Which lenses to let go.

[mcgarity]

I resisted getting into digital photography for a number of years.

Pro quality digital cameras are too expensive. Point and shoot

cameras have never been good enough to tempt me. With the release of

the Canon 300D digital Rebel last year that changed and in December

I bought one. After taking 7000+ digital photos I still believe

color slide and black and white film provide higher quality. Even

so the I have fallen in love with digital. Its here to stay and I

can?t say I am sorry about that.

 

All of which leaves me with a quandary. I want to pick up an EF 70-

200mm f4L and an EF 300mm f4L IS. The only way my wife is going to

tolerate this is if I finance it by selling FD gear I already own.

Truth be told I have more FD equipment than I need or can even use.

I purchased it years ago when I was single with a lot of disposable

income. I am the only one that has ever owned or used any of it.

All of it has been handled with tender loving care.

 

I am okay with selling some of it but exactly what to sell is the

problem. I have come up with a number of different lists. But when

it comes to actually listing anything on EBAY I always end up

talking myself out of it.

 

This is a list are the lenses I own.

17mm f4.0,

20mm f2.8,

24mm f1.4L,

28mm f2.0,

28mm f2.8,

35mm f2.0,

50mm f1.2L,

50mm f3.5 macro,

85mm f1.2L,

100mm f2.0,

100mm f4.0 macro,

135mm f2.0,

200mm f2.8,

200mm f4.0 macro,

300mm f4.0L,

24-35mm f3.5L,

35-70mm f2.8-3.5,

35-105mm f3.5,

80-200mm f4.0,

2X-A TC,

2X-B TC

 

I want to keep enough FD equipment to handle just about anything

photographically. But I am fairly certain I can afford to give up a

few items. Question is which ones. There are days when I tell

myself I should just sell it all but then I stop and think there is

no way I will ever duplicate this lineup with EF equivalents.

 

I am fairly certain I am going to sell the 20mm. I know I am going

to sell the 35-70 f2.8/3.5. I really do not need two 50mms. Keep

the macro or the 1.2L? Same thing with the 100 and 200mm lenses. Do

I even really need a 100mm? Do I really need a 28mm? Sell both

teleconverters or just the B? Some of these things have to go. I

would welcome input and suggestions.

 

Larry

[fmueller]

I am not much of an FD user - only recently inherited a AT-1 with 50mm 1.8 - but I have a pretty comprehensive Minolta MD lineup, and I recently started to 'thin the herd' to free some cash for another hobby. Here some thoughts:

 

I also had a 17mm 4.0 and a 20mm 2.8. I figured I didn't need both, and sold the 20mm.

 

I couldn't live without a 24mm - lack of a high quality prime lens with the angle of view of a 24mm lens is a good part of what keeps me out of digital so far.

 

A lot of people would say that you don't need a 28mm if you have 24mm and 35mm. Personally, I really like the 28mm focal length and use it a lot. I guess it depends on your personal preference if you need one at all, but you certainly don't need two 28mm lenses.

 

A 50mm macro lens IMHO is a waste of space unless you do copy work, bu who does?

 

I never had a 85mm, but would love to try one.

 

I wouldn't part easily with my 100mm macro, and a 100mm 2.0 has quite a different pourpose as portrait lens. Still, you might use the 300D for most of this stuff, so you might not need the 100mm 2.0

 

I hold on to my 135mm 2.8 because it is one of my sharpest lenses and it is so cheap that it's hardly worth putting on eBay. If I had a 135mm 2.0, I would probably sell it.

 

I don't know for what you are using your long teles, but if I got a 300D, I would probably use it for a lot of the long tele work - you are getting some serious lenses in this range for it anyhow. Maybe you don't need 200mm and 300mm FD lenses?

 

IMHO zooms are for snap shot type of photography, which I would definetely do with the 300D. I'd sell the zooms without hesitation, plus probably the TCs - maybe keep one TC?

 

Anyway, just my 2c. Hope it helps somewhat.

 

Frank

[greg_campbell1]

It all depends on what sort of shooting you do. Personally, I don't much like zooms and don't see the need for a bunch of close focal length lenses. (Shooting Canon FD, I've got a beater 24mm and nearly new 28. Guess which one gets 99% of the use.) "Zoom with yout feet."

 

I don't think you'd miss much if you sold roughly every other lens.

 

The 20, both 28s, the slow 200, and most of the zooms could easily go away. Also dump one or two of your macro lenses unless you have a specific use for them.

 

This ought to generate more than enough $$ for a Drebel body and accesories.

 

- Greg

[greg_campbell1]

p.s. If you decide to part company with the 20mm, gimme a holler.

