Lens count how many is too many

Rebel t3i

Rebel t3i

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Tony
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how many lenses in your collection
I have 18 lenses and 4 tele converters
 
I think it all depends on what you shoot, if like me you like to dabble at everything then I could see having a few lens would be ok but if you only do one type of shooting then a couple may only be needed.

18 does seems tad excessive or is that just every lens you have owned and just never got rid of, plus some you never use anymore because you have upgraded?????

spike
 
I currently have 2 lenses.

I don't see the point in hanging onto lenses you rarely use. I like to have 3-4 most times. A wide, tele and macro and maybe a prime in the bag too. Only reason I've only got 2 now is I've sold a couple to make way for my move to FX. I've a few DX lenses, I'll maybe keep one for my D90 as back up and my macro will go on FX fine.

18?? how often would you use them all?
 
I have the Canon 1Ds MkII FF - and I have 3 lenses which suit everything I do:

50mm f 1.8

28-135mm IS USM

70-300mm L IS USM.

and a set of Kenko auto extension tubes.

I included the Kenko tubes because they enable me to extend the versatility of my lenses into macro shots without having any macro lenses.

.
 
Rebel t3i said:
how many lenses in your collection
I have 18 lenses and 4 tele converters
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Judging from your camera bag you have severe overlap.
1. what's the point of having two entry level bodies if you have two 7Ds?
2. whats the point of the 50-250 IS if you have 70-200, 50-500
3. kit lens is not a lens to me :P (and you have the 17-55 anw)
4. why 11-18 AND 10-22?
5. why 2 2x TCs?
6. why 28mm 2.8 if you have 30mm 1.4 and no FF camera?
7. and how about the 35-80. do you use it?

see that comes down to 10? ;)

Answering your question:
4 primes (24,35,50,85), 1 UWA, 1 standard zoom, 1 telephoto and 1 holiday lens (18-200) ;)
 
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drb5 said:
3 but I think you only need around 5 max.
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Different people require diffent set ups for their work. 5 max? No chance.

I currently use often 8 lenses, I know others who use more for their work. However i would rather have good quality glass than cheap crap for the sake of it.
 
Tony, I think you may be a fellow sufferer of GAS (Gear Acquisition syndrome).

I've managed to get mine down a bit, but still hanker for "better" lenses and the occasional prime for specific purposes - its a hard habit to break, something I've not managed yet - if you trawl back look at the bodies I've been through!
 
You who you have to many when you don't use everyone of them
If you have ones taking up space, then you have to many

But if you use all then your cool
 
If I had to pick a reasonable priced perfect line up it would be:
1dx (upgrade from my 1d3)
5d2 (upgrade from my 1ds2)

samyang 14mm (I use this for super wide angles where corner sharpness matters)
voigtlander 20mm (I'd get this as a pocket friendly wide angle for 5d2
24 1.4 (i'd use it for time lapses at night
17-40 (I'd use this for events)
50 1.4 (I use it for shallow depth of field, and it would stay on the 5d2 as a walkaround)
70-200 ISII (events)
200-400 IS (i'd use it for sports and nature)
150mm macro (I use it for macro)
mpe-65 (it would mean I wouldn't have to use lens reversing and extension tubes for high magnification photography anymore)
2x converter (sports/nature)
extension tubes

that is my dream set up right now, and i'm part of the way there...
could cover nearly every conceivable situation with that
and as a pro I think of lenses in terms of situations rather than focal lengths

I also have laying around:
helios 44 (came on a zenit SLR, horrible camera so only used as an ornament, takumar 28mm (sits on a broken spotmatic as an ornament, very sharp, used for landscapes)
pentax 28mm (terrible lens but focusses down to 20cm so useful for wide angle macro)
zeiss 135 3.5 (slow, but tiny, so a pocket friendly telephoto)

olympus 35RC (when I need a camera that can slip into jeans pockets, or I don't care about damaging


18 lenses and 4 converters does sound like a lot, but if you can justify all of them then go for it. Although with old lenses sometimes you can't even give them away so they tend to clutter up your life, at one point I had about 5 135mm lenses, all terrible.
 
