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Help me thin my lens collection


gordonrussell76

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I have had a busy few weeks buying lens recently, having just sold my 18-55mm and bought a 18-135, 10-24mm and now the 60mm

 

My plan is to evaluate my whole lens collection together and then I will be selling some, as to be honest 3-4 is all I need. A combination of good deals and coming into some money has enabled me to buy first and then try and whatever I don't like will go back on ebay and money will be put in savings against X-Pro 2 or X-T2

 

10-24mm

27mm

35mm

60mm

18-135mm

55-200mm

 

I shoot travel street and portrait as my main focuses you won't see much travel/portrait yet on my flickr as mainly family focused and I am trying to keep my flickr ouput focused.

 

Lenses that I will 100% be keeping

 

10-24mm

35mm

 

Interestingly the above is probally all I need for street right now, the 27mm is nice for low-key but is a complete luxury now that I have the 10-24mm mind you its very small.

 

Its mainly about rounding out the kit.

 

Currently my decision making revolves around.

 

18-135mm vs 55-200mm I wanted the 18-135mm so when I am with family a) I don't have to keep changing lens all the time and B) I can have 2 primes with me for creative stuff rather than before when I had 18-55mm and 55-200mm and only had room for one prime in my travel kits (35mm)

 

My concerns its not as good at compression and blur for portrait as the 55-200mm, I love that lens, its amazingly sharp. Part of the reason I have bought the 60mm is to give me an interesting portrait lens slightler longer than the 35mm. I considered the 56mm but I like the 60mm way it renders, just speaks to me and I think it matchs the rendering of the 35mm more closely than the 56.

 

So choice for me is given the ample coverage between 10-60mm do i ditch the 18-135 and keep the 55-200 giving me this

 

10-24mm

35mm

60mm

55-200mm

 

or ditch 55-200 giving me this

 

10-24mm

35mm

60mm

18-135mm

 

Pro for first option is that I have great street kit 10-24/35/60at a push and a great portrait kit 35/60/55-200

 

However as mentioned the main reason I wanted 18-135 was for family trips. So my ideal travel kit would be 10-24/35/18-135, the 55-200 would work very well technically in that kit, it gives the biggest range of focal lengths, good portrait options, good wide angle options and great low light option. However I would be changing lenses a whole lot more.

 

I think it all comes down to how I get on with the 60mm if it gives me what I am looking for in terms of portrait then I may be able to get rid of 55-200mm I have found the 18-135mm is fairly good up to about 100mm and I can get some compression from it, but its not as nice as the 55-200.

 

If I was a pro I would keep all of them. Mind you if I was a pro I would probably replace both 55-200 and 18-135 with the 55-140. I would probably also give some very serious thought to the 90mm

 

Anyway i am not pro and I need to cut down. I am leaning towards selling the 55-200 and the 27mm

 

I will have my perfect street kit, my perfect travel kit and my portrait kits will have one week link. It also means I am only ever leaving one lens at home instead of 3 which just seems wasteful.

 

Or the other obvious choice I get a bigger bag, before some wag jump in a suggests it :)

 

G

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I just traded in my 18-135 for an 18-55/55-200 combo. Unlike most folks the 18-55 doesn't blow my skirt up. The 55-200, however, seem awesome so far. I think it produces results (for me) that are superior to anything I could get out of the 18-135. So, personally, I would take the inconvenience of changing lenses for the quality I think I get from it.

 

I have the 56. The best lens I have used yet on the Fuji - I wouldn't even consider trading it. I had taken a bunch of pictures at a horse jumping event and was going through processing them when I suddenly came across a group of images that just popped. They were razor sharp and jumped off the screen. I was like, whoa, what setting did I change to get these? I need to do that again next time. Then I discovered I had switched from the 18-135 to the 56 for that set.

 

My goal kit (at the moment) is the 10-24, 35, 56, and 55-200. I just haven't had the $ for the 10-24 yet and don't want to get the 35 until last because it is so close focally to the 56. This kit looks pretty similar to your first set of 4 lenses.

