Man, I feel that frustration. I've been through three different 'travel zooms' over the last decade, and honestly, most of them just gather dust once the novelty wears off. I tried a super-zoom years ago and it was absolute garbage—soft as butter at the long end—so I get why you're nervous. Since you're doing vlogs and street stuff, weight is everything. Here is how I look at it now:

• Fujifilm XF 23mm f/2 R WR: It is tiny. Like, jacket-pocket tiny. It’s super sharp and forces you to move your feet, which honestly improved my street work a ton.
• Tamron 17-70mm f/2.8 Di III-A VC RXD: This is a brick, but the stabilization is a lifesaver for handheld vlogging. I’d trade the convenience of a zoom for the weight of a prime any day now—my back definitely thanks me for it.

> I’m tired of constantly swapping glass while I'm on the move. Building on the earlier suggestion, I feel that. I was obsessing over this just last week. If you want a real upgrade, check out the Fujifilm XF 16-80mm f/4 R OIS WR. It covers way more range than those tiny primes, so no swapping lenses ever. It is honestly super versatile for vlogging and sharp enough for my street shots. Total game changer for travel.

Honestly it drives me crazy how these companies charge premium prices for kit glass that feels like cheap plastic. Its such a scam and honestly just makes me wanna quit photography entirely...

Yep been there done that. Can confirm everything said above is spot on.

So funny you ask this—last summer I was wandering around Tokyo with a heavy bag and felt like I was missing every single shot because I was too busy fumbling with gear. It was honestly a nightmare. Before I throw some ideas your way, are you leaning more towards a zoom for that extra reach, or do you prefer the low-light performance you get from a fixed prime lens?

Look, I feel your pain. It’s honestly ridiculous what they charge for these lenses nowadays—you spend a fortune expecting precision parts, but half the time you're just paying for a marketing department's lunch. It drives me crazy how they cut corners on the build quality while jacking up the price. I see it in the shop every day with cheap, plastic-cased components that don't hold a torque spec for more than a week.

• Companies don't care about the user anymore.
• Everything feels like it's built to fail after a year.
• It's a complete scam to call some of this stuff 'professional' gear. Listen, you're not wrong to be fed up. Everything is going downhill and they act like we shouldn't notice the garbage quality. It's just frustrating when you just want to do your job and the tools fight you every single step of the way.

Same setup here, love it

Wow ok that changes things. Gonna have to rethink my approach now.

Oh man, I am literally in the exact same boat as you right now. I've been pulling my hair out for months trying to find a travel lens that doesn't feel like I'm lugging around a bag of bricks, but everything I buy just ends up being disappointing. It's so frustrating that I still haven't found a solution for my X-S20 despite spending way too much time obsessing over specs and reviews.

Same boat, watching this

Building on the earlier suggestion, everyone pushes the Fujifilm XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 but it's just okay. Get the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN instead—it's sharper, smaller, and constant aperture.

To add to the point above: honestly just grab the Tamron 17-70mm f/2.8 Di III-A VC RXD. It changed my entire travel game. Super sharp, stabilized, and lowkey worth every penny.

100% agree

Huh interesting. I had no idea. The more you know I guess 🤷