Home

Please support mflenses.com if you need any graphic related work order it from us, click on above banner to order!
SearchSearch MemberlistMemberlist RegisterRegister ProfileProfile Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages Log inLog in

Love-Hate relationship with MFL
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Manual Focus Lenses
View previous topic :: View next topic  


PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Informed sellers may or may not price their offerings near or above current market values. Informed buyers may or may not accept such prices. MFL members are informed, or are in the process of becoming so. Those of us with deep pockets may be looking for investments; the rest of us are likely looking for usable, affordable tools and objects of beauty. I don't think we are driving prices up.

Uninformed sellers may or may not price their offerings way too high (over-optimistic) or way too low (clueless). The overpriced stuff won't sell; the underpriced stuff is where I find my favorite deals, some of which I keep, and some I resell. Uninformed buyers may or may not pay way too much for items -- well, that's part of the process of becoming informed, isn't it? OH NO, NOT *ANOTHER* LEARNING EXPERIENCE! I'm not sure if such clueless purchases are driving prices up.

Don't blame me. I buy cheap.


PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 4:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Yes, you probably do and I am jealous, RioRico. I am sorry about this thread. Really. I think there is an art to getting good stuff at good prices. It is not the same as just going to the store and paying for whatever is sold at fixed prices. The prices, quality, quantity, and availability vary drastically. It can be both a frustrating and rewarding experience. Sorry for getting frustrated. I am just looking for some good glass to use, because most all of my glass isn't so great and I am really seeing a difference. I wish it were easier.


PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 5:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
In any case we're not the bad guys.
So I hope that I will never have to read other accusations.


PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 5:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
newton wrote:
Yes, you probably do and I am jealous, RioRico. I am sorry about this thread. Really. I think there is an art to getting good stuff at good prices. It is not the same as just going to the store and paying for whatever is sold at fixed prices. The prices, quality, quantity, and availability vary drastically. It can be both a frustrating and rewarding experience. Sorry for getting frustrated. I am just looking for some good glass to use, because most all of my glass isn't so great and I am really seeing a difference. I wish it were easier.


But in the other thread you stated that for all the lenses you've bought, you could have had a few Canon L lenses by now. If that's the case, why not sell a load of your lenses which you think aren't very good, and buy a few really good ones? That's what I did. And lenses are a few hundred quid minimum, so you should have plenty of dosh to play with Wink


PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 10:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
NikonD wrote:
btw... some time ago I saw Nikkor 20/4 for 99€ in mint condition unfortunately I was a bit too late on the "buy it now" button, 3 days later it appeared for 199€... that made me mad...

Yeah. Lately, you really have to be alert to get good deals on eBay. I saw someone pay almost $700 for a 30-year-old Nikkor 50/1.2--he could have just bought a new one and taken no chances that it had fungus or had been dropped at some time.

As it is, I find that I really only use a handful of the lenses I have. The others (including Nikkor 80-200/4.5 Ai(n), 20/3.5 Ais, 35/2 Ai, 300/4.5 Ais, Tokina 150-500/5.6 AT-X, MC 3M-5CA 500/8, among others) just collect dust. Some I don't want to part with because I think they are gorgeous examples of industrial art. Others I need to just sell.


PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 3:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Arninetyes wrote:
NikonD wrote:
btw... some time ago I saw Nikkor 20/4 for 99€ in mint condition unfortunately I was a bit too late on the "buy it now" button, 3 days later it appeared for 199€... that made me mad...

Yeah. Lately, you really have to be alert to get good deals on eBay. I saw someone pay almost $700 for a 30-year-old Nikkor 50/1.2--he could have just bought a new one and taken no chances that it had fungus or had been dropped at some time.

As it is, I find that I really only use a handful of the lenses I have. The others (including Nikkor 80-200/4.5 Ai(n), 20/3.5 Ais, 35/2 Ai, 300/4.5 Ais, Tokina 150-500/5.6 AT-X, MC 3M-5CA 500/8, among others) just collect dust. Some I don't want to part with because I think they are gorgeous examples of industrial art. Others I need to just sell.