 

So, if it were me, I'd take the 55-200 over the 18-135. Part of that is my shooting style where when I'm shooting I am most likely at one end of the zoom or the other. If I start shooting long I generally stay long - if I start wide, I stay wide - I usually don't switch back and forth between long and wide in a particular situation. But that is me, perhaps that is unusual.

 

Mike

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55-200 has an advantage in compression in 135-200 range which is not really a comfortable focal length range in terms of communicating with you model. For head-shoulders portrait @200mm you'll have to be more than 4 meters away. I rarely use anything longer than 90mm for portraits.

I also really like the ability not to change lenses with 18-135. When I was buying it I thought I would use it quite rarely. To my surprise I really like the lens and use it very often.

Thus if I were you I'd sell 55-200 and 27 and consider getting 90mm which is extraordinary for portraits.

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Mike

 

Normally I would agree with you, when I am shooting wide I am wide and when I am long I am long. Then I had a child and they can be in your face one minute and the other side of a playground nanoseconds later :) Suddenly having a large focal range becomes very appealing. I also find it very useful when ski-ing as its hard enough juggling a camera in those circumstances and when someone is haring towards you at mach 2 and you want a wide shot you just don't have time to change lens. Hmm 18-135 is also weather sealed so probably better for this as well.

 

I agree with you and I don't use the 55-200mm in teh 135-200mm range. I use it in the same range as the 18-135, namely between about 70mm and 120mm depending on circumstance. Both lens give me compresion, but I find at these focal lengths the 55-200mm looks better because you can shoot it with a wider aperture and therefore you get more bokeh with the compression. It just look nicer most of the time. It is also sharper between 90-120mm I like your suggestino of the 90mm but for now this is an exercise in reducing lens and trying to put some money aside for the next camera.

 

Bottom line its quality vs convenience. I think given my jsut remembered ski-ing requirement and the reality of how often I shoot with my kid vs portraits that the choice is made. I am going to keep the 18-135mm and shift the 55-200 :( I have taken some lovely shots with it though and will be sad to see it go.

 

Thanks for input, both helfpul in focusing my mind.

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I've been pondering about the 'perfect' travel kit as well as of late. For me, I think, it would be something like this:

- 10-24 (or maybe the Fuji 14 in stead)

- 35

- 55-200

- one of Fuji's mid-range zooms

 

I currently use the XC 16-50 and 50-230 (both terrific value for money), but might switch the 50-230 for a 55-200. It has a faster max aperture, so this could double as a nice portrait lens in stead of the 60 which is a very slow focuser. I would only get the 60 if you're interested in macro. Apart from the zooms I also have the 35 (love everything about it) and the 18 (not sure if I'll keep that one). I used to have the 27 but sold it because f2.8 is too slow in low light. I still miss something on the wide end though. Very much in doubt between the 10-24 and the 14. The range and OIS of the 10-24 are appealing, but the size/weight/faster max aperture of the 14 also seem very interesting. And the 14 has the same filter size as the 16-50 (and 18-55 and 50-230)... And then there's the Samyang 12mm as an outside contender. First world problem really, init?

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I practically have the same lenses that you have with the exception that I also have a Samyang 8mm ( great lens even if you use it sparingly!) and that the “ long” zoom is the cheap 50-230mm ( which, if you ask me has the be one of the best lenses for that kind of money since you can find it new or slightly used for €150 to €200).

 

 

 

Whatever you do is going to cost you some money but the only lens that I personally would ditch, in favor of the cheap 50-230mm, is the 55-200.

 

Frankly speaking with the Fuji rendition of high ISO being what it is and the EVF compensating the image which it produces, so that even a lens with the maximum opening of 4.5 to 6.3 allows you to have a pleasant and not “ noisy” rendition, unless you need the minimal gain of opening speed and AF speed of the 55-200 you may sell the expensive lens, get yourself the cheap one and still have some money to spend, for example on the fisheye OR get yourself a cheap walkabout 27mm which will add to the stealth of your camera that maybe you don’t have if shooting  in the streets with the 10-24mm.

