What is your Least Used Piece of Gear?

[Zv]

I have a Rogue Flashbender which I think I only used twice in 2 years. I wanted an on camera flash bounce panel since the 430 exii lacks that feature. But then I got into off camera flash and that was basically the end of the Flashbender. Just recently put it up for sale but I might as well just give it away.

Oh! And a 67mm ND8 for my 70-200. For some reason I was convinced I'd need it to bring my shutter speed down to the sync speed for flash but I just don't do outdoor portraits at all. (But I want to!)

I remember I bought an ND16 for my 85 1.8 and then sold both. The ND was brand new, never used. Why do I keep buying ND filters?? That was basically money spent on just having that filter in my living room for a short period of time!

 

[sanj]

200-400. Only when I go on wildlife trips. Once a year max on average.

I'll be happy to "watch" it for you the rest of the year

2nd on the list, if Mac changes his mind.

 

[Vivid Color]

Those cables that come with your camera for connecting to your computer.

 

[mackguyver]

Those cables that come with your camera for connecting to your computer.

What about the ones that connect your camera to your TV? I don't think I've every unwrapped those...

 

[AcutancePhotography]

Those cables that come with your camera for connecting to your computer.

I never used them in the past, but I do now. Constantly inserting and removing CF cards imposes a small risk of bending a pin, and with SD cards in spreading the contacts. I admit that the risk is low (but not zero), but since I rarely have to change cards (My camera has dual cards), I find it easier to use the USB cable instead of pulling the card and sticking it into a card reader.

I may never damage a CF card by removing/inserting it, but I am certain that I won't damage any of my cards or my camera card slots if I use the cable. ;D

I now use the cables for all my uploading to my computer.

 

[Zv]

Those cables that come with your camera for connecting to your computer.

What about the ones that connect your camera to your TV? I don't think I've every unwrapped those...

This!! By far the most useless thing is the AV cable. I got curious once and tried it as a means to get a bigger preview. First of all I discovered the cable that comes with the 7D doesn't fit the 5D2, so I dug out that old relic and hooked it up to my LCD TV and what a major disappointment it was. It's not full screen and the image looked crappy with huge borders and the image file no overlay (that doesn't go away). Yuk! Never again. Maybe it was made for viewing movies not stills.

 

[Besisika]

My manfrotto mono pole, carbon or course ... for weight.
.
.

But one thing I really frothed over to get and have never really used, and have had it for over two years is my 85 F1.2 .. so wanted that lens,

It is amazing indeed how different we are.
The 85mm is my first choice lens and have it in my bag at all time.
Manfrotto carbon monopod is my first choice of stabilization (with a viewfinder) and have it with me at all times when shooting video, thanks to the weight.

 

[AJ]

Least used piece of gear at the moment? Sadly, my Elan 7E :-[

 

[lintoni]

There's a couple of film bodies (EOS5 & EOS30) and a Tamron 28-200 that I haven't used in years. Of the kit that does get some use, it would be the 550EX Speedlight.

 

[krjc]

7D body, MP-E 65mm Macro lens, 430 flash.

 

[scyrene]

Hmm. Depends. If by gear you mean the entirety of the photographic equipment I own, including legacy stuff, then probably my 300D, which I haven't touched since I upgraded three years ago. Also from that time are screw-on macro 'filters' (essentially magnifying glasses that go on the front of a lens). They were poor quality, but not worth enough to bother selling on.

In terms of my current kit, I'd probably say my 85L II. It's a glorious lens, and I coveted it for a long time before I got it - which I don't regret. But I don't use it much at present because I rarely shoot people, and I only have enough space in my bag for so many lenses, and the weight of this is too much unless I know I'm going to use it. I'm not getting rid of it though, it's too wonderful - and I got it at a great price (it does other subjects of course, and if I visit dark places, like cathedrals, it can be very useful).

 

[Vivid Color]

Those cables that come with your camera for connecting to your computer.

What about the ones that connect your camera to your TV? I don't think I've every unwrapped those...

