Thinning Down My Collection -- It's Difficult!

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9097 Location: Houston, Texas

As my lens collection has grown, some redundancies have occurred. They are becoming more widespread now so I'm finally starting to consider selling off portions of my collection. I have about twenty lenses now that fall into this loose redundancy category, redundancies across various focal lengths or functions. I tell myself that there's no point in having a half-dozen different portrait lenses (or more) when I consistently use one that's my favorite, for example.

Nowadays, I find it very difficult to sell off parts of my inventory -- mostly because I've done it before and every time I have, I've regretted it, and often ended up buying back lenses and cameras that I sold. I'd just as soon not repeat that.

So I'm curious. What do you do when you've at last confronted the reality that your collection could stand some trimming here and there? How do you make sure that whatever you sell isn't gonna be something you're gonna miss and end up buying back? Or is this even possible?

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7554 Location: Hong Kong

Different people have different criteria. I will keep the very rare lenses, followed by the lenses I liked.

Oldhand · Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2015 5:35 am Post subject:

This is a reality that we all face to one degree or another.
If you are a user/collector then do as Calvin has suggested.
If you are only interested in the lenses that you use, then move the others on.
Most of us on this forum have too many lenses to use them all regularly. Sometimes a lens is used once in a blue moon but there is that one occasion when nothing else seems as good - keep that one.
Really, though, only you can decide what you want to keep and what you want to let go.
I read somewhere - maybe even on this forum - ".... there are no luggage racks on hearses....."
Good luck in your decisions
OH

Nordentro · Expire: 2015-01-29

1. Pick the lenses you want to sell
2. Enjoy a last day with each of them, they deserve to be used one last time
3. Regret and put them back on the shelf

Very Happy

kds315* · Expire: 2021-03-09

Difficult one indeed, what I woudl do most likely lies between Calvins and Lars' proposal ....

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9097 Location: Houston, Texas

Yep, Klaus, I think you're probably right. And then add in a bit of OH's wisdom just for good measure.

kds315* · Expire: 2021-03-09

Well, I'm facing the same issue currently.... Wink

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9097 Location: Houston, Texas

Well, as OH alluded to -- we probably all are faced with this situation. Else we probably wouldn't be members and frequent posters here.

TrueLoveOne · Expire: 2013-12-24

Same problem here: shelves and drawers were getting too crowded and i spent more time with the equipment than i was actually out shooting.... it didn't feel good.

So i selected 2 brands i wanted to keep: Minolta and Konica, and started selling all the other stuff! Result: I kept a fair amount of "others" after all (mostly M42, Adaptall or Exakta mount lenses), but with the money from the sold stuff i started buying the missing pieces in my Minolta/Konica lens collection!
And that felt good!
Very Happy

kryss · Expire: 2017-09-18

Happy other people have same problem as me,76years old and shelves and shelves of cameras ,lenses and other accessories that I keep saying I MUST sell yet I cannot decide.I will probably sell my 2 Hasselblads and all extras,Bronica SQ M,Konica Omega,Nikon and Konica stuff.That leaves me with Sony A mount and E mount gear and all my Pentax film and digital,cannot part with any of my 100 plus Tamrons and still haven't decided on the Olympus mirrorless gear.Oh well. Rolling Eyes

ManualFocus-G · Expire: 2014-11-24

I've gone from 300 lenses down to 50 or so Shocked

All I have left now are Contax (Carl Zeiss), Pentacon, Soilgor (big guns) and a scattering of weird and wonderful lenses. I don't regret selling as I have another expensive hobby now - kids!

Minolfan · Joined: 30 Dec 2008 Posts: 3437 Location: Netherlands

Gardener · Joined: 22 Sep 2013 Posts: 950 Location: USA

It's a never-ending battle for me, and one I am losing. I remember trimming down my collection from 10 to 3, from 20 to 3, from 100 to 20 and so on. At this point I don't even know how many lenses I have.