 

Other than that, I wouldn’t bother with other lenses with very large aperture openings at all.

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I shoot travel street and portrait as my main focuses you won't see much travel/portrait yet on my flickr as mainly family focused and I am trying to keep my flickr ouput focused.

 

 

 

A little off the subject, but, a comment about flickr and family and non family pictures.  I'm very restrictive when it comes to publishing pictures of my family.  From all the photo sharing/storing sites around, the one I found that you have the most control over who sees what is Flickr.  I've been using it since 2006 and I have about 28,5k images there.

You can control if your shots are visible to public, friends, family or private.  I put all my family pictures to friends and family and only the people with flickr accounts that I mark as such have access to check those images, and also download.  So, I use it to share with family and friends, and put the public images as such to share with everyone else.  And it also serves as a great backup, specially now that they have added mass download of albums and you can download many pictures at a time.

 

By the way, yesterday I was going through flickr and saw that image called "Please give generously", when I saw it today following your link, hehe, what a coincidence.  Where was that picture taken?

 

Sorry everyone for the quick change of subject :-)  Please go back to discussing lenses.

 

I don't have an opinion to give because I'm currently suffering of GAS.  It might be passing now since my budget from selling my canon gear has ended and the exchange rate for me has tripled in the last semester and I can't afford anything else.

 

My kit consists of the X-E2 with the 18-55mm, 18mm, 27mm, 35mm, 60mm, 50-230mm  and the Samyang 12mm.  So, I can either go all primes, or all zooms :-)

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I absolutely agree Marcelo, the ease with which even here people publish (and obviously show off) pics of their kids and loved ones baffles me.

 

If I would try to shoot pictures of those kids in the street after the second shot I am sure the police would be called!

 

A person whom I knew, sadly he passed away a couple of years ago, was taking pictures of his and other kids playing outside a school in the Netherlands and the other parets called the Police on him because he was shooting pictures of his own kids!

 

One of the problems of shooting in the street is the defensiveness ( right of wrong) of the people against being photographed ( this happens mostly in the richer parts of the world).

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Okay thanks everyone for input, appreciated, however I don't want the 23 or the 56mm thank you, just not my cup of tea, I love the 10-24 and the 35mm and stated in original post I am going to keep them. Not really up for discussion.

 

I don't think I will sell 55-200 and buy 50-230 as honestly I don't think I will make enough money back out of that deal to be worth it and I don't think the 50-230 will give me the things i like about the 55-200mm I know this as I bought it first and then 2 weeks later traded it for the 55-200 :)

 

I am not going to sell 18-135mm as I actually find it to be a very good lens and as mentioned in this post I have uses for it. Famliy and skiing.

 

I already own 27mm and it is very stealth but honestly I have pretty big hands and it gets lost in my left hand enough to not make it matter.

 

What a co-incidence about the Please give generously shot, amazing the internets. Its a shot taken outside the back entrance of the Aviva Building in Undershaft London on St Mary's Axe, its right next to the church and obviously the Gherkin makes a fantastic backdrop :)

 

I think I will sell 55-200mm and 27mm although part of me is tempted to sit on decision a bit longer until I have used 18-135 in all the situations I would use the 55-200 in. I am going to 2 weddings at the end of this month one in Spain and one in Sicily so plenty of opportunity to try them out both in terms of travel and portraits. I think I am going to take one lens to one and the other to another and see how that all pans out and decide after that.

 

G

 

G

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If I were you I'd hold on a little longer and wait with the decision. Looks like you haven't made up your mind yet and it's more expensive to sell and rebuy again. Plus the 27mm won't make a lot of money and is a great lens. Just screw it on once in a while and take your camera when you otherwise wouldn't. And you're happy with the results of the 55-200 and can't reproduce that with another lens. Would be a shame to lose that. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

If you are mainly shooting street and portraits, then the following two lenses are a must have:

XF23 f/1.4

XF56 f/1.2

 

I do own the APD version of the XF56, because I like the extra soft bokeh, but the standard lens is already awesome.

