Your Realistic 3-5 Lens Collection

I felt the same way about the 135 and sold it pretty quickly. I was all primes till I bought a 16-35/4LIS then a 70-200/2.8LIS just before the pandemic, both have paid for themselves and I like the images. Other than those, I am still a prime guy and love shooting with them.

canon EF 400mm 2.8 IS II
canon EF 600mm f4 IS II
canon EF 100mm macro 2.8 IS
canon EF 16-35 2.8 II
canon EF 70-200 f2.8 IS II
canon 5d mark III
canon 1dx mark II
canon extender 2.0 II

I have not used my canon 1dx mark II, canon 400 or canon 600 lens since I brought it 3yrs ago still in case. LOL
Only took out of box and play with it and shoot about 25 shot per lens.


THINK HARDER
I guess I didn't think hard enough buying all these. LOL
But passing it down to my son but he not really deep into it. he been using the 5d mark III more and the 70-200 lens more
but he not interested in photography

Tom Reichner - you been in here for many years , Don't you have a life? LOL

When I retired 2 years ago, I jumped into digital photography with both feet. I was a pro 30 years ago but now entirely new to 21st century gear and entirely a hobbyist.

I've always outfitted my hobbies with used gear and saw no need to change that with photography. This is, by far, my most expensive hobby. Knowing that, I set a budget to keep this squarely a 4-figure endeavor.

With all that in mind, I set out to audition a kit. I just looked it up. In the last 2 years I've bought and sold or kept 28 EF and EF-S mount lenses. I've tried pretty much everything you can buy used for less than $700. Average purchase price for each lens was $286.79. Average sale price was $344.57. I shoot almost exclusively outdoors so I don't need the fastest glass available. That kept the price down.

Here are the lenses I've kept.

Full frame kit:
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM

I've never lined up keeper with the 50 1.8 but I keep it because it's the fastest lens I own and it came free with something. It's also my sensor-cleaning, dust-detection lens.

The 16-35 is new in the quiver. Haven't used it enough to make up my mind. I had a 17-40 early on and I never used it. I was scared of it. I'd never used a lens that wide and didn't know how to work it. Too much other stuff to learn, so it never got used and I sold it off. The 16-35 looks promising and should get a better workout. I may have to clean out a spot in the bag for it.

The other 3 are my daily drivers. Everything gets shot with those.

APS-C kit:
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

The 400mm prime should actually go on the APS-C kit as it lives pretty much permanently on my 90D.

Uoncamera wrote in post #19319966
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Tom Reichner - you been in here for many years , Don't you have a life? LOL
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I do get around a bit. . Here's what 2021 has been like .....

January thru March .-. mostly spent at home here here in eastern Washington, working on call at the local funeral home, marketing my wildlife photos, involved at church, photographing waterfowl on the river ice, and "Settlers of Catan" game nights with friends every Friday

April .-. road-tripped to southern Arizona for a month of wildlife photography in the Sonoran Desert. . Enjoyed the Grand Canyon for a couple days on my way down and again on my way back.

May & June .-. back home in eastern WA. . Much like Jan - March, but with a lot of day trips to photograph at higher elevation habitats.

July & August - joined the firefighting effort in southern Oregon on the Bootleg Fire. . Most days 16 hour shifts. . Exhausting and fulfilling.

September .-. road trip back to Pennsylvania for my brother's wedding, and to spend a month visiting my family. . On the way east I spent some time in Yellowstone, on the Beartooth Highway, and a couple days in the suburban Detroit area searching for an albino Whitetail Deer.

October .-. Spent the first half of the month still in PA, then road-tripped from Pennsylvania back home to eastern WA. . Once again spent a few days in the suburban Detriot area to continue searching for the albino deer ..... never did find her, but got to know the area rather well and scout for some other wildlife opportunities there.

November .-. spent the entire month in western Montana photographing the Whitetail Deer rut (breeding season). . At different points during the month, friends from Washington, Michigan, and California came out to visit.

December .-. I've been back home in eastern WA this past month. . Tempted to head down to northern CA for duck photography, or to Yellowstone for whatever critters I can find there. . Not sure if I'll go to either of those places or not. . I like to spend Christmas on the road, so there's a good chance I'll leave for one of those destinations within the next few days ...... or not . ..... mostly depends on what kind of deal I can get on a motel.


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That is awesome! Glad you are doing well and enjoy your photography. Merry Christmas and happy new year to you!

I have to wait until I retired before I can enjoy photography got too many stuff going on. Judo , Ju-Jitsu, Kungfu and weight lifting
I'm still not use to cold weather in Michigan even I been in America for over 25yrs. I would want to go to Africa and used my 600mm and 400m lens but don't have time for that waiting for my son to go with me. just hit 56 but still surviving. LOL

Decide to sell my: canon EF 600mm f4 IS II

so Anyone interested PM me local sell only. In Macomb MI - - $8.500.00 Firm on price, Will meet local police dept

Is this the For Sale forum now?

