HELP! I have bad GAS...

So I have way too many lenses. I love buying stuff, and most I buy with the intentions of selling shortly after getting, but I end up not selling them, and now this is where I am. I have no idea what I should keep, and what I should sell off.

I shoot anything and everything, so I really don't have a specific genre that I shoot. I am strictly a hobbyist, and do not do anything for pay, like weddings. I'm hoping to eventually do senior portraits, but that will be mainly for my daughter and her friends in a couple of years. Not a sports shooter. I do macro. I like portraits. I do birds (and want to expand in this area). General nature, but not so much landscapes, as I find the Florida landscape to be utterly boring.

Here's what I have, and I actually do use everything, as I try to take just 2-3 lenses with me, and like to give each lens some use (aka stock rotation):

• 8mm Rokinon (Love this lens, lots of fun)
  
• 10-20mm Sigma 4-5.6 (another fun lens, but it's MF only, as the AF system is broken)
  
• 17-40mm f/4 L (see very litte use, as my 17-50 gets more action, candidate #1 for selling)
  
• 17-50mm 2.8 Tamron non-VC (Love it's IQ and the nice 2.8)
  
• 18-55mm IS (hasn't been mounted in months, obviously it's going bye-bye)
  
• 24-105mm f/4 IS L (Just got it to fill the 50-70mm gap)
  
• 40mm STM (Got it cuz it seemed like a great lens, and have used it exactly 2 times, but it is a nice lens)
  
• 50mm 1.8 Mark I (not much usage, but for the $$$ it's great)
  
• 50mm 1.4 Pentax Super-Takumar (a classic, and a wonderful lens)
  
• 50mm f/2 Carl Zeiss Biotar (another classic - I use it when I want the swirly bokeh)
  
• 55-250mm EF-S (the nifty two fifty, sees just about zero use since I got my Tammy 70-300)
  
• 85mm 1.8 USM (probably my least favorite lens, but I feel it's almost a 'gotta have it' lens)
  
• 100mm 2.8 Macro (Use it for macro and for portraits - better IQ and 'magial pop' IMO then the 85mm)
  
• 70-300 Tamron VC (fantastic lens with a fantastic VC system, but I'm strongly considering getting the 150-600mm(?))
  

Yes, buy a new body.

Whoa, that's too much to choose from before heading out for a day of shooting. I've found having four different cameras to choose from paralyzing as to which to choose for any given event. In fact one time I ended up deciding to just take my wife's Nikon J3 because I couldn't decide which of my cameras to take.

I'd probably widdle that list down to:

17-40mm - I actually liked this lens when I had my 50D much more than the non-VC Tamron 17-50 or Sigma 17-50 OS.

50mm Zeiss - swirly bokeh rules!

85mm - I still have and love this lens for portraits and the bokeh. CA isn't so nice at times, though.

70-300 VC

If I were choosing for me, that's it. Then I'd pick only one or two lenses before heading out the door.

FarmerTed1971 wrote in post #16622626
Yes, buy a new body.

Yeah, I've been debating between the 7D and the 70D

tempest68 wrote in post #16622628
Whoa, that's too much to choose from before heading out for a day of shooting. I've found having four different cameras to choose from paralyzing as to which to choose for any given event. In fact one time I ended up deciding to just take my wife's Nikon J3 because I couldn't decide which of my cameras to take.

I'd probably widdle that list down to:

17-40mm - I actually liked this lens when I had my 50D much more than the non-VC Tamron 17-50 or Sigma 17-50 OS.

50mm Zeiss - swirly bokeh rules!

85mm - I still have and love this lens for portraits and the bokeh. CA isn't so nice at times, though.

70-300 VC

If I were choosing for me, that's it. Then I'd pick only one or two lenses before heading out the door.

You forgot all the fun Ultrawides! Love the fish, and the 10-20, but the 10-20 is seeling less and less usage as time goes on.

I bought the 100mm macro to replace a 60mm Macro, and the 85mm, but I have;nt had the nerve to sell the 85mm. I really (like really really) don't like the CA of the 85mm. And the extra reach of the 100mm doesn't really bother me.

I think you're right on the 50's, or at least the Super-Tak. It's a great lens, but the Biotar is just as nice. The 50 1.8 I've had since forever, and it's like a child to me.

I updated the list - I just remembered I have the 40mm STM also.....

70d, or 60d for half the price if you don't shoot video.

Suggestion: get a 6D. You have the perfect FF lens lineup.

Anything you have not mounted for 6 months, sell.
Anything slower and with an over lapping focal length, sell.
Enjoy and use the gear you carry with you.

There are 9 lenses than can cover the 40-60mm range... Why???

Pick up a new body, ditch all the crop lenses. Keep the 17-40mm, 24-105mm, one of the 50mm, 85mm f/1.8, 100mm macro and 70-300mm.

If you're sticking with the 50D then it may be a different story. But in saying that, I've never felt the 17-40mm or 24-105mm ever felt right on crop. And 17-40mm is pointless if you have the 17-50mm anyway. As is the 18-55mm.

The first line up gets you a decent body with a wide, a zoom, a walkaround, a macro, fast standard portrait and a tight portrait lens. Surely that covers most situations? Unless you want an ultrawide too....

Heya,

Move up to a refurb 7D.
Get a 100-400L lens (or the 600mm Tamron).

Keep:

8mm
17-50mm F2.8
85mm F1.8
100 F2.8

Sell the rest.

Very best,

MalVeauX wrote in post #16623355
Heya,

Move up to a refurb 7D

I ask this for knowledge. Why a 7D over a 70D or 60d? I'm always reading problems about focus issues and aa filter problems with the 7d.

Frodge wrote in post #16623426
I ask this for knowledge. Why a 7D over a 70D or 60d? I'm always reading problems about focus issues and aa filter problems with the 7d.

You get a 7D for the 7D's autofocus abilities and micro adjustment abilities. It's basically a pro-crop sensor. It's the one I would buy if buying a crop. The refurb cost is very attractive. I would get it over the 60/70D. The 70D is for people who want to do more video. The 70D is not as fast as the 7D for stills and their autofocus is not the same.

I'm not reading the same threads as you are apparently regarding 7D focus issues. More like user error, if anything, regarding that. Take a look at the BIF/Wildlife shooters. A lot of them are rolling 7D's or 5D3's for the autofocus. I don't see them complaining and moving to the 60D/70D.

Very best,

Sirrith wrote in post #16622864
Suggestion: get a 6D. You have the perfect FF lens lineup.

Completely agree!!

Put the Mark II Brothers in your list...

EF 16-35 L MkII, EF 24-70 L MkII EF 70-200 L MkII

... and to do them justice, throw in a 1Dx in the mix.

That should put a crimp in your GAS if nothing else...

KirkS518 wrote in post #16622606
What I'm thinking of keeping are the 8mm, 10-20mm, 17-50mm, 24-105, all the 50's, 100mm, and the 70-300.

If you are staying with only crop bodies, I would ditch the 24-105L, too. Keeping it just to cover the 50-70mm range seems silly.

As others have stated, though, you may want to consider moving to full frame. Then I would keep the 17-40L, 24-105L, 100mm macro and 70-300. If you want something longer swap out the 70-300 for a 100-400L or Tamron 150-600.

Stock rotation ?!?! Lenses don't have a 'use by' date.

If you feel compelled to use a lens just because you haven't used it in a while, then my opinion is that you have too many lenses. They are there to get used, if you have to force yourself to use a lens, then probably better to sell it.