 

'ggeonerdd at yahoo com'

 

-Greg

[._._z]

Weird question. If you use your gear you know what type of photography you use it for,

and which lenses you use most frequently and therefore need.

 

If you've just been collecting lenses, you might as well simply sell it all.

[pensacolaphoto]

You are not telling us which type of photography you do, so I have to do some guessing here. I am assuming that you will be mostly using the digital camera for serious photography, but you want to keep the bare minimum of FD lenses to finance the deal.

I suggest the following as a starting point:

 

17mm f4.0, (SELL)

20mm f2.8 (KEEP)

24mm f1.4L (SELL)

28mm f2.0 (SELL)

28mm f2.8 (KEEP)

35mm f2.0 (SELL)

50mm f1.2L (SELL)

50mm f3.5 macro (KEEP)

85mm f1.2L (SELL)

100mm f2.0 (KEEP)

100mm f4.0 macro (SELL)

135mm f2.0 (SELL)

200mm f2.8 (KEEP)

200mm f4.0 macro (SELL)

300mm f4.0L (SELL)

24-35mm f3.5L (SELL)

35-70mm f2.8-3.5 (SELL)

35-105mm f3.5 (KEEP)

80-200mm f4.0 (KEEP)

2X-A TC (KEEP)

2X-B TC (KEEP)

My rationale is as follows; L lenses still can be sold for good prices; non-L FD lenses are hard to sell for reasonable prices.

Keep the extenders to allow you obtain more focal lengths when needed with the reduced system. Sell exotic lenses, since you will be doing mostly digital.

 

I hope that the above gets you starting on a good sales path.

[John Crowe]

Keep the FD system for your high quality, painstaking photography. Keep: 17,24L,35,50L,85L,135,200,200Macro,2x-B. The others may net you $1800 USD to almost pay for the 70-200/4 L and the 300/4 L IS.

 

I suggest keeping your L lenses, other than the 300/4 which you are directly replacing, since the EF versions would cost you at least double even triple to replace. I recommend the 35 over either of the 28's unless it is one of the yellowed ones. The 200/2.8 is dear to my heart and I could not sell that one unless I planned on an EF 200/2.8 L. Okay, you could talk me into selling the 200/2.8 and the 2x-B to finance the EF 1.4x for the 300/IS and the L zoom in a pinch.

 

Have fun!

[dave_s]

Keep it all. Buy a film scanner instead of the dRebel.

[peter_white2]

Agreed. You can buy a great film scanner for less than the cost of the digital Rebel. Unless you need the immediate results you can only get from a digital camera, why bother? I now use a digital Rebel for the images on my business web site. The cheap lens it came with is fine for web publishing. But if you can wait a day or two to get your results, why not stay with film? You have one of the finest systems ever made.

[stuart_richardson]

Whatever you do, don't sell the 50mm f/1.2L and the 85mm f/1.2L -- The 50 mm 1.2 has

no equivalent in the EF system, and it is bar none the lightest, most compact super speed

lens in your potential SLR system (I would say in any system, but I am not totally sure). The

85 mm f/1.2L is the ultimate portrait lens, and though replaceable in EOS, it will cost you

a ton to replace it, it is essentially the same exact lens made for EOS, and you are probably

going to want to focus it manually anyway, so what is the point of selling it? If I were you, I

would keep the 24mm f/1.4L, 50L, 85L and maybe the 200 macro. Beyond that it is pretty

much extraneous.

[awahlster]

Well let see you want to raise money and keep a nice FD Kit OK try this:

 

17mm f4.0, sell $300.00+

 

20mm f2.8, Keep as your widest

 

24mm f1.4L, Sell $550.00+ then buy a 24mm f2.0 nFD at $175.00-

 

28mm f2.0, Sell don't need two $175.00

 

28mm f2.8, Keep only worth $50-65.00 if sold anyway.

 

35mm f2.0, Keep

 

50mm f1.2L, Keep

 

50mm f3.5 macro, Sell $150.00

 

85mm f1.2L, Keep great lens

 

100mm f2.0, 100mm f4.0 macro, Sell both $350-375.00 Then buy a Tokina AT-X or Vivitar Series 1 90mm f2.5 to do the work of both $150.00-

 

135mm f2.0, Unless you use this speed a lot I would sell it and by a 135mm f2.5 it's a better portrait lens anyway and you would get $300.00 selling and the replacement would only cost $75-90.00

 

200mm f2.8, KEEP

 

 

200mm f4.0 macro, If you use it a lot keep it if not it will fetch near $400.00

 

 

300mm f4.0L, Keep

 

24-35mm f3.5L, Keep

 

35-70mm f2.8-3.5, Sell $175.00???

