Lenses and numbers of.....

[IWC Doppel]

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I would be really interested to see how many lenses people have and how frequently they use them.

 

I am trying to keep my 'selection' not 'collection' to a sensible number and seem to buy as many as I sell

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[bill]

I tend on average to have about ten lenses across systems (LTM, M, R/Nikon) and seem to average buying and selling about two per year. If I do not use a lens in a year it goes on the "drop list".

 

None of which actually improves my photography or my bank balance...

 

Regards,

 

Bill

 

Sent from another Galaxy

[lct]

I don't count any more but i use most of my lenses and i tend to have at least one Mandler and one Karbe version in the same focal length if any.

[Tonki-M]

i carry with me 3 lens at a time. a 21 35 50. owning it though is another question...i own 4 different 50mm...

[smkoush]

Two:

28mm Elmarit-M ASPH

50mm Summilux-M ASPH

 

That's all for now.

[TomB_tx]

For 40 years I had only 35 & 50 Summicrons ('69 versions) & 90 Tele Elmarit (v1). After getting M9 added a 21 and 75 (VC). Normally have just the lens on the camera and leave the others - forces me to find the pictures for that lens. I now use 35 the most.

[250swb]

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Four main lenses get the most use, but another eight that I could use. Not all are the latest Leica lenses, or even Leica lenses. But I don't make a rule out of what gets used, after all, you don't know what you like until you try it.

 

So setting out to limit yourself (unless for fiscal reasons) doesn't get my vote. You should do as much as you can, be as creative as you can, and use whatever lens is appropriate for the image you want to make. If you can make a couple of great picture's every a year with a lens you only use a couple of times a year, that seems like a good hit rate to me and ample justification for having it.

 

Steve

[Guest MarcRF]

28 elmarit asph

50 summilux asph

90 summarit

 

soon to come: 35 summarit

 

nothing planned after that

 

each one is in use frequently. my maximum number of lenses would be 5. cant imagine having more than that.. where's the use

[jdlaing]

28, 35, 50, 90.

The 50 gets used 80% of the time.

The 35 15% and the other two the remainder.

[pgk]

Four main lenses get the most use, but another.....

..... three at the moment that I can use, or am evaluating at present (two may go though). A couple of 'wants' too.

[tobey bilek]

Own an embarrassingly large number, say one of every focal length from 12 up to 560 plus many duplicates of a focal length. That does not count the same for Nikon lenses and Leica R some of which I sold off just recently.

 

 

They do not help that much and I look back over 55 years and some of my best were with a 35 mm Waltz Envoy I got when I was 16. Had a fixed 50 2.0 Nikkor.

 

Also looking back, 95 % of the photos could have been done with 35,50, or 90. That is what one needs and makes a kit one can carry. I can not and never could manage 15 lenses.

When you start to think about a cart to carry the stuff, you own too much. When you can not lift it all, you own too much. When you can not decide what to bring, you own too much.

 

It seems the less I have, the better the photos.

 

Spend some money on lights and maybe darkroom or computer and learn to use them.

Photography is all about light and timing. Concentrate there. You will be better rewarded.

[Ecar]

Own an embarrassingly large number

 

Same here. But I never put more than 3 in the bag (two of which are always a 35 and a 50), including for long trips. Some remain idle for several months, until I "rediscover" them.

 

Has lens abundance made me a better photographer? Definitely not - and possibly quite the contrary - but I thoroughly enjoy the process of learning the individual characteristics of each lens and the fact that they render very differently.

[leafster]

35mm Summaron f2.8

50mm Summilux-M ASPH

 

Just got a call that stock in for 35mm Summilux ASPH fle version. I'm still thinking to about it. I like how 50mm lux render.

[IWC Doppel]

I only take one lens with me when I go out, choose before and try to get to know them by living with newer ones on the camera for a while, 1-2 weeks or more.

 

When I go away for a few days I will take 2-3 and on a holiday, where there will be a lot of photo opportunities 4-5. Which raises the question why I have more than 5

 

I agree with the discovery and rediscovery of different lens charactericstics, I too am a sucker for that

[Paul J]

35, 50, 75 90

 

I use 35 and 50 the most. Occasionally the 75 and the 90 quite rarely.

 

I will add a 28 and a 135 to my collection at some stage and that will be where I stop.

[Bill W]

I have 21, 28, 35, 50, 75, 90. The 90 gets used the least. I recently picked up the 35 fle version and replaced the 35 I acquired several years ago. I pack about three lens depending on what I expect ot be doing.

I had a 24 that I never used and sold it. I have a Noctilux that I sold and wished I had not, It was my 30% discount lens when the M8 came out. I paid something like $2750 for it at the time. I sold it for $5000 but have sellers remourse.

[Bill W]

I should have also added that I have too much other Nikon stuff as well. I have a "man cave" that my wife says looks like a camera store.

[thighslapper]

Far too many......

 

I only ever take 3 ...... one on camera and two in a tiny lowepro bag thats meant for compact cameras.

 

I tend to rotate them in no particular pattern.... a wide, 50 and 75/90/135.

 

To be honest, whatever 3 I take I am never disappointed.... or find myself limited in what I can do...

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[Niko]

I have two 50mm lenses and 24mm lens. A 90mm is on it´s way to me.

 

I had some tele lenses earlier, which i sold after noticing i don´t use them... Now i´ve decided to try a bit more and learn how to use it properly.

 

Often i take just the 50mm with me. It´s the focal length with which i can frame a shot in my mind before looking in the viewfinder.

 

I would say this year i´ve shot 85% of my photos with a 50mm.

[farnz]

I have lenses that cover the range of focal lengths between 15mm and 400mm and they get used as needed. I'm concentrating more now on the 'look' that a lens or lens design produces* rather than simply the focal length, which means that multiples of the same focal length are gathering. I have recently been wooed by the Sonnar design for example and the lens that accompanies me will be a function of the subject(s) and place that I've chosen to shoot and the light conditions and time of day or night.

 

Pete.

*The view through older glass thread shows many good examples of the different 'looks' that lenses of the same focal length and label can produce.