You can always buy another one...

[Roger Hicks]

...or sometimes you can't. Rare and desirable kit can go up so fast in price that a replacement is unaffordable (or at least, really hurts) and you may not get as good an example. Case in point: my 100/2,8 Planars, panelled for Linhof. One came in with an outfit; I sold it; realized I'd had some very good pictures from it; found another... and it wasn't as good.

Who else has had similar experiences? What with? And how much of it is in the eye of the beholder? The first was great because we'd never had one before; in the period we didn't have it, we began to overestimate its excellence; and the replacement was a disappointment. Again, who recognizes that one?

Actually, the same can be even more true of lesser cameras and lenses. You get a great ________ (doesn't matter what); get rid of it; decide to find another; and can't find another as good. Nowadays, if I like something first time around, and continue to use it, I keep it. What about you?

Cheers,

R.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

It took years and going through a lot of Jupiter-3's before finding one as good as a lens sold to an RFF member. Turns out that one was used in a Lab, and was coated for Near Infrared. Beyond pick of a litter. A 1953 J-3 with German glass eased the pain.

After that, sell a lens AFTER I have a replacement for it.

 

[Krosya]

Cant say I had this problem much. As brian says - it may apply more to Russian lenses. But every russian lens I had was actually very good. You hear these stories about some Canon RF lenses, even Cosina/Voigtlander current ones - due to sample variations. But, maybe I was lucky enough, but having had several samples of the same lens in many different brands - I can tell - all were good. This includes:
2 CV Ultrons 35/1.7
2 CV Nokton 50/1.5
4 CV Skopars 21/4 (2 M and 2 LTMs)
2 CV Heliars 75/2.5 black and chrome
2 CV Heliars 15/4.5 - M and LTM
2 M-Hexanons 28/2.8
2 M-Hexanons 90/2.8
3 M-Hexanons 50/2
2 Jupiter-9 85/2 ltms - black and chrome

All of these performed good to the point where I couldnt tell a difference in pics. Same goes for some cameras - all my Hexars, Bessas, Weltas, etc all performed well.

As far as - you can always buy another one - in my case - most are fairly availible still, but prices keep going up. Just look at CV Nokton 50/1.5 - not long ago it sold new for under $400 and now CQ charges $600 for it!

 

[sanmich]

agreed
I recently had a hard time to part from a very clean M3, that required lots of attention to get right, only because I knew that if I happen to want another one in the future, it will be tough to find.
At the end, it was so uncomfortable for me to see the 50 frame with my glasses, that I decided to do the reasonable thing and swapped it for an M6.

This has happened to me several times in the past, and for very good gear that is a bit scarce, I usually am more careful before selling (a canon 35 f/1.5 comes to mind)

 

[Andy Kibber]

After that, sell a lens AFTER I have a replacement for it.

Don't throw out dirty dishwater until you've got clean! 🙂

 

[Vickko]

Hahaha


Roger, you've hit the story of my life.

Recently, sold a Leica IIIg, in a push to get out of LTM and raise funds. Then, saw one here and bought it, because I couldn't stand being "LTM-less".

I'm learning to mostly never sell Leica lenses. Broke that rule recently, selling a 35/2 ASPH and 28/2 ASPH. But, I have lots of classical 35's that are great, and 28, well, it never appealed to me. Bought it only after getting the M8 and supposedly needed a lens that equated to 35mm.

I'm now hovering over my Nikon RF collection. I know a couple people already interested in a couple of the lenses. Interestingly enough, the only 28mm that I have is in Nikon RF.

....Vick

 

[FrankS]

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
‘Til it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
J.M.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I've had at least three of my essential kit of lenses for the Nikon F over the last 35 years. At one time I got out of Nikon to use Canon (T-90's) and in a couple of years was back with Nikon. With most pieces for the Nikon F system there is no real shortage. Same is true for more contemporary Leica M save for pieces such as the 75 Summilux.

One lens I have that I would never sell as I doubt I would ever find another is the Hexanon 60/1.2 of which only 800 were made in 1999.

I am not interested in holding-on to kit I no longer use and would sell if I am certain I have permanently moved-on.