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

I also have far too many lenses, and cameras that I never use. They came with lenses I wanted, and lenses are my interest rather than cameras. I need to shift a lot of stuff. Rolling Eyes

I'm determined to do it as well, I have motivation in wanting to raise some funds for an expensive holiday, and having that kind of motivation makes it a lot easier to part with lenses that I really like but actually rarely use.
I think that "just selling" because we feel we need to rationalize is difficult.

justtorchit · Joined: 12 Oct 2009 Posts: 269 Location: St. Louis, MO

May I ask what the driving factor behind your decision to purge is? I have recently been experiencing remorse for having sold some lenses I now realize, in retrospect, mean very much to me. And are of use to me, even if only infrequently. I have begun re-buying these lenses. So, for future, I have made a decision on how to go about considering selling lenses and gear and it goes something like this:

1. Why am I selling? Is it for fast cash to buy something new and shiny? Is it just the thought of having the money back, and someone else getting to use the lens that's sitting on your shelf? Is it, like your case, that you have several 100mm lenses, and always a certain one. Thus why hang on to the others? Is space an issue? Is this collection of lenses hindering some other aspects of my life?

In my case, I don't have enough lenses that I'm running into space issues. I have lots of optical redundancy, but I like the variety! I have vowed not to sell certain lenses at this point simply because I know I will want it again down the road. I just know.

2. Can I find/buy it again if I really really want to?

I have a few lenses in such a beautiful or complete condition that finding an equal will only continue to get rarer. And one or two things that are just very rare. Selling them might bring me a decent paycheck, but if I am honest with myself, the chance of finding the optic, in the condition I currently own, or find it at all, is only going to get slimmer. I think, in these cases, many of us find ourselves missing them later in life. "I used to own that lens in PRISTINE condition, with the box even!...." we will tell our friends and family. How neat an heirloom to potentially pass on to another young eager family member perhaps?

3. Will I lose out on money in the long run?

Some of my gear was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. If I were to buy the same thing at any other time, it would cost considerably more. So while selling it would be a net gain, if remorse were to set in, it could turn into a loss, depending on the future prices. Not nearly that important, with the values of lenses I am working with, but depending on your collection, it could make a difference.

Once I have answered those main questions, I usually have my answer.

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7554 Location: Hong Kong

Well, you may ask yourself what is your motivation/propose to collect these lenses. I don't feel regretted if the lens I sold is a common one as I know I can buy another one easily.

Mir · Expire: 2017-09-30

I certainly don't have an answer and don't own as many lenses as some of you guys....

Lately i've been selling whatever i didn't use in a year.
And have been buying higher end gear and/or faster lenses that i could never afford (or justify the expense of) any other way.

Since I sometimes have to sell 5 or 6 lenses to afford an expensive one, it downs the number of lenses automatically.

I do regret selling some at some point ... but mostly only when one of you guys shows good shots
of a lens i once owned and loved.... once the thread disappears, so does my regrets...

I decided i was not a collector....

Since we are all crazy in love with these old manual lenses (or just plain crazy) i believe there needs to be a purpose
or a goal to be able to sell what we love.... or else i would have kept them all ..... and moved in a bigger house...

duckrider · Joined: 11 Dec 2013 Posts: 437 Location: Germany

Buying more lenses is much easier than selling them. Wink

53yrs of age I start thinking 'bout what future will bring: Handling a greater and greater lens & camera collection will become more and more complicated. I don't want to leave too much unnecessary items to my followers. So I decided to sell a greater part of my collection and keep only the very best items "my heard hangs on".

Limit: Not more than 8 - 10 lenses and two cameras.

But until there it's a far and stony way.....

But I still have time Wink

kryss · Expire: 2017-09-18

Duckrider...I still have time.

Don't wait like me 'til your 76..believe me from 54 to 76 goes by in a flash. Shocked

Jeff Zen · Joined: 17 Jun 2009 Posts: 262 Location: Northwest USA

I have routinely purged my collection for years. Do I have regrets? Of course I do! But I still purge.

There are different types of collectors. Some are hoarders, others strive towards higher quality, or towards specific personal needs. There are many other types. However, my philosophy of collecting involves selling the lenses I use least. Let others buy those lenses that are sitting unused on the shelf. Hopefully they will use them more than I do. Let lenses find their users.

