What’s your most reacquired lens?

[Cronilux]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I don’t know, if this questions makes sense, but which lens have you sold and bought numerous times and why?

I’ll start. For me it’s the 50mm f1 Noctilux. Just today I bought my third copy of it. I’ve traded it for the f0.95 version, then went back.
 

I’ve sold it, cause I used it to rarely and it felt so impractical, to then miss it. 

Then I owned the 50/1.2 ASPH reissue, but hated, that really only the center is sharp. 

Now I had no Noctilux for a longer time and just went through a lot of old photos to create an album as Christmas present. Just to get stopped by a lot of Noctilux photos. They just stand out to me in a special way. So this is why I acquired one again.

This time I promised myself to just keep it. No matter what. 

Anyone else as stupid as me? 😂

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Fedro]

for me it's the 50 lux asph, now i have two copies to make sure i dont make the same mistake again

[pgk]

90mm f/2.8 Elmarit-M. Great lens but not all copies are equal. My currnet copy is tatty but optically it delivers very well, not all do unfortunately.

[evikne]

Another vote for the 50 Lux ASPH (v1). I've owned and sold it five times (so far). I'm annoyed that it's at least 5mm too long and I often find the rendering boring (but sometimes amazing). The bokeh is super smooth, but the ninja star-shaped bokeh balls drive me crazy.

But after a while I forget why I sold it last time, and thus I buy it again … 🤪

[Topsy]

35mm.

[Olaf_ZG]

Too short with leica, about 30 months. Though I sold, didn’t buy again 😎

[RMF]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Easy..it is the 50 Lux ASPH (v1) for me as well, bought that lens three times (2 black, and one silver). I thought this last purchased silver brass would be the final keeper but it’s still TBD as I find it heavy and I just don’t use the focal length.  I love what the lens can do, but never use it and it stack ranks at the lowest of my favs.

 

[newtoleica]

50 Lux ASPH v1 - too long and dislike the hexagonal bokeh balls (3x owned) - finally got a 50 APO at a price that justifies having that instead.

75 APO (2x) - love the look but too close to 50mm and harder to focus. 

90 Elmarit (3x) - always think I should have a longer lens and it's cheap (for Leica), then I remember why I don't use it..... (sticking to max 50mm now)

Keepers. 24 Lux, 35 Lux ASPH v1, 50 APO.

[yanidel]

Sold twice the 75mm Cron. Loved that lens, but had to finance a M10. Then I realized the 75mm framelines were much easier to use on M10 vs M9. 

Probably won't acquire it again unless a long lost uncle dies leaving me a fortune. 

[jakontil]

It is the 50mm lux asph 😂🤣😂 got the black anodized first time a decade ago, sold for the silver brass, swapped with black chrome when it was allegedly limited run, sold it for a black chrome apo, bought another black chrome few years later, sold it to fund something i forget, bought another silver, spent gracefully to repaint in black paint by kanto just making sure this is the final glass of that 50 lux asph 

since i learnt never sell a leica glass

[DadDadDaddyo]

Glad to say it's not any of my Leica equipment; I've finally learned to buy but not sell. It's all going to the kids eventually, just as the Barnacks came to me back when. 

No, it's the Fujifilm XF series, which I've sold off entirely and then incrementally bought back into a couple of times now. Why? Size and auto-focus. There are situations where I just want to grab the X-Pro2 with the magical 56mm f/1.2 R WR or the 16-55mm f/2.8 L RM WR (that's a mouthful!), simply because it's the APS-C equivalent of the Vario-Elmart-L 24-90, except for constant aperture, no OIS (relies on the body's IBIS, so if I need stabilization I use it on the XT-5), and weighing in at 1.4 pounds, a handful, but nothing compared to the Vario-Elmart.

For a while it was the Fujifilm GFX equipment that was sitting unused. These days it's the SL2 stuff, despite the 24-90, the 90-280, and the glorious APO 35mm and 50mm primes. I've only fleetingly regretted selling out of the GFX stuff; the M11M is a definitive response to running the GFX bodies in monochrome. 

