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What lenses do you have but never use?

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F-onefour

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I've had a few lenses in the years i've been active in photography that i just couldn't believe i even owned. I'm curious to know what lenses any of you have and ever thought "why did i even get that?"

Mine were:

Nikon 18-35mm. I hardly have any pictures from when i owned it, and can't even remember why i spent $500 on it 4 years ago.

Nikon 17-55 f/2.8. I was in college and I could not afford this lens. I sold off my 18-35 and 35-70 2.8 to Glazers in Seattle to help fund it. I remember walking out of the store with $20 left in my bank account. BUT I HAD THE 17-55!!!

Nikon 20-35. I had this lens for (i think) 2 weeks. Just never got a good vibe with it. It was my first attempt to replace my 24-120VR1.

Owning the 24-120VR1 when i also had the 17-55 and 80-200. I don't know what convinced me to (again) spend money i didn't have to get this.

now i'm in the process of dumping my zooms (24-120VR1 and 80-200D) and replacing them with the new exotic primes. We'll see how that pans out.
 
Maybe I'm the odd man out on this because everybody raves about this lens, but I have and do not use the 35mm 1.8 much at all. Can't say anything bad about the lens, but I just really never use it much.
 
Same here - I had but never used the 35mm 1.8g when I had a d80/d300. Not sure why either, just never used it.
 
18-55, don't use it since the range is covered by my 18-200.

55-200VR, same as above. I might use it more now that I got a Canon 500D closeup lens for it.

35 f/1.8, I play around with it now and again, but I don't really use it much.
--
D5000, Nikkor 18-200VR, 18-55, 55-200VR, 35 f/1.8, Sigma 10-20, SB400
Canon S95
 
Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AF-D gifted to my girlfriend, but she isn't using it either since she loves the 50mm f/1.2 AI-S a lot more

Voigtlander 58mm f/1.4 SL II - I rarely use this one because it was trumped last year by the Zeiss 50mm f/2 makro-planar, I only take the Voigtlander with me only if I am absolutely sure I will be using it or I want to travel very light (as in camera with only one lens mounted on the camera)
--
http://haf.cc
 
Nikkor 2.8/180 AFD.

It's a GREAT lens, no doubt about that, but it's just too long for my kind of shooting right now.

Last time I used it was April this year!

 
It turned out I prefer the look of my 17-35 racked racked wide on a FF body over the fisheye on a DX.

I think I’ve used the fisheye on a job about three times.
 
Rarely used the 50 1.4 D. Maybe once a year. I sold it this year.

Rarely used the 28-70 2.8 Tokina. Sold it this year.

My 105 2.8 Micro VR sits in the closet. Tempted to sell it. I never use it after the 1st few months of macro pictures. It gets 5 stars on all the reviews so I haven't sold it yet.

I used the money from the above lens to offset cost of my new 85 1.4 G.
My main lens 18-200 vr1. The utility of this lens can't be beat.
The kit lens, 18-55 , probably will be sold eventually.
Who knows. If the 85 1.4 G sits in the closet this year, then I might sell that.
 
My less used lens is the Nikon 35mm f/1.8, there is nothing wriong with it and I actually love when I use it but the convinience of the Tamron 17-50 VC can not be beat. I just got the 50mm 1.4G and I prefer this focal lenght better, so my 35mm will be shelved a little longer.
 
PeterToronto said:
I only have one lens that gets minimal use ... a Leica 50mm Summicron. I just find that I prefer my Nikkor 50 1.2 and my Zeiss 50mm 1.4. Hard to believe that the Summicron is the odd lens out.

Peace
Peter

http://www.peteranthonyphotography.com
Click to expand...
Crikey Peter, I've never known anyone not go ga-ga over a 50mm Summicron. Are you sure you're using it correctly? Just joking! :-)

I've learnt from previous posts that we've shared just how much you love your 1.2 AIS ...and who can blame you for delighting in your CZ 50mm.

If you're Summicron is a late E55 version in Mint condition I'll gladly make you an offer mate ...it seems a wee bit churlish for you to have to ponder over three such lenses! The angst it must cause you! :-)

Kind regards, as always,

Mark

http://www.r3maf.com
 
Lenses I had owned, did not use, sold and why...

(All were superb in their own rights.)

70-200VR1 Way to heavy and big.

105DC Never used it more than 3 or 4 times, tack sharp.

80-400VR way to slow to focus, wanted nonexistent upgrade to AF-s and VRII. I will repurchase when update comes out.

Lenses I own but do not use:

14-24mm so well built, just a mechanical masterpiece, I am afraid I will damage it.

--
Regards,

Jeff Morris / Homecinemaman

Adams, Gutmann, Steichen, Snoopy, Stigletz, Weston. they lead by example.

I hunt, I peck, I squint, all on a Dell M1330 13" laptop. So don't laugh, I'm happy there aren't more typo's!
 
