Would you bravely do the same if it were me or should i still bring the 5D3 just in case….i really am not looking forward to tugging it around London...
Roy, thanks for the kind words!
I firmly believe less is more. I also firmly believe that there is nothing like shooting for a long period, at least a year or more with only one camera and one lens combination to clarify ones vision and to really find out what sort of photography one would like to do and which other lenses, if any, is needed.
I used a Leica X1 for two years almost exclusively for my personal photography. What I learned during this time was that the 35mm lens is really all I need 90% of the time. Occasionally I thought that perhaps a 50 or an 80 would have been nice although certainly not essential...
( I also found out that I like a mixture of people and landscapes and structures in a documentary and austere sort of way...)
But that's just me but that is also the only perspective from which I can answer your question...
Thus the short answer:
All I would need is the Eos M and the 22mm f2 lens....
The long answer:
But London and the European cities also have stunning architecture and structures and for that I would also need a tripod and my shift lenses. My all time favorite lens camera combination is my Mamiya ZD with the 50mm shift, equivalent to a 32mm lens, close to 'ideal' 35mm, which I have found is almost perfect for the lower European structures and churches etc, like the Duomo in Milan. The Medium format camera, although old technology, still gives me superb image quality with more dynamic range than the 5D2, although resolution is close as both are 22mp, and I actually prefer the 36 x48 ratio more than the 24x36 of the 35mm format...
So on a typical trip I would take the 5d2 plus 40mm pancake ( close to the 'ideal' 35mm) 24mm TS and my 70-300L ( just in case for architectural details that are far away - although generally I never use it). Also my Mamiya with 50mm shift and then the Eos m with 22mm. Plus Tripod. No wonder I have a lower back problem!
But if I take all this stuff I have a rule to only use one lens and camera at a time. So for instance, I would take the Mamiya combo on a tripod, put it on my shoulder and just walk down the street until I see something to photograph. Viewing and seeing with one lens is just so much easier and after a while you just know whats going to be in the viewfinder...
Having more than one lens and camera slows the whole process down and involves too may decision making processes.
.....and sometimes I just leave all the cameras behind and just soak up the experience without a camera
some examples of a one lens one camera combo can be found on my blog
here....
http://thelazytravelphotographer.blogspot.com/2013/02/hofmeyer.htmland here....
http://thelazytravelphotographer.blogspot.com/2013/02/12-minutes-in-booysens.html But of course rules are meant to be broken and sometimes I ignore everything I have said above!
Goodluck with the decisions, enjoy the trip and share your images with us!