chiron wrote:
Please count only lenses that you can mount on a camera you now own.
If you like, please tell us something about your collection of lenses and how you feel about them.
Too few lenses?
Too many lenses?
Some specific lenses you would like to acquire?
How often do you buy or sell lenses?
Are there lenses that you rarely use but haven't sold or disposed of?
What do you like and not like about your collection?
What qualities are most important to you in a lens?
I swapped from Nikon to Sony in January, so still figuring out my kit and usage.
Currently in my Sony kit I own:
- 12-24 f4 G
- 20 1.8G
- 24 1.4G
- 28-70 f2 GM
- TTartisans 50mm 1.4 tilt-shift
- 55mm zeiss (solely for personal imagery)
- 50-150 f2 GM
- 85 1.4 GMii
- 135 GM
- 400 2.8
I seem to be collecting ultra wide lenses - first the 20mm, as my standard, as that's the focal length I always ended up at on my Nikon 14-24 and 17-35 anyways. Then I picked up the 24GM on loan from a coworker, and it's the perfect wide to match my 55 zeiss for personal images and documenting my life. But at the same time I also got a good deal on the 12-24 for when I needed proper wide, so that's in the bag too... I need to sort it out, potentially sell the 12-24 and the 20 and pick up the new 16G.
Similarly, I picked up the 85 and 135 as replacements for my Nikon 85 and 200 f2 when I first swapped - and then picked up the 50-150 on release, and haven't touched either prime since. At some point I'll look at shifting the 135 probably... probably not the 85 though, I really like the look out of that lens with the extra separation.
At some point I'd like to pick up the 300GM (or even better, a sony 200 f2) and probably the 20-70 or 24-105 for video work, but there's not many other gaps in my kit - if Sigma or Sony made a light 105 1.4 I'd sell the 85 + 135 for it, but it would likely sit in the bag in favour of the 50-150 anyway.
That's my work kit - for personal use I'll take the grip off my A1, and I've got the 24 1.4 and 55 zeiss in a thinktank presspass as an everyday carry - not entirely set on the combo, my copy of the 55mm isn't super sharp in the corners, and a lens like the 20-70 f4 would be tempting to stop me needing to swap lenses. But I'm trying to tell myself that my day to day life doesn't need to be sharp enough for billboard use.
It's kind of crazy how much space the pure consumption of equipment takes up within this hobby. I've shot analog 6x6 for over 20 years with just one body + 60mm Distagon + 80mm Planar + 150mm Sonnar, and I've never missed a thing. Quite the opposite. When I took a twin-lens Rolleiflex with me on vacation, I found it so incredibly liberating to use a relatively light and compact camera without interchangeable lenses that I thought the 80mm lens alone would be enough for me. Based on this experience, I made a conscious decision to shoot digitally only with a normal focal length. The fact that I now have several 50mm lenses actually annoys me a bit. If I had more confidence in the Techart adapter, I'd probably sell everything and just get a 1.2 50mm Nokton VM to use it with the AF adapter.
These I mostly got when I was shooting a R2. Frustration with the poor focus tracking meant I fell under the influence of discussion here and focused on IQ and interesting rendering. This is landscapes, night, street and macro, and when it's "for me."
2. Birding: 200-600, 600gm.
Eventually I got a A1 because the 200-600 on the R2 was an exercise in frustration. I'd been attracted to photography in the first place for birds.The 600 was too cheap to pass by. It's my most used lens now.
3. Events: Sigma 35mm 1.4, 85 1.4, 24-7 2.8.
I got these to handle social situations, weddings etc. I'm not needing the absolute best IQ/focus, just serviceable, and can't risk MF. Not having AF with the an A1 seemed really silly. But I'm mostly not looking at the images created by these lenses and really thinking they're something special.
At this point I'm done, 9 lenses sure, but the total value is a lot due to the GM.
Nifty Fifty wrote:
It's kind of crazy how much space the pure consumption of equipment takes up within this hobby. I've shot analog 6x6 for over 20 years with just one body + 60mm Distagon + 80mm Planar + 150mm Sonnar, and I've never missed a thing. Quite the opposite. When I took a twin-lens Rolleiflex with me on vacation, I found it so incredibly liberating to use a relatively light and compact camera without interchangeable lenses that I thought the 80mm lens alone would be enough for me. Based on this experience, I made a conscious decision to shoot digitally only with a normal focal length. The fact that I now have several 50mm lenses actually annoys me a bit. If I had more confidence in the Techart adapter, I'd probably sell everything and just get a 1.2 50mm Nokton VM to use it with the AF adapter....Show more →
I feel like this is too broadly sweeping of an opinion. Perhaps the most vocal are super into acquisition, but that simply misleads people into extending that onto everyone.
If I see a new, intriguing focal range(50-150 f2) or Laowa fisheye 8-15 comes out, I might buy it to replace lenses that are deemed redundant or superseded. That is the benefit of being part of an innovative ecosystem. And since photography is now vastly more enthusiast hobby than professionals these days, it makes sense that the most vocal are those sharing their enthusiasm for new options. I have been using the 50-150 daily for the last month and a half, while traveling, and it has truly opened my eyes to new possibilities and has given me more flexibility than ever before. The laowa fisheye is also super fun and a new perspective to play around with. It is just fun.
I'm at an A1 ii and A7cr
Sigma 14-24 2.8
CV 21 2.5
Sony 24 1.4
CV 40 1.2
Sigma 65 f2 (arrive in a day or two)
Sony 85 1.8
Tamron 50-300
Sony 200-600
I've got an m mount 28 Ultron II and CV 50 1.5 MC II (panda) that I adapt every now and then, but need to pick up a Leica so I can hold my finger in the air while I shoot like a proper gentleman.
