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bikepacking with a mirrorless camera ...what lenses do you take?
Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2021 11:44 am
by Asposium
i know it's akin to a "what tyre" thread
however.....
i am looking at getting a canon mirrorless camera for photo-bikepacking holidays, where photography is a part of the journey more than blasting through.
photography is something for me and the mrs to share, and cycling a means of transport.
"nutter" stuff i can do with you guys.
don't have a canon mirrorless (currently a canon dSLR user), so having to buy lenses a new (such hardship

)
so, for those that take a mirror camera photo-bikepacking, what two lenses (maximum) would you always consider taking.
i know, camera nerd.

Re: bikepacking with a mirrorless camera ...what lenses do you take?
Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2021 3:26 pm
by Gari
By “what lenses”, do you mean focal lengths or actual models? Fellow camera nerd so I’m asking in order to not go off down a rabbit hole that you weren’t looking for:)
I usually take a 35mm and a 75 or 85mm, (full frame) but I do prefer primes. For me one of the greatest benefits of mirrorless cameras, beyond their compact nature of course, is that they can be used with “legacy” lenses using pretty readily available adapters. I have several different sets/manufacturers depending on what I’m using the camera for. For bikepacking/touring/long day rides etc I have a few Olympus Zuiko lenses, that are really sharp and very compact. They are of course much cheaper than most modern and/or native lenses. I get that some people don’t get why you might buy a modern camera and put an old lens on it, given how sharp modern lenses can be in relation, but that can often miss the point. If you’re someone who likes to shoot pretty wide open, for that “bokeh” thing, paying a small fortune for a modern lens that’s designed to be sharp edge to edge and super contrasty may be funds spent elsewhere. I have some lovely old Zeiss lenses that I use for landscape photography, and when stopped down they are almost as sharp as anything you can buy now, and what little difference there is could easily be rectified with a little additional contrast/clarity(just check out IG!!) I’m not a massive fan of the super saturated/contrasty/punchy look of most stuff you see on social media so a slightly more “organic” look of older lenses is an advantage for me rather than a downside. That said, if I had the money and was looking to put a 2 lens travel camera together I would definately be looking at Voigtlander lenses!!
https://www.parkcameras.com/shop/voigtl ... 74EALw_wcB
Re: bikepacking with a mirrorless camera ...what lenses do you take?
Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2021 3:44 pm
by ledburner
Asposium wrote: ↑Sun Nov 07, 2021 11:44 am
i know it's akin to a "what tyre" thread
however.....
i am looking at getting a canon mirrorless camera for photo-bikepacking holidays, where photography is a part of the journey more than blasting through.
photography is something for me and the mrs to share, and cycling a means of transport.
"nutter" stuff i can do with you guys.
don't have a canon mirrorless (currently a canon dSLR user), so having to buy lenses a new (such hardship

)
so, for those that take a mirror camera photo-bikepacking, what two lenses (maximum) would you always consider taking.
i know, camera nerd.
mirorless, good choice.
this may be a good place to start
https://www.ephotozine.com/article/top- ... 2021-19376.
I use the Panasonic Micro four thirds system.Its a mature product family Co-developed loped with Olympus, there is a large variety of lenses. prime and zoom with excellent multi axis image stablisation. Filters are also smaller ==cheaper
the biggest bonus I see though is the lenses are half the length, diameter, volumes,
thus weight than an equivalent DSLR / 35mm system. the bodies are also a less deep as the lense mount is compact aswell.
Mirror less camera consume more battery power so you need a few spare batteries. I used to carry a 2 wide or mid zooms in a SLR bag. I carry 3 lense a body filter and charger in that bag I stead.
I have no other experience of other mirror less families. the only negative(? ) is for a equivilent f stop the Depth of FIELD (DoF) is twice as deep. this is only an issue, if, you want to isolate subject by DoF.
David thorpe (ex press) did a very good youtube channel, but sadly passed away last May.
https://youtu.be/EjYeF_PpoAw@
he was, also a contributor to epgon
I have a Gx9 with is very compact and a wonderful travel camera. but it eats batteries.

.

ps I don't want to sound like a anorak, leave those out in the rain all day

Re: bikepacking with a mirrorless camera ...what lenses do you take?
Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2021 6:45 pm
by GregMay
Utterly dependent on where I’m going and what I want to capture. But normally. 28mm on full frame. If I need to make something larger, I walk towards it, or ride towards it.
Re: bikepacking with a mirrorless camera ...what lenses do you take?
Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2021 10:05 am
by rudedog
I use an EOS M camera and usually only take the f2 22mm pancake lens. It’s a really good lens for the money and keeps the camera packable and light (I think it might be the smallest/lightest lens that canon have ever made). You can pick them up second hand for about £100.
Re: bikepacking with a mirrorless camera ...what lenses do you take?
Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2021 2:23 pm
by Loki
I currently use a 35mm (53mm) f2 on my Fuji XT10, I find this a little bulky and I will be swapping to a wider 18mm (27mm) f2 pancake lens, I would not use either of my zooms/XT3 as they are a bit too bulky, I have considered just selling my XT10 and picking up a used Fuji F100 something as they are fairly pocketable
Re: bikepacking with a mirrorless camera ...what lenses do you take?
Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2021 12:01 am
by ledburner
For Size comparison against a 'bank card', here is a Panasonic M43 system caner, GX9. it has a 12-32 (eqiv.24-64, 35mm) pancake lense.
it has a electronic viewfinder and a separate tilting display. quite compact.
12-32 zoom a versatile wide zoom to normal zoom. so will cover landscaoe and 50mm type images.built in image stabilisation if you crop & blow up images.

mice black & white digital filter. I take that and a polariser
I'm sorted. I may take a 12-60 (eq 24-120) in stead, it is just bulkier but still light.