How does everyone visually keep track of their lenses?

newton · Joined: 10 Mar 2011 Posts: 343 Location: USA

I have too many lenses that look a like and I need a quick way to recognize which lens is which so I can pull them out from the stash and shoot with them. I cannot use a sticker or a marker because each lens has moving parts. I wanted to know if anyone has a way in which they label their lenses so that they can quickly pick them out from the stash to be able to use on the fly. Thanks.

Bruce · Expire: 2014-11-22

Hmmmm, I have almost 80 lens and can nearly always spot which is which with a glance. Maybe you need more diversity? Laughing

hint: buy more glass!

visualopsins · Expire: 2025-04-11

In cases with F/f embossed on top or with labeled caps, arranged in sets, in some 'order' such as focal length, speed, use...I have fast, wide, macro, telephoto, takumar, nikkor, tamron, zoom, long telephoto, fisheye, specialty sets of lenses, more than one set to a case...

newton · Joined: 10 Mar 2011 Posts: 343 Location: USA

I was shooting today and had little time to find the one I wanted. It was embarrassing. I finally found it but with the loss in time searching, about 20 to 60 seconds, I sacrificed shoot time so those shots were a total waste. I have a little more than half of what Bruce has and I really cannot spot the ones I want in the dark quick enough.

Colored caps? Almost every cap is black. There has to be a way to label your lenses. I am not good enough to spot them in the dark, nor do I have the time to walk through them and I am too disorganized to select them beforehand; I do that on the fly...spur of the moment, what I feel is needed.

This is frustrating or I am just not smart or rich enough to be so organized. Sad

..........

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

newton, are you joking or what?
Do you really take all your lenses with you when you go shooting? No selection? Like, those 3-4 lenses that any photo guy would choose before the event and that fill a normal photo bag?
Are you carrying around full boxes of lenses to your photography sessions?
And... you are photographing in the dark?? So dark that you can not see the lens caps? Like, in a dark room, through a hole?

I really don't know how to take your threads newton. Your questions feel like... like a red guy with antennas coming from Mars down to Earth to ask terrestrials how those green guys with big ears up there on Venus do organize their bicycle races. Exactly, that's how disoriented your questions make me feel!... Rolling Eyes

But at least, reading them is funny Very Happy

newton · Joined: 10 Mar 2011 Posts: 343 Location: USA

lol

Sorry. No, today was the only day I had all my lenses out on a table and was shooting in the studio. I was sneak testing a few in the midst of my trusty lens. I only shot with three lenses. I was looking for my new portrait lens and it felt like it took forever to find, but I don't think the subject minded. It just felt awkward for me as I had never used that lens on a person and was quickly trying it after I got the shots I wanted.

Keep in mind I have a slew of new lenses I have not used in a shoot yet, so I am going thru slow testing of them in real-time. I normally only shoot with one lens, pre-picked. It was dark because I was in my studio using my strobes.

Sorry, sometimes, I don't fully explain myselves....sorry, myself! Wink

I will stick to my old routine of using only one or two lenses max, pre-picked. Keep in mind I have a slew of lenses that I have never had to use in real-time and I have to slowly introduce them, without compromising my normal quality and work/effort.

Thanks! I really enjoy the compliment of being different, like I am out-of-this-world. LOL. Wink

Much appreciated feedback!

gearsNcogs · Joined: 20 Oct 2010 Posts: 215

I'd say a simple way to label your lenses would be (similar to your own suggestion of using colored lens caps) would be getting some colored spike tape and putting a piece on the lens cap. That way, it wont interrupt any of the moving parts on your lenses. Using different colors for different focal lengths (pink for wide, yellow normal, green portrait, etc) will help distinguish the groups, and you can write whatever other information you want on the tape itself. That way you have a nice, bright (easier to read in the dark) label that wont ruin or disrupt anything on your lenses!

of course, you could also just put 1 new lens in your bag with your usual lenses and try it out for a little while. that way, it shouldn't interrupt your work flow too much, and you wont be overwhelmed with choices for what to try next -- you made that decision already when time wasn't of the essence!

hope something in there helps! (sorry, that was a bit long-winded)

newton · Joined: 10 Mar 2011 Posts: 343 Location: USA

Not long winded at all but very helpful! Glow-in-the-dark stickers....I wonder what kind of imaging that can create as an extra light source. New idea to try..........glow sticks! Soooo cool in the dark. Wink

I have some super awesome pictures of that!

Labeled stickers on the caps would be quick for me, even if I am in a hurry and have to grab just one lens on the go, which happens from time to time.

Thank ya! Very Happy

gearsNcogs · Joined: 20 Oct 2010 Posts: 215

Excalibur · Expire: 2014-04-21

RioRico · Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 9:28 am Post subject:

My current inventory is about 200 lenses. Most of them are in little Ikea drawer units that fit into bookshelves next to my desk. Many of them are enlarger and projector lenses, stuffed / stacked into a couple of those drawers. Of camera lenses, some almost live in my primary and secondary carry-bags. Those not in danger of immediate use are in those drawers. One drawer manages to hold 20 Fifty's. Most have branded caps and are not difficult to find. In other drawers, I try to sequester the 24s, 28s, 35s, and 135s. One drawer has only Meyer / Pentacon Fifty's. One drawer has only macro tubes and TC's. Longer lenses overflow onto the shelves around me.

How to find any lens? I may have a more-or-less accurate idea of where it is. No, the drawers are not labeled, because I constantly shift the contents to adjust as lenses come and go. I can reach most lenses within a few seconds. Some may require a couple minutes of pulling out drawers and searching. If it is hard to find, it probably isn't important, eh?

But yes, warehousing lenses is a problem I have been dealing with for almost three years now. Solution: A bigger house. Right.