One Lens?

[mercer]

I'm in the middle of clearing out some gear and while I was going through my lenses I wondered... If I could have only one lens... What would it be?

Honestly, I'm unsure. I have a Cosmicar 25mm f/1.9 vintage zebra c-mount that I love. But I also love my Minolta 28mm f/2... Hmm. Or maybe it's a lens I don't already own... That Voigtlander 25mm looks amazing...

If you guys could only have one lens... What would it be?

[Don Kotlos]

It depends on the camera. ..

For EM1 the 25 0.95 SLRMagic almost never left the camera. 

For the A7rii the CV 35 nokton gives me everything I need, range (35-105), macro, low light & shallow DoF. 

[mercer]

1 hour ago, Don Kotlos said:

It depends on the camera. ..

For EM1 the 25 0.95 SLRMagic almost never left the camera. 

For the A7rii the CV 35 nokton gives me everything I need, range (35-105), macro, low light & shallow DoF. 

Yeah, I was looking at those TV Noktons. This was meant to be a fun question, but as I was going through my gear, I thought... Why do I have all of these lenses? I do plan on making a short, or maybe even a no budget feature one day, but it's really just a hobby for me.

Right now I have a ton of decent vintage lenses, but I usually only use the same 3 and they are all in the normal range in FF terms.

If I thought about this yesterday, I would need 30 of my 50 lenses... Now I'm thinking 5 or 10 should do and I should get one really good lens... So I've been looking at a bunch of videos from the 25mm Voigtlander...

Damn that's a nice lens. 

[animan]

5-10 sounds about right! 50 not so much..

[mercer]

3 minutes ago, animan said:

5-10 sounds about right! 50 not so much..

Not to be depressing, but I got my first camera (a t2i) right before my mother got sick. I didn't have the time to work on any projects, so I wasted time buying lenses... In some ways it was cathartic. Over time I sold some and bought more and better ones and now I have this stockpile of lenses in case the camera apocalypse occurs... Or should I say when...

[mkabi]

Collecting gear becomes a hobby. I get it. But, unless you are actually using it... other people will think its a waste and/or you are hording it.

For example, my wife thought I was hording, and I had 8 lenses... go figure right? So I got rid of 3, it was a 20mm, 50mm & 100mm (canon primes).

Now, I have a total of 5 lenses - typical - 35-50-85.

One 16-35mm & a macro 100mm

The only lenses I am lacking are a general purpose lens and a telescopic lens.

My current craving is a Red 18-85mm T2.9 - Used its about $4-5K - PL mount.

But I can get away with a 24-105 and it will cost a fraction of the Red lens. 

 

[mercer]

35 minutes ago, mkabi said:

Collecting gear becomes a hobby. I get it. But, unless you are actually using it... other people will think its a waste and/or you are hording it.

For example, my wife thought I was hording, and I had 8 lenses... go figure right? So I got rid of 3, it was a 20mm, 50mm & 100mm (canon primes).

Now, I have a total of 5 lenses - typical - 35-50-85.

One 16-35mm & a macro 100mm

The only lenses I am lacking are a general purpose lens and a telescopic lens.

My current craving is a Red 18-85mm T2.9 - Used its about $4-5K - PL mount.

But I can get away with a 24-105 and it will cost a fraction of the Red lens. 

 

So, is the Red 18-55 your one lens. But yeah it becomes about collecting then more than using them. I find myself doing rando lens tests just to justify their existence. 

[Phil A]

That would be 35-50 plus 85-100 primes plus some macro lens on FF. With those 3 lenses I can make due.

But yeah, at some point I had 8 lenses. Canon 17-40L, 24-70 2.8L, 70-200 2.8L, 35L, 85L II, 100L macro, 135L, EF 50 1.4

For photography it's easy. There's a possibility for Lightroom to make a statistic of used focal length and aperture. Then you only keep what you really use.

If I had to have one single lens it would be probably a 40mm FF equivalent.

[mkabi]

22 minutes ago, mercer said:

So, is the Red 18-55 your one lens. But yeah it becomes about collecting then more than using them. I find myself doing rando lens tests just to justify their existence. 

If I got that Red 18-85, yes... it would be my workhorse... meaning it will be used 70% of the time.

To be honest, even if I only had just the 50mm... I can work with that... yes, you are running around a lot, but you get creative with it.

[Nikkor]

1 hour ago, Phil A said:

If I had to have one single lens it would be probably a 40mm FF equivalent.

+10000, 40mm is the most natural focal lenght, it sits right at the spot were it changes from wideangle to tele.

[TheRenaissanceMan]

SLR Magic 25mm t/0.95 by far. On both my GH3 and BMPCC.

Once again, it's amazing how similar you and I are. Just the other day, I was going through my lenses trying to pare it down to 4-5 regulars. Now that I'm investing more in lights and sound, the extra revenue should really help soften the blow.

[Geoff CB]

7 minutes ago, Nikkor said:

+10000, 40mm is the most natural focal lenght, it sits right at the spot were it changes from wideangle to tele.

Yup, my 40mm Voightlander f2 is my favorite lens I have ever used. I occasionally flirt with the idea of buying a backup copy I enjoy it so much. Will never part with it. Took this photo today with it and anamorphic adapter. Wide open. I need to cull back my glass as well, more than half my glass I don't really shoot with.

[mercer]

29 minutes ago, TheRenaissanceMan said:

SLR Magic 25mm t/0.95 by far. On both my GH3 and BMPCC.

Once again, it's amazing how similar you and I are. Just the other day, I was going through my lenses trying to pare it down to 4-5 regulars. Now that I'm investing more in lights and sound, the extra revenue should really help soften the blow.