The XF23 is the perfect street lens as it represents 35 mm focal length. I also do a lot of portraits with this lens. If I would only had to stick with a single lens, the XF23 would be my baby. It is super sharp and fast and I love the manual focus capabilities. For your case, I would highly recommend the following four lens setup:

 

XF10-24

XF23

XF56

XF55-200

 

You might even not need the 55-200 and go with the XF90 or XF50-140 instead. But as you already own the 55-200, I would stick with it. But for street and portraits, you need the XF23 and XF56. Without those two babies, you are definitely missing something... 

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I just finished a month long trip with the 10-24, 18-55 and 55-200. Sice returning, I returned the 55-200 becuase of grinding but also because it wasn't convenient to change lenses when traveling especially with a family. I'd consider purchasing another 55-200 if I had two bodies with the 10-24 (which I loved at the wide end) on the other body. If I had to do it again with one body I'd get the 18-135 and keep the 10-24. I found the 18-55 to be a good lens but not long or wide enough for travel. During the trip, I ended up keeping the telephoto zoom on the xt1 and using my ricoh gr with wide attachment for wide shots when I didn't have time to switch lenses. Overall, I did get some nice shots but when time was tight or when I couldn't get the AF to work quickly enough I did miss shots and my d750 with 24-120.

 

Given your preferred options I would recommend looking into a second body, even the xpro1 since they're on a fire sale on ebay. For me, since I do a lot of astrophotography as well as indoor low light work I'll be using the d750 or pick up a d810. I'll keep the xt1 for fun.

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I've always felt like 'zooming with your feet" was easier with normal lenses than wides and teles, so only having a 35 to cover between 24 and 60 isn't so bad. I didn't really get on with the 55-200 because of the changing aperture and the way it quadruples in length as you zoom, really throws off the balance and attracts a lot of attention, more than the 50-140, I've found. I don't really miss the 140-200 range, but you can always check your LR metadata to see how much you use it. I use a 10-24,35 and 50-140 and could definitely get by with the 55-200 in that kit, but that's for my use case. I'd keep the all a little while and ruthlessly sell the ones you don't use enough to justify keeping.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I never understand why everyone insists on 1.2 and 1.4 lens for street? I get the portrait justification for BOKEH, but again I often find that compression from a zoom can make a pic pop without the need for heinous levels of bokeh. In fact its advantageous, because if I had a penny for all the amazing bokeh shots on flickr with eyes out of focus thanks to DOF issues I would be a rich man.

 

For street I use the 10-24 at 24mm and F8 and am very very happy with the sharpness.

 

I use the 35mm, at F5.6-F8 for street and around 1.4-2.0 for portrait

 

I have the 60mm and use that at 2.8 for portrait and f5.6-8 for street although with both primes I do sometimes shoot wide open becuase I forget to stop down in the moment.

 

I am pretty happy with the results.

 

If you look at my flickr gordonrussell76 the latest shot 'Discovery' is using the 60mm

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I never understand why everyone insists on 1.2 and 1.4 lens for street? I get the portrait justification for BOKEH, but again I often find that compression from a zoom can make a pic pop without the need for heinous levels of bokeh. In fact its advantageous, because if I had a penny for all the amazing bokeh shots on flickr with eyes out of focus thanks to DOF issues I would be a rich man.

 

For street I use the 10-24 at 24mm and F8 and am very very happy with the sharpness.

 

I use the 35mm, at F5.6-F8 for street and around 1.4-2.0 for portrait

 

I have the 60mm and use that at 2.8 for portrait and f5.6-8 for street although with both primes I do sometimes shoot wide open becuase I forget to stop down in the moment.

 

I am pretty happy with the results.

 

If you look at my flickr gordonrussell76 the latest shot 'Discovery' is using the 60mm

Gordon, what's the address for that little girl statue in Barcelona? I'm going there tomorrow and would like to stop by there. Great shots.

 

Sent from my SM-N910C using Tapatalk

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