been staring at ebay for days trying to pick a zoom for my new x-t30 ii. im stuck between the xc 15-45mm and the xc 50-230mm. my logic was that the 15-45 is basically pennies and tiny for travel but then i keep thinking about how much ill miss the reach when i go to colorado next month for hiking.

i only have about 250-300 bucks left in my gear budget so the fancy xf stuff is out of the question for now. i also saw a used sigma 18-50mm but its way over my limit usually. is the image quality on the xc 15-45 actually decent or am i gonna regret not just saving for the 18-55 kit lens instead? just not sure if i should prioritize the wide end or the zoom reach for mountains...