[toni-a]

Never been to Japan, if klaus is going to be shooting cityscapes and huge buildings yes an ultrawide is needed, however outside the city, the extra reach of 12-100 and having just one lens is extremely handy

[Klaus]

Never been to Japan, if klaus is going to be shooting cityscapes and huge buildings yes an ultrawide is needed, however outside the city, the extra reach of 12-100 and having just one lens is extremely handy

Nah, it‘ll be about temples, shrines, gardens and nature (Kyoto, Nara, Koyasan, Kumano Kodo). We‘ll be in Osaka for a day but that‘s about in regarding modern Japan.

Technically this translates to:
- dark places (temples) -> Dual IS will come handy
- neat details (shallow DoF)
- architecture & landscape -> at least 24mm

Not so much:
- long tele (>150mm)

[forum]

I would take two primes, one wide angle and another one a short tele. For reach, added compact tele zoom completes the lightweight package. That covers it for me. In past, I did try several times with normal to wide angle zooms, however always came back to primes. It must be me. ? I find it just fine to zoom with feet on short distances, with benefit of having better low light and DOF control.

In my case, that is 12/2, 45/1.8 and 35-100/2.8. A kilo together with the camera. Normally I do throw in also a 20/1.7 pancake, but do not use it most of time.

Wish you great time. ?

Yes, that would be a great setup for this trip. But I don't have this "in stock".

[forum]

If anyone ever asks me what to take on a vacation, I'm usually replying along the lines of "16-35 + 70-300 and be there". I ended up with the 100-400 for the long end, forgoing the 35-100 range entirely. Most of the time, it didn't matter.

OMG, I don't want to carry bricks across mountain passes ... 
I did that once - never again ;-)

[Brightcolours]

Never been to Japan, if klaus is going to be shooting cityscapes and huge buildings yes an ultrawide is needed, however outside the city, the extra reach of 12-100 and having just one lens is extremely handy

Nah, it‘ll be about temples, shrines, gardens and nature (Kyoto, Nara, Koyasan, Kumano Kodo). We‘ll be in Osaka for a day but that‘s about in regarding modern Japan.

Technically this translates to:
- dark places (temples) -> Dual IS will come handy
- neat details (shallow DoF)
- architecture & landscape -> at least 24mm

Not so much:
- long tele (>150mm)

That settles it then. The Olympus with the specific lens for dual IS, the Sony FF for 24mm being wide angle, and the Fuji with the 56mm f1.2 for the shallow DOF. Happy lugging!

[Klaus]

Never been to Japan, if klaus is going to be shooting cityscapes and huge buildings yes an ultrawide is needed, however outside the city, the extra reach of 12-100 and having just one lens is extremely handy

Nah, it‘ll be about temples, shrines, gardens and nature (Kyoto, Nara, Koyasan, Kumano Kodo). We‘ll be in Osaka for a day but that‘s about in regarding modern Japan.

Technically this translates to:
- dark places (temples) -> Dual IS will come handy
- neat details (shallow DoF)
- architecture & landscape -> at least 24mm

Not so much:
- long tele (>150mm)

That settles it then. The Olympus with the specific lens for dual IS, the Sony FF for 24mm being wide angle, and the Fuji with the 56mm f1.2 for the shallow DOF. Happy lugging!

I think I found the solution to the shallow DoF issue. I will give a (heavier) camera to my girlfriend ;-)

[Rover]

If anyone ever asks me what to take on a vacation, I'm usually replying along the lines of "16-35 + 70-300 and be there". I ended up with the 100-400 for the long end, forgoing the 35-100 range entirely. Most of the time, it didn't matter.

OMG, I don't want to carry bricks across mountain passes ... 
I did that once - never again ;-)

It was this or having the beater Sony NEX-3 with the kit lens as the only permanently available photographic option ('cause filching the 650D from wife all the time would not have been sportsmanlike, would it ).

To add insult to injury, I was also carrying the 24/1.4L II with me, because the wife was convinced that we were going to have a shot at astro. We did, but most of the time the 16-35 was obviating the need for the prime.

And yes, even though we did give one backpack to the porters to carry (the tripod was there) I still had another full pack to lug around. It was, ahem, a revelation to an untrained - I mean, totally - person like myself.

P.S. Oh, and Japan is great. I was there twice - breaking my own unwritten rule of not visiting the same place/city twice if I can help it - but I enjoyed the second voyage throughly. Just blast away at most everything you see - at least that was my M.O. when in Japan, it was so fascinating (though I mostly stuck to the cities - even one city, Tokyo, actually - I did have a fair amount of the shrines too).

[you2]

Yea I was in kyoto during fall colours. There are a few places (temples) where a longer lens helps (200+mm). If I went back I'd probably take the 12-40 again or maybe buy a 12-100 but would also take one other longer lens. Problem is that as I've gotten older I've gotten lazy and am less willing to change lenses.
-
One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of the temples are good to visit at night (light shows); so something that can take pictures in relatively dark areas but also have high dynamic range is a big plus.

[thxbb12]

Here is what I'd take:

If Fuji:

• Fuji 14 f2.8
  
• Fuji 18-55 f2.8-4
  
• Fuji 35 f1.4
  

If MFT:

• Oly 9-18 f4-5.6
  
• Oly 12-40
  
• Pany 25 f1.4
  
• Pany 45-150 f4-5.6
  

If Sony FE:

• Sony 24-105 f4
  
• Zeiss 55 f1.8
  

[mike]

Never been to Japan, if klaus is going to be shooting cityscapes and huge buildings yes an ultrawide is needed, however outside the city, the extra reach of 12-100 and having just one lens is extremely handy

Nah, it‘ll be about temples, shrines, gardens and nature (Kyoto, Nara, Koyasan, Kumano Kodo). We‘ll be in Osaka for a day but that‘s about in regarding modern Japan.

Technically this translates to:
- dark places (temples) -> Dual IS will come handy
- neat details (shallow DoF)
- architecture & landscape -> at least 24mm

Not so much:
- long tele (>150mm)

I really enjoyed the aquarium in Osaka. Ride up an escalator to the top (go figure) into a rain forests then spiral down to the bottom of the ocean. One of the best.