I currently have-

Nikon 24-70 for weddings,pets and landscape shots
Nikon 70-200 for weddings and pets
Nikon 85 f1.8G for weddings
Sigma 120-300 for wildlife ( with a 1.4tc).
Nikon 600 AFS for wildlife.

I'm thinking of getting a Nikon 16-35 for weddings and landscape shots and I don't believe I need anything else for anything else that I would want to shoot.
 
iced_jacob said:
Judging from your camera bag you have severe overlap.
1. what's the point of having two entry level bodies if you have two 7Ds?
2. whats the point of the 50-250 IS if you have 70-200, 50-500
3. kit lens is not a lens to me :P (and you have the 17-55 anw)
4. why 11-18 AND 10-22?
5. why 2 2x TCs?
6. why 28mm 2.8 if you have 30mm 1.4 and no FF camera?
7. and how about the 35-80. do you use it?

see that comes down to 10? ;)

Answering your question:
4 primes (24,35,50,85), 1 UWA, 1 standard zoom, 1 telephoto and 1 holiday lens (18-200) ;)
Click to expand...

I never really get round to selling anything I did sell two a few months ago on here so that would have made 20 lol
some are from my old film canon
they're not all listed in my bag as there isn't the space
My eldest son uses half my kit
It's so much easier to buy than sell lol

1. what's the point of having two entry level bodies if you have two 7Ds?
Upgraded and never got round to selling them and the 600d is easier to use as a walk about PS
2. whats the point of the 50-250 IS if you have 70-200, 50-500
cheap light lens that takes good images for walk about and PS
3. kit lens is not a lens to me :P (and you have the 17-55 anw)
came basically free with the 400d and isn't bad again for PS
4. why 11-18 AND 10-22?
11-18 came with one of the 7d's and no one wants to buy it yet
5. why 2 2x TCs?
I also have 2 1.4x's. Sigma doesn't fit as many as the kenco I discovered after I bought the sigmas
6. why 28mm 2.8 if you have 30mm 1.4 and no FF camera?
28 2.8 was one of the 3 lenses I first had with my eos film camera
7. and how about the 35-80. do you use it?
again old from the film camera and worth a round of drinks for one
 
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So, basically, you are a hoarder :)

I am the complete opposite.
 
JohnN said:
Tony, I think you may be a fellow sufferer of GAS (Gear Acquisition syndrome).

I've managed to get mine down a bit, but still hanker for "better" lenses and the occasional prime for specific purposes - its a hard habit to break, something I've not managed yet - if you trawl back look at the bodies I've been through!
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Don't know many photographers who don't suffer from this,even famous pros :)
 
I've got 3 just now, 18-50 f/2.8, 50 f/1.4 and 70-200 f/2.8. When I go full frame the 18-50 will go and i'll get an 85 f/1.4 and possibly 24-70. Will suit me perfectly as I don't shoot landscapes or wildlife.
 
iv been buying for a few years now


Sigma EX DG 24-70mm Macro f/2.8
Sigma EX 15mm Fisheye f/2.8
Sigma 105mm macro f/2.8
Sigma 85mm f/1.4
Canon 50mm F1.8 MK1
Canon 70-200mm f/4 L USM
Canon 35mm f/1.4 L USM

i feel i have to many but i dont know what to let go other than 50mm 1.8
 
How many is too many? Any that you have no use for.:thumbs:

I have a couple of lenses I rarely use, but I need backups and these fill that space.
 
for what the 50mm mk1 would fetch what's the point in selling it Stephen
that's how I see it lol and probably why I have so many
 
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Rebel t3i said:
for what the 50mm mk1 would fetch what's the point in selling it Stephen
that's how I see it lol and probably why I have so many
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well thats my view i did try to sell but no takes and its just sitting here, shes not doing any harm
 
JohnN said:
Tony, I think you may be a fellow sufferer of GAS (Gear Acquisition syndrome).

