Reading mode: Light Dark

Hoarding lenses and letting go of them

Go to last post
V

voider

Senior Member
Messages
3,067
Reaction score
430
Location
Hamburg, DE
Hi,

I have a luxury problem. I bought many lenses over the last 8 years and use many of them and love them each.

Due to a special coincidence I got a Nikon 300 2.8 AF-S II for nearly no money from Nikon USA. I have little use for it and kept it mostly stored. Now I brought my dream lens the 200 f2.

Do you see any reason to keep the Nikon 300 2.8 AF-S II?

For me the reason was until now that I would never buy such a lens since it is too expensive and therefore wanted to keep it since I might find a use for it. I am not strong enough to hand hold it. With a monopod it is ok. But still I am not shooting sport or wildlife. For portraits I mostly used my 135 f2 but will now use the 200 f2. The 200 f2 can be hand hold for a while and I like the shorter design. With a 1.4 TC I have a 300 2.8. And it got of course VR.

What would you recommend?

Cheers,

Timur
 
voider said:
Due to a special coincidence I got a Nikon 300 2.8 AF-S II for nearly no money from Nikon USA. I have little use for it and kept it mostly stored. Now I brought my dream lens the 200 f2.
Do you see any reason to keep the Nikon 300 2.8 AF-S II?
Click to expand...
If you don't use it, why keep it?
 
It sounds like the 300mm f/2.8 might have mold. You should send it to me so I can check it for you...
 
Yours is a special case because you were given the unused lens. But for others, letting go of something is tantamount to admitting a mistake. If you hoard it, you can always rationalize that you will someday need/use it. But once you sell it, you are probably losing money, and thus are confronted with your bad decision. Been there, done that.
 
Personally I do sell unused lenses. Now to be fair, most of my lenses were bought used, so I can (and do) sell them at little to no loss (and sometimes even a bit of a profit).

A nice side benefit of this approach is that i get to try a number of different lenses (and at times, even samples of lenses). Over the last 6 or 7 years I have personally owned 31 lenses and TCs + 5 SLRs (totalling about $17k), but currently only own 1 camera and 6 lenses (total investment of about $4k, if that). Since I have had the chance to try so many different lenses, I was able to keep those ones which fit my style, and pass on the others.

I can definitely recommend selling unused lenses, especially in the OP's case. No point in keeping something that you don't use.

Cheers
 
If you don't have a use for it it doesn't really matter what other people think of the lens. Sell it and realise some cash to invest in what you do need.
 
Nice problem to have! Another poster joked about it might have mold so I thought I'd mention what just happened to me. I also have many lenses and due to my husbands illness and passing over a 2 and 1/2 year period I didn't get to use most of them. I just took 2 into Adorama yesterday to trade and discovered I had mold on one! I was shocked as they are stored in a bag with silica packs. Anyway, I mumbled to the salesman that I recently sold an old 55mm f1.2 Canon lens I've has since 1975 that has traveled the world and had no mold. He said that they don't seal them like they used to. I guess my point is if your are not going to use the 300mm sell it before you have an issue that could devalue your lens.
 

Loading…

photo.net

Particularly the reply:

JDM von Weinberg , Jun 14, 2012; 07:55 p.m.

Lenses are not like old bananas, they don't rot. Modern AF lenses will be marketable for a long time to come. Heck, even old manual focus lenses have risen remarkably in recent years as a result of their use in video. With "improvements" to a specific lens, the price inevitably goes up a lot, so the older versions retain a lot of value for people who don't need the latest thing.

So having lenses to use for different purposes is a good thing.
If you don't need the money badly, you should keep what you already have. You really can't know what you might be shooting in a few years.

If you just want to go ahead and get rid of lenses you never use, that's ok, but you don't need to rationalize it as "sell now or it will spoil"

===

I guess that's against the conventional wisdom here at the DPR forums - but you got to do what is right for your situation. If that means selling the lenses you do not regularly use (to free up the money for something else) - that's one approach (the only approach if you need the money for some priority work). Other approach would be just keep them and use as needed - sure you can rent on occassions which may or may not be better off depending on your use. As an fyi - I have mulled over the same question several times till I got across this thread (over a period of time I have collected almost the whole Nikon lens lineup - at least all the AF and AF-S and do have those two - in my case 200 VR 1 & the latest 300mm VR II).
 
whoosh1 said:
whoosh1 wrote:


(over a period of time I have collected almost the whole Nikon lens lineup - at least all the AF and AF-S and do have those two - in my case 200 VR 1 & the latest 300mm VR II).
Click to expand...
A case of one hoarder advising another? ;)
 
thelenspainter said:
whoosh1 said:
(over a period of time I have collected almost the whole Nikon lens lineup - at least all the AF and AF-S and do have those two - in my case 200 VR 1 & the latest 300mm VR II).
Click to expand...
A case of one hoarder advising another? ;)
Click to expand...
Just trying to get more folks in the hoarders clan :-)
 
whoosh1 said:
thelenspainter said:
whoosh1 said:
(over a period of time I have collected almost the whole Nikon lens lineup - at least all the AF and AF-S and do have those two - in my case 200 VR 1 & the latest 300mm VR II).
Click to expand...
A case of one hoarder advising another? ;)
Click to expand...
Just trying to get more folks in the hoarders clan :-)
Click to expand...
Please count me in!

Unfortunately I don't have this problem with lenses such as the 300/2.8 VR or 200/2, which might present a liquidity problem.

On the other hand my dozen or so small and sharp AI/AI-S Nikkors remain keepers even when they get only occasional use, because their photographic potential and mechanical excellence is worth much more to me than their resale value.

(Also I'm a lens addict, and there's no better fix than finding an almost-unused AI or AI-S Nikkor for virtually peanuts 8>)

DC
 
An insecure person or a snob wants everything. It's OK. :)



207a78ffdfd54aed8c8691b63cdbe4b9.jpg
 
Last edited:
i see no reason to retain the big 300/2.8. i think your reasons for perhaps letting it go are rational and reasonable.

personally, i don't sell lenses (although i have given some away). the flip side of this is, i also do not buy many. i think i bought two this year: an 85/2.5 PC and an old 105/2.8 non-D.

i don't use every lens i own often, but i go though spells or phases where each will come to the forefront -- although some much more frequently than others, of course.

personally, i could not use the 300/2.8. it would be too cumbersome and unwieldy for me. the 200/2, on the other hand, is a lens "to die for", IMHO, but still a bit rich for my blood. so, i can see exactly where you're coming from.

as you've said, this is the kind of dilemma that one wishes he might have -- and not the sort we usually must deal with!
 
coudet said:
voider said:
Due to a special coincidence I got a Nikon 300 2.8 AF-S II for nearly no money from Nikon USA. I have little use for it and kept it mostly stored. Now I brought my dream lens the 200 f2.

Do you see any reason to keep the Nikon 300 2.8 AF-S II?
Click to expand...
If you don't use it, why keep it?
Click to expand...
I have lenses that I didn't use for years, or even decades, and which I now use regularly. Wish I had kept all the lenses I sold.
 
Slightly off topic in a way I should get rid of my 70-300 VR as I now have the 70-200 and TC 14e - except I backpack, am getting older and the 70-300 is almost 1 pound lighter in weight.

What you keep, what you sell and why is up to you.
 
You do not need to keep it, but might you wish you had it in the future? I keep all my old working lenses. I seem to find uses for them all the time. Like when I recently sent my beloved favorite 28-70 AF-S in for service.

The 300mm 2.8 is a very popular and very fine lens. I would have no problem keeping it. On the other hand, if you will really never use it trading it for something else makes sense. They are readily available for rent.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top