Not loving my 85 1.8 or 50 1.8 much anymore

I suppose I'm looking for suggestions on what I should be shooting with my 85 and 50... they tend to live in my bag...

The 85 is a bit long for indoors stuff around the house, and outdoors I tend to use my 24-105...

Indoors, the 50 is also a bit long, and I tend to use the 35m f/2 exclusively....

I know that the 85 and 50 are both good to great lenses... but I hardly ever use them...so, I suppose what I'm looking for before I sell them off is input on what you all use your 50's and 85's for....

Indoors, I mainly shoot food (not professionally, just for my food blog) Outdoors, I'm shooting landscapes with my 12-24 and longer outdoor shots with the 24-105.... parks, zoos, etc. ...

I'm just an enthusiast... I don't do weddings, or portraits, or any of that...

Ideas?

Funny that's what happened to me too. Almost. My main indor lens would be the 24L and outdoor lens is the 17-40. The 100L is needed for macro stuffs and when I'm doing portraits or candids.

Sadly my 85L and 50mm is sitting in the bag.

The way I look at it, one buys lenses for ' the job ' and if ' the job ' isn't there, the lenses won't get much use. I'd say that if you don't use them then it would be best to sell them and get something else. It's the same with my 50L much as I love it. Pity we are an ocean apart since I could have given your 85/1.8 a loving home


Cheers

Sell me your 85L

lundgrenj wrote in post #9986393
Sell me your 85L

I think he has the 1.8 version friend


Cheers

Houston1863 wrote in post #9986382
The way I look at it, one buys lenses for ' the job ' and if ' the job ' isn't there, the lenses won't get much use. I'd say that if you don't use them then it would be best to sell them and get something else. It's the same with my 50L much as I love it. Pity we are an ocean apart since I could have given your 85/1.8 a loving home


Cheers

I think you're dead-on there....
I bought the Nifty-Fifty as my first lens other than the 18-55... It did it's job of making me fall in love with fast primes... which is why I got the 35 and 85... the 35 gets constant use... but not the 85... and since I got the 35, on my crop, it seems to be a great focal length for me...

I'm thinking I'll just have to write off the 85 and 50 as "not used enough to justify keeping"

I consider 50 and 85mm to be mainly individual portrait lengths on a 1.6x crop camera. If you aren't doing portraits, and more specifically portraits with blurred BG or in low light, then you probably have little use for them over your 24-105L.

You may consider trading them for or towards a short macro lens for your food pictures, though. If your 24-105 isn't getting you close enough, that is. 60mm f2.8 comes to mind as a good option. If you don't need closer focusing, perhaps some lighting or tripod setup, etc. Basically I am saying I am sure there is something you could trade them for that would get used more.

va_rider wrote in post #9986425
I think you're dead-on there....
I bought the Nifty-Fifty as my first lens other than the 18-55... It did it's job of making me fall in love with fast primes... which is why I got the 35 and 85... the 35 gets constant use... but not the 85... and since I got the 35, on my crop, it seems to be a great focal length for me...

I'm thinking I'll just have to write off the 85 and 50 as "not used enough to justify keeping"

You won't have trouble finding takers for either, especially the 85mm.

Anything you might be thinking of? Mr TKBSLC made a gr8 suggestion of a macro. The 100mm USM may be found in the sales pages here at gr8 prices.


Ciao

Why not give each of them a week? Stick it on your camera and shoot with nothing else for that week. It will limit you but it will force you to be more creative.

If after that week you hate your shots or haven't figured out how to use them, sell them.

When I golfed a lot, if I was hitting one club poorly I will just keep it in my bag. So for a month my 5 iron was driving me crazy. What did I do? I played a round with nothing but a 5 iron. Drove with it, chipped with it and even putted with it. I really got my feel back for the club and got over the hump.

CosmoKid wrote in post #9986476
Why not give each of them a week? Stick it on your camera and shoot with nothing else for that week. It will limit you but it will force you to be more creative.

If after that week you hate your shots or haven't figured out how to use them, sell them.

When I golfed a lot, if I was hitting one club poorly I will just keep it in my bag. So for a month my 5 iron was driving me crazy. What did I do? I played a round with nothing but a 5 iron. Drove with it, chipped with it and even putted with it. I really got my feel back for the club and got over the hump.

That's a great suggestion... and kind of where I was heading with all of this at the beginning... I've had both lenses for a good while, and they don't see much use.. I figured I would use the 85 more once the weather got nicer, and I could use it outside... but that doesn't seem to be happening... using it indoors... shooting food, I'd have to be on the other side of the kitchen.... before getting the 35, I used the 50 for a bunch of food photography... but after getting the 35, I like the FL and MFD of that one much better....

I'll try to use them both more this week.... and see where that puts me...

Actually CosmoKid is right. Once I went to Athens with only the 50mm and the 450D. Took all the shots with it and I went....hey that wasn't too bad. Force yourself with one lens and you might just enjoy it.

On the flip side of that argument, why force it if you aren't feeling it? What's the benefit other than some forced creativity? You could also get some great shots if you just left the 24-105 on the lens for a week as usual.

va_rider wrote in post #9986496
That's a great suggestion... and kind of where I was heading with all of this at the beginning... I've had both lenses for a good while, and they don't see much use.. I figured I would use the 85 more once the weather got nicer, and I could use it outside... but that doesn't seem to be happening... using it indoors... shooting food, I'd have to be on the other side of the kitchen.... before getting the 35, I used the 50 for a bunch of food photography... but after getting the 35, I like the FL and MFD of that one much better....

I'll try to use them both more this week.... and see where that puts me...

+1. You don't use these lenses and still get the shots you want. Sell them and get yourself a nice little macro lens for your food photography. 60mm macro will do just fine, 50mm macro are also great for even less money.

tokina 12-24 for crops is a must.

tkbslc wrote in post #9986535
On the flip side of that argument, why force it if you aren't feeling it? What's the benefit other than some forced creativity? You could also get some great shots if you just left the 24-105 on the lens for a week as usual.

i only suggested it because he has them in hand already. sort of like a "why not" approach. he may use them and realize he likes one of them. if not, he can sell them which is the direction he is going anyway.