[audiobomber]

For me it goes like this:

1. I have too many lenses
2. Maybe I should sell some
3. Yup, I could sell all of these (make a list)
4. Convince yourself that you want to keep a few of them
5. Then come up with excuses why not to sell the remainder
6. End up not selling anything

I'm on #3, I have the list made. The Q system and DA 40mm Ltd are definitely going. Well the Q system is going, for sure. I'm still wrestling with #4 on a few others. I traded my DA 55-300 on a new WR version, and gave the K100D Super, 18-55, Tamron 70-300 and a 28mm to my son. That should have cleared a bit of room in the cupboard, except I bought an a6000 kit and three nice primes.

My motivation is to get down to the stuff I actually use.

[grahame]

That happened to me several times. I ended sold some of them and thought I have cured LBA. Unfortunately LBA always can find a way back to me, shortly after selling. Selling only makes an excuse for purchase. Sometime bought new/different lens, sometime bought the same lens back.
Now I know LBA is part of my DNA, maybe only a mutation can change it :-)

[Kozlok]

I should report this thread to the moderator. Selling lenses? Why not chop off your little finger since you use it less than the thumb.

[Dice]

Assuming the OP was serious. I went through a process last year where I dropped 6 lenses to exchange for 2. Mostly it had to do with understanding why I didn't use them more, and whether what I had in overlapping focal lengths would suffice. Balancing usability and image quality. In the end, I'm feeling much better, using my entire kit more often and was able to sell rarely used lenses to someone else to enjoy.

[6BQ5]

Oh, wow! I didn't think I would have kicked off such a storm here! Haha!

Being the analytical type, I started a spreadsheet that lists my lenses and I began marking each lens as "Keep" or "Sell". There were two "Unsure" tags that I need to clear up for myself. The process was harder than I thought it was but it was a good experiment. I haven't used every single lens in recent times so I went by past memories and impressions. The FA 28-105mm f/3.2 gets some love because I remember how well it served me before I received a DA 18-135mm for Christmas. I have been using my FA 50mm f/1.4 so it's fresh in my mind but my FA 50mm f/1.7 draws a blank. Lenses I received as gifts from friends and family are untouchable. My collection of kit film era zoom lenses are nice to look at on a shelf but they aren't anything I think about at all.

Out of 45 lenses listed I think I marked 19 to sell. The list is missing three lenses : a M series 50mm f/2.0, a Lentar 135mm f/2.8 and Lentar 200mm f/3.5. All three would be marked as "Sell". I think with some more thought and evaluation I can make further cuts.

I am sharing a PDF of the spreadsheet. It was created in Open Office and then printed to a PDF. Hopefully it can be opened on other computers.

Comments are welcome, as always.

[bdery]

My wish is to win the lottery and collect all Pentax K mount lenses ever made.

Until that happens, my reasoning is to only keep lenses that I use, and never duplicate purposes (duplicating focal lengths is acceptable, especially with zooms, if the purposes are different).

Look at my humble, 6 lenses lineup, and you'll see the way I built it, I'm sure.

[hoanpham]

For me it goes like this:

1. I have too many lenses
2. Maybe I should sell some
3. Yup, I could sell all of these (make a list)
4. Convince yourself that you want to keep a few of them
5. Then come up with excuses why not to sell the remainder
6. End up not selling anything

I never got through point #3, but have tendency to jump to point #7:

7. Buy some lenses you noticed you don't have.

[6BQ5]

bdery,

I also thought I could slowly, over a long period of time, collect every F/FA/FA-J lens ever made. The collector in me drove that. My plans never included winning the lottery and maybe that's where I stumbled.

Your line up is a symbol of simplicity and perfection! I strive for something like that.

[normhead]

I can't even sell one of my two 18-55s that I use as body caps... my motto is more like, don't buy anything you don't plan to keep. Cut LBA off at the point of entry.

[aurele]

A lot of 28/35 to 70/80/105/135 to sell in fact !

It's more or less the same use, so yes, you should sell a lot of them.... and with the cash, buy some others (let's not forget what's important !)

[ChristianRock]

Do we have a fiction sub-forum? Because this can't be real

Honestly, what others have said already. I currently have 12 Pentax and 2 Minolta lenses, down from 16 and 4. I could cut down at least 3-4 more based on usage, and there's at least 3 that I'd like to have in the near future. But I always ask, "am I being hindered in any way?" and the answer is no... for my style of shooting, honestly, 3 lenses would probably be all I'll ever need. It's what I end up using when I'm out shooting, if not 2.

[mee]

The key, I've found, is to plan ahead and have some discipline. Set goals of what and where you want to photograph, then the focal range you want to address and then look at your budget to see what you can afford. I say focal range because that is one of my starting points. Then I look at various aspects of lens quality, price, weight, etc.

I wanted something a litle rugged with some weather sealing since I enjoy landscapes and outdoorsy photography the most, but wanted a setup that would work indoors as a secondary goal.

In the end I have a 10-20, 18-135 WR, DA 35, DA 50, 105 Macro, and a 55-300 WR

Yes, it isn't spectacular yet I'm largely satisified with this setup. The only other place I'd go is to get faster lenses. But that would cost much more money for which I'm not concerned enough to switch.


I guess the larger key is to grow self discipline instead of making excuses and joking about it. It might be a long term process. That, I've found, will benefit one in life as a whole.

[MarkJerling]

Oh, wow! I didn't think I would have kicked off such a storm here! Haha!

Being the analytical type, I started a spreadsheet that lists my lenses and I began marking each lens as "Keep" or "Sell". There were two "Unsure" tags that I need to clear up for myself. The process was harder than I thought it was but it was a good experiment. I haven't used every single lens in recent times so I went by past memories and impressions. The FA 28-105mm f/3.2 gets some love because I remember how well it served me before I received a DA 18-135mm for Christmas. I have been using my FA 50mm f/1.4 so it's fresh in my mind but my FA 50mm f/1.7 draws a blank. Lenses I received as gifts from friends and family are untouchable. My collection of kit film era zoom lenses are nice to look at on a shelf but they aren't anything I think about at all.

Out of 45 lenses listed I think I marked 19 to sell. The list is missing three lenses : a M series 50mm f/2.0, a Lentar 135mm f/2.8 and Lentar 200mm f/3.5. All three would be marked as "Sell". I think with some more thought and evaluation I can make further cuts.

I am sharing a PDF of the spreadsheet. It was created in Open Office and then printed to a PDF. Hopefully it can be opened on other computers.

Comments are welcome, as always.

I've had a look at your .pdf. I must say, your conclusions are pretty much on par with where I'd lean, in many instances. Like you, I would get rid of the 28-80's.

[dec.net]

How about incorporating another feelgood-method that a lot of people seem to be using:
Find a price-point at which you'd be happy to sell any lens you own (obviously, that will be ~3x market value for most lenses) and put it into free classified ads. That way you can always tell yourself and other interested parties "they're all up for sale already, it's just that nobody wants them..." In the rare case that someone actually wants to buy something off you, just go ahead with the sale and put the money into even better glass (hey, you're getting rid of old glass, might as well reward yourself a bit, right?), or maybe just the same lens model you just sold, but in better condition.

Obviously, if your attempts to sell all those lenses fail, you might need to improve the quality of your advertisements, most importantly your pictures, for which you obviously need to buy some better glass.

Chris

[dadipentak]

6. End up not selling anything

I've reached this point--it's sort of like paradise.