I'm quite new in this creating-a-lens-collection business, and blame my newbie-ness on aquiring many lenses I do not need anymore. As in, I have now realised what lenses I need to be able to shoot in the way I like to. I shoot with a D50 and a D90.
  • 18-55mm , the kitlens on my first camera, the D50, used it only prior to knowing anything about how to use a DSLR.
  • 50mm f1.8D , my first lens purchase. Has not seen any daylight since I bought the 35mm f1.8 (my most used lens) when it came on the market.
  • 16-85mm , a very versatile lens, and almost perfect when travelling. The thing is, I never use it at home and rarely travel. Also, I'm a bit of an shallow dof-junkie, and feel slightly crippled when using this lens.
  • 105mm f2.8VR , a great lens, no doubt about it, I bought it because I thought I wanted to get closer, get to the macro-stage, but nah, once I did, I realised I wasn't a macro type. Close-up's are good enough for me. And also, it's a bit too long for my tastes on DX, on FX it would probably be a pretty good all-around tele.
  • Tokina 50-135mm f2.8 , now, I really love this lens, I really really do, but I'm just not sure I can justify having it just because its greatness, when I rarely find myself in a situation where I could use it (portraits for example). If my kit was "complete" and making me content, then I would not sell the Tokina even if it didn't get much use, but as is, I do need to take a second look at what I have and what I don't.
  • Sigma 10-20mm , this one gets the most use of all my "never-used"-lenses. If I want wide, this is the one I take out. And I do need a wide in my bag, even if I rarely take it out, it is a necessity, and something other lenses really can't make up for.
What I do use is: 35mm f1.8, 50mm f1.2, Helios 58mm f2 and 85mm f1.8.

My problem with selling is, that I have been thinking about going FX, and if so my dreamkit would be: D700 (as of now), 16-35mm f4, 35mm f1.4, 50mm f1.2, 85mm f1.4 and 105mm f2DC. The thing is, if I got the D700 today, I would almost have a kit like this. I have the 50mm f1.8D (echoing my most used lens today, the 35 f1.8), I have the 50mm f1.2, I have the 85mm f1.8 (although not f1.4, still less dof than with DX) and I have the 105VR (not f2, but I think I would get much more use out of it on FX). So I really only would have to buy a wide, the 16-35, to almost have my dreamkit.

I think I just got an epiphanie.....
--
http://www.flickr.com/brightdawns/
 
I've now gotten rid of the lenses I never used. They were:

35mm f2 AF-D. Really miss this lens. I should not have sold it, but you live and learn. Perhaps I'll treat myself to the new 1.4G for a significant birthday next year!

50mm f1.8 AF-D. Don't miss at all. I have the 50G which is considerably superior.

24-85 f2.8-4 AF-D. Destroyed by my toddler. Replaced with new 24-120 f4.

85mm f1.8 AF-D. I think I had a poor copy, and I never liked the lens all that much. It never got used, and I went always for the 50G as my DX portrait preference on the D300.

70-300 f4.5/5.6 AFS. Just never used it. I bought it thinking I needed telephoto coverage, and lo and behold, I didn't.

So, I've given up 'collecting' and I now focus completely on what I use. As such, I have the new 24-120 which is fabulous, and the 50G which is my low light and portrait friend. I might change the 50G for the 35G at some point next year, as for internal work the 35G might be perfect on the D300, as the 35D used to be. I really do regret selling that lens. Lots of my photo chums said why did I need both 35 and 50 primes in the bag, but I used both regularly and probably more than I ever used the mid-range zoom. The new 24-120 is however so good that I find I reach less for the 50G than before.....

I've often thought about the 70-200 VRII, but I just don't think I'd use it regularly enough to justify it, ditto the 180mm f2.8 which I've wanted to buy a copy of for probably the past 25 years or so.

It would be interesting to know from others if your lens buying and selling habits are cyclical or not? In over 25 years of SLR photography I've gone back to focal lengths previously sold on more than one occassion. Why do we do it?
 
i never use my 18-105 VR. i got it in a kit... and i got a great deal on the kit (D90 + 18-105VR + 70-300VR... basically got the 70-300 for $400 off), but that meant i had to also get an 18-105 which i knew i probably wouldn't use much.

currently trying to sell it for an 18-55 VR. it's useful to have a zoom lens in that range for every once in a while, and it's useful to have a cheapo $100 lens that you don't worry about dropping or breaking, and i could spend that money saved on a UWA or macro...
 
Good question.

Only 1.

I use every lens I have (except below) - but then again, I try to exercise disipline & not aquire every lens that I want. And then there's the $$$ factor ...

50mm f1.8D. Nice enough lens - great value - but the 50mm f1.4D suits my uses of this FOV better, or the 35mm f1.8 for something a bit wider. Had the 50G - but the S L O W AF just didn't work for me.

Also - I buy bodies - not kits - so I don't get stuck with the pre-packaged, slow, variable aperture, consumer zooms.

Cheers.
--
Vaya con Dios
imo
(c) 2010 fastglass
 
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