What lens did you get bored of?

John Earley · Jun 18, 2021

135/5.6 Caltar S ll (Schdr Symmar-S). I got it at a very good price and thought it would be handy for use with my 6x12 back but I just never use it as I have other lenses with more coverage. It is a nice lens but it just sits unused.

Jim Jones · Jun 18, 2021

My Vivitar 800mm f/8 preset T-mount perhaps records less subject detail at the same distance as my Vivitar 400mm f/5.6. f/8 is a small aperture to record really fine detail on 35mm film, but allowing for that, the longer Vivitar still seems less sharp.

Sirius Glass · Jun 19, 2021

Old Gregg said:
Hasselblad Zeiss 250mm CF f/5.6 - after months of trying I still don't have a single keeper. Just can't figure out this focal length, my entire life I've been learning how to get better at 28-85mm range on 35mm cameras, and this lens is way outside my comfort zone but for some reason I'm not excited anymore to keep trying. Will let it sit in a dry cabinet for a year and see what happens.

Gregg, use it to get the photographs that you cannot move closer to get. Or maybe you are not a telly guy. I do not use the 150mm because I do not tend to take portraits and the the 150mm is too close to the 80mm and the 250mm.

abruzzi · Jun 19, 2021

Not bored exactly, but fisheye lenses provide a unique perspective, but are really really hard to find a decent composition. So, while it’s one of my more expensive lenses, the Bronica ETR fisheye (30mm) that I have is very rarely used.

iakustov · Jun 19, 2021

David Buchan said:
Any idea what price one would go for as i recently inherited a Schneider 165/8 Super Angulon excellent condition. I don't shoot large format so looking for a buyer. Thanks

I got mine (older “silver” version in Compur shutter, 105mm filter thread) for around 800 USD recently.

benjiboy · Jun 19, 2021

I don't use my Canon FD 28mm f 2 lens much these days, but I don't want to sell it it's such a good lens, and I don't need the money.

jtk · Jun 19, 2021

Shooting mostly APSC I usually neglect my various primes...APSC zooms are incredibly good.

OTOH I do sometimes use adapted fast film primes when I do need their focal length and bokeh.

The big negative with APSC is lack of bokeh, though I get that nicely when I use 85/2 prime with adapter.

Sirius Glass · Jun 21, 2021

Old Gregg said:
@Sirius Glass yes! There are some spectacular landscape-in-isolation photographs online taken with Zeiss 250mm f/5.6, so I am aware of what it can do. But I struggle with finding the compositions. Here's a silly example: because of a shallow DOF when I try scene-compression/isolation scenes, I often end up with something blurry in the foreground, and if I focus closer the compression goes away because the background gets blurry, then I close down the aperture getting into multi-second shutter speeds where I start seeing shake blur because maybe I need a different tripod...

So what happens most of the time, I spot something to shoot with the 250mm, but if I have another lens (usually the 150mm, my favorite) I take a "backup" shot of the same subject and the backup always (!) ends up being better than the 250mm version, like this one. The closer variant taken with the 250mm was flatter because the wave-like graduating tonality of the hill disappears.

I'll get back to it eventually.

What film do you use? Use faster films. I use ISO 400 films almost all the time.

abruzzi said:
Not bored exactly, but fisheye lenses provide a unique perspective, but are really really hard to find a decent composition. So, while it’s one of my more expensive lenses, the Bronica ETR fisheye (30mm) that I have is very rarely used.

The Fisheye is fun to use, but the opportunities are limited.

TheFlyingCamera · Jun 21, 2021

I think I still have a 150mm for 4x5 in my lens bin somewhere, but that has to be the least-used lens in my inventory. It just does nothing for me. I have other lenses I use with equal infrequency, but when I reach for them, I'm doing it out of interest (like my 110mm Dagor or the 120 Nikkor Apo Macro).

Andrew O'Neill · Jun 21, 2021

Maybe my Wollensak 12 inch. I don't think I'm bored with it... I just haven't really used it much. Maybe I'll try it out with 4x5 Rollie IR... I also have a Fujinon 125 that I've used maybe once. I use the Nikkor 120 SW more as it also covers 8x10.

Doremus Scudder · Jun 21, 2021

Not really bored, but my Nikkor 450mm f/9 sits unused most of the time. It needs a larger 4x5 with more bellows draw than I usually like to carry in the field, plus it's a bit heavy too, so I really only have it in my kit when I'm working from the car. Most of the time I'm out on the trail. Maybe now that I'm able to do more road trips, it'll get some use.

Ron789 · Jun 21, 2021

I guess I don't understand.... bored? I have quite a few lenses and I find none of them boring, nor exciting. A lens is just a tool. Lenses don't make photo's, photographers do. A good photographer can make great photo's with just any lens and many of the best photo's I've ever seen were taken with very simple standard lenses.