 

35-105mm f3.5, Keep

 

80-200mm f4.0, Keep if you use it a lot but your primes would be a better choice and selling it would fetch another $150.00

 

2X-A TC, 2X-B TC Prices are down on these i would keep both if you use them.

 

 

OK near as I can tell you would only lose the 17mm end of your focal range and would net approx. $2000.00 and leave you with a very nice basic working FD outfit.

 

The $2000.00 would buy a digital Rebel and a couple of nice EF mount lenses. To get you started.

 

OF COURSE THE CHEAPEST WAY IS TO SELL THE 24mm f1.4L buy a 24mm f2.0 and take the balance and buy a Nice Canon FS4000US Film scanner and be digital with a huge Canon Fd kit Like me! 16 bodies and 48+ lenses.

 

May 1951 Leica IIIf Red Dial is also a Digital as soon as I place the negs in the scanner cool HUH?

[14mm 2.8l]

Isn't it great that these days you (the owner) can market and sell your FD equiptment for 85% to top dollar. Back when I started with FD System the camera shop was the place most people sold their goodies. Just 10 (pre-ebay) years ago you'd been lucky to get 30 cents on the dollar.

 

Lindy

[vesa_perala]

I'm a "24,35,85mm"-photographer so I would

 

KEEP:

 

17mm f4.0,

24mm f1.4L,

35mm f2.0,

50mm f1.2L, (SELL if you don't need this)

85mm f1.2L, (change to f1.8 ?)

100mm f4.0 macro,

135mm f2.0,

200mm f4.0 macro, (SELL if you don't need this MACRO)

300mm f4.0L,

24-35mm f3.5L,

35-105mm f3.5,

80-200mm f4.0,

2X-A TC (if this does "fit" the 300/4L)

 

SELL:

 

20mm f2.8,

28mm f2.0,

28mm f2.8,

50mm f3.5 macro,

100mm f2.0,

200mm f2.8,

35-70mm f2.8-3.5,

2X-B TC (if this does not "fit" the 300/4L)

 

If you need more money you might want to sell the 1.2Ls and get f2.8/1.4/1.8 lenses but as you noted the EF-equivalents of L's are (much) more expensive.

 

You could also first get an equivalent EF-lens and then sell the similar FD-version(s).

 

I once had 17/4, 24/2.8, 35/2, 35-105/3.5, 50/3.5 macro, 85/1.8, 80-200/4L, 300/4L and 1.4x and 2x. Also FTb-N, 2 x T70 and 2 x T90.

I had just bought the second T90 when I realized 1) I don't want to worry about repairs (no body parts available), 2) I want better body features and 3) The bag has become too heavy so...

 

...I sold everything except FD 35/2, 50/3.5, 85/1.8, FTb-N and T70

and got EOS50E + 28-135 IS USM + 100-400 IS USM as starters. Now I have again more lenses and better EOS-bodies including EOS-3 and 10D and feel reliefed...

 

Vesa

[timothy_fitzgerald]

Hi, Larry!

 

Well, here's my take on your situation:

 

Since you've already made at least a partial investment in a digital EOS system, and you seem to lean toward telephoto photograhy (given the EF lenses in which you've expressed an interest), I would submit the following recommendations:

 

Keep whichever of the super wide-angle lenses you prefer; sounds like for you that's the FD 17mm f/4.

 

Definitely keep the FD 50mm f/1.2 L over the FD 50mm f/3.5 macro lens; if you want macro capability the FD 100mm f/4 macro or FD 200mm f/4 macro are better choices in my opinion. (Incidentally, if you decide to part with the FD 200mm f/4 macro, I'd potentially be interested).

 

Regarding which of your three macro lens to keep, I get the impression that the FD 200mm f/4 macro is the "holy grail" of the FD macro lenses; sadly, I've not yet had the opportunity to try one. That having been said, I find myself reaching for my FD 100mm f/4 macro far more often than my FD 50mm f/3.5 macro.

 

Regarding the question of the FD 100mm f/2 vs. the FD 100mm f/4 macro or the FD 200mm f/2.8 vs. the FD 200mm f/4 macro, I'm not really certain how well the macro lenses perform for portrait/telephoto duty. My understanding is they are really purpose-built close-up lenses, and the added focal length is really more of a contributing aid in how close you have to get to your macro subject rather than in providing telephoto magnification per se. If the macro lenses perform adequately for your portrait/telephoto needs, sell the FD 100mm f/2 and FD 200mm f/2.8 lenses, but I qualify that suggestion by mentioning that the FD 100mm f/2 and FD 200mm f/2.8 are two of the best lenses in the FD inventory. If you think you'll need the low-light telephoto capability, but don't really shoot much macro, keep the FD 100mm f/2 and FD 200mm f/2.8 and sell the macros. If you find you want to "split the difference" (i.e., you want both low-light telephoto and macro capabilities), I would suggest keeping the FD 100mm f/4 macro, FD 135mm f/2, and FD 200mm f/2.8 lenses, and selling the FD 100mm f/2 and FD 200mm f/4 lenses; you'll cover your optical needs well, and still keep your wife happy because you'll get more money for the latter two lenses since they're fairly scarce and desireable.

