Buying lenses, do you listen to your heart or your head?

[willrobb]

I try to be as sensible as possible before I buy. I have a good collection of equipment, I can cover all my bases for work, but  always keep my eye out for something new to add to my bag of tricks.

Recently I had my mind set on a TS-E 24mm 3.5LII, I knew it'd be great for landscapes and also be amazing for some creative portraits. I did all the research I usually do, found everyone agreed it was a beautiful piece of glass, some of the best optics on a canon lens, I started putting money to the side for it....then I had a play with it and I talked myself out of it. My heart told me I really wanted it, but my head so no. Don't get me wrong, it is a beautiful lens, I do love it and I still think I will get it one day, but the reality is that for my work (editorial/weddings/portraits/corporate events/travel) I wouldn't use it so often to justify the price. Instead, I need another wide aperture lens with AF, say a 35mm f1.4L, Sigma 85mm f1.4, or a canon 135mm f2L, all lenses I can use in many more situations. Cheaper as well which helps.

Any of you ever do the same thing, does sense kick in and you listen to your head or do you just go with your gut?

[bycostello]

the amount of kit i have under my bed!!  love a new toy...  really trying to cut back on purchases, cuts into the bottom line.. but sooo hard to resist....  as will be the 5dmk3 or maybe 1dx!!

[DramaticIrony]

Listen to your heart, then go with your head - and when you've made extra money from photos taken with the more sensible lens, buy the fun one you really wanted

[jouster]

I listen to my wife.

[Haydn1971]

Yep, I keep talking myself into needing a 70-200mm f2.8, when my 70-300mm non-L works well enough 95% of the time and my 135mm F2 does what the 70-300mm doesn't.  Same with the wide too...  the 15-85 does a great job, but I can't help thinking, would a 17-55mm or 16-35mm or 10-22mm or etc etc etc....

[dstppy]

You'll be better off with your head.  I've got several great lenses that I don't use (but may!)

Yep, I keep talking myself into needing a 70-200mm f2.8, when my 70-300mm non-L works well enough 95% of the time and my 135mm F2 does what the 70-300mm doesn't.  Same with the wide too...  the 15-85 does a great job, but I can't help thinking, would a 17-55mm or 16-35mm or 10-22mm or etc etc etc....

re: 70-300mm . . . you must be a significantly better photographer than I am (or less picky, but the former isn't that hard to be ) I totally regret buying that and not getting a higher-end prime or one of the f4 L zooms. Everyone (not photographers) tell me that the shots are good, but what the heck do they know?

I have the 15-85 and WANTED the 24-105 . . . so I got that which was just plain silly.  The 10-22mm is *exactly* one of the lenses I was talking about above . . . it's fun, but unless you NEED it, 15mm is pretty wide. 

The first time you really *have* to shoot handheld at night, you'll start looking at the f2.8 lenses, but those have a LOT more application than the specialty lenses.

[neuroanatomist]

Usually my head.  My heart was telling me to buy the 500mm f/4L IS before they discontinued it, but my head pointed out that I shoot 90% of the time with the 5DII and only 10% with the 7D + 100-400mm - and the latter shooting is where I want the extra 100mm.  The head won, and the $$ is waiting for the 1D X to become available.

[thejoyofsobe]

i let my heart fantasize about these things but when it comes to putting money down the head wins. the widest lens i have is 24mm and on a crop body i often find myself always wanting to go just wider. so i convinced myself i NEEDED the EF-S 10-22mm and i stalked the Canon refurb store waiting for it to be both in stock and on their additional 15% off sale.

so when that finally happens for me and i'm ready to check out is when my head took over. i was about spend $750 (lens+tax+shipping+hood+filter) for a 16-35mm equivalent lens that could only be used on a crop body. That money would buy me A LOT more in the future if I instead put it towards a full frame camera. Heck for $100 more I could pick up a 5D Classic. Sure going full frame and not buying the EF-S 10-22mm would mean i'd later have to buy another lens if I really wanted to cover the 16-23mm gap but maybe a true 24mm is plenty wide enough. I shoot lowlight a lot more than I do wide scenes so a full frame camera just makes sense as I get a two-prong increase in handhold-ability from the reduction in crop factor and better high ISO performance.  and my 50mm f/1.4 is practically begging to be put on a full frame body for shallower depth of field and less tight framing. Yay deferred gratification!

[torger]

As a hobbyist, I'm kind of forced to listen to my wallet.

Otherwise I do very well considered buys. But somehow, I always manage to convince myself to go for the expensive alternative. I'm now thinking about 85mm/1.2, a lot more expensive than the 85/1.8 or sigma 85/1.4. I like short dof photography with people, and then 85/1.2 is king, OOF blur is stronger than sigma 85/1.4 even at the same aperture. But do I need the shortest dof and blurriest oof? My heart says "yes", my head says "hmmmm..." and my wallet says "hell no!" :-)

[briansquibb]

I have a digital wallet - when my head asks if there is sufficient funds the wallet can only say yes or no. Life is too short to make do with second best

[willrobb]

I listen to my wife.

My wife usually tells me to get the best I can as in the long run it delivers te best images, pays for itself and pays for the bills.

However, one day when I was mentioning the 1DX she asked how much it would be and if we "really" needed it and she suggested "how about we get a 1DX when you can afford to take me to Paris to buy me a Chanel bag."

I got to start working harder...

[RC]

Both head and heart.

As a hobbyist, I'm kind of forced to listen to my wallet....

I too am a hobbyist and I am forced to listen to my wallet first and foremost  I do however have "photography allocated" money.  I'm always saving up for the next item on my list of "things to buy."

I used my head doing lots of research to make the choice of which lens (or accessory) I need/want.
I use my heart to choose which version of a that lens to purchase.   For example I chose the 100 Macro 2.8 L over the non L version even though IQ seems to be about the same.  If I don't buy what my heart wants, I will always wish I had done so.   

[motorhead]

My head.

I don't impulse buy anything, ever. I take a long time considering any purchase.

[handsomerob]

I listen to my wife.

lol, well said!

[JR]

I listen to my heart, but then my head kind of decide the best timing to follow the heart and spend the $$$!  Most of the time anyway...Given this is very a passion for me, I am often more emotional then rational about my purchases...