Why is it so hard to be satisfied with lens lineup?

My advice? Get off this forum, NOW! Delete this link from your favorites and put parental restrictions on anything with the word "lens" or Camera" or anything else related to photography in the url or title. Give your bank account to your wife (or partner, whatever). Move to a place where UPS/Fedex don't serve. Keep a trashbin by your mailbox where you can immediately dump the B&H catalogs when they come. Find a photo-oriented AA group near you, and go.

Wow, coming from the guy with rangefinder, 35mm film, medium format, compact digital and digital SLR systems, it sounds like you know what you are talking about!

I better quit while I am ahead.

because a 70-200 f/2.8 will whoop the crap out of shots the 55-250 can get, as well as focus faster, as well as be i believe it is 1 or 2 stops quicker than the 55-250 depending on your FL, as well as having better L sharpness and color contrast. There are always better lenses than what you have but if ya cant afford look at the good/great shots that are attainable with the 18-55 and 55-250 EF-S, because they aren't bad lenses by any means, theres just a fair amount left to wish for

tkbslc wrote in post #9774997
With my recent ultrawide acquisition, I know have essentially all my bases covered for what I shoot. I have the IS kit lenses from 18-250mm to cover general shooting from wide to near super telephoto. And they both close focus to 1:3 so I use them for flowers and semi-macros, too. I have my 12-24 for cityscapes and wide landscapes. I have my 30mm f1.4 for sharp walkaround or indoor natural light shots. I use my 50mm f2 manual prime for indoor low light candid portraits or just to throw in the bag just in case. I have my outstanding 50-135m f2.8 for portraits. All my lenses are reasonably sharp and a couple of them are truly amazing, IMO. Really I have everything I could need for the foreseeable future.

So why can't I stop thinking about other lenses I could buy? I'll see a good shot from a 60mm f2.8 and wonder if I should trade my 50-135 for 2 primes, instead. I'll think about trading my 55-250 and 18-55 for an 18-200 IS. Maybe I should trade my 12-24 and 18-55 in and buy a 15-85. Would I be happier with a 70-200 f2.8? Wouldn't a Zeiss Planar 50mm be awesome? THe list goes on and on even though when I step back and think about it, I know they won't do a thing to improve my photography. I spend WAY too much effort into thinking about this.

So how do you get past thinking about all the gear you could have and fully appreciate the good stuff you already have? I can't afford a therapist, so help me work through my obsession, here.

This may sound bad, but some of your lenses are less than stellar. Your 30mm might make the zooms less desirable to you.

Gear means nothing. Unfortunately, people here think gear is everything.

BJDrew wrote in post #9777317
This may sound bad, but some of your lenses are less than stellar. Your 30mm might make the zooms less desirable to you.

Which ones are you talking about? 18-55 and 55-250? Those are pretty good, actually, but yeah, not as exciting as the other lenses. I do have 12-135 (19-215mm equiv) covered with some extremely good glass, however, which covers the bulk of my shooting.

bohdank wrote in post #9775741
Because many are not result oriented...the objective is to get interesting photographs, the way you envisioned them. Notice I didn't say well exposed, perfectly focused..... You are transfixed on the how and the what and not on the result.

I can go out with a shooting plan (specific type of shots I want to do) and come back with nothing really good. Happened to me last weekend. Yes, the images are sharp, great color and contrast, great use of DOF but overall, disappointing. I know why so I learned something. The why does not involve equipment.

Is there a moral to this story.... look at your images and decide why they don't meet the standards you have set for them. I'm pretty sure the answer will not be pointing at the equipment.

This is pretty good advice, right here. Same happened to me a couple of weekends ago; 200+ shots, just didn't ultimately "work" when I loaded them up. Still not sure why, but it sure as heck wasn't my gear

i took KCMO Al's advice and stayed off the lens forum for about a year after i found i was buying lenses every month, i've settled on 4 which i use. unfortunately i started reading the lighting forum and started buying lights and modifiers. i'm like an alcoholic who is just going to have one, it will never happen. this forum just enables me

tkbslc wrote in post #9777408
Which ones are you talking about? 18-55 and 55-250? Those are pretty good, actually, but yeah, not as exciting as the other lenses. I do have 12-135 (19-215mm equiv) covered with some extremely good glass, however, which covers the bulk of my shooting.

I have not used the 55-250 so I don't know how good it is (I've read good reviews about it). Regarding telephoto zooms- I started out with a Tamron 75-300 (a cheap lens) decided I needed a faster lens so I got a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 macro, which turned out to be a dud of a lens. I read nothing but good things about the 70-200 Ls so I bought my f/4L for $450. I knew it was suppose to be a good sharp lens, with USM, but I really had no idea how awsome the lens really was (is)! Some quick snapshots with it and I was truly impressed by the accuracy, sharpness, and colors it produced.

Sigma will be releasing the 70-200 f/2.8 OS HSM which I'm sure will be a good lens, and I could REALLY use IS/OS for indoor work, but it will be hard to give up my L !!

tkbslc, I STRONGLY suggest that you never buy an "L" lens. Your mild sickness WILL turn into addiction. You will find ways to rationalize that extra 10 or 15% performance gain for double or triple the price. You will then have to attend meeting and say, " my name is tkbslc, and I'm an L lensaholic!."

What about a tilt/shift?

MMX wrote in post #9779009
What about a tilt/shift?

never use one of thoes either... they are way too much fun to be legal.

L or Not, they are sharp as a tack, and can do all kinds of cool schtuff.

but cheap tiltshift is an oxymoron

I just watched "the mentalist" on tv. I'm going to help you by describing who you are. You spend more time cleaning your gear than using it. You hold your camera gear in front of a mirror to see what it looks like in your hands. Speaking of your hands you are constantly washing and sterilizing them with hand sanitizer. Finally, instead of reading photo books or practicing your photography you buy different lenses In an attempt to generate skills and you take posts more seriously when their signature shows expensive gear.

For me I just like to shake things up every once in a while. Typically at the start of each year I'll sell some or all of my lenses and buy something new. It keeps things interesting and forces me to think about things in a new way to find a way to use my gear to the fullest. Although there are some lenses that I keep from year to year because I enjoy it so much.

I figure eventually I'll find my ideal lens lineup and won't want to sell anymore. Currently my 300mm ƒ/2.8L IS and 200mm ƒ/2.8L are not going anywhere and have made the cut this year when in January I sold many of my lenses and bought new ones. I don't foresee them going anywhere next year either and so far it looks like the 35L will make the cut next year.

Gotmoose wrote in post #9779392
I just watched "the mentalist" on tv. I'm going to help you by describing who you are. You spend more time cleaning your gear than using it. You hold your camera gear in front of a mirror to see what it looks like in your hands. Speaking of your hands you are constantly washing and sterilizing them with hand sanitizer. Finally, instead of reading photo books or practicing your photography you buy different lenses In an attempt to generate skills and you take posts more seriously when their signature shows expensive gear.

Actually, no. This time of year, for sure, I probably spend more time thinking about gear than using it, but I am definitely not a gear worshiper. I don't have a single "gear shot" of my lenses. I would say I am the kind of person that obsesses about lenses I don't have, but when I get them they get old fast. I think that is my problem.

Problem 2 is that I am a cheap SOB. I am trying to maximize performance per dollar, rather than pure performance.