Lens inventory :?:

[vlousada]

Hello,

I am sorry if this is not the proper place to ask, so if is the case, please be free to move the thread to another category.

After several trials on not specific software and some web based scripts I did NOT FOUND a nice solution for managing, tracking and keep organized with all Gears and Lenses I am collecting.

For now I just use a big and confuse spreadsheet as inventory, but wondering about all other members which solutions are used to keep organized regarding lens inventory.

Thanks

[LucisPictor]

I just buy what I feel I need to have and sell what I think I can go without.
In other words, I don't really keep track of what I buy and sell.
I used to organize everything on a website but now I just have a list in my text editor.

[peterqd]

Me too. I did make a spreadsheet but I never have any need to consult it!

[dsmlogger]

I also use a spreadsheet as an inventory with different tabs for Digital cameras, Digital lenses, Analog cameras, Alanog lenses, converters, filters and misc. accessories.

Never needed something more complex though. Have you considered a Database?

[koji]

Me too, I use spread sheet to keep track when and where I bought how much and and when.
The reason I did was originally for insurance purpose, but now for a grandson to keep them
what mount and which camera need what battery, and so on.

And try not to duplicate the lens I buy since I am becoming an old foggy.

[vlousada]

Well, believe that spreadsheet is pretty commun.

I started with a basic spreadsheet mostly to record purchased date, cost and few other infos.
After, I did some research on Internet and tested some free and comercial software for inventoring! None was specific for photography so the better one needed a lot of configuration and still not suitable for lenses collection...
So then i returned for SPREADSHEETS, but the problem is with all fields I want to use (about 30 or more), ONE single table is to big and confuse!! Well... I can do multiple tables but that faces to more complex operations for queries and so on. Still, I can use VBA and excel reporting tools, but for all that work I am really thinking to code a simple application with database...
With a couple of forms for input and other couple for reports I think we can have a application drived for gear ans lens collections. What do you think?

[Big Dawg]

I keep them in semi-transparent drawers where the sunlight can shine through them and then go through them every day to decide what I want to use or sell. I have a collection but it is a collection that gets used not admired. After the number 100 I quit trying to organize other than keeping the same focal lengths in the same drawers.

Neat freak I am not!!

[Attila]

I did start spreadsheet and abort it, too much works ...

[visualopsins]

Spreadsheets here too, but it is too complicated, too difficult to search, etc., so I'm working on a WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP (and Perl)), a MySQL dB with browser interface.

[Lloydy]

The only thing I keep track of on a spreadsheet is all the bits and pieces that I use with lenses, such as filters, stepping rings, reversing rings and whatever else fits on the front.

The main reason is that I have dyscalculia, dyslexia with numbers, so the great array of filter sizes, types and adaptor rings was a big problem for me, I couldn't remember what I'd got, so I ended up buying more of the same, and not using the stuff because I can't remember what I've got !



By using coloured lines between certain stepping rings and filters etc I can see at a glance what I've got and what will fit on it.

But the actual lenses are just spread around the desk, in my bag, on a shelf or wherever they were last used. I sort of remember what and where they are.

[womble]

I created a simple Access database* for recording ebay sales of things while I was getting a feel for prices. I have been meaning to add a table to it for my gear, mainly for insurance purposes, but I haven't got around to it yet...

K.

*about four tables, a simple application with about four forms and a few basic queries such as calculating min, max and average prices for equipment.

[Scheimpflug]

I kept a spreadsheet for a while, but then I realized that for me, it didn't really matter what I "had" - it only mattered what I "used".

I have since switched to the "Bag and Shelf" method of inventorying. I keep one medium size bag with a pair of bodies and a standard assortment of my favorite prime lenses (fisheye to moderate telephoto), which I carry regularly. I then keep a second larger bag of the less frequently used lenses - the longer telephotos, the zooms, the teleconverters, etc.

The "shelf" part is key - anything that is a duplicate of anything in the bags, or similar enough or not quite good enough to be worth carrying, goes on the shelf. When the shelf gets too full, I sell the extras. Since I know that I already have something better in the bags, selling items from the shelf isn't a huge deal.

[visualopsins]

Here's an intermediate step on the way to a MySQL dB (far from complete! estimate 20-30%):

http://visualopsins.weebly.com/photographic-equipment-collection.html

got to have photos of it all!

[kds315*]

I made my site www.macrolenses.de for that (and also to inform teh public about those specialized lenses) but stopped after about 300. Just not enough time to maintain that anymore. Now it's about 600++ or so

[jjphoto]

[Lloydy]

Klaus, that's an impressive site. I've just had a quick look but I'll be returning to it for sure.

[RioRico]

OpenOffice.Org CALC spreadsheet. Four tabs:

1) Lenses & Analysis -- details of all lenses bought and sold (except dates -- I goofed), and sums and summaries of the data; and a subsection on lens kits to carry
2) All Cameras -- details of all cameras bought and sold; and a subsection on accessories: bellows, flashes, bags, 'pods, etc -- but not filters/adapters
3) Digital Cameras -- details of sensors, image capacity, etc
4) Math & Misc -- tables of frame math, lens registers, various calculations, and inventory of filters and adapters

With 325 lenses (215 currently) and 75 cameras (40 currently) and zillions of filters and adapters, I *need* all this data, yes I do.

[cooltouch]

I guess I'm just old school. If I really felt the need, I'd build a database using the database tool in Open Office. It's very easy to use.

But as others have mentioned, I care mostly about being able to find a photographic tool with a minimum of searching. So I've just started doing what a lot of others here do -- I've begun putting all my gear on a set of shelves. I don't have so much that it won't fit on a 4 ft x 6 ft set of shelves fairly easily. And that includes items that are eBay bound.

[kuuan]

you people must have way too much gear
the only spreadsheet I need for mine is inside my head and I much intend to keep it this way

[RioRico]

[Scheimpflug]

[kuuan]