Hi everyone,

Not what you may be thinking from the title of this post, I’m referring to travelling light. Without labouring the point, as many of you are already aware, my mobility problems have caused me to continuously rethink my gear choices, I’ve been a long-term fan of lightweight gear and this has exaggerated things further. There maybe some compromises to be made but I really don’t care or think that, in terms of image quality, they are very significant especially so if one is prepared to invest some time and effort in processing one’s images.

Most of my photographic gear has been purchased second-hand, at least two-thirds of my lenses and all but one of my cameras and that makes the budget-friendly gear options especially regarding lenses even more financially satisfying. Whilst waiting to get out hopefully tomorrow I have decided to make a few changes to my intended gear for the outing. I have changed my camera choice to my Olympus PEN E-PL8 + EV4 electronic viewfinder camera which is lighter and smaller but still does everything that I require and my choice of telephoto zoom lens to my Olympus 40-150mm R f/4-5.6 whilst keeping with my Lumix 14-42mm II and 20mm f/1.7 lenses all in one of my small Manfrotto camera bags.

I always take gear reviews with a healthy pinch of salt, that’s if salt is regarded healthy these days 🙂 but if one reads around it’s difficult to find bad reviews of these lenses, optically and value for money wise, they’re all sharp and punch well above their weight and are great choices when putting together a versatile, lightweight travel kit. I am very much guilty of not using my longer lenses very much, something that I’m very keen to put right. One can pickup the 40-150mm lens new or split from a kit for a laughably cheap price, let alone second-hand, if I remember correctly I paid about £80 new for mine, possibly less 🙂 . when compared to the cost of it’s PRO series equivalent , constant aperture f/2,8 lens which costs an eye-watering circa £1200 and weighs in at 760g (without tripod adapter / 880g (with tripod adapter) . I’ll let you form your own conclusions as to whether the price difference is reflected in their relative optical performance. Sure the Pro lenses have weather sealing, undisputedly better build quality are faster and are optically better, (at least on laboratory test charts) but they are, by comparison, a hell of a lot heavier and extremely expensive. If, and it’s a very BIG if, I had the funds, health, transport and my photographic interest were different, would I buy them, maybe so but, for my every day on-foot requirements certainly not so. I’ll leave the pixel-peepers and gear-heads to their devices, I’d much rather be out taking pictures. 🙂

Never once have I been asked which camera or lens I have used for a shot. As we all know, it’s not the gear it’s the image, if it appeals then it appeals, if it doesn’t it doesn’t and let’s face it, the quality of imagery that modern camera equipment is capable of producing is extremely high and certainly better than the gear I was using years ago but the principals remain exactly the same and there is, as the saying goes “no substitute for experience” whatever one’s choice of gear.

Kind regards

Leigh

Hi everyone,

Whilst I’m waiting to get out and get some shots I thought I’d choose my gear for my next outing as there are a few ideas I’d like to try out. I’ve chosen to take my trusty and much-loved Olympus PEN-F MFT camera and three, lightweight (as always), lenses, my Lumix 20 mm f/1.7, 14-42 mm II and 45-150 mm.

Firstly, packing my 45-150 mm is a bit of an odd choice for me as I don’t really take many shots with telephoto lenses and they’re not my first, and more obvious, choice for landscapes and it could be interesting doing some landscape shots with this lens. During my recent ill-fated trip to Spain I fell back in love with my Lumix 20mm pancake lens as a very capable lightweight walk about lens and I’m keen to continue with using it as such. The focal length is an interesting one as it sits between 35 mm and 50 mm (in 35 mm terms) lenses. For me, it’s a bit of a Goldilocks lens as 35 mm focal length is frequently “just too wide” and the 50 mm focal length is “just too tight” and the 20 mm (40mm equivalent) focal length more than often feels “just right” 🙂 and of course good in low light too. Its autofocus isn’t the fastest in the World and it can occasionally hunt for focus neither of which bother me unduly as it’s very sharp, ultra-compact, lightweight and fast. Lastly, I’m going to take my JJC pistol grip/remote and see if I can use it to hopefully explore some interesting angles and elevated views and I also find it comfortable, versatile and steadying in use especially with longer focal lengths such as the 45-150 mm.

I’ll post the results here.

Best wishes,

Leigh

PS. Here’s one of the few landscape shots I’ve taken to date with the 45-150mm lens.