Originally posted by Ira I own at least 7 pairs of underwear, and even those with big holes in them get used from time to time.
Too much information. Shall I tell you about my socks? Some are older than some members here.
But I digress. As I've mentioned before, I bought my K20D just over two years ago, with a DA10-17, DA18-250, and FA50/1.4. But then I went hog-wild on eBay, buying much manual glass and just three more AF's: FA100-300, DA18-55, and (an act of lunacy) a Lil'Bigma 170-500 APO DGL. All of those are basic kit, except often I just don't feel like hauling the Lil'Bigma.
Some of those eBay MFL's were included in "lots" of various gear, where I went for one lens and intended to sell everything else. Haven't sold anything yet. Darn. I'm waiting for the economy to improve, and that's the story I'll stick with. With some lenses I thought, "Hey, it'll be fun to see how good it is, and it's cheap." And some were (and are) just more painful learning experiences.
Do I triage the glass? Sort of, into rough "carry-and-use" categories: 1) almost certainly, 2) fairly likely, 3) pretty unlikely, and 4) where did it go? And the first three niches may change daily. Some lenses are almost "walking wounded" -- a 24/2 and 25/3.5 whose apertures are stuck wide open, but I like the images they produce anyway. And while I'm pretty likely to carry my fastest lenses, I also favor some (cheap) slower glass that's tack-sharp.
I don't think of myself as a collector. I'm not trying to obtain "the entire set" of anything. As many as possible of Taks, Meyers, Ennas, good Vivs, and Russians, but not ALL of them, no. So I have a dozen 50-58's to compare, and a dozen 24-28's, and I'm still trying to decide which are the absolute best, and when and where. And I tell myself that someday I'll sell the losers. Sure, that could happen...
"The God of Industry supplies his worshippers with objects
and can only exist on condition that his gifts are gratefully accepted.
In the eyes of an Industrialator the first duty of man
is to collect as many objects as he can." --Aldous Huxley