Dream Lens List

[Ronny Wertelaers]

I have one R5 with a RF 50 F1.2 and a RF 85 F1.2. Waiting for the RF 35mm 1.2 to come out. And maybe a wide angle 24mm F1.? or a zoom like the RF 24-70 F2.8. My second R5 body is ordered. Also hit hard by the corona crisis but hoping for better times next year.

 

[AlanF]

The ruggedness and portability of the kit wouldn't be an issue for me as I would be shooting from a helicopter...

Careful, someone is trying to hassel you.

Hasselbrad, Rollieflex and Leica were used by professional ( except the sports). I am not aware there is any claim as proffessional camera.

 

[SteveC]

Polar bear? OK an 800mm with a 3xTC - nothing closer.

Polar bear? I'd want a .308 Lapua as a back up, in case s/he notices me

 

[dwarven]

A light 70-180 f/2.8 like Tamron made for the E mount.

 

[jd7]

I struggle to even work out what my dream lens list is. If I just include lots of lenses I guess it isn't so hard, but I'd rather limit the number lenses and use what I have, than have too many sitting on the shelf getting almost no use. However, then I really struggle to work out what lenses I want! Anyway, my dream lens list would be something like:

35 f/1.4 - very happy with my Sigma Art

A relatvely small 40ish or 50ish lens, f/2 or wider, to use when I want a very small and light set up.

Samyang 85 f/1.4 (or an equivaelent of the Sigma 85 f/1.4 DG DN for E mount) - it may not be as good optically as the Canon RF 85 f/1.2, but the size and weight mean I expect I would use it a lot more than the Canon. (Or maybe a high quality fast 50 instead? Or go the other way, to a 135 f/2 or 135 f/1.8? I always struggle to decide which primes I really! I think an 85mm would probably make sense though, given other lenses I'd put in my kit.

24-70 f/2.8 (IS) ... or maybe 24-105 f/4 IS ... or maybe 24-105 f/4 IS + 28-70 f/2 ... or maybe 24-70 f/4 IS? My 24-70 f/4 IS has served me well, but I don't expect I will doing any more very long hiking trips anytime soon, or for that matter any other travel where keeping gear small and light would be particularly important, so I'm wondering if another option might be better for me now.

70-200 f/2.8 IS - I really like the idea of the relatively compact size of the RF lens. Given the price of the RF though, an equivalent of the Tamron 70-180 f/2.8 for E mount would be fine.

16-35 f/4 IS or similar ... maybe something like the Tamron 17-35 f/2.8-4. Not a lens I expect I would use that much, so I want something relatively small and light so it is easy to carry as an "extra" lens.

I could easily add other lenses to a wish list, eg a 100-400 of some description (again, portabiity would be a key factor for me for this lens) and a 135 f/2 or 135 f/1.8 spring to mind, but even the list above is 6 lenses, which I think is plenty for my use. Maybe I should just run with 24-70 f/2.8, 70-200 f/2.8, 35 f/1.4, and maybe a 40 pancake, and call it done?!

 

[AaronT]

Okay, here's mine....starting with the zooms
16-35 F4
24-70 F4
70-200 F2.8
100-400/100-500 Fwhatever + 1.4 and 2.0 TC's
Gotta have some primes so....
100 and 150 macros
If I win the lottery a 600 F4 or 800 F5.6 and a 12-24 F4

 

[stevelee]

I don't have a dream lens list. The lenses I have cover about every circumstance that I am likely to face, other than those best taken with tilt-shift lenses. If I know those occasions are coming up, I can always rent one of those lenses. Earlier in the pandemic times I rented the 24mm for ten days and a month later the 17mm for a couple weeks. They were fun to experiment with, and now I have a better sense of how and when to use them. I concluded that I wouldn't use one often enough to splurge on owning one. I guess if I had a lot more money, I would buy the 24mm to sit on the shelf until some use came to mind.

As it is, I have excellent L zooms on the wide and telephoto ends, a kit 24–105mm for the middle, and several prime lenses for special use, including the 100mm non-L macro. I don't shoot things that some of you guys do, so I don't have need to cover those situations. While I enjoy the aesthetics of owning nice glass, photography is still more my hobby than is buying photography equipment. I do have occasional bouts of GAS. Last week I was pricing star tracker drives. The reality is that I have an 8" telescope that I haven't taken out of its trunk since I've lived here. It was fun back when I lived out in the country and had dark skies. The old clock drive on it is probably not too accurate any more, and the tilt angle is sort of a coarse adjustment. But I still got some decent shots of Jupiter and the moon in film days. If I lived in a less light-polluted place, I'd be tempted to get new gear for that. I haven't even tried to see whether my old Canon telescope adaptor will work on current cameras. The mounts seem similar enough that it might.

When Halley's comet was coming around these parts, I lived in the middle of nowhere between dairy farms. I would take my binoculars out each night and see it, but also look at other things. The Pleiades were spectacular through them, like hundreds of little jewels. I looked at Jupiter one night and saw three little dots near it. I was skeptical, but I looked at a chart in an astronomy magazine, and yes, three of the Galilean moons lined up as I saw them, and the fourth was obscured by the planet. Jupiter is very bright right now and conveniently in the south at decent hours. I took out the binoculars and looked at it. I don't think I am very shaky for an old guy, but I could not hold them still enough to get a good view.

So maybe my next equipment decision is what if anything to do about astronomy, viewing or photographing. Maybe I already decided not to bother.

 

[BeenThere]

I don't have a dream lens list. The lenses I have cover about every circumstance that I am likely to face, other than those best taken with tilt-shift lenses. If I know those occasions are coming up, I can always rent one of those lenses. Earlier in the pandemic times I rented the 24mm for ten days and a month later the 17mm for a couple weeks. They were fun to experiment with, and now I have a better sense of how and when to use them. I concluded that I wouldn't use one often enough to splurge on owning one. I guess if I had a lot more money, I would buy the 24mm to sit on the shelf until some use came to mind.

As it is, I have excellent L zooms on the wide and telephoto ends, a kit 24–105mm for the middle, and several prime lenses for special use, including the 100mm non-L macro. I don't shoot things that some of you guys do, so I don't have need to cover those situations. While I enjoy the aesthetics of owning nice glass, photography is still more my hobby than is buying photography equipment. I do have occasional bouts of GAS. Last week I was pricing star tracker drives. The reality is that I have an 8" telescope that I haven't taken out of its trunk since I've lived here. It was fun back when I lived out in the country and had dark skies. The old clock drive on it is probably not too accurate any more, and the tilt angle is sort of a coarse adjustment. But I still got some decent shots of Jupiter and the moon in film days. If I lived in a less light-polluted place, I'd be tempted to get new gear for that. I haven't even tried to see whether my old Canon telescope adaptor will work on current cameras. The mounts seem similar enough that it might.

When Halley's comet was coming around these parts, I lived in the middle of nowhere between dairy farms. I would take my binoculars out each night and see it, but also look at other things. The Pleiades were spectacular through them, like hundreds of little jewels. I looked at Jupiter one night and saw three little dots near it. I was skeptical, but I looked at a chart in an astronomy magazine, and yes, three of the Galilean moons lined up as I saw them, and the fourth was obscured by the planet. Jupiter is very bright right now and conveniently in the south at decent hours. I took out the binoculars and looked at it. I don't think I am very shaky for an old guy, but I could not hold them still enough to get a good view.

So maybe my next equipment decision is what if anything to do about astronomy, viewing or photographing. Maybe I already decided not to bother.

Maybe move back to a dark sky location?