How do you reduce (and not expand)?

alex ph · Joined: 16 Mar 2013 Posts: 1674

Thank you so much, fellows, for your tremendous inputs! I read your stories and tips with quite an emotion. First, I've got at which amateur level I find myself with my spontaneously assembled and so spontaneously used set of lenses. Some of you speak from a perspective of persons who tried hundreds of lenses before you started feeling what matches your taste and purposes the most. My experience is not as wide, so do I need to buy more lenses to feel myself easier to say goodbye to most of them? Probalby yes. Then, I much appreciated your tips to focus on something more special in order to chose better. This is a very godd idea. In fact, I was trying many cheao lenses for curiosity. Some of them revealed themselves great, like Jupiter-8, some give more fun, like for example my short-time love story with Pentaflex 2.8/50 (aka Domiplan) with edge defects giving an image like in 3D toy projectors from childhood. I was tending to acquire not expensive. Sometimes I ran into nice bagains, like Heliar 4.5/12cm way below its market price, sometimes it made me discover real gems among standard lenses, like Rollei Planar 1.8/50. But in most cases I stocked a set of lenses that have no great value, at least not in terms of investment or reselling. So, maybe I need to pass to another category of acquisitions, rarer or more expensive (as well as to buy less often) in order to see my whole lens set in a more carefree way.

One of the most interesting threads in the last weeks, IMHO. Thank you again!

Sjak · Joined: 29 Sep 2017 Posts: 696

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

Selling is harder than buying.
More work.
The root of the problem.

Damn you ebay!

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7584 Location: Hong Kong

visualopsins · Expire: 2025-04-11

Well curiosity drove me to want to try many different lenses, quality concerns came later. I wanted to see for myself, to look through many lenses, to get practical experience, spend some lab time so to speak. I wasn't going to get that by buying Canon L lenses! Although if money were not any concern I would have satisfied my curiosity that way! lol

bychance · Joined: 24 Apr 2013 Posts: 347 Location: Kent, England

DConvert · Joined: 12 Jun 2010 Posts: 921 Location: Essex UK

My efforts to reduce my collection have just taken a significant set-back
I've won an auction for a job lot of 15-20 assorted lenses.
Hopefully most will be in acceptable condition (at least the Tamron 54B I spotted among them)

From the research I've done on sold listings I should be able to make my money back, as long as can manage to sell the ones I don't want. Trouble is listing them on e-bay usually proves too much effort Rolling Eyes

Update:
I collected my lenses last night. Turned out to be 21 of them, mostly of minimal value & with traces of fungus on close inspection, though pretty much all seem quite usable.
As well as the 54B (300mm macro prime) I had my eye on there was also a Nikon fit Sigma 180mm macro which I expect to find a use for. Whoo Turtle

I now have to add adapters for MD & FD mounts to my collection, to try them out before trying to treat the fungus on them. - THIS DOESN'T HELP ME REDUCE!
Twisted Evil