Tempted to sell the 14-24 and get the 14 or 16 1.8 and sell the 85 and look for a Samyang 135 1.8. I also covet a Sony 35 1.4.
Nifty Fifty wrote:
It's kind of crazy how much space the pure consumption of equipment takes up within this hobby. I've shot analog 6x6 for over 20 years with just one body + 60mm Distagon + 80mm Planar + 150mm Sonnar, and I've never missed a thing. Quite the opposite. When I took a twin-lens Rolleiflex with me on vacation, I found it so incredibly liberating to use a relatively light and compact camera without interchangeable lenses that I thought the 80mm lens alone would be enough for me. Based on this experience, I made a conscious decision to shoot digitally only with a normal focal length. The fact that I now have several 50mm lenses actually annoys me a bit. If I had more confidence in the Techart adapter, I'd probably sell everything and just get a 1.2 50mm Nokton VM to use it with the AF adapter....Show more →
Same. I used a 3-lens Hasselblad kit for nearly 15 years.
I shot commercial, portraits and weddings with the same 50/80/150 outfit.
I lusted after the 40mm but could never afford it.
I go though periodic episodes of radical gear exorcism.
In 2022, I owned and used two Ricoh GR bodies, and nothing else, for a whole year.
Now I'm just plain tired of the chase, and this has led to increased contentment with the current kit: 2 A7Rx bodies, one monochrome, a half-dozen Zeiss lenses.
My collection is dumb
24mm 2.8 G
40mm 2.5 G
50mm 1.4 GM
16-25mm 2.8 G
Clearly, I am lacking some reach. I had a 70-200 F4 G mark 2, but sold that to fund my wife's x100vi.
For my newly readopted Sony a7R V system, I have Zeiss Batis primes in 18-, 85-, and 135mm lengths, a Sony 24-70/2.8 GM II middlin' zoom, and a TAMRON 50-300 F4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD long.
Of course the excellent 18 is my only ultrawide, and while the 85 and 135 lengths are included in the zoom range of the TAMRON, I include those Batises for slower work requiring higher optical quality than the TAMRON, which is plenty good enough for quicker work.
All this stuff and more I 'carry' in a Thinktank Airport Roller I've had many years, and I'm very pleased with the Thinktank system.
FWIW, I'm 81YO and deep into my get-rid-of-it life, and I'm in the process of selling over 40 items to B&H for fair, overall, prices.. While I could sell this stuff individually for more money...say twice as much...doing so would require may 30 to 50 times the time to do so.
chiron wrote:
Please count only lenses that you can mount on a camera you now own.
If you like, please tell us something about your collection of lenses and how you feel about them.
Too few lenses?
Too many lenses?
Some specific lenses you would like to acquire?
How often do you buy or sell lenses?
Are there lenses that you rarely use but haven't sold or disposed of?
What do you like and not like about your collection?
What qualities are most important to you in a lens?
I am not a professional and this is strictly a hobby for me. I have been into photography for a very long time and can now indulge the hobby since retirement. I hang around the boards learning from the long time members and picking up new methods and experience from the community.
I have the following lenses:
1. 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II - my most used lens
2. 70-200mm G f/4.0 - my least used lens
3. 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM - used for birding
4. 28-200mm F/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD - used for travel
5. 16-35mm pz G f/4.0 - landscape, real estate interiors & city walk around
6, TC 1.4x - for use with the 100-400mm when birding
My last purchase was the fe 16-35mm f/4 as I saw a need at the wide end for landscape so I acquired that lens this year. It fit my requirement and I can use it all the way to 35mm before having to replace it with the 24-70mm if I need to increase the range.
For now, I think I have what I need,(as far as lenses), but if I find myself needing a faster prime or perhaps the 300mm f/2.8, instead of the 100-400mm I could see that as a possibility but for now, I am set.
Three for Sony: 40mm f/2.5, 28-60mm, Sigma 90mm f/1.8 DG DN. I have a total of 28 lenses split across Nikon Z, Canon RF, Canon EF, Fuji, and some for my film bodies.
12 of the lenses get normal use, the rest are for the old bodies that mostly sit on a shelf.
Anecdotally, I often notice that those that own the house produce the more banal, inconsistent, less interesting work vs those that have a carefully curated of just enough glass to meet their needs.
It's taken me a while to settle into a gear cabinet that precisely meets my needs but I'm 95% there with under a dozen lenses for a mix of full format, medium format, and 35mm bodies. I don't ever like hemming and hawing over which lens to grab for any one use case. Less is WAY more.
It would be interesting in threads like this for people to post links to their work.
Might get a sense of how much benefit there is to having 20 lenses, rather than, say, 2 or 3 lenses.
Do people not generally have links aa part of their profile? I have links to my photo site, as well as instagram there.
As for the idea that people with more lenses would spend too much time deciding on lenses vs taking photos... I think that is a huge stretch to correlate. And it truly doesn't take much time to decide, even with a lot of lenses. I travel out of the country for most of the year, and I don't spend more than a few minutes to estimate the most useful. I bring 3 bodies and 5 lenses most of the time.
ronno wrote:
It would be interesting in threads like this for people to post links to their work.
Might get a sense of how much benefit there is to having 20 lenses, rather than, say, 2 or 3 lenses.
I never have enough lenses as I chase a good lens, regardless of the mount. Now I am about 300+ lenses with about 15-20% duplicates. I am just glad my kids have moved on and are on their own!!
