Originally posted by Doundounba Bumping this old thread to see if anyone else has anything to add...
For myself, we're leaving soon for a long-ish tour of Scotland by bike and I've decided to... not shoot macro on a bike tour (for now)! I've ordered a (used) Panasonix LX10 and will move from carrying 2kg+ of photo gear to under 500g, at least for the next trip, which will be our first extended bike touring adventure. I'm also giving up (for now) any kind of weather sealing and having easy access to a FoV wider than 24mm, though the LX10 has in-body panorama, so maybe that last one won't be a problem...
I might come back to this issue if we go through with a plan for a 3-month long tour next year.
I was put off by the need to invest around $2k no matter which system I choose to get back to where I am now in K-mount, except lighter. I also feel like I don't want to leave K-mount, but would need to sell all/most of my K-mount equipment to justify spending that much money on a new system. I don't think I'd regret switching eventually, but there's an emotional attachment to the k-mount, for whatever reason, and I can't justify having two entire systems...
FWIW, in the end the main contenders were:
- Canon M5 or M50 // Canon 11-22mm // EF-EOS M Adapter + Tokina 100mm Macro (or similar):
A very nice combo, with the possibility to add the MP-E when not cycling, and the possibility to expand into the Canon EF line in the future. But nothing is WR here. And with an M5 mark II rumored to be coming at Photokina, it seems like the wrong time to invest into this ecosystem. If Canon does bring out this new body (and it's competitive) plus the rumored fast APS-C prime, maybe I will make a system switch to Canon... - Panasonic G85 or Olympus E-M10iii // Olympus 9-18mm // Olympus 60mm Macro:
Again, very nice combo. I did find the G85 to be a tad expensive for a 16MP body, the M10iii is not weather sealed. The 12-60mm Panasonic is a real nice kit lens, and sealed, for $100. Could possibly live with just that and a macro... The 9-18mm seems very expensive for what it is, though there are sales and you might find a good deal used. And if you want to get the 20MP m4/3 sensor, you need to go up from the G85 to the GX9, and you give up weather sealing and battery capacity. And the G9/M1ii are waaaay too expensive and large. Give me a G85 with 20MP sensor, and I might make a system switch to m4/3s...
I guess I'll re-evaluate again in the fall, after Photokina and our trip to Scotland. For now, soldiering on with the K-3 when not traveling, and cycling with the 1"-sensored LX10 is what it will be...
Let us know how the LX10 runs - I am thinking to do something similar (or ZS100) for getting back into through-hiking. Just had my Fuji gear in Michigan. Ended up not shooting not that much and with 20mp, the LX10 is likely all I need in the daytime. With a 1.4 wide open, OK for evening too. For me, it's the other end of the range that I end up missing.