Well I try to use all of my lenses, not at the same time but I change time to time and I'm trying to keep down the number of them to a minimum by not having two of the same FL or of the same character... and trying NOT to be a collector Wink

by saying I was a bit too late on the buy it now button I've meant that I hesitated because I was asking myself if I really needed another lens (I'm quite happy with 24/2.8, 20 isn't that wider) so I let it go... but it was sooo tempting Smile


PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 5:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Arninetyes wrote:
... 35/2 ...just collect dust.


How can this lens not be used?? I still regret to have sold my copy!


PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 6:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
LucisPictor wrote:
Arninetyes wrote:
... 35/2 ...just collect dust.


How can this lens not be used?? I still regret to have sold my copy!


Shocked that's one of my favorite lenses


PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 2:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
NikonD wrote:
LucisPictor wrote:
Arninetyes wrote:
... 35/2 ...just collect dust.


How can this lens not be used?? I still regret to have sold my copy!


Shocked that's one of my favorite lenses


+1
+1


PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 4:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I dont consider myself wealthy, but hey photography is a very expensive hobby...

Thing with manual lenses is that they cant go up in prices for much more, as they are already starting to challenge the prices of modern lenses. take the Contax Zeiss Planar 50 1.4 for example, It goes up to $500 on ebay now and new Planar is $725 right now. $225 difference is well worth the guarantee, better build and the fact that you're getting a brand new lens. For me anyhow.

All in all, I got 10-11 very nice lenses for under 400-500$ which is a price of a mediocre modern zoom so Im pretty satisfied. Smile

Last edited by NothingMan on Sat Apr 16, 2011 11:49 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 4:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
NothingMan wrote:
I dont consider myself wealthy, but hey photography is a very expensive hobby...

Thing with manual lenses is that they cant go up in prices for much more, as they are already starting to challenge the prices of modern lenses. take the Contax Zeiss Distagon 50 1.4 for example, It goes up to $500 on ebay now and new Planar is $725 right now. $225 difference is well worth the guarantee, better build and the fact that you're getting a brand new lens. For me anyhow.

All in all, I got 10-11 very nice lenses for under 400-500$ which is a price of a mediocre modern zoom so Im pretty satisfied. Smile


Please fix your samples Distagon 50 1.4 is not exists and some high asking price on Ebay is not relevant at all. I don't think so Planar 50mm f1.4 sell for 500 USD rather 300 or less , half price is quite a difference.

I not agree photography is very expensive hobby, which technical hobby is less expensive ? If you select carefully your gears, Russian lenses, second hand digital bodies. It can be very inexpensive, film camera , b&w film , DIY development etc.


PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 4:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I think it's as expensive as your finances will allow...

I wish for a D700 but my finances won't allow, I wish for a 70-200/2.8VRII but my MF lenses won't allow Smile


PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 4:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I agree with Attila that this is not expansive hobby:

Two week ago I bought second hand Pentax istD for 150 euros
plus I paid 10 euros for XR Rikenon 50mm f2.

Now I have semi-pro camera for 160 euros.

semso


PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 11:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
LucisPictor wrote:
Arninetyes wrote:
... 35/2 ...just collect dust.


How can this lens not be used?? I still regret to have sold my copy!

Simple. I found a Nikkor 28/2 Ai.

The 28/2 will do anything the 35/2 will do, plus closer focus with CRC and (unlike my 35/2) it has has no ghosts and flares very little. Before I got the 28/2, I loved the 35/2--unless I was shooting into the sun.

For example, I was working in a gravel pit in Southern California a few days ago and snapped this pic. I was using the 28/2 on a D700. Notice the one, tiny flare at the 8 o'clock position. Not a great photo, but you can see how well the 28/2 handles bright light sources.
[img]
[/img]


PostPosted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 12:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Quote:
Please fix your samples Distagon 50 1.4 is not exists and some high asking price on Ebay is not relevant at all. I don't think so Planar 50mm f1.4 sell for 500 USD rather 300 or less , half price is quite a difference.