Good point, Mackguyver! I haven't ever unwrapped those either!

 

[StudentOfLight]

Manfrotto 501HDV head.

 

[Mr_Canuck]

That's an interesting question. 8)

Flashes. Any kind of external flash I've ever had. Well, no actually. It's neck straps. Never ever use them.

 

[captainkanji]

I never used the neck straps or cables either. I figure it will help resale with it unused and I don't like neck straps anyway.

 

[mrsfotografie]

I never used the neck straps or cables either. I figure it will help resale with it unused and I don't like neck straps anyway.

I do use the neck straps but rarely put them around my neck. I'll wrap the strap around my arm to get a little extra security against dropping or theft, and it's handy sometimes to have one camera body hanging from a shoulder if I'm handling two camera's at once. On occasion I do put the strap around my neck if there is a real risk the camera may be knocked out of my hands or if people are directly below the spot where I'm taking my photo's from.

 

[e17paul]

The least used item in my bag is my Vivitar 19-35mm. It has been largely replaced by my 24 IS, which is far better, as good optically as my OM Zuiko 24 but with the benefit of IS. I keep the Vivitar only for when 24 isn't wide enough, which is rare.

I also have a Vivitar 70-300, completely redundant since buying my 70-300L. In common with others, I have an old light meter, but find that my iPhone does the job.

 

[pwp]

Least used but wouldn't sell them? My pleasingly good copy of the Sigma 12-24 is one, and another is my 24-105 which was replaced with the extraordinary 24-70 f/2.8II. Tonight I accidentally packed the 24-105 instead of the 24-70 for an event job, a function with about 80 guests. The 24-105 was actually really useful! The extra reach is great in events work. There are probably a few other white elephants lurking around the studio and storeroom. This thread is a good wake-up call to get the genuinely under-used items onto eBay or Gumtree....like my truly ancient but very powerful Metz 60 CT4.

-pw

 

[mrsfotografie]

Least used but wouldn't sell them? My pleasingly good copy of the Sigma 12-24 is one, and another is my 24-105 which was replaced with the extraordinary 24-70 f/2.8II. Tonight I accidentally packed the 24-105 instead of the 24-70 for an event job, a function with about 80 guests. The 24-105 was actually really useful! The extra reach is great in events work. There are probably a few other white elephants lurking around the studio and storeroom. This thread is a good wake-up call to get the genuinely under-used items onto eBay or Gumtree....like my truly ancient but very powerful Metz 60 CT4.

-pw

I almost never use my Sony zooms anymore, and this thread made me reconsider.

So I put my Sony E 55-210mm F4.5-6.3 OSS up for sale. I'm keeping the Sony E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS just in case I want to travel with a standard zoom only, and keeping that lens will help sell the NEX-6 body when the time comes. For better image quality I find I now prefer adapted manual focus FD-mount lenses or native E-mount third party primes over the Sony zooms. Strangely I like Sony camera's but dislike their lenses.

I briefly considered putting my EF-mount Sigma 20mm F1.8 DG Aspherical RF up for sale too, but that's really a rather special lens (and my copy is not bad) so I'm hanging on to that one for now.

 

[Sporgon]

In common with others, I have an old light meter, but find that my iPhone does the job.

I do have an old one that is now retired permanently so doesn't count, but I also have a modern one ( Sekonic), and to me it is just such a useful tool, especially when I am wanting to perfectly expose frames that I don't want to pp later. I find the camera's meter is generally quite accurate for producing raw data for pp; it tends to expose to spread the light levels (histogram) across the sensor's range, whereas exposure from an incident light meter will pin the exposure at it is.

So I find it quite amusing that despite the very different mediums of film and digital there is still the same relationship between exposing for negative film ( aka Raw ) and slide / transparency / reversal film ( aka jpegs).

I think my leased used piece of gear is my cable release. I just use the delayed timer because in practice I've found the two second delay is long enough for release vibrations to dampen out.