Reading mode: Light Dark

In terms of lenses, when is enough truly enough for you?

Go to last post
A

Austin7642

Forum Enthusiast
Messages
402
Reaction score
453
I recently bought two new lenses: a 85mm f/1.4 is and the 100-400mm ii. I only do freelance photography and work part time, but I also have the five other lenses: a 16-35mm f/4, 24-70mm ii, 100mm l, 70-200mm ii and a 35mm ii. I don't have a complaint to be said about any of my lenses, but I got to thinking the other day, when is enough really enough when it comes to how many lenses you buy? Obviously, you could get by in most situations with just a 16-35mm, 24-70mm, and a 70-200mm because of their versaility, but other lenses offer other advantages. I don't have just one particular genre I stay within, so for me, seven seems to be my lucky number in terms of how many lenses are ideal for me and my shooting preferences. The next time I upgrade, it will probably be a new camera body, unless Canon releases a new 135mm l.

So, how many lenses do you have or want, and how many would you say you honestly need for your style of shooting?
 
I have much more than I need. Many times I keep old things after I buy new. For instance, I have 70-200 2.8L is and still have 70-200 4Lis. I bought 100-400 is ll and recently realized that I still have my 400 5.6 L. Sometimes I sell equipment I know I won’t use again, but sometimes I wonder if down the road I might want to use the lighter old equipment. Bab
 
Austin7642 said:
I recently bought two new lenses: a 85mm f/1.4 is and the 100-400mm ii. I only do freelance photography and work part time, but I also have the five other lenses: a 16-35mm f/4, 24-70mm ii, 100mm l, 70-200mm ii and a 35mm ii. I don't have a complaint to be said about any of my lenses, but I got to thinking the other day, when is enough really enough when it comes to how many lenses you buy? Obviously, you could get by in most situations with just a 16-35mm, 24-70mm, and a 70-200mm because of their versaility, but other lenses offer other advantages. I don't have just one particular genre I stay within, so for me, seven seems to be my lucky number in terms of how many lenses are ideal for me and my shooting preferences. The next time I upgrade, it will probably be a new camera body, unless Canon releases a new 135mm l.

So, how many lenses do you have or want, and how many would you say you honestly need for your style of shooting?
Click to expand...
Some would say that the number of lenses you need is expressed in the formula

N+1 = X

with X the number of lenses you need and N= the number you have.
 
If shooting with primes, the minimum for me is five. If using zooms, minimum is three.
 
Good question. I still haven't figured that out :-)
 
The backbreaking question is how many lenses should you take with you? I hate having a bag full of lenses weigh me down when I'm traveling. One way to deal with it is buying a small bag :-)

N.
 
I decided to skip one lens purchase and hire a Sherpa instead.
 
Loose_Canon said:
The backbreaking question is how many lenses should you take with you? I hate having a bag full of lenses weigh me down when I'm traveling. One way to deal with it is buying a small bag :-)

N.
Click to expand...
I can still cary everything that I have, but it's a bad idea.

I like to just take two cameras with different kinds of lenses. Maybe another lens if I'm not going to be close to the car or the hotel or the house, otherwise just the two cameras with different lenses.

I would like to have a few more lenses, but then I would have to have a three tier system. What I have, what I travel with, and what I carry. If I travel by plane, I have to leave stuff at home, but I usually travel by car and take everything. Sure, I could put more in the car, but then it all has to be carries into the hotel room at night, then out to the car in the morning before housekeeping gets there. I have as much gear as I'm going to do that with.

If I traveled by plane most of the time, I'd sell most of my gear and get the SL2 with the EFS10-18, either the EFS 24 or the EFS 35macro, and the RX10 IV. I'd just keep the 6D and the 17 for real estate and maybe the 24-70

I don't like having a lot of things that I don't use, regardless of finances. It clutters the mind as well as the house.
 
