What's Would You Keep? [The anti-G.A.S. thread]

[DRR]

You guys have a lot nicer equipment than I do.

If I had only one body and one lens, sadly that means I would have to sacrifice my 85L. I would choose my 5D2 and 35mm f/2. 35mm is just about the perfect focal length for me.

Body +2 lenses, it would be the 5D2, 35mm, and 85L.

Body +3 lenses, would be the above plus 16-35.

I can easily live without any of my other gear.

 

[mrsfotografie]

As you say, old MF lenses provide a cheap, engaging adventure, often with superb results too.

I like the way you put it, and it's so true. I picked up a Sigma FDn 70-210mm 3.5-4.5 APO the other day that gives stunning results on my NEX, both with a Metabones Speed Booster and without. It's strange to say, and unexpected for a Sigma, but optically that lens is in 'L' territory. Maybe that's why it (deservedly) carries a red stripe.

Thanks for the tip! So far my dabbling in old MF lenses has been limited to primes, so that might be fun to try.

If you can find one it's worth a try. See attached samples. The first is with the Speed Booster, the second without and both are at ~ 210mm and f/5.6. The first photo has a little bit of motion blur due to the relatively slow shutter speed of 1/200, the second is sharper (1/400).

A nice feature of this lens is that it has a screw-in hood that, combined with the one-touch operation and the fact that the lens gets longer as you zoom in, allows you to stabilize the lens very well by holding it (and zooming/focusing) by the lens hood. This is opposite to the way the Canon FD 70-210 f/4 operates because with that lens your hand moves towards the camera as the focal length increases, something I really dislike.

The Sigma 70-210 APO really is an apochromatic lens because there's virtually no color shift or CA to be found. These photo's are uncorrected raws processed in Lightroom.

And third, this is the specific lens I'm talking about.

(sorry everyone for going so far off-topic )

 

[sdsr]

(sorry everyone for going so far off-topic )

Thanks for doing so!

 

[mackguyver]

(sorry everyone for going so far off-topic )

Thanks for doing so!

+1 - no big deal - it wasn't a very serious thread to begin with and the Speed Booster is something I find pretty interesting. Even though the benefits wouldn't be as extreme, It would be cool if they could make one for the EOS-M

 

[DRR]

... the Speed Booster is something I find pretty interesting. Even though the benefits wouldn't be as extreme, It would be cool if they could make one for the EOS-M

Have you seen this thread? This guy rolled his own. Awesome.

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1294194

 

[mrsfotografie]

(sorry everyone for going so far off-topic )

Thanks for doing so!

+1 - no big deal - it wasn't a very serious thread to begin with and the Speed Booster is something I find pretty interesting. Even though the benefits wouldn't be as extreme, It would be cool if they could make one for the EOS-M

You're right, Metabones doesn't make one, yet. The poor little EOS-M gets little love from many manufacturers

 

[daemorhedron]

You're right, Metabones doesn't make one, yet. The poor little EOS-M gets little love from many manufacturers

Yeah, it's so weird that they don't make one. I'd buy one instantly.

 

[Northstar]

My gear is in my sig line....if i had to pare it back to minimalist levels, the only lens i hardly use is the 85, and I use the 40mm only a little bit. In general, I haven't been too afflicted with GAS.

so i would keep my:

1. 1dx
2. 24-70 and 70-200
3. 300mm
4. 1.4x
5. 430ex

high quality, covers a wide range of stuff, and pretty simple.

 

[jd7]

About 18 months ago I decided to try to rationalise my gear ... and in that time my kit has grown by two lenses ??? I guess you could say that didn't go well!

Of my current gear the first off would be my 50 1.4. It's nice to have a 1.4 lens in my kit but the reality is I don't use it that much. The next off would be the 40 2.8. I really do like it for its size, but it's a nice little convenience I could manage without. After that, it gets harder! Although since photography is only a hobby for me, the truth is this gear is all an indulgence.

Anyway, if I had to ...
6D + 70-200 2.8 II
6D + 70-200 2.8 II + 35 2 IS
6D + 70-200 2.8 II + 35 2 IS + 430EX
6D + 70-200 2.8 II + 35 2 IS + 430EX + 24-70 4 IS.

That said, I wonder if the 70-200 4 IS might be a better choice for me than the 70-200 2.8 II. The comparative portability of the 70-200 4 IS makes it very useful to me!

 

[l_d_allan]

Sad topic :-\

I rather see "Your next lenses to purchase?" ;D

Would that be anti-anti-G.A.S. ? :'(

My minimum would be 6d kit, including 24-105mm (which I feel is a very under-rated lens).

