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Do NOT Upgrade Your Lenses! - Printable Version

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Do NOT Upgrade Your Lenses! - slejhamer - Sep 8, 2004

Let me save you time. Let me save you money. Let me save you aggravation.

If you buy "starter" lenses you will initially be pleased with your purchase but sooner or later you will want to upgrade. Probably sooner, because it's the age of instant information and you'll see that everyone on the web is posting really sharp images and yours just don't compare, and they'll tell you to upgrade your lenses. You will then have to sell your used lenses and will lose some money in the deal, perhaps 40-50% of the value invested.

You'll do some really careful shopping and find a few mid-priced lenses that people on the web forums say are "really good for the price" and you'll fork out more dough for those. Eventually, and sooner than you think, you'll realize that the phrase "really good for the price" doesn't obviate the time-tested adage "you get what you pay for," and once again you'll be told that your lenses are inadequate, and you'll believe it, and it's true. You'll put them up for sale and will lose more money in the process, possibly 20-30% of the value invested because these hold their value a little better.

Then, while you are researching lenses to buy, a friend or perhaps someone that you just met that day will let you play with a "really good lens." Canon L, or maybe Nikon AF-S. Maybe an f/1.2 prime. Maybe a long white telezoom with image stabilization. You will marvel at the build quality, and how solid it feels in your hands. You will notice how smoothly the zoom and focus rings operate. You will be amazed at the speed and accuracy of the auto-focus, and how darned quiet the AF motor is.

And you'll take your camera home and pop the flash card into the reader and download those few "sample" images into your computer, and they will appear as if by magic on your calibrated monitor. Your eyes will open a little wider, the endorphins will release in your brain, and you will see as if seeing for the very first time. Sharpness. Clarity. Color. And then you will understand, because now you've had the drug and you want more ... you must have more.

There is no turning back. You are hooked. Addicted. And guess what - it's UNAVOIDABLE.

So don't upgrade your lenses ... go straight to the good stuff! You'll get there anyway ...

... we will all get there anyway.


Do NOT Upgrade Your Lenses! - Petographer - Sep 8, 2004

Gee. I was hoping to read something that said I should be happy with what I have and not spend more money. :/


Do NOT Upgrade Your Lenses! - shuttertalk - Sep 8, 2004

Hey good perspective, mitch... some are constrained by budget though...

Also, you're also talking from an experienced photographer's perspective. Many newbies buy the top of the line equipment only to realise that good equipment doesn't necessarily mean that all your photos automatically turn out good. Also, some lose interest after the novelty of new gear wears off, and all that expensive stuff is sitting in the back of sock drawers...


Do NOT Upgrade Your Lenses! - slejhamer - Sep 8, 2004

Photography? Oh, ST, it's not about photography! It's about GEAR! TOYS! It's about going back to a perfectly acceptable Accord after test-driving a 911 Turbo Carrera! Big Grin And budget is not an excuse. One can eat mac & cheese for a year or three. Wink

Heh heh ... well okay, there's a layer of irony in my post that may not have come through ... and it's also perhaps just a little auto-biographical. I once read a similar post on the Canon forum, and thought it was pure garbage. In fact, it angered me so much that I intended to avoid Canon glass altogether and find good quality 3rd-party lenses at bargain prices. But then I used "L" ... :o

And the Accord will never be the same.


Do NOT Upgrade Your Lenses! - shuttertalk - Sep 8, 2004

You sound like a Capitalist to me Tongue

Quote:Toys and Belief

Atheism
There is no toy maker.

Polytheism
There are many toy makers.

Evolutionism
The toys made themselves.

Capitalism
He who dies with the most toys, wins.

Communism
Everyone gets the same number of toys, and whoever is caught selling his toys will go straight to hell.

Buddhism
He who dies with no toys, wins.

Confucianism
Once a toy is dipped in the water, it is no longer dry.

Branch Davidians
He who dies playing with the biggest toys, wins.

Hinduism
He who plays with bags of plastic farm animals, loses.

Jehovah's Witnesses
He who sells the most toys door-to-door, wins.

Mormonism
Every boy can have as many toys as he wants.

Muslim
He who plays only with soldier toys, wins.

Satanism
He who plays with fire, wins.

