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p.1 #16 · Japan Trip Camera/Lens Suggestions? | |
bwcolor wrote:
21mm is my favorite focal length and it is noticeably missing in my future kit. Last summer I spent a bit over three weeks in Japan. My overseas photographic travel rules are digital only and only gear that will fit in my sling bag, which fits under the seat in front of me. For camera gear, I sold off 80% of what I had and concentrated on what I wanted for travel, so all fast cameras and long lenses gone. My Canon gear was much like yours. Multiple professional bodies and great fast lenses and long zooms. For Japan I took an X2D/25mm/38mm & M11 Monochrom 21mm/35mm. While in Tokyo, I stopped by Map camera and they had a number of used Leica APO-Summicron-M 75mm f/2 ASPH. I traded my 21mm for a focal length that I had never used. Did I miss out on some good captures? Well, certainly I did, but I also learned how to see through the 75mm. The image below was my first 75mm taken two hours after purchase. So, yes there are lots of opportunities at 21mm, but for me with regards to future international travel, I want one camera and one lens. I’ve also included an image from Korea in 2024. This is an image at 21mm and would not render the same with a 35mm. So, I would miss this shot with my moderate zoom only kit. This isn’t such a stretch since I always left one camera at the hotel. I’ve yet to travel with this new kit (X2D2/35-100mm), so I might regret not taking the wide zoom.
In addition to my Canon gear, I sold my Sony A1, A7Riv, A7Rv and lots of GM glass including zooms and primes out to 400mm. If you don’t use all of that gear, consider selling much of it and picking up an X2D2. The resolution matches my 60Mpix M11M, which lacks a Bayer filter. The image stabilization puts to shame every camera that I’ve used. The colors are amazing right out of the camera and for travel it can’t be beat (short of safari and birding). In 2024 I traveled in Korea with an X2D/38mm, which is probably a smaller combination than much of your Canon gear. The X2D2 was a major upgrade and I can crop a lot before reducing resolution to that of your Canon bodies and it shines in scotopic conditions.
Lastly, depending on the season, Asia can be a very wet place. It rained on many days of my three week Japanese trip and I was thankful for the water sealing of the X2D, but it likely falls short of your Canons and most equipment fall short of highly weather sealed Olympus gear.
Here is my first 75mm taken in very low illumination.
21mm/South Korea
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Very nice images! Thanks for sharing! I really like your idea to travel with a minimal amount of gear. I made the mistake last October to travel to Spain (11 cities while I was there) and drag along an R6II, R7 as backup, RF 16-28mm f2.8 STM, RF 24-240mm f4-6.3, and Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 RDX (for the R7). After day one, I was in pain. Worse yet, the images I got from my R7 were terrible thanks to a back-focusing issue. That prompted me to sell it and used the money to buy my Sony A7iv.
I have been contemplating the idea of getting rid of both my RF 16-28mm f2.8 STM and RF 24-240mm f4-6.3, and use the money toward getting the lens I know deep down inside I really want which is the RF 24-70mm f2.8L. But I know for sure I won't get much for either of my two lenses even though they are in pristine condition and I still have their boxes. I even placed a clear, protective filter over the front elements day one when I purchased them, so these lenses are in almost new condition. But then again, I have zero love for that RF 16-28mm f2.8 STM.
The compromise option for me is to try once more with an RF 24-105mm f4.0L and hope that it won't be a deffective copy like the one I once purchased and returned. But the downside is that it is an f4.0. That is pretty slow for me especially if I'm trying to capture low light evening shots or indoor, handheld shots.
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