Just a fun thread as I was thinking about lenses that I've re-purchased for one reason or another, and wondered about other's experiences.
Here are the lenses I've had, sold/gifted/had stolen, and then purchased again:
1. 50mm f1.8 (first extra lens I bought in 2003, gave mine away and bought another, too cheap not to own)
2. 70-200 f4L (bought 2004, stolen, bought another)
3. 70-200 f4L IS (bought as upgrade to non-IS, sold to upgrade to 2.8IS, changed mind and recently re-purchased)
4. Sigma 50mm f1.4 (bought then sold, replaced with 50L, bought 2nd Sigma and tested against 50L, kept 2nd Sigma)
5. Canon 28mm f1.8 (liked it but gave to friend, regretted so I bought another)
6.* Canon 24mm f1.4L (Not exactly like others, I had 3 v2s but had AF issues. But I liked the FL and aperture, so I bought a used v1 instead)
Which lenses did you own, regret selling/loosing/breaking, and then re-purchase?
50/1.4 It's a lens that I sometimes love, sometimes hate. I dont'get much EOSfun from the 50 mm FOV on a full frame. But every now and then I use crop camera's next to my full frames and then the 50 is indispensable. It's great for portraits and sometimes I use the lens for documentary style of reporting. The AF hunting and not being able to lock in low light situations is another source of frustation. I sold the 50 1.4 a few times and bought a new copy every time I needed one again. My last copy was for an assignment more than a year ago in a care institute where I do informal care every week. I haven't touched the lens since that assignment, so I am thinking of selling it again
I don't know if this one counts too, but my Planar in the Rolleiflex is another one. I have the habit to sell and buy my Rolleiflexes every now and then. I love the camera for it's usability and images. But since film has become such a hassle I hardly use the camera anymore. But after I sold the camera I fell in love again with a great copy that some customer traded for a Casio (!) digital in the camerastore. So I decided I wanted to have the Rolleiflex again. Of course that was not just for the lens, but the whole Rollei TLR experience, but I guess some EOSfun lovers recognize the feelings of nostalgia and desire for owning things from the past, even though it don't get much use in practice anymore.
jj_glos wrote:
85mm f1.8, I never really liked using it on a crop so sold it. Once I got a FF body however, I just had to pick up another!
Haha, I did exactly the same.
Lens I have sold and want back are
canon 50 1.4. love the flare on it but can't justify owning a lens just for that.
sigma 85 1.4. most hated lens I have owned. I went through 5 copies before owning the 6th and ended up selling it after 2 months anyway becasue the 85L focus is so much more consistant. Amazing lens for bokeh, sharp, contrast, internal focus, size, just couldn't stand the focus inconsist and and a minor flaw in my opinion was a warmer tone (easily fixed, I know).
I would like to try out the version 2 of the 24-70. Had version 1 for a while but wasn't really that impressed with it. Since the version 2 is comparable to the 70-200 version 2 I am thinking to give it a try since the 70-200 is such an amazing lens, super sharp and great focus consistancy.
400L/5.6.... had one a few years ago but then sold it when I got a 400 DO. When I sold the DO in favor of getting a 500/f4, I realized that I still really liked the portability, sharpness and focal length of a 400mm, so I bought another 400/5.6! But I would like if Canon added a nice 4-stop IS to the lens and then it would be better than perfect!
Thinking about re-purchasing the 300mm f4L IS. Sold it a few years back and I have missed it quite a few times. AF was great, IS worked nicely, the built in hood was very convenient and overall the lens is quite portable. It also was quite good optically.
If the 400 5.6 had IS I would buy it instead. But at that focal length IS is just about a must have.
For some reason I've had 3 28-135's in the past few years. I always seem to end up with another one in trades. Aside from that, I've had the 40mm 2.8 twice, the 85mm 1.8 twice, and three different copies of the 50mm 1.8 (I just got a 50mm 1.4, which so far I've loved, and will probably stick with). I'm about to buy what will be my second copy of the 70-300 IS, so I guess we can add that to my list too.
I've purchased multiple copies of many lenses, but the only time there was a gap beteen two copies was with the 300/4 IS (2000 and 2011). The second one was not much better than the first one as far as I could recall. They need to redesign it with flourite elements and otherwise update the 15-year-old design.
Two so far. The 100 f/2.8L IS USM Macro, the first time around I tried to make it more of an all purpose lens and to find it could do many things remarkably well, and for other purposes not so much. The 24-105 f/4L IS USM, just more of a love/hate relationship. Currently I've settled down a bit with my choices of lenses and buy based on specific reasons and purposes. Now, I use the 100 f/2.8L Macro for lightbox product photography needs and close-up macro purposes. And the 24-105 f/4L, is now more of a lightweight walk around lens. Fortunately the latest 24-105 copy is has very good IQ so no need to to look elsewhere. Though I now have a few more lenses, I feel that I can use a certain lens more specifically for a task. A much better photographer could most likely get away with a few less lenses and make them work in many different occasions. I may get to that point some day possibly, but today not very likely. I've yet to venture into wildlife or birds, and suspect that I'll need to save up a whole lot more $$ for those longer lenses. My recent lens purchase (24-70 f/2.8L II) is keeping me busy finding where it fit's for me. So far it's a great performer, and lives up to it having great IQ!
I've done lots of rebuys, but the one I've done over and over was the 135L
Had it with crop sensor and it was too long. Bought it again and it lived on my 5D. Sold it when the 70-200 f/2.8 IS arrived. Bought another when I found out the zoom just wasn't as awesome as the 135. Then, stupidly, did exactly the same thing with the 70-200 f2.8 IS II.
I sold my first 300 2.8IS to help finance a 500f/4; recently got another from LensRentals (same place I bought the first) just because there's nothing so satisfying as examining the super-sharp results from that lens on the laptop...
And, like many, I've bought and given away a few 50 1.8's....
Jerry