Austin7642 said:
I recently bought two new lenses: a 85mm f/1.4 is and the 100-400mm ii. I only do freelance photography and work part time, but I also have the five other lenses: a 16-35mm f/4, 24-70mm ii, 100mm l, 70-200mm ii and a 35mm ii. I don't have a complaint to be said about any of my lenses, but I got to thinking the other day, when is enough really enough when it comes to how many lenses you buy? Obviously, you could get by in most situations with just a 16-35mm, 24-70mm, and a 70-200mm because of their versaility, but other lenses offer other advantages. I don't have just one particular genre I stay within, so for me, seven seems to be my lucky number in terms of how many lenses are ideal for me and my shooting preferences. The next time I upgrade, it will probably be a new camera body, unless Canon releases a new 135mm l.

So, how many lenses do you have or want, and how many would you say you honestly need for your style of shooting?
Click to expand...
Truly depends on a person. For me, I dont want to keep overlapping focal length so I just acquire primes and sold all my zooms. For me zooms is often collects dust. I think I reach my ultimate goal covering 5x macro to 400mm F4. with just 4 lenses. MP-E 65mm, 35mm F2 IS, 100mm F2 IS and 400mm F4 DO II. I dont shoot landscape but it would be a manual 16mm manual lens. :D
 
Austin7642 said:
I recently bought two new lenses: a 85mm f/1.4 is and the 100-400mm ii. I only do freelance photography and work part time, but I also have the five other lenses: a 16-35mm f/4, 24-70mm ii, 100mm l, 70-200mm ii and a 35mm ii. I don't have a complaint to be said about any of my lenses, but I got to thinking the other day, when is enough really enough when it comes to how many lenses you buy? Obviously, you could get by in most situations with just a 16-35mm, 24-70mm, and a 70-200mm because of their versaility, but other lenses offer other advantages. I don't have just one particular genre I stay within, so for me, seven seems to be my lucky number in terms of how many lenses are ideal for me and my shooting preferences. The next time I upgrade, it will probably be a new camera body, unless Canon releases a new 135mm l.

So, how many lenses do you have or want, and how many would you say you honestly need for your style of shooting?
Click to expand...
I currently have 9 with 5 of them L lenses I need to get rid of two of them I don't shoot anymore and replace them with two that I feel I need for what I shoot will that be enough I don't know I hope. When I put a loaded backpack in my trunk it is worth more then my car I think I have a problem.
 
I was thinking the 600 f/4 would be my last purchase, but then the 600 DO seemed to be in the works, so that is interesting, but now it is strangely delayed - maybe for a new mirrorless mount? How about that for a rumour.
 
Austin7642 said:
I recently bought two new lenses: a 85mm f/1.4 is and the 100-400mm ii. I only do freelance photography and work part time, but I also have the five other lenses: a 16-35mm f/4, 24-70mm ii, 100mm l, 70-200mm ii and a 35mm ii. I don't have a complaint to be said about any of my lenses, but I got to thinking the other day, when is enough really enough when it comes to how many lenses you buy? Obviously, you could get by in most situations with just a 16-35mm, 24-70mm, and a 70-200mm because of their versaility, but other lenses offer other advantages. I don't have just one particular genre I stay within, so for me, seven seems to be my lucky number in terms of how many lenses are ideal for me and my shooting preferences. The next time I upgrade, it will probably be a new camera body, unless Canon releases a new 135mm l.

So, how many lenses do you have or want, and how many would you say you honestly need for your style of shooting?
Click to expand...
if i was to start all over again, i'd get a canon 24-70 f2.8 II, a 100-400 II, and keep my canon 300 f2.8 II, that is it! right now i have 13 canon "L" lenses (including 2 big canon primes), 2 zeiss lenses and 3 others and just cannot get around to use them all so they sit and gather dust ;-) we all have fantasies about having all those exotic lenses but believe me, it is not a good thing :-D
 
Austin7642 said:
So, how many lenses do you have or want, and how many would you say you honestly need for your style of shooting?
Click to expand...
I have far too many. I didn't ever plan it this way, but it's in the nature of outdoor photography that it tends to result in a lot of kit.

