another travel question...

[doc4x5]

I shall be traveling to New Zealand soon for my daughter's wedding and a couple of weeks of touring with friends. We're staying on the North Island this time, having done the South Island on our last trip. On that trip I brought a GF-1, the 20 f/1.8, and the 14-45. I also brought my D700 and the 24-70 and 70-200, both 2.8's. I used it all and was pretty happy with the results. One photo was published in the newspaper, another has just been chosen for a juried show (both were made with the Nikon). We did not do any really strenuous hiking on that trip and may or may not on this one either. I used the Nikon for "serious" work and the Panasonic for "snaps."

I am asking for and have been getting a lot of advice on what to bring this time. I now have an Olympus OM-D. One option is to fill out the m43 lenses and get the 12-35 and 35-100 Panasonics, and leave the Nikon, now a D800E, and its heavy lenses at home. The other is to take my OM-D, the 20, the 45, the 14-45 AND the Nikon with the two zooms. It will be expensive to buy the two zooms, and somewhat duplicative of the zoom range I already own for the Nikon.

I love both systems. I suspect asking a bunch of strangers, even a group of excellent photographers, such a personal question may seem bit silly, but I am hoping for some "aha" comment that will push me toward one or the other path.

In any case, this is my conundrum, not a terrible problem in light of the worlds issues, but I will need to decide.

Thanks for any wisdom any of you can send my way.

Eric

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

This is personal, but when travelling, I use m4/3 almost exclusively. My choice would be to take the OM-D with the two lenses you have and add a wide angle (12mm f/2.0 or 7-14mm f/4.0) and one longer lens (35-100mm f/2.8 or 75mm f/1.8).

 

[biglouis]

It's the camera you have with you that takes the shot. If your mobility is increased by using the m43rds system then you have your answer.

LouisB

 

[Paratom]

Maybe it doesnt make sense but I would bring both, and then decide on a dayly basis which one to bring.

Wedding of the daughter and New Zealand would be definatly reasons for me to bring the camera with the best IQ I would have.
If you bring only one my choice would be the Nikon. You can do big big prints from it,
the camera has a great and fast AF, more room for shallow DOF, better high ISO, better flash system (could be a plus for the wedding).
And IMO, as long as one is not doing big big hikes I dont see the weight/size as a problem.
The OMD has the davantage that its great for movie as well-maybe something interesting for the wedding.

You could carry the Nikon and your wife the OMD

 

[Tullio]

I face a similar dilemma every time I go on long trips. Not only I end up taking both the m4/3 and the Sony DSLR gears, I also take a 20x zoom P&S. Most of the time, my G3 and EPL1 do the job and the P&S gets a lot of use as well. The Alpha on the other hand, gets relegated to the hotel...it's too big and heavy to carry around particularly if I'm planning to do a lot of walking. So, I'd leave the Nikon behind as I'm starting to leave the Sony behind.

 

[Godfrey]

For me, joy in traveling is achieved by carrying as little gear as possible. Last big trip I took the GXR and three lenses. Next big trip, I'll likely carry the M9 and a similar set of three lenses, or maybe just two and stuff a medium format folder in the bag for a totally different look and feel.

Those, plus the iPhone and the iPad mini, will be more than enough in terms of photo related gear.

G

 

[4season]

If I had a D800, how could I resist taking it! But the 2 heavy zooms, maybe not so much. I'd be tempted to try going "Leica-Style" with just a couple of primes not too large or heavy. Looking at Nikon's current offerings, something like the 35/2 and 60/2.8 Micro-Nikkor perhaps. I'm not an ultra shallow DOF type of shooter, and tend to do most of my work @ f/5.6 or thereabouts, hence the faster f/1.4 speeds would be mostly dead weight to me.

Although this pared-down approach might sound too limiting, as many a new Leica user has discovered, simplicity can be a joy: Less internal noise, more pure joy of just shooting.

 

[doc4x5]

Thanks for the input. I have made a decision that I believe will work for me. I am taking the Olympus OM-D, the 20 f/1.8, 45 f/1.8, and the 14-45 zoom. Also I am bringing the D800E, the 24-70 f/2.8 and the 70-200 f/2.8. If I hike, I'll leave the Nikon with my daughter; if I am doing "serious" work, I'll use the Nikon system. I recently did some work with the Nikon and a variety of lenses and the image quality is not to be believed, duh! While the Olympus is a superb instrument, it's no Nikon D800E. When I return, I'll put up a comment telling everyone what worked well and what did not. Fortunately I am NOT responsible for the wedding photos
Eric