MikeEvangelist Offline Upload & Sell: On
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From @MikeEvangelist
Since switching to full-frame digital in 2011, I’ve bought, used and sold a wide variety of lenses, both native and adapted, searching for just the right combination of range, performance, size and handling. I didn’t realize just how many until this week when I made a Lightroom catalog to gather all the ‘for sale’ images I’ve shot when selling some of them.
The tally? 122 lenses, bought/sold since 2011. (plus probably a dozen that I forgot about or returned almost immediately due to unexpected limitations or poor performance). The vast majority were for use on Sony full-frame cameras, after brief periods with Leica M9 & 240 and Nikon D800e. I currently have/use 9 lenses.
I’ve had much fun and learned a lot on this journey.
Expensive Lessons I’ve Paid For, So You Don’t Have To
First and foremost - It’s a fool’s game, constantly chasing after perfection. Nearly all modern full-frame lenses, from all manufacturers, can produce excellent images.
Second, I learned that although I really want/love fast lenses, I generally don’t want to carry them, or pay for them.
A few other observations
* Zeiss lenses really are special. (I’m not talking about Sony/Zeiss, but actual Zeiss-branded lenses) They are reliably excellent. (But I sure wish they still made zooms for still cameras)
* As a sub-point to that - when manual focus is appropriate, the performance and handling of the Loxia lenses is unmatched.
* Voigtlander lenses are similarly well made and also extremely gratifying to use.
* Leica lenses, while very well built and certainly made from top quality materials, don’t perform any/significantly better than the top glass from Sony/Nikon/Canon/Zeiss (but confirmation bias and placebo effect often make them seem superior, especially in the honeymoon period shortly after purchase)
* Many lenses that I originally considered to be superb, turn out to be mediocre-to-merely-good when compared to modern equivalents. (one example - classic Nikkor 50mm ƒ1.4 non-AI. Any of the modern nifty-50s put it to shame)
* Some of the later Minolta a-mount lenses are incredible performers, even today. Highlights being the 80-200mm ƒ2.8 zoom, and the 200mm ƒ2.8 HS.
Bottom Line
What really limits my satisfaction with any lens is my limited ability. It’s that simple.
Technique, skill and understanding your gear is at least 10 times more important to creating satisfying images than sharpness, centering, tilt, onion-ring bokeh, purple fringing or any other nit-picking specsmanship that dominate lens discussions these days. Buy what you can afford, learn how to use it, and have fun.
For the curious, here’s a Lightroom album with (almost) all the lenses I’ve owned during this period - https://adobe.ly/2qnFkJ6
Some Tidbits
The most expensive lenses I’ve owned
Leica 16-18-21 WATE - $4999
Leica 280mm ƒ2.8 APO - $3499
The Most Amazing for the Price
Samyang 35mm ƒ2.8 - bought for $220 - performs at a much higher level
Sony 24mm ƒ1.4 GM - world-class performance and handling for a relatively modest price (an absolute bargain compared against the similarly performing Leica 24mm ƒ1.4, which sells for about $6,000)
Most Disappointing Lens
Laowa 12mm ƒ2.8 - extremely soft unless stopped down to at least 5.6 - far overpriced, in my view
Voigtlander 40mm ƒ1.2 - Seems I maybe got a bad copy, but it was dreadful unless stopped down to ƒ4, which of course negates the whole point of this lens. (EDIT - a number of members pointed out that it was certainly a bum copy, so I'm inclined to try it again. However, it doesn't currently fit in my line-up, or budget; maybe later.)
Most Re-purchased Lenses
Sony 28mm ƒ2 - I’ve bought at least 3 of these, maybe 4. Keep trying, but it just doesn’t click.
Zeiss 12mm Touit - I’ve had three of them - No longer shoot APS-C, so don’t own one
Zess 50mm Loxia - I’m on my third one. All of them great and I regretted selling the earlier ones immediately.
Sony 70-200mm ƒ4 G - I’ve had 3 so far. Excellent, under-rated lens. But I needed a faster zoom, so am currently trying the Canon 70-200mm IS II
All-time Favorite lenses - (they produced the most images that I like the most)
1. Sony 24mm ƒ1.4 GM
2. Zeiss Loxia 50mm ƒ2
3. Zeiss Touit 12mm ƒ2.8
4. Sony/Zeiss 135mm ƒ1.8 a-mount
5. Leica 28mm ƒ2 Summicron
The Rogue's Gallery
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