I not agree photography is very expensive hobby, which technical hobby is less expensive ? If you select carefully your gears, Russian lenses, second hand digital bodies. It can be very inexpensive, film camera , b&w film , DIY development etc.


Good catch, I meant planar but Im sure everyone knew what I was talking about. Anyhow, Its not expensive hobby if one thinks that few helios and jupiter lenses and a 7 year old 10mp digital body is all one is ever going to need.

As for ebay...I cant get zeiss lenses here so i have to look abroad and I didnt see any nice planars for sale under $350, but then again maybe Im not looking at right places. Also I have to pay shipping, customs (17% vat + 10% for photo equipment) and on top of that I need to pay customs for shipping too. So a $300 lens costs me $500 + . Ive seen planars go up to $500 on ebay, whether ebay prices are relevant or not is another story altogether.

However if you want really good lenses (who doesnt) it gets pretty expensive, especially if you live in a country where monthly wages go as low as $200 like it is the case in the country where I live in.
You cant even buy a black and white film around here, one has to order from abroad, pay shipping etc.

Right now Im in need of 2 decent flashes, wireless trigger, stands, softboxes, tripod, maybe some filters etc etc. Full frame digital body would also be nice Smile. All of those things combined cost a lot of money. I know Ive spent a lot of cash on photo equipment and I bought used mostly and I still cant say that I have close to equipment I really need.

Bottom line, If i had the money for all of that I wouldnt consider it expensive, since I dont I find it expensive.


PostPosted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 10:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
NikonD wrote:
I think it's as expensive as your finances will allow...

Exactly right. If it is a hobby, buy what is affordable, not a wet-dream. Sometimes we get lucky and that wet-dream IS affordable. I have enough very good, very inexpensive lenses to prove that. I even have some very cheap Zeiss glass. Smile But not much.

Sometimes the wet-dream isn't what we thought. I just bought a Pentax SMC(K) 50/1.2 for US$250 shipped. (I had to sell 10 lenses to pay for it.) It is great, but not *that* much better than an M42 Sears-Tomioka 55/1.4 that cost me less than 1/100th as much. Am I happy with the K50? Yes! Am I ecstatic about it? Well, not really...

Hobby and business (should) have different standards. Long long ago, photography was my job -- and my clients (military officers) didn't care WHAT I shot with, as long as I did whatever was necessary to deliver usable pictures. Now, if I made my living as a wedding photographer, I would own a necessary kit with suitable cameras, lenses, lights, etc, and consider their price to be just part of the cost of doing business. If I fed myself shooting landscapes or fashion or advertising, I would get a digital MF kit of necessary quality.

That is the crucial word: NECESSARY. When it is your job, you do what is necessary. You DO WHATEVER YOU NEED TO, to deliver the picture(s). If ONLY a lens forged by gnomes from lab-grown crystal in zero-gravity will obtain the picture you need, then GO FOR IT! If a Holga will produce the images you need, that is fine too. Sometimes you need a Zeiss T* and sometimes you need a plastic meniscus or an oatmeal-carton pinhole.

Dare I say it? Lenses do not produce photos -- PHOTOGRAPHERS produce photos. And 'better' lenses are Real Nice To Own, but they don't make one a better photographer. I've known of film-era photojournalists whose kits were entirely Sears and Vivitar and Chinon. (I bought one such kit! Cheap!) And noted artists whose only cameras were Argus C3's. (OK, so the Argus Cintar is a Leitz Elmar clone -- that helps!) But I don't NEED a FlexaDistaGonad to take good shots.

Photography is my obsession now, not my livelihood, and I spend as little money on it as possible. I like reading here about costly lenses. But I buy the cheapest ones I can. Or sell the cheap ones to buy a 'better' one. Do I drive up lens prices? I doubt it.
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Manual Focus Lenses
Goto page Previous  1, 2
Page 2 of 2