Tell me if I'm crazy or not, please

[SeanOutside]

Here's the situation: I do a lot of hiking, backpacking and traveling with my partner. I tried carrying a few different point and shoot cameras but couldn't stand them. I tried carrying my old DSLRs but they were too big/heavy/obtrusive with the large body and heavy zoom lenses. So while to fall back to my iPhone 11 Pro I simultaneously took the totally logical step of pre-ordering a Sony A7 IV, which arrived last week. Now, instead of a 28-75, 24-105, or 16-35 I'm seriously considering just two primes: a 24 and a 50. Specifically the new Sony lenses that came out this year (SEL24F28G and SEL50F25G).

Would I be crazy to go with two primes for hiking/backpacking/travel as opposed to a 28-75 (Sony) or 24-70 (Sigma)? Maybe I'd need to add an 85mm. When I shoot with my iPhone I don't pinch around, it's either wide open, 1x or 2x, so I feel like I would not miss the in-between lengths. Please halp me decide!

[Pieter]

If 90% of your shots are either at 24 or 50mm, this makes sense. If your shots are about 50/50 at 24 and 50mm, your travelling companions will hate you for it as you're spending ages swapping lenses. To me these lenses make more sense on an A7C, to have a pocketable fullframe camera like the RX1.

There's no Sony 28-75 (yet), but in your case I'd seriously consider the Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 G2 if you don't mind sacrificing a bit on the wide end. The 24-70 f/2.8 options are very bulky (Sony and Sigma) and/or mediocre (Sony and Samyang). Whether you add a wide angle to a 28-75 (e.g Sony 20mm f/1.8 G) or a tele to a 24-70 (e.g Sony 85mm f/1.8) is a tradeoff only you can make: does the prime add enough to your options to warrant the extra weight and bag space needed?

[XKAES]

You don't specifically say what camera you were using before, but since you have experience with several zoom, you are a good judge of what zoom lenses would do for you.  And you know that zooms are larger and heavier.  You  are in a perfect position to judge whether your new camera with comparable lenses (zooms vs primes) would be significantly smaller and lighter than your old setup. 

I would guess that the best way would be an single, all-in-one zoom -- but each has its limitations (too many to list here).

As a long-time backpacker, if I were forced to pick a single lens it would be a full-frame 24-200mm.

[thebeardedgroundsman]

I don't think you're crazy.

A nifty fifty for Town and general, then the 24mm for landscapes sound reasonable to me. You'd need to get used to "zooming-with-your-feet", but a lot of photographers find the discipline of using prime lenses leads to more interesting photos.

[Adrichardson]

The 40mm is also worth considering - I find 50mm can be a bit narrow for travel.