Yeah, but you're probably a better photographer than me. But seriously, my collection is getting out of hand. I have lenses that I can't use on any camera. I just want a simple set up and a few lenses. I think if I sell a quarter of my collection, I can raise the capital for a near mint Voigtlander. In the end I'll probably have 10 lenses. I can't let my 28mm f2 Minolta go. And I just picked up a brand new in box Takumar 35mm f2 for 150 bucks. It's yellowed but looks great in b&w. And then there's the Nikkor 28mm f2. But really that's about it. I don't need a lot of focal lengths because I rarely change lenses anyway... I just move. Do you know how the Mitakon 25mm is? Is it even comparable to the Voigt?

57 minutes ago, Zach Goodwin said:

Votiglander go with that one.

Yeah it will be awesome paired with the 5-axis IBIS on the GX85. 

33 minutes ago, Geoff CB said:

Yup, my 40mm Voightlander f2 is my favorite lens I have ever used. I occasionally flirt with the idea of buying a backup copy I enjoy it so much. Will never part with it. Took this photo today with it and anamorphic adapter. Wide open. I need to cull back my glass as well, more than half my glass I don't really shoot with.

Yeah... That looks amazing. And wide open... Stunning!!! Yup, it's getting ridiculous over here. My closet is filled with boxes full of lenses. I'm up to my eyeballs in silica gel packets and adapters. I sold my NX500 the other day and I wouldn't sell it unless the buyer took all of the adapters. It would have been a deal breaker.

[Cinegain]

Another hands raise for the SLR Magic Hyperprime CINE 25mm T0.95.

And yeah, I know the feeling. I probably have way too many myself. But I don't get myself in financial trouble because of it or anything, so honestly I don't really care, atleast I don't collect garden gnomes or tea bags or whatever. I feel like some lenses have such distinct character, that it's hard to deny it a place in your collection. There's always phases I go through that I like some lenses in particular, then I kinda get bored with the look or it doesn't fit the style I'm after and I go with some other ones. But it's always a nice moment of re-discovery to pick one up again. It's like finding some change in a coat's pocket 'ah, I kinda forget about that, woah, cool, what shall I do with it?!'. A lot of people would say: but doesn't the abundance of choice create complications, but I don't think this is the case, I think outspoken projects ask for outspoken lenses. And the other way around... certain optics can inspire a project in itself.

Though, it can be very liberating to shoot with a LX100 and forget about everything else as well. But as a lens is a choice, so is picking up a premium compact camera or the choice to stick with just a 35mm on a project. So I can't really say choice is limiting, I think it's freeing.

That said. If you have a financial struggle with it, that's another thing. With a tight budget it's a good idea to list your priorities and where your money's currently at, if there's too much money in lenses... then selling off a couple will get you new funds for a new camera body, light, sound, rig, etc. True that.

[TheRenaissanceMan]

36 minutes ago, mercer said:

 Do you know how the Mitakon 25mm is? Is it even comparable to the Voigt?

Not really, but the SLR Magic definitely is. 

http://3dkraft.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=137&catid=40&Itemid=2

And not just because I have one in mint condition for sale...

[Bioskop.Inc]

4 hours ago, mercer said:

If I thought about this yesterday, I would need 30 of my 50 lenses... Now I'm thinking 5 or 10 should do and I should get one really good lens... So I've been looking at a bunch of videos from the 25mm Voigtlander...

Damn that's a nice lens. 

That Voigtlander does look very tasty, damn!

I inherited loads of lenses from my Grandad - kept them in a box for years until I started photography. Unfortunately, I became like you & in the end it becomes an addiction - I had too many & was spoilt for choice. Ended up selling stuff like crazy once I knew what sort of silly money things were going for: 3 Iscoramas (who would have known that they'd be worth stupid money years later!), full set of Contax Zeiss, full set of Nikon ai-s, both Angenieux zooms etc... The list was stupid in the end.

I kinda regret selling some things (Angenieux zooms!) & am now in a pickle about whether to continue with my Super-Takumar set or to go back to Nikon ai-s?

Got a lovely set of Russain glass, which I will not part with for love nor money.

Really loving the Tokina AT-X Pro 28-70mm more than I thought I would - so close to the Angenieux at a snip of the price. 

[DevonChris]

It's easy selling great lenses, but you have to watch out that you don't regret it later on. 

I had 35mm and 90mm Leica R Summicrons from my film photog days that I sold for way more than I paid for them.  Boy do I regret selling those lenses now!

[Nikkor]

9 minutes ago, DevonChris said:

It's easy selling great lenses, but you have to watch out that you don't regret it later on. 

I had 35mm and 90mm Leica R Summicrons from my film photog days that I sold for way more than I paid for them.  Boy do I regret selling those lenses now!

I can't sell lenses, and it's becoming a fucking problem

[TheRenaissanceMan]

1 minute ago, Nikkor said:

I can't sell lenses, and it's becoming a fucking problem

Tell me about it. I'm drowning in unused lenses.

The other factor is that for video, I've finally realized that it's best to have a matched set of lenses in all the major focal lengths, rather than the hodgepodge of different brands and focal lengths knocking around my closet right now. 

[Nikkor]

7 minutes ago, TheRenaissanceMan said:

Tell me about it. I'm drowning in unused lenses.

The other factor is that for video, I've finally realized that it's best to have a matched set of lenses in all the major focal lengths, rather than the hodgepodge of different brands and focal lengths knocking around my closet right now. 

Yeah, but you end up with 8 different sets, 8x8, 64