Judaism
He who plays without following the rules, loses.

Anglican
They were our toys first.

Greek Orthodox
No, they were OURS first.

7th Day Adventist
He who plays with his toys on Saturday, loses.

Baptist
Once played, always played.

Catholicism
He who denies himself the most toys, wins.

Pentecostalism
He whose toys can talk, wins.



Do NOT Upgrade Your Lenses! - slejhamer - Sep 8, 2004

Also I shouldn't post this late after bedtime...

Darned pain meds do strange things to the mind and body.


Do NOT Upgrade Your Lenses! - StudioJ - Sep 8, 2004

True and who else but OEM makes an 85mm f1.2, 50m f1.0 and the like? Wink


Do NOT Upgrade Your Lenses! - Rufus - Sep 9, 2004

Pentecostalism
He whose toys can talk, wins
. Big Grin Big Grin Big Grin Big Grin Big Grin Big Grin

Arf arf arf arf arf arf arf arf, (pause for breath), arf arf arf arf arf arf arf arf!

Arf!

Big Grin


Do NOT Upgrade Your Lenses! - slejhamer - Sep 9, 2004

StudioJ Wrote:True and who else but OEM makes an 85mm f1.2, 50m f1.0 and the like? Wink

Good capitalists!

Big Grin


Do NOT Upgrade Your Lenses! - adam - Sep 9, 2004

Slejhamer, I've got the same sort of thinking,
I'm not going to spend on anything that isn't best.... haha
that was what I thought "from now on" after I bought my 50mm f/1.8 (which I really like and use a lot!!!!)


Do NOT Upgrade Your Lenses! - StudioJ - Sep 9, 2004

The 50mm 1.8 is truly a wonderful and cheap piece of hardware, I couldn't live without mine. Next on the list will the f1.4 which I've played with and loved.

Although after that on the list is a Sigma 120-300 EX 2.8 Big Grin


Do NOT Upgrade Your Lenses! - slejhamer - Sep 9, 2004

I just ordered the 50 1.4. It's not L, but you can't find the 50 1.0 L, and it's darned good regardless.

Here is a comparison of the 50s 1.4 and 1.8:
http://www.photo.net/equipment/canon/ef50/

Funny that the 1.8 is better at barrel distortion, but the 1.4 excels in bokeh, flare, light falloff, AF speed and accuracy (my 1.8 was slow and would often hunt), and manual focus (which is a joke on the 1.8.)

Next for me is a real gem, the 35 1.4 L ... but probably not until next year. In the meantime, if I find I really need wide I might pick up a used 20-35 2.8 L, or the ubiquitous 17-40 f/4 L.


Do NOT Upgrade Your Lenses! - potplant - Sep 13, 2004

wow slej, im excited for you! let us know how the new lens is. i love the 50mm.

back on topic- if you Know what you want out of photography, then I definitely agree with buying quality stuff


Do NOT Upgrade Your Lenses! - StudioJ - Sep 13, 2004

Speaking of the 50mm f1.4 I played with one at the workshop on the weekend and also the rare and huge f1.0 which gave me a shutter speed of 1/500 at ISO 800 with just a model and the 100w modeling lamp on the flash head. Some people just have too much money Smile

I have a couple of big events coming up and I'm thinking of splurging on the 1.4 but I can get one here from the US for $450 or buy one locally for $650

Look forward to seeing some shots when you get it Slej.


Do NOT Upgrade Your Lenses! - matthew saville - Sep 14, 2004

Haha. You should see my "new" sigma 70-300. Bought it last winter. Now, the zoom, well, it doesn't zoom. I have to side the lens in and out with my hands to zoom. But watch out, you'd better match the old zooming ring with your focal length, otherwise AF doesn't work. And forget super macro mode, the lens just rotates and rotates until it falls apart into two pieces and I have to spend ten minutes trying to get it back together. Now my 24-85 AFS, well, it's no 17-35 or 28-70, but it's sweet. Glad I bought it. Next on my list is the new Nikkor 200mm VR. Maybe...

-matt-


Do NOT Upgrade Your Lenses! - StudioJ - Sep 14, 2004

Is that the 200mm f2 lens Matthew? I like the look of that piece of glass.