What Lens Would You Get Rid Of?

Hi guys, I seem to have amassed lenses which overlap each other and need to downsize (I rarely use the kit now with a young family and lugging around a million lenses and a toddler is not enjoyable).

I use crop cameras (70d, 40d). This is what the (heavy) bag contains:

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM (often too much on a crop but outstanding when I can focus it!)
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM (just amazing)
Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM (great)
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM (great)
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM (love for cityscapes but rarely used)
Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 (just goes in the bag when I'm out and about with the 40d)

I just wondered, if in my position, what you would all do? Which would you ditch? I guess the obvious is either the 24-105mm or 17-55mm but they're both amazing in slightly different ways and I've thought about this for so long that I've lost all objectivity!

Probably the 24 f/2.8 and the 24-105. If you're cutting real deep, 10-22, but it adds some focal versatility so I would be hesitant to cut it.

If you find the 50mm too long on crop, sell that too, and replace with the 35mm f/2.0 IS.

Canon EF 35mm f/2.0 IS
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

I don't sell lenses anymore. I've already bought 3 or 4 of them a second time.

I'd swap the 24-105L for the 18-135 STM or nUSM, or the 15-85. That's a pretty heavy zoom to be carting around for a crop that doesn't need it at that focal range. Or just use the 17-55 and swap to the 70-200 if you need more reach, but that's less convenient if you're often switching from one end of the 24-105 to the other.

Do you need the speed of the 50? If you can handle the loss of two stops of light, the 40 STM would save some weight and produces good images. Or skip the 40 and just use your 17-55, but the 40 is very light to carry.

Your other heavy lenses are the 17-55 and 70-200, and it's really hard to come close to replicating those if you need the light. Though I suppose again, if you can handle losing some speed, the 70-200/4 is lighter.

Bassat wrote in post #18295075
I don't sell lenses anymore. I've already bought 3 or 4 of them a second time.

This. If you don't need the cash, and if you are happy with all those lenses, tuck away those you aren't expecting to need for a specific event. If you aren't happy with any of them, sell.

I happily used just the 17-55 and 70-200 for about 7 years and I shot everything from weddings, to family, to landscape, corporate and product.

Rent when you need something else. One off uses, such as your 10-22 don't count to me as a must have.

I would sell the rest, or leave them home if you think you might still need them.

I'm now using more lenses than last year, and upgraded all my gear, but when I'm going out with family, I just walk with the 24-70 and 70-200, which harkens back to when I was using crop with the 17-55 and 70-200.

I'm with Bassat...............i​t seems that I soon need the lens that I've just sold

Thanks all - surprised there's so little love for the 24-105 - although I guess superceded, two stops worse than the 17-55, heavy and awkward focal length on crop given my other lenses.

I'll ditch that and consider the rest - thanks for helping me come to a decision!

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The only lenses in that list that I would keep are the 24-105mm and the 70-200mm. None of the others would get used, and might as well be sold off.

sa_20v wrote in post #18296223
Thanks all - surprised there's so little love for the 24-105 - although I guess superceded, two stops worse than the 17-55..........

Am I missing something? I thought that the 24-105mm was just one stop slower than the 17-55mm.

sa_20v wrote in post #18296223
.........awkward focal length on crop given my other lenses.

I actually find the focal length range of the 24-105 more useful on my crop bodies than I do on my full frame body. It is actually an extremely useful range on a 1.6 crop.

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sa_20v wrote in post #18296223
Thanks all - surprised there's so little love for the 24-105 - although I guess superceded, two stops worse than the 17-55, heavy and awkward focal length on crop given my other lenses.

You forgot: huge distortion and vignetting, reliability issues, cannot resolve newer sensors.
Still surprised ?

Nevertheless, it is used by many full-frame photographers who only want to bring a single lens.

you dont have to get rid of anything, simply stop bringing anything except for the 24 and see how that works out.

if I were in your shoe, the 50 1.4 would be replaced with 50 1.8 stm and 24-105 would be gone.

you can try to force yourself to be simple, use only 1 or 2 lenses.

I'd sell the 24-105, but I'm also a big fan of primes.

24, 50, and a 100/2.8L would probably be what I'd end up with

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CheshireCat wrote in post #18296319
You forgot: huge distortion and vignetting.........

The OP only uses 1.6 crop body cameras.
Are vignetting and distortion really a concern when using these bodies?

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If you *need* to get rid of something why not just start with what you use the least? That would argue for getting rid of the 10-22 and 24. I love the 16-35 on my full frame body, so I wouldn't get rid of the 10-22 which is comparable on a crop body. But if you don't use it, why keep it?

The other way of looking at it is to get rid of the duplicates? You have 3 lenses that cover 24mm and 3 that cover 50mm. Do you shoot a lot of places where you need the fast primes? It would be easy to get rid of the 50 and 24 if you don't need the low light performance since those focal lengths are covered by other lenses. If you need to fast primes for low light situations, then 24-105 could be easy to get rid of since you already covered that range by the 24, 50, and 70-200. You could also get rid of the 17-55 which is covered by the 10-22, 24-105, and 24.

If you're mainly shooting family portraits, then the 50 and 70-200 would probably be my first choices to keep. They both are known for taking great portraits. If you're trying to capture less posed shots, then you can't argue with the flexibility of zooms and the 24-105 is a great since it can do ok in smaller well lit indoor spaces as well as larger outdoor spaces.

On the other hand, personally, I would just keep them all and just pull out the ones you need for any given shoot.

Personally, I'd ditch the 50 and 24, and if you don't use the 10-22, maybe that one. Although, it's such a nice tool to have in the arsenal when you want/need wide. The rest are all pretty darned useful on a crop sensor, IMO. I've tried and tried to like the 50 on my various bodies and it just sits gathering dust; and the 24, while nice to have a light prime is covered handily by your 17-55.