I've managed to get mine down a bit, but still hanker for "better" lenses and the occasional prime for specific purposes - its a hard habit to break, something I've not managed yet - if you trawl back look at the bodies I've been through!
Click to expand...

I'm thinking of getting the ef 135 f2 don't need it just want it lol
I'm also looking at 100m -150mm or so macros but I'm still trying to figure out why alot of my lenses say macros on yet aren't a true macro
so I'll probably buy a macros lens to work out the difference myself
I also have 7 range rovers making 19 cars in total too
3 ride on mowers 3 chains saws 3 dogs 2 kids but no wife the list goes on and on roflol
 
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Haha, what a haul!
I'm thinking of the 135 too
 
I should really get round to selling some of them but it's a chore
I did sell my bigma non os but only because I had ordered the os version lol
 
4 primes, 3 zooms, 1 tilt/shift.

There are no overlap, there are no slow lenses, 2.8 is the slowest.
 
I've got about 1/2 your number of lenses and just 1 TC, I have a use for most but a couple of the primes are overlap/backup now.
 
My wife has me on a 1 in 1 out policy but I've managed to sneak an extra in bringing my total to 3. :(
I need at least 6 more by my count though!
 
I don't have the wife issue anymore
but I don't advise you go down this route as it is somewhat costly
My x wife had every beany they made and over 300 pairs of shoes
 
Like many, I've been buying for years to suit both my FX and DX kit.

Currently I have

My trinity
Nikon 16-35 F4 VR
Nikon 24-70 F2.8
Nikon 70-200 F2.8 VR II

Others
Nikon 300 F2.8 VR
Nikon 17-55 F2.8 DX
Nikon 50mm F1.4 AFS
Nikon 50mm F1.8 AFD
Nikon 70-300 F3.5-5.6 VR
Nikon 16-85 F3.5-5.6 VR DX
Nikon 24-120 F3.5-5.6 VR
Sigma 10-20 F3.5-5.6 DX
Sigma 15-30 F3.5-4

Converters
Nikon TC14e II
Nikon TC17e II
Nikon TC20e III

Too many....probably, but some are not worth that much second hand so I'll just keep them.
 
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I have three lenses that I use plus one that I used to use.

My budget is severely restricted and so I've gone for:

  • wide-angle zoom (Sigma 10-20) - bought new
  • standard zoom (Canon 28-135) - bought second-hand for a good price
  • telephoto zoom (Sigma 150-500) - bought new

I know there are some gaps and I realise that the 28mm of the standard zoom isn't ideal on a crop body but as with a lot of folk, my camera-bag is a work in (very slow) progress.

I also have a cheap Tamron 70-300 which I used on my 35mm SLR and in conjunction with the kit lens on my 350D (the kit lens was sold with the 350D). This lens has a 'faux' macro (1:2) facility at the 300mm end which works quite well and that is the main reason that I keep it (it's also got hardly any second-hand value - can be had for about £100 new)
 
I have 6 lenses and 1x TC see my camera bag.

Ralspeed
 
simonblue said:
What happen if your lens break down :eek:,I must have a backup,take a camera everywhere :)
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what happens if my camera breaks down, I only have on of those as well?

I would just buy a replacement and be without a camera for a couple of days. I have got other things to do to keep me busy, especially Monday to Friday :(
 
I think I might win this competition, if it is a competition. Somewhere about 500, I think. And they all get used.
 
StewartR said:
I think I might win this competition, if it is a competition. Somewhere about 500, I think. And they all get used.
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:lol::lol:
that's unfair it would be a bit like asking who has the most cars and hertz car rental posting
 
I have the right amount - 14mm f/2.8 for ultra-ultra-close up editorial; 17-55mm for general shooting; 35mm f/1.8 for throwing backgrounds out at f/2; 85mm for shallow DoF and because it was part of a deal I did for a D2x; 70-200mm VR for all general telephoto work; 60mm AF-D for macro and close-up shooting.

That lot suits me fine for now - if I add lenses for specific purposes then I still have the right amount...
 
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