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

It's interesting to follow some of the Facebook collectors pages and see the enthusiasm and delight when someone buys a Helios 44M from a charity shop for �15, and the real surprise is the people who buy very ordinary 35mm film compacts, the focus free fixed lens ones, for �10 or more, they really think they have the greatest bargain of the year. But I guess we've all been there and overpaid for very average stuff when we were starting out with our enthusiasm for old manual lenses.
But the really interesting thing is that it is just about impossible to sell anything through these Facebook sites. I've had Helios lenses, Zeiss, Olympus and Canon lenses. Camera kits and camera's with new light seals in great condition, all offered 'open to offers' and I haven't even had an enquiry. I offered a box of 20 compact film cameras, and a bonus of a Praktica SLR and some 'mystery items' ( filters and old flash guns ) for free, just pay the postage, and I didn't get a single enquiry.
I think the point is, new enthusiasts and collectors relish the though of finding something at charity shops and yard sales, even ebay if they believe they have scored a bargain. Which for us, is bad news as it makes selling the common and mundane stuff so much harder, even if we're prepared to sell it for what it's worth or even open to offers. I've got a lot of �15 lenses, I'd take offers of �12. But it seems like 'the market' doesn't want to know.
We can always sell good and great lenses, they circulate amongst people like us and fetch - even set - the going rate, and that's great. We get to share these lenses. But the common and mundane lenses? we're doomed to keep them.

TedHarris · Joined: 10 Sep 2014 Posts: 23 Location: Manchester UK

Recently I've been buying bits of kit from charity shops and have had a few good finds that have provided a few hours of fun experimenting. In some cases bringing back the skills learnt from childhood playing with Meccano albeit on a smaller scale. Today I spotted a gadget bag on a shelf labeled SLR kit. The bag contained a grubby MTL3 with Pancolar 1,8/50, Sunagor 85-205/3.8, Cobra flash, Helios 3X teleconverter, filters, remote air release, and other bits. A quick look on ebay and I don't think I paid over the odds. Some pieces I'll use and keep, others will get played with, and some will be sold on to fund the next purchase.
It's also typical I want to try the 3X on the 400mm Soligor (also a charity shop find) for a moon shot, and the moon is nowhere in sight.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9097 Location: Houston, Texas

It's been quite fascinating reading how people here acquire, collect, and dispose of portions of their collections. Honestly, I haven't given it much thought, until now. I like David's thought processes. They're largely quantifiable.

What motivates me to buy a particular lens is often a compulsion -- a felt need -- that I must have that lens to achieve a certain photographic goal. That's when I will go on the hunt a particular lens and spring for it when I feel I've found the best deal I'm likely to find. Now as it so happens, this is an equally valid motivation for me to acquire cameras as well.

Other times, I will fall into a deal. Maybe I'll run across something in a camera shop, or even a thrift store, that causes me to do a double take and I'll buy it just because it's way underpriced. It's only afterward that I'll wonder what I should do with it. But often I can't believe my luck in finding it at that price.

But let's take the 100mm lenses I mentioned in an earlier post. I currently have two 100mm macros, one 105mm macro, one 90mm macro, and one 135mm close focus, which is the same as a macro. All of these lenses except for the 90mm Tamron are lenses that were deals that I "fell into." I ran across them priced at incredibly low prices and couldn't pass them up. The Tamron I've owned for many years. Now, I could sell all these lenses and keep the Tamron, and I'd be perfectly happy with just using the Tamron. But there's the aspect of my personality that wants to explore, and even after I've explored these lenses, I find that there's things to like about each one. But is it enough to keep them? I dunno.

Part of my problem is I own multiple camera systems now and I feel that each system deserves to have certain key lenses that are well known in that system. Two of them have good selections, but I have three others that are still rather fledgling, and it's at this point that I"m really glad I have a nice selection of Tamron lenses! Cool

Yes, I could sell off some of my systems, but my problem is -- I don't want to! I buy into a new system because there is something I like about it -- and that is usually a camera or cameras. The lenses come later, but they are usually chosen with some thought beforehand. My most recent example of this is a Minolta XD-11 (XD-7 in Europe, XD in Japan). I've wanted one of these for years. Why? Because I consider the XD-11 to have been perhaps the best engineered Minolta ever. I like it even more than the XK. It's sleek, refined, elegant. So far I have only a small handful of Minolta glass, but at least I have a Tamron mount for it!

So that's the bulk of my problem, really. I don't know how to get rid of duplicates because they're duplicates on the surface only. And my motivation pretty much dies at that point.

ManualFocus-G · Expire: 2014-11-24

I should have added, some of the money I have brought in from sales has been used to fund my new Fuji collection...

X-E1, X-E2, Samyang 12/2, 16-50mm x 2, 18/2, 27/2.8, 35/1.4 and 50-230mm Smile

I'm at it again aren't I? Laughing

woodrim · Joined: 14 Jan 2010 Posts: 4060 Location: Charleston

I have attempted to sell some lenses, but discovered that I have a selling disability.