focal length, I always get the impression of 'jack of all trades, master of none' - but things could have changed since I looked at them.

Fast prime wise, I think the 17mm is an absolute must for me. I'm wondering if that coupled with the other 9-14, 12-40 I've listed and maybe the long cheap telephoto that others mentioned could be enough!
 
How many shots do people expect to see out of the E-M5ii? Before the battery goes.
 
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Phate Brutus mk1 said:
How many shots do people expect to see out of the E-M5ii? Before the battery goes.
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Circa 250 from my experience. One thing I've found that helps is to turn he auto EVF off so that it doesn't keep switching the rear LCD on as soon as you take your eye away. From my experience the rear LCD draws more power than the EVF LCD. Also, when you have auto EVF on as you're walking around with the camera 'swinging' from a strap you keep activating the sensor and so the camera's less likely to got to sleep, again draining power.

Just something to be aware of as well, the control dials aren't as stiff as the ought to be imo and you can accidentally knock/turn them (front dial especially) just whilst it's hanging on the strap or you go to grab it. So just make sure you keep an eye on aperture/shutter/exp comp settings. I once couldn't understand why all my shots were overexposing in A priority, but then noticed I'd obviously caught the front dial and exp comp was at +0.7 :banghead:
 
Cool thanks for the heads up. Is it possible to not use the rear screen unless I'm viewing what I've taken and use EVF only?
 
Phate Brutus mk1 said:
Cool thanks for the heads up. Is it possible to not use the rear screen unless I'm viewing what I've taken and use EVF only?
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Sure is. I have it set so the back button toggles between EVF and rear screen. Also when you press the playback button it automatically swaps to the rear LCD.
 
snerkler said:
Sure is. I have it set so the back button toggles between EVF and rear screen. Also when you press the playback button it automatically swaps to the rear LCD.
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Sounds perfect, this coupled with auto-sleeping when not in use should help preserve the battery life a lot :)
 
Phate Brutus mk1 said:
Sounds perfect, this coupled with auto-sleeping when not in use should help preserve the battery life a lot :)
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Plus you can just turn it off now, since the update start up time is vastly reduced. When it was first released the slowness of start up caused me to miss a couple of shots :mad:
 
DekHog said:
12-40mm all day long..... constant lens changing means missing shots and the chance of dropping expensive things.... Chuck in the cheap 40-150mm and you're good to go.
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I agree
 
snerkler said:
Plus you can just turn it off now, since the update start up time is vastly reduced. When it was first released the slowness of start up caused me to miss a couple of shots :mad:
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Oh awesome! :) Shame about the missed shots though.
 
Phate Brutus mk1 said:
Problem is I'm just not a fan of these lenses which cover a huge focal length, I always get the impression of 'jack of all trades, master of none' - but things could have changed since I looked at them.

Fast prime wise, I think the 17mm is an absolute must for me. I'm wondering if that coupled with the other 9-14, 12-40 I've listed and maybe the long cheap telephoto that others mentioned could be enough!
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My Fuji kit is 3 lenses, not a single one that covers the whole range! 10-24, 18-135 and 50-230. Can't speak for 4/3 stuff but the Fuji lenses are fabulous, even the relatively wide range 18-135 (which is also weather resistant to match the X-T1).

Fast prime wise, I would take just your favourite, or the one you expect to use most in low light situations (or, if you can't decide between the 2 [if they're different!], slip them both in!)
 
Phate Brutus mk1 said:
Fast prime wise, I think the 17mm is an absolute must for me. I'm wondering if that coupled with the other 9-14, 12-40 I've listed and maybe the long cheap telephoto that others mentioned could be enough!
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I wouldn't rule out the pany 20mm if you're looking at the 17mm.

I used both along side each other for a couple of weeks and ended up keeping the 20mm mainly because of the smaller size and better sharpness wide open. That said the 17mm was really well made and far faster autofocusing.
 
The Panny 20mm is the only m43 lens I've actively disliked...... Size and image quality is great, but the autofocus speed (or lack of it) drove me to distraction.....
 
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