Too much kit

I am new to this forum and I am looking for some advice.
Over the past two years I have accumulated far too much kit, with no particular plan in mind, and I think it is now time to move some of it on - there is a lot of duplication. The only problem is that I really don't know what I should sell and what I should keep.
It isn't a case of what I like or what I use, as I tend to try all of it from time-to-time and I usually like whatever I am using. I am also probably not a good enough photographer to really notice the differences between some of the lenses.
My feeling at present is that a digital body should go, along with quite a few of the lenses.
The full kit is listed in my signature and all of it is in good condition.
All opinions welcome.

1st: It's the Canon 100mm MACRO, not MARCO

2nd: Sell one of your macro lenses. You don't need both. If I were you, I would sell the 50mm. The 100mm is an amazing lens, and offers more working distance than the 50mm.

3rd: You don't need the 75-300mm IS AND the 100-300mm. Decide which one you like most, and sell the other one. If you REALLY want to cut down on your gear, compare them to the Tokina 80-400mm. If the 80-400mm takes care of all your needs, then it's the only one you need.

4th: If you need to sell a body, sell the 400D. It's an amazing camera, but the 20D is (IMHO) much better.

5th: Unless you use your soft-focus lens a lot, I'd get rid of it too. You can add a soft-focus filter in photoshop. I know it isn't the same, but if you find yourself using the SF once in a blue moon, then I would have a hard time justifying keeping it.

6th: Sell the EF 20-35mm. Your 17-85 IS is better and covers it's entire range.

7th: Sell the 28-105mm, and keep the 28-135. It's better and has IS. Again, I don't think you need both.

If I were you ,that's what I would do. I think this approach cuts down on a lot of your lens redundancy, and you can use the money to get some really nice glass, or even sell the 20D also and then buy a 1D series.

It seems you have some repetition. I don't know how much you want to get rid of but here's my take.

Sell the 50 2.5 Macro and keep the 50 1.4 and the 100 macro. If you do low light sports photography, the 135 might be worth keeping but I don't know what else you might use it for, it's a bit too long for portraits.

I would sell the EF 17-85 IS along with either the 28-105 or 28-135 IS, your choice. I don't see the need to have both. Consider selling one of the telephotos, perhaps the 100-300 as it overlaps the other two.

If there's anything you want to buy you now have the cash. Extra memory sticks or a lens would be great.

IMO, do what Chris says. Makes lots of sense.

When it comes to choosing what you want next, be driven by need rather than wallet. It's all too easy to buy something simply because you can afford it.

Thanks for the quick reply.

Ref: AirBronto

Yes 100mm is the USM Macro and it is my favourite. Thanks for the quick advice, your thoughts seem similar fairly to my own. The SF lens has never been used and thinking about it the 28-105 and 20-35 haven't been used since I got the 17-85 IS and I take your point about tow marcos. So four down...
I look forward to what others suggest.

Undecided if I can justify keeping two bodies. The 400D tends to be taken in the car with the 17-85 on it when I am not specifically planning photography. The 20D is taken with other lens if I am planning to do something in particular. It is the 20D I tend to use at home - it has the 50mm f1.4 on it at present.

Pete wrote in post #3005819
IMO, do what Chris says. Makes lots of sense.

When it comes to choosing what you want next, be driven by need rather than wallet. It's all too easy to buy something simply because you can afford it.

It has usally been 'that looks like a good bargin', silly I know.

My wife would say I can't afford any of it.

Keep: Canon 50mm f/1.4, Canon 100mm macro, Sigma 10-20mm, 20D.

Buy: Canon 17-55(walk around for the 20D), Canon 24-105L(walk around for either body), Canon 70-300IS, or Canon 70-200 f/4L IS(tele range)

It will slim down your kit, and give you better lenses with better quality and range of utility.

Mainly you need to rationalise your zooms - there is a lot of overlap there - so pick your favourites and dump the others on ebay. Or dump them all and buy L quality glass - you know you want too....

I'm not sure how to advise you about selling one of your digital bodies - I'd be inclined to keep both - but overall the feel of the 20D would keep it in my bag. and i'd keep a film body mainly because you can't sell one for anything like what it's worth - and who knows, you might shoot a roll or two sometime...

I'd get rid of the 50mm macro and all your zooms except the 10-20 (if you use it). I'd then get a 70-200mm in whatever flavour you fancied with a 1.4 tc.

All you'd be missing would be a walkround/utility lens, I am having a bit of fun with the 24-105mm f/4L IS and would recommend it.

Keep the 50mm 1.4 and 100mm macro lens, and sell all the rest of it. With the proceeds, buy a Canon 17-55 IS and a 70-200 f/2.8 IS. The gap between 55 and 70mm only amounts of a couple of steps of "foot zoom." That would give you a streamlined kit of exemplary quality.

Thanks for the advice given six months ago - I did take some of it but my eBay lens buying /selling habit hasn't really abated and I now some more choices to make.

Below is what I had in April and what I have now is in my signature.

In April:

Bodies: EOS 20D, EOS 400D, EOS 33V
Primes: EF 50 f1.4, EF 50 f2.5 Macro, EF 100 USM Macro f2.8, EF 135 Soft focus f2.8
Zooms: Sigma EX 10-20, EF-S 17-85 IS, EF 20-35, EF 28-105, EF 28-135 IS, EF 75-300 IS, Tokina AT-X 80-400, EF 100-300 USM
Flashes: Speedlite 420EX, Speedlite 550EX

I sold most of the shorter zooms as suggested and I also invested in some L glass - a 70-200 f4 - as advised, but now I also have some more Sigma glass too so its time for another pruning of the collection so more advice please.

WOW!! Talk about a delayed response. You posted this back on April 8th, and just now getting back to responding to it? That's got to be a record around here.

Glad to see you are still hanging around.

And to your original question, in my opinion less is more. I try and focus on quality and not quantity in my gear. I have 4 lenses and feel that may be one more than I need. Honestly I think I could get buy with just the 24-70 and 70-200, but I'm a sucker for a prime and macro, so I had to pick up one of each. Actually, now that I read Liza's post, I've got pretty much what she suggested (17-55 on a crop is close to 24-70 on full frame).

To me, I'd rather have a few lenses that I know inside and out, rather than a bunch of lens that just sit in the bag, and I don't know how they will react when I put them on.

Sell your stuff here or on ebay if you aren't using them.