Ive been going down a total rabbit hole trying to figure out glass for my R5. Upgraded from an old 5D Mark III last month and my current EF lenses with the adapter are just too bulky for the travel stuff I shoot now, especially with my upcoming trip to Japan in November. I read on some blog that the RF 24-105mm f4 is the ultimate travel workhorse because of the reach, but then half the threads on reddit say its too boring and you really need a 2.8 zoom or a fast prime like the 35mm for low light in Tokyo alleys. My budget is around 2k max. I just want one lens that lives on the camera so I dont have to swap gear constantly while walking around all day. What is the actual best all-around lens for this setup?
> half the threads on reddit say its too boring and you really need a 2.8 zoom Honestly, Canon RF 28-70mm f/2L USM is amazing optically, but too heavy. Grab Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2 instead for a lighter setup.
Congrats on upgrading to the R5! Honestly, picking just one lens for a big trip is super stressful. I was in the exact same spot before my trip last year and went with the Canon RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM. It honestly works so well for travel. The constant f4 is plenty bright for daylight and street stuff, and the image stabilization saved so many of my shots in dim temples. No complaints at all, it stayed on my camera the whole time.
Just catching up on this thread and man, I totally feel your pain about lens weight. I actually bought a pricey setup last year thinking it would be my ultimate travel companion, but honestly, carrying that heavy glass around all day completely wrecked my shoulders by day three. Unfortunately, the real-world weight just isnt what the spec sheets make it out to be when you are walking ten miles a day. For budgeting and planning your Tokyo trip, you should check out tools like Camera Size dot com to visually compare dimensions before you drop two grand on something you might hate carrying. You wanna enjoy the trip instead of nursing back spasms!