rickvenema wrote:
So I have been contemplating my travel needs in terms of camera gear and I am curious to hear some options / opinions of other people.
I almost exclusively travel with my wife and two kids (1 and 3 years old). So as you can imagine priorities are never photography only. But I do often wake up before the family wakes up and go out during sunrise / golden hour for some photography by myself. And sometimes I am out taking photos during sunset / golden hour. During harsh light / daytime I always leave the photo gear in the hotel and just use my iPhone 15 Pro for photos. It serves me well.
I have sold my Sony A7C recently because I've been eyeing the new options that were released. Gear I do still have:
- Fujifilm X100 VI
- Tamron 20-40mm f2.8
- Sony 40mm f2.5 G
When travelling we mostly visit cities and / or national parks where we do some hiking. Therefore I don't want or have a camera backpack filled with gear and I think I want to minimise to a body + lens attached and perhaps a second lens. I will also not carry a tripod so my photos are always handheld or I find something in the location to stabilise my camera. My shooting style is photos of cities / landmarks (upcoming New York City trip), landscapes during hiking and photos of my family and kids growing up. I think my favourite focal lengths are 35 / 40mm for most occasions and between 20mm and 24mm for landscape shots. For photos of my family I like the 75mm / 85mm range.
What I am contemplating:
Option 1:
- Sony A7CR
- Tamron 20-40mm f2.8 or perhaps trade that one in for the Sony 20-70mm f4?
- Sigma 90mm f2.8 / Samyang 75mm f1.8
Option 2:
- Sony A7CR
- Sony 24mm f2.8 G or perhaps Sigma 24mm f3.5?
- Sony 40mm f2.5 G
Option 5:
- Sony RX100 VII 24-200mm
- Fujifilm X100 VI
My priorities are:
1. Weight and bulk savings
2. Photo quality doesn't have to be the best of the best. But good enough to handle handheld golden hour shooting without iso overload
3. Cost
Given your priorities., I would pick the A7CR + Tamron 28-200 + an ultrawide (I am partial to the CV 15). It's very low cost and gives you tons of image quality plus convenience of no lens changes needed in most situations. You can add a fast prime if you like when needed.
Smaller and lighter, I think one of the APS-C bodies with the 18-135 would be great. IQ is also very good, but it's smaller and lighter than the A7CR + 28-200.
I like the RX100 series, but IQ isn't much of a step up over your iPhone 15.
You have a lot of intermediate-speed lenses listed, I don't think you'll get much advantage from those over lenses like the 28-200. I either put on a fast prime (f/1 to f/2) or am content with a slower zoom.