[Rick in CO]

15 hours ago, newtoleica said:

50 Lux ASPH v1 - too long and dislike the hexagonal bokeh balls (3x owned) - finally got a 50 APO at a price that justifies having that instead.

75 APO (2x) - love the look but too close to 50mm and harder to focus. 

90 Elmarit (3x) - always think I should have a longer lens and it's cheap (for Leica), then I remember why I don't use it..... (sticking to max 50mm now)

Similar story here, but with the 90 Macro-Elmar -may have to indulge once again.

Also played around with Zeiss and Leica various wide angles, 25mm, 24mm, 21mm.  Settled on the most compact 21 I could find: f3.5 Color Skopar.

[Cronilux]

Thanks for making me feel normal! 😁

I am really surprised that the 50lux pre asph has been mentioned so many times. 

[evikne]

14 minutes ago, Cronilux said:

Thanks for making me feel normal! 😁

I am really surprised that the 50lux pre asph has been mentioned so many times. 

I have not seen the pre-ASPH mentioned here, only ASPH. The reason I (and maybe the others) specifically mentioned v1 (2006), is that this has the jagged bokeh that probably annoys many. The new v2 from 2023 has an extra aperture blade that gives a nicer bokeh. And maybe more people will keep this one. 😉

BTW, I also have a 50mm Summilux pre-ASPH, and this is the only lens that I've never sold!

[Cronilux]

@evikne oh you are right. I think the 50 pre ASPH is pretty much the best all around 50mm for my taste.

[farnz]

For me it's the 28/2 Summicron asph v1.  I'm just in love with it's micro-contrast, which provides such a gradual and subtle transition between shades of grey.  (Many more than 50. )

Pete.

[Jeff S]

Only Leica M lens that I’ve sold and bought again (and ultimately sold again), since the 80’s, is the MATE. I might consider a more modern iteration, or variant, if Leica ever produces one, but otherwise no further interest. My selection of M primes over that span has remained limited (typically only 3 or 4 owned simultaneously), without any drama or internal conflict regarding sale.  

Jeff

[overexposed]

i owned the 18 super elmar in 2015, sold it with the rest of my leica equipment(never got warm with the 240), kept the 35cron BC though, and when i got back into the 246 i reacquired the 18mm again, lovely lens

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[pippy]

I must be weird as I've never sold / re-purchased a Leica lens.

The only exception 'of sorts' was when, some 30+ years ago, I sold my 1930 Leica 1 Model A to IIIa conversion which was fitted with it's original non-numbered 50mm f3.5 11 o'clock Elmar. This pairing has now 'in a way' been re-bought when,  a few years ago, I acquired my current 1930 Leica 1 Model A to 1 Model C conversion with...etc...etc...

Philip.

[adan]

Specific lens model - 90mm Tele-Elmarit-M (thin).

Love/hate relationship involving size/weight (++++) vs. aperture-speed (--) vs. flare tendencies (---) vs. sample variations (---) vs. availability with 6-bit coding.

I think my current count is about 6± repurchases over 22 years.

.........................

Specific focal length: 75mm. many reacquisitions, counting different models

Partly because of sample variations/quality control with the early APO-Summicrons' FLE mechanics. Probably 5 different copies of that model alone, new and then used. Plus the 1.333x-crop interregnum with the M8, which also had the least-accurate 75mm framelines ever.

And partly because there have been a lot of new 75s (including Voigtländer) over the past 22 years. And I have acquired them all at least once - each had a unique balance of pros and cons. 

In order of first ownership:

C/V Color Heliar f/2.5 LTM + adapter (2003)
APO-Summicron-M-ASPH (2005)
Summilux-M (2009 - with arrival of M9, + 2-3 reacquisitions)
Summarit-M f/2.5 (2013)
Summarit-M f/2.4 (2015)
C/V Heliar Classic f/1.8 (2018)
C/V Nokton f/1.5 (2020 - finally, Summilux speed and Summarit weight, and 0.7m focusing - in one lens!)

Edited November 15, 2023 by adan