Thinning the herd: am I dumb to sell my most valuable lens?

What I get from the data is that you use the 23mm the most, but you need to practice with it to increase your keeper rate. What I think happens is that since you use it the most you are pickier about what you consider a keeper.

jmiller2032 wrote:

Some quite interesting observations in your post.

8mm Rokinon- I haven’t mounted this on my camera to do anything but take samples since I got it for Christmas. I should at least try to do something with it before selling it, but it appears its days are numbered. But before I get rid of it I’m going to latch it to my X-Pro2 and not take it off until I get at least one keeper.

I haven't used that lens much myself. I wouldn't take it for wedding or formal event for sure. I once took it to a vacation trip, I liked the images, but my wife wasn't amused. I found it to be great in a Halloween party though. With its distortions it did add hilarity to those pictures.

jmiller2032 wrote:

8mm Rokinon- I haven’t mounted this on my camera to do anything but take samples since I got it for Christmas. I should at least try to do something with it before selling it, but it appears its days are numbered. But before I get rid of it I’m going to latch it to my X-Pro2 and not take it off until I get at least one keeper.

If you use it to shoot fisheye clichés, it grows boring quickly. If you use it as a panoramic and super-wide lens with the camera as levelled as possible, it opens astounding views. Forget that it is a fisheye and use it as an ultra-wide.

Stand in a corner of the room and get all four walls in the shot. Use it as a panoramic lens, cropping the middle strip out of the frame—very dramatic. Even more dramatic is using it to shoot sweep panoramas. My X-Pro1 does an excellent job of stitching. I tried an overlapping series with Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) doing the stitching and it also worked well. ACR has a preset for the lens and my camera and turns it into a rectilinear with this preset. It does crop a bit but still yields an extremely wide image.

Even more dramatic is using it to shoot sweep panoramas. My X-Pro1 does an excellent job of stitching. I tried an overlapping series with Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) doing the stitching and it also worked well. ACR has a preset for the lens and my camera and turns it into a rectilinear with a single choice. Get over playing with distortion and learn the lens well. It can produce powerful images that really can not be easily done otherwise. Once mastered, it provides great return on investment.

You used statistics to prove the 14mm is your most used and most successful lens, and you used that info to conclude you should sell it?

What was the point of the stats?

Oh I totally agree it sounds nutty to look at the stats and conclude on that basis alone to sell the 14. My point was that maybe it's the focal length I use well and not the characteristics of this specific lens. If that's the case and the 10-24 doesn't compromise anything in terms of IQ (but only in light gathering and size) well, it'd be wise to sell. Especially since I'm nearly certain to buy the 16mm.

But the stats did give me the basis to sell several other lenses, like my 32mm Zeiss and 18-55.

I would think twice about getting rid of the fisheye, you won't get that much for it and they can be fun to play with once or twice a year. But if you do want to get rid of it pm me and I may be able to take it off your hands.

I'm definitely going to take it out for a spin and see if it's just a matter of usage. I'm kicking myself for not taking it out to Jordan. If I just don't think it's for me, I'll definitely give you a PM.

What I get from the data is that you use the 23mm the most, but you need to practice with it to increase your keeper rate. What I think happens is that since you use it the most you are pickier about what you consider a keeper.

Could be. The standard focal lengths make the gear less important and let the composition take center stage. That's how it should be. All the greats in the film days used 35mm or 50mm lenses at f/8.0 or so and they did just fine.

So yeah, definitely keeping the 23mm. Just need to focus on getting better as a photographer!

So what do y’all think? Sell the 14 and 18-55 for the 16 and 10-24, or stand pat with my 14/23/18-55 combo?

Absolutely! You have the answer. You must get the 16, which is Fuji's best lens.  Sacrifice whatever you must to get that great lens.

The 10-24 is absolutely indispensable while traveling and is a fantastic lens. I agree totally with your observation that the 55-200 is also a God-send while traveling. I agree that you could sell the 14 to work towards getting the mighty 16, but really, why sell the 18-55? It is so small and comes in handy on trips. You won't get much for it anyway.

Nice post.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/139148982@N02/albums

ricky1981 wrote:

Sell the lens you use/like least. There is no dumb decision here apart from the one you let other people make for you

I agree 100%.