 

[mrsfotografie]

Sad topic :-\

I rather see "Your next lenses to purchase?" ;D

Would that be anti-anti-G.A.S. ? :'(

My minimum would be 6d kit, including 24-105mm (which I feel is a very under-rated lens).

Yes, especially since the 24-70 f/4 IS came to be. The 24-105L is a bit of a sleeper - it's really good though, and made me sell my 24-70 f/2.8L MkI It's also an invaluable travel lens, it's sure to be in my bag, and most of the time mounted to my camera, wherever I'm on holiday.

In much the same way, the 17-40L is feeling the competition from the new 16-35 IS, but the 17-40 is still more compact and gives excellent results. For these reasons it's also part of my standard travel kit.

 

[Roo]

Sad topic :-\

I rather see "Your next lenses to purchase?" ;D

Would that be anti-anti-G.A.S. ? :'(

My minimum would be 6d kit, including 24-105mm (which I feel is a very under-rated lens).

Yes, especially since the 24-70 f/4 IS came to be. The 24-105L is a bit of a sleeper - it's really good though, and made me sell my 24-70 f/2.8L MkI It's also an invaluable travel lens, it's sure to be in my bag, and most of the time mounted to my camera, wherever I'm on holiday.

In much the same way, the 17-40L is feeling the competition from the new 16-35 IS, but the 17-40 is still more compact and gives excellent results. For these reasons it's also part of my standard travel kit.

Same for me with the 24-105. My Lightroom stats might say something different but the 24-105 is the one that lives on the end of my camera because of its versatility. It only ranks 3rd for the number of shots I've taken with it but the ones leading are only in front because I use them for bursts when shooting sports. It's the lens I never leave home without.

 

[slclick]

The more and more I think about this the more Sigma Art lenses stay in my bag. Two exceptions, tele and macro.

 

[RustyTheGeek]

5Dc - All my 600rt's - 24-105L + 50mm f/1.8'

That's pretty much all I would need.

I like your style RL! I think we're on the same wavelength... if one were paring down, it would likely be due to finances so the most expensive stuff like $2K lenses and new bodies would go first.

That would indeed leave me with my 5Dc, etc. And I could live with that.

My kit would be similar to yours....

5Dc, 24-105L, 580EX-II, 16-35Lv1 and 15mm Fisheye. If I were lucky, I might be able to keep the 70-200 f/4 IS L too! I also wouldn't mind still having my trusty 28 f/1.8 Prime for low light and that could be instead of the FishEye if necc. This is essentially the gear that I felt super great working up to and using years ago and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[RustyTheGeek]

This a bit like; We´re gonna chop off all your limbs but 2 (or 3 or 4), which ones will you keep? By the way, in this case eyes, ears, nose and throat counts as limbs ... :

I know, it's a rough one and I won't get into my reasoning behind the thread, but it goes back to what I do for a living which involves constantly planning for (and dealing with) worst-case scenarios.

For me, it's actually impossible to do this in reality, because what I shoot changes constantly and I have no specialty. I may shoot nothing but macro for months, then shoot sports, wildlife, and real estate all in one day. So my necessary gear list changes from one shoot to the next. I really envy people who have a specialty - if you take all of the money I have tied up in gear, I could have the dream set of gear for a single specialty - though I have a lot of great gear, so I'm not going to complain

I'm enjoying all of the replies - keep 'em coming.

I was thinking the same thing. While I'm not a pro, I shoot sports (swimming, running, etc), indoor low light events, camping, outdoors and other misc things that ends up demanding a larger collection of gear. But I've made it work with less before I had all this stuff so I could do it again.

 

[RLPhoto]

5Dc - All my 600rt's - 24-105L + 50mm f/1.8'

That's pretty much all I would need.

I like your style RL! I think we're on the same wavelength... if one were paring down, it would likely be due to finances so the most expensive stuff like $2K lenses and new bodies would go first.

That would indeed leave me with my 5Dc, etc. And I could live with that.

My kit would be similar to yours....

5Dc, 24-105L, 580EX-II, 16-35Lv1 and 15mm Fisheye. If I were lucky, I might be able to keep the 70-200 f/4 IS L too! I also wouldn't mind still having my trusty 28 f/1.8 Prime for low light and that could be instead of the FishEye if necc. This is essentially the gear that I felt super great working up to and using years ago and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

I'll manage without the newest tech but I'll keep my lighting gear.

On a funny note, a thread about slimming down gear when I just jumped into MF digital is quite ironic.