Shooting Nikon again

14-24
24-120
85 1.2
70-200
100-400
All Z mount lenses

MatthewK wrote in post #19248182
My yearly check in, and I'm happy to report that all around, my gear collection has drastically been reduced. Since last June, here's where my refined 3-5 lens collection:

Fuji 16 f/1.4
Fuji 35 f/1.4
Fuji X100V
Nikon 500mm f/5.6 PF

(Non lens: downsized my X-T3 in exchange for the diminutive X-E4)

No more zooms, I'm a prime guy from here on out. Used the 16-80 zoom one time over the past year on a trip to Sedona, but otherwise the lens sat for an entire year, so I passed it on. The Fuji trio of lenses (24/35/50mm FF equivalents) have captured awesome family photos, they especially delivered (no pun intended) for the birth of my second daughter this past fall, and continue to help document our day to day as the girls grow. The 500PF continues to defy all sirens calls for switching to a ML setup, as it just has no peer in any system currently, and the Nikon Z-series AF leaves a bit to be desired.

See you all next year

1.5 years since that post, and I saw this thread resurface, so figured I’d check in

This year, 2023, started with a New Year’s Resolution to not buy any new gear, EXCEPT for the Nikon 800PF that I pre-ordered/wait-listed back in April 2022. Does it break the Resolution if I sell something, and use the funds to replace it with something(s) of equal or lesser value?

Having 2 young kids, and a move back home to Wisconsin after 20 years, has been an upheaval in my photography world. More country, less city, some of it for the better, some for the worse. Needless to say, I’m only photographing my kids, occasional travel, and birds. So, my tenure with the Fuji X100 series of cameras came to an end, I’m just not the minimalist street shooter, one-camera guy that I once thought I was. Back to the tried-and-true ‘zoom + prime in the zoom range’ setup, thus the X100V got flipped into two (used) zooms. Still have the Fuji 16 f/1.4 and Fuji 35 f/1.4 (my all-time favorite lens!).

With the advent of the Nikon Z9 and it’s cutting edge AF, and the arrival of the 800PF, I made the long-awaited jump from my last DSLR (D500), back to FF MILC (prior to D500, I shot Canon 1DXII). I’m finally at 800mm FF for my birding, and looking forward to the upcoming Spring migration!

Anyway, here’s my lineup for 2023+

Fuji X-T5
Fuji 16 f/1.4
Fuji 35 f/1.4
Fuji 10-24
Fuji 16-80
Nikon Z9
Nikkor 800PF

Basically, aside from the two Fuji primes, my entire camera lineup changed within the past ~6 months. Back on the Resolution train, no more gear for a looooong time.

Let me also check in...

I used to own EF 24-105L, EF24-70 f2.8L, EF70-200 F4L, 16-35 f4L (still own)... I thought these were going to be part my holy trinity of lenses.. turns out I was wrong. I was never really happy with the first two lenses.

Once I have tried prime lenses, even non L ones, I find it difficult to go back to zoomers...

I have now transitioned to RF, and I currently own nifty RF50 f1.8, and RF 85 f1.2. I am currently waiting for the Tamron 35 f1.4 (EF version) to be in stock. I also owned a RF 50 f1.2L but it was back focusing so I sent it back. I will buy another one soon.

So my Holy trinity will be 35, 50, and 85 primes.

I will probably add a RF100-500L, and a Macro lens

That will be it for me.

I have an update to mine of sorts:

Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ - Landscapes, travel
Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 GM - General purpose wide
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DN Art - General purpose tele, portraits
Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 - Product/still life and landscapes

PhotosByDlee wrote in post #19481803
I have an update to mine of sorts:

Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ - Landscapes, travel
Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 GM - General purpose wide
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DN Art - General purpose tele, portraits
Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 - Product/still life and landscapes

Solid lineup right here, could go the rest of your photographic life and not need anything else, really (except if you get bit by the wildlife/bird bug ).

MatthewK wrote in post #19481871
Solid lineup right here, could go the rest of your photographic life and not need anything else, really (except if you get bit by the wildlife/bird bug ).

Thanks and yes it’s actually kept my G.A.S under control too having so much covered! The wildlife bug hit me before but I was so bad at it that it disappeared quickly

If I could redo the past 2 decades I'd just have

70-200/2.8 IS
24-70/2.8 IS
16-35/2.8 IS

These are people lenses that would get >80% of utility.

Just replace every decade with a new body.

dolina wrote in post #19482050
If I could redo the past 2 decades I'd just have

70-200/2.8 IS
24-70/2.8 IS
16-35/2.8 IS

These are people lenses that would get >80% of utility.

Just replace every decade with a new body.

“Date the body, marry the lens”.