What made you buy a lens??

Been looking through the forum and it amazes me the wealth of lenses people own and some of the stunning pictures that will probably only ever be seen on here, I then thought I wonder what made them choose that lens...

My example: I always thought a 85mm f1.2 would be out of my league (wallet) then one day I was at a photography show and Canon were there in force with lots of different bodies and lenses to play with, after going through a couple of zooms I spotted the holy grail the 85mm f1.2 attached to a 1DS3, I picked it up and felt the weight straight away and looking down into that big black hole of a lens was just mesmerising..but still, looks nice maybe but far to expensive....then I done the one thing that made me say "oh my god I have to have this lens"---I took a picture, just a simple picture of a person stood a few yards away looking at some other Canon gear, yes they were sharp but the bokeh was the killer punch, all the little lights in the background gave a look like I have never seen before..well not straight out of the camera.

Well that was it, my moment that sealed a purchase I don't think I will ever sell and being as I'am now a full time wedding photographer something that gets used and enjoyed.
Saying that I think it helped me going from a full time job to doing something I love (photographing weddings) as lots of the images from this lens have featured on my website and demo albums and essentially that is what wedding couples book me on.

What made you buy a lens??

I got back into serious photography a little over a year ago as my daughter takes it in school. Although funds are tight, I wanted to make a serious jump in image quality over what I could do 20 years ago. My last camera was a Canon G-3 for 10 years, but EOS-3 and EOS 630's prior to that....

The Indy Car races have come to Baltimore, something I was crazy about growing up. I was discussing lenses with a friend and he loaned me his EF 70-200/4 IS USM for 6 months! That allowed me achieve shots for portrait, travel and finally at the Indy race in 2012 that surprised me in clarity. I also found we were going to the Bahamas on a major family vacation with all the relatives a couple months after returning the 70-200. So, decision time. Being pleased with the results and build quality, and Canon Rebates, I decided to reach a bit further and got the 70-300 L as my all in one Telephoto.

So far so good....but my other interest is local concerts at a "Coffee House" where I run Sound. Although the 70-300L is versatile and can give the results, I wanted a faster lens to shoot without Flash due to the Stage Color Lighting effects, and those muscians constantly moving! So, the EF 100/2.0 came into play and has been a real boon for that application. Speed, Selective Focus, Bokeh.... Also excells for Portraiture of course.

"IS" would be nice to have on it, but it does serve me very well in those darker situations with "moving" subjects. It brings a nice balance to a 3 Lens setup. The Tokina 12-24/4 being my other high quality lens.

Eventually, some 24-105 or 24-70 may find its way in the bag, but I'm doing fine even with a hole between 24-70. My daughter has my 28-135 for now, but its always around...my old 20-35 is a nice spare.

1Creativity.100-400 L being able to reach out and touch.Being able to see subjects in a different perspective. My 85 1/8 once i figured out how to make it work till death do we part.

not being able to get the image that i had in my head with what i had in my bag...it's probably a good thing i don't peruse the image sample archives of the 85L, and other great lenses, or i'd probably start to want them...

For the TS-E 17mm, I just somehow got to the stage a month or so after going FF that I knew I had to have this lens. I was looking for a UWA that was sharper then the 17-40.

In the space of a week of searching I just had that deep feeling of need so I just got it. Didn't regret it one bit. It's the only lens I've bought more from that feeling that it was for me than a pure technical decision. Turned out to be a very good decision and I wouldn't trade it for an of the other UWA lenses out there.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I got my 100L with air miles. I was going to get a 7D and just sell it, but then saw the macro in the list of items. I'd been using tubes to do a little macro, but couldn't justify buying it cash. It's a nice lens and I do actually use it quite a bit and actually have a couple of 20" prints from it that I couldn't have gotten with tubes. So that also worked out well.

Never sold a lens, never regretted buying one yet.

The 135L . . . a single image, shot by a street photographer of a person in downtown Austin. Blew me the freak away. Still on my mind. Lens is always in my bag.

Sigma 50-500: Tiger whiskers. Had to see some nice sharp ones. Couldn't get close enough. Can't wait to shoot more.

24mm TSE: The RMMA re-development project in Austin . . . the buildings are too nice to be tilted. Set me off on an old Texas town square binge.

But I hear you on the 85 1.2L. Guy at the local camera store keeps showing me his pics, and they're making me weak in the knees. Enjoy!

not enough reach with my kit lens

G.A.S.

50/1.4 - Used the f/1.8 daily so 'upgraded'
85/1.8 - bought for portraits too as no way in the world I could justify the L
17-40L - bought as 24mm wasn't wide enough, sold the 24-105L
100/2.8 macro - Picked up in mint condition for a silly cheap price so although I don't use it much I look at that as an investment
Sigma 70-200/2.8 - Picked that up used for reach for track days & kids sports etc

My current drool lens is the 135L but that means letting a few others go & the 85mm on the old 450D gives a nice joint combo to the 5D2/50 when shooting so it's not all bad ....

twoshadows wrote in post #15542342
G.A.S.

+1

Often I search for a specific lens that I think I would love from what I see in the internet, or read somewhere. And as far I find it for a good price, I buy it. For example the Canon FD 85/1.2L or FD 24mm/1.4L. Or the Helios 44 58mm/2.0 lenses - I buy some of those for further (sometimes destructive) experiements - which connects with the next:

Now an then I do research, for example in optical design books, and search for a lens that have for example a special "macro focussing" ring that doesn not shift all lens elements, but only few lenses inside the lens. I thought this could get me influence on spherical abberation - it works well. Now I have found my cheaper "copy" of a DC (Defocus Control) Nikkor lens totweak the bokeh.

Sometimes on flea markets or Ebay I find a lens that I never searched for - but for a good price. So I get very fine lenses for 1/10 of Ebay "sold" prices from time to time.

24-70 MK II - Was never fully happy with the MK I. Read about the sharpness of the Mark II. Sold.

70-200 2.8 II - Really bought this only because I needed a telephoto zoom, and went for the best.

85 1.2 - Rented one of these when the 70-200 I bought didn't make it on time for a shoot as I had planned. Big mistake. Bought one of these two weeks later lol.

Was upgrading to FF (6D) last month, needed some EF lenses to replace my EF-S glass all of which I sold in the transition.

One of my favorite type of lens for the type of shooting I do is a UWA, although over recent years I've become critical of wide angle distortion in my UWA images. Hence I looked heavily into the TS-E lenses and decided the 17 would be the best choice. Haven't looked back. Amazed at the creative possibilities with this lens.

The other lens I got for specific purpose of lightness/compactness was the EF 40mm Pancake, which has proven really useful to that purpose as I can slap it on the camera and have no reason to to take it with me in the car or a small shoulder bag.

Wanted something faster than my 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 for indoors. Bought a Sigma 35 f/1.4 after seeing how sharp it was in shots posted on this forum. It also replaces my EF-S 10-22 after going from crop to FF.

For me, it's just want the best quality, with the most options.

When they come out with a 14-400mm f1.2 IS that is incredibly sharp, I will only own one lens.

Until then, I keep trying to acquire a collection that will allow me to take any shot I want.

The Sigma 35 comes today!

LV Moose wrote in post #15542982
Bought a Sigma 35 f/1.4 after seeing how sharp it was in shots posted on this forum. It also replaces my EF-S 10-22 after going from crop to FF.

mafoo wrote in post #15543061
The Sigma 35 comes today!

Everyone seems to buying the Sigma 35 f1.4 ! !