 

Definitely keep the FD 24mm f/1.4 L and FD 85mm f/1.2 L lenses; there are EOS equivalents, but they'll be much more expensive to acquire and I doubt they'll be any better optically. The FD versions are both wonderful lenses, and the FD 85mm f/1.2 L is more preferable to the FD 100mm f/2 as a portrait lens (in my opinion anyway). I personally prefer the 24mm focal length to 28mm and 35mm for wide-angle applications. I'd say, in addition to the FD 24mm f/1.4 L, keep your FD 24-35mm f/3.5 L and FD 35-105mm f/3.5 zooms, and unload the 28mm and 35mm primes, and the FD 35-70mm f/2.8-3.5 zoom. I know this is contrary to popular opinion (keeping zooms over primes), but if the goal is to simply cover your general photographic needs with a good set of lenses, the FD 24-35mm f/3.5 L and FD 35-105mm f/3.5 are two of the best zooms out there.

 

Although it's also a wonderful lens, if you plan to buy the EF 300mm f/4 L IS, your FD 300mm f/4 L is redundant. You can safely part with it and the Extender 2x-A (which is only useful for lenses of 300mm or greater focal length). Same goes for the FD 80-200mm f/4 zoom; the EF 70-200mm f/4 L covers this range in your inventory and is probably the better lens. However, I would keep the Extender 2x-B for whatever FD telephotos you end up keeping.

 

Hope this helps!

[w_t1]

I got a Nikon film scanner several years ago. I love my FD system, in fact just recently bought an EF body for the fraction of the cost of a Dslr....meanwhile buddies are upgrading their digital equipment every two years, you see, they listened to the marketers...

 

i see similar posts here all the time about "my wife will have my balls in a jar if I buy one more xyz filter, etc...." I dont get it at all. where's the freedom in that? I've always lived within my means...when single, and now married x 14 years...i guess it depends on what you want to tolerate. The other guy does have a point though, maybe you are a camera collector, different category than a shooter. If you have any doubts, you shouldnt sell any of it. I've had doubts about other hobby equipment I sold here and there, and regretted some afterwards....

[pensacolaphoto]

My suggestions to Larry were based on the assumption that his future serious photography would mostly be digital. I would also keep some of the L lenses if my assumption was false. I love the 50/1.2L and the 85/1.2L for their qualities.

[mcgarity]

I was not expecting this many responses. Thanks you all for your inputs.

Since some of you indicated you thought I might be a camera collector. I am not. Until I purchased the 300D in December it had been 20 years since I bought an item of photo equipment. What I was and am is an avid amateur photographer. In the late 70s and early 80s I was into it in a big way. I was a Field Service Engineer for a California electronics company and my job entailed traveling all over the world. This lent itself to recording places, people, and events. I did a great deal of available light photography in low light locations. Places where use of a flash was not possible. In addition to spending a lot of time taking pictures I spent an equal amount of time in the dark room developing and printing them. For a time I contemplated, intended in fact, to turn pro. However life intruded and my plans never came to fruition.

 

For several years I did a lot of underwater photography. Obvioously I couldn't use FD equipment for that. I had beautiful Nikonos system which I sold years ago when I gave up scuba.

 

I took a hiatus from photography for a time in the 90s. In recent years my love of it has been rekindled. Maybe its the location. I now live in Northern Colorado 30 miles east of Rocky Mountain National Park. My photographic interests have changed considerably over the years. I am more into recording the beauty of nature these days than I used to be. I always appreciated it but am more fanatical these days. Saturday I left the house at 3:25 AM and drove through the park. Over a six hour span I photographed bighorn sheep, deer, elk, moose, marmot, ground squirrel, and some breath takingly beautiful scenery. I plan to do the same this weekend.

 

Anyway I digress. Thanks again for your thoughts. They are quite helpful.

 

Larry

[._._z]

<i><blockquote> What I was and am is an avid amateur photographer. In the late 70s

and early 80s I was into it in a big way.... I took a hiatus from photography for a time in

the 90s. In recent years my love of it has been rekindled.... I always appreciated it but

am more fanatical these days </blockquote> </i><p>

 

You should know which lenses you need then....

[mcgarity]

Z

 

I have to admit you are right. I do know what I need. I have to decide what to give up to obtain it and I think I am closing in on that. Thanks for your input.