My earliest interest outside of family/holiday stuff was macro - I bought my first true macro lens in about 1991/2, the original EF 100/2.8 Macro. For years my other lenses were just a couple of consumer-grade zooms and a 'nifty fifty' - the macro lens was my only indulgence.

But of course digital came along in the form of affordable compacts and bridge cameras. In a very short space of time I lost interest in using the film SLR, even though the digital camera was lacking image quality (and every other aspect of performance) - it was just so convenient.

Then a few years ago, digital SLR prices were falling and my resources were rising a little, until we met in the middle and at last I bought a shiny new 400D. Like most people moving from a film SLR I needed a wider standard zoom so I bought the Sigma 18-50/2.8 which I still have and still use quite often. Together with the legacy lenses I thought that would be all I would need. How wrong is it possible to be?

Jumping forward a few years, I live in an area which is superb for birds and other wildlife, and this led to needing/wanting (is there a difference) bigger and better lenses, then a second body to cut down on the lens-swapping. At the last count I have five macro lenses (why??), and two big whites as well as the 100-400L II. Plus a sprinkling of 'ordinary' lenses for various other uses.

Being outdoors almost inevitably led to a rekindling of an old interest in landscape photography which was one of the factors which last year resulted in my first full frame DSLR (yep, third body), and the 16-35/4L IS.

I'm currently reading and learning about astro photography...

--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevebalcombe/
 
Last edited:
Photography is just like anything really. I personally have two key hobbies, cycling and photography, although cycling is also my method to work. Both are very similiar in nature, like cycling you can go crazy and live to n = n + 1 and/or go crazy on componetry, like using an electronic groupset etc. Then you can levy an argument that you're not a pro, dont need it etc. However I personally see two angles to cycling and photography; there's the actual "do-ing" and then theres the admiration of the technology as I call it. I get joy out of both
 
Austin7642 said:
So, how many lenses do you have or want, and how many would you say you honestly need for your style of shooting?
Click to expand...
around 5-6 kg when I'm out for landscapes with my big backpack (so mostly photos, then moving)

around 2 kg when I'm hiking (more moving than shooting)

the rest can always stay at home or in my car's trunk
 
Don Lacy said:
Austin7642 said:
I recently bought two new lenses: a 85mm f/1.4 is and the 100-400mm ii. I only do freelance photography and work part time, but I also have the five other lenses: a 16-35mm f/4, 24-70mm ii, 100mm l, 70-200mm ii and a 35mm ii. I don't have a complaint to be said about any of my lenses, but I got to thinking the other day, when is enough really enough when it comes to how many lenses you buy? Obviously, you could get by in most situations with just a 16-35mm, 24-70mm, and a 70-200mm because of their versaility, but other lenses offer other advantages. I don't have just one particular genre I stay within, so for me, seven seems to be my lucky number in terms of how many lenses are ideal for me and my shooting preferences. The next time I upgrade, it will probably be a new camera body, unless Canon releases a new 135mm l.

So, how many lenses do you have or want, and how many would you say you honestly need for your style of shooting?
Click to expand...
I currently have 9 with 5 of them L lenses I need to get rid of two of them I don't shoot anymore and replace them with two that I feel I need for what I shoot will that be enough I don't know I hope. When I put a loaded backpack in my trunk it is worth more then my car I think I have a problem.

--
Don Lacy
https://500px.com/lacy
http://www.witnessnature.n
Click to expand...
that's an easy one - time to replace the car :-)
 
Yes, but.. in terms of sherpa, when is truly enough? :)
 
The zoom selection is obvious, but the prime selection is less obvious...

5 lenses can be 24-28-35-40-50...

so, how much distance is enough distance between this 5 primes? And how much distance is too much? Is a 24-85-135 too stretched?
 
mordor_74 said:
The zoom selection is obvious, but the prime selection is less obvious...

5 lenses can be 24-28-35-40-50...

so, how much distance is enough distance between this 5 primes? And how much distance is too much? Is a 24-85-135 too stretched?
Click to expand...
 
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