DREW WILEY · Jun 22, 2021

I've never gotten bored of any lens I ever owned. A few were replaced for other reasons, like simply being worn out, or due to having a certain opportune selling advantage when purchasing something else newer. For example, I sold off a few German lenses when the German Mark was high versus the Dollar on the exchange rate, while at the same time, the diminished value of the Yen strongly favored buying newer Fuji equivalents - turning a profit on used lenses even while upgrading to newer better ones.

cullah · Jun 22, 2021

Hi everyone,
I mostly use a 159 Extreme Wide Angle on my 8x10 . I have other lenses that never seem to get used, like a 240 Apo Nikkor or a 375 Ilex . I got rid of a 19 inch Apo Atar that was a beautiful lens. I used it for a few months and stopped using it. Just didn't use it. The nice aspect about about the 159 is that wide open it is a beautiful soft-focus lens while stopped down to f/45 it is sharp and snappy. My favorite 35mm lens is the 75mm focal length. It just seems like a perfect focal length. I use the 75mm f/1.8 on my m6. It never comes off the camera. It is an excelent, perfect lens that seems not too wide and not too long. I never took to any 50mm lens. That focal length is either too long or too short. If I ever shoot 4x5, I'll get a 210 to 225 to use with it. +
thanks
Peter

Kodachromeguy · Jun 22, 2021

John Earley said:
135/5.6 Caltar S ll (Schdr Symmar-S). I got it at a very good price and thought it would be handy for use with my 6x12 back but I just never use it

In contrast, I frequently use my 135mm Calter S-II on 4×5".

Old Gregg said:
Hasselblad Zeiss 250mm CF f/5.6 - after months of trying I still don't have a single keeper

Again a contrast, I use mine often. Mine is a 1980s silver barrel C model.

The lens I almost never used was a 135mm tele-Elmar. We just never clicked. (Ha ha)

gone · Jun 22, 2021

Nearly every coated Tessar lens that was ever made is boring to me. I do like the Xenars on the Retinas though. These are a Tessar design, but they aren't boring at all. Couldn't stand the Xenar on a Rolleicord I once owned, but loved the uncoated Tessaars on the old Rolleiflex cameras. The Tessar on the very, very early Rolleiflex didn't seem to resolve very well, but the later, bigger camera had an uncoated Tessar that was outstanding. Lots of contrast and character w/ a Y fltr. One of the few cameras/lenses that I wish hadn't been sold.

Sirius Glass · Jun 22, 2021

I have never gotten bored with a lens, rather I have disliked a lens due to lack of contrast or being too close in field of view to another lens.

GKC · Jun 24, 2021

I've never found a lens boring other than the cheesy plastic ones that came on Kodak 110 Instamatics.

Neil Poulsen · Jun 25, 2021

bill schwab said:
Funny. I just re-discovered my 240 G-Claron and forgot how much I loved the thing! Needs the right scene though...

What is it that you like about this lens? Is it the focal length, or is it the quality of the images that it captures?

Neil Poulsen · Jun 25, 2021

I made the mistake of purchasing a reasonably priced, 90mm Super Angulon XL lens. I thought, geepers, all that image circle. And as I mentioned, the price was reasonable.

But, what a HUGE lens. Oh my gosh, it has a 95mm filter thread! I've standardized on 77mm filters. Maybe I can use rear filtration? Or use gels on the front?

Moreover, this lens was too big to use with my camera's compendium lens shade. So, it drove me to completely reconfigure my Arca 4x5. I've been using one with a Metric 6x9 front standard, and a Metric rear format frame mounted on an old-style Type A (axial tilt) function carrier. So, I swapped out the 6x9 front standard for the Type A old-style, axial tilt front standard which accepts the old-style compendium lens hoods. These hoods are absolutely the best I've seen and will work well the 90mm SA XL. (But of course, this doesn't solve the 95mm front filter thread problem.)

What REALLY bored me with this lens, I removed the rear element and found out that, at some point, it may have been dropped. OH NO, THE REAR THREADS HAVE BEEN SCUFFED! I missed this in my initial examination, and it was too late to return the lens. Fortunately, the rear element has a peculiar design where the rear threads don't actually abut the glass. So, I don't think that this will affect image quality. But, IT SURE AFFECTS MY ABILITY TO RESELL THE LENS!

You know, greed isn't necessarily just financial; it can also extend to image circles. I got "greedy" with this lens, and look where it landed me.

Well at least, I really like my reconfigured 4x5. So, some good has come from this purchase.

Alan Gales · Jun 28, 2021

I never got bored with a lens but I avoid really wide lenses. I just don't find that many subjects to use them on.

Arthurwg · Jun 28, 2021

I simply can't stand the 35mm lens on my Leica M6 anymore. Only lens for that camera that I have at the moment. Looking for a 28mm lens for it.

Sirius Glass · Jun 28, 2021

Arthurwg said:
I simply can't stand the 35mm lens on my Leica M6 anymore. Only lens for that camera that I have at the moment. Looking for a 28mm lens for it.

I always found the 35mm lens to be to close to the 50mm and even the 58mm lenses. My first choice for wide angle is the28mm lens, hence preferring the 50mm to the 60mm Hasselblad lenses.

cullah · Jul 26, 2021

the 50mm macro switar 1.8 that was on my alpa 10d. very disappointing lens...except for macro shots. also a 375mmcaltar on my 8x10. fine lens. i just don't use it. i prefer a wide angle.

What lens did you get bored of?

John Earley

Jim Jones

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abruzzi

iakustov

benjiboy

jtk

Sirius Glass

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