This is my issue at the moment. I had a change of life, actually a career change, when I retired as a newspaper PJ at the end of 2008. My Nikon kit was at one time an essential daily tool, now it sits idle but for a few days a year when I get an itch that can only be scratched with a SLR. I'm guessing that if ever I got rid of any of it I probably wouldn't replace it just because it wouldn't make sense, but somehow it seems logical to hold on to it, for now. It is all paid for and only costs me money when values drop for the digital bodies.

The difficult words are, "I am certain I have permanently moved-on." I've too often thought, "Oh, I won't need that again," and been wrong.

True about F bits mostly, though I wouldn't mind my 58/1,4 back: hence the original qualification about 'rare and desirable'. And as you say, once it's paid for, the £1000-2000 I might get for all my assorted Nikon gear is a lot less than I'd need to pay to replace even the bits I use occasionally.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Gary Sandhu]

Yes,
Stylus epic (gave mine to my father, bought two replacements);
Minolta tc-1 (first one used cost $300, broke it when it dropped-- second one NIB cost $1000);
35 cron asph, 90 elmarit; bought and sold as a kit along with an M7 and then bought individually for double their initial costs.
Nikon D50, D40x, and Leica M8 -- bought new, sold, and rebought used a year later for a lot cheaper!
None have disappointed.

 

[Chris101]

...or sometimes you can't. Rare and desirable kit can go up so fast in price that a replacement is unaffordable (or at least, really hurts) and you may not get as good an example. Case in point: my 100/2,8 Planars, panelled for Linhof. One came in with an outfit; I sold it; realized I'd had some very good pictures from it; found another... and it wasn't as good.

Who else has had similar experiences? What with? And how much of it is in the eye of the beholder? The first was great because we'd never had one before; in the period we didn't have it, we began to overestimate its excellence; and the replacement was a disappointment. Again, who recognizes that one?

Actually, the same can be even more true of lesser cameras and lenses. You get a great ________ (doesn't matter what); get rid of it; decide to find another; and can't find another as good. Nowadays, if I like something first time around, and continue to use it, I keep it. What about you?

Cheers,

R.

Oh yeah, but nothing that old so as i would not be able to get as good I hope, or better. And not like I got rid of it voluntarily - a lot of my early equipment was stolen in a 1984 burglary (0% recovered), and then again in a 2007 burglary that, while 90% recovered, did suffer considerable non-compensated/non-repairable damages. I tell ya, living in the ghetto is tough.

Here's the software I had ready in 1982 on Commodore computers, awaiting the introduction of the Macintosh. My 68000 prototype hackintosh, as well as the particular disks (1540 format Commodore 64 68000 assembler/Motorola 68000 SBC format cross compliler - some Not Authorized by Apple - source and working object code - requires a working - and no longer supported - C64 system and a massive reel-to-reel tape memory or equivalent (I tried to be as open as possible in 82-84 (when such things were very esoteric))) were all surreptitiously taken by parties unknown in early 1984. It was a "reel" monstrosity, and it did things no other software did.

😱 And then it was gone ... and I couldn't buy another one.

 

[Sparrow]

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
‘Til it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
J.M.

I think that was in the charts the last time I sold a lens ...

 

[johannielscom]

Yup.

Sold my D300 and lenses (including a DC-Nikkor 135/2.0!!!) to get an M8 :bang:

Sold a 1942 Leica IIIc with N-L engravings, TWO red curtains and even the original strap rings and a (probably original) 1941 Elmar 50/3.5 because I did not use it enough and wanted to fund something else. Simple patience would have sold that camera for 3 times the price.

Me stoopid:bang:

 

[oftheherd]

I need to get rid of stuff that is duplicated and not sufficiently different to warrant keeping it. However, I have not started yet. That would probably not include lenses as I am more careful there when I purchase. Cameras (bodies/P&S) have been a different story. sigh.

 

[Michiel Fokkema]

Only lens I realy regret, apart form the ones I sold too cheap, is the Helios 40. I used it a few times on a Cosina before I had a Canon dslr. Sold it and now that I have the Canon dslr and realise I could have used it on it, I want it back. But I know the IQ varies a lot among them, it took me 3 before I got a decent 85/2.0, and they are hardly offered.

CHeers,

Michiel Fokkema

 

[markwatts]

Am I strange? Once it is mine, even if second hand, it is mine. I never sell anything.

 

[nobbylon]

I regretted selling my first Summilux 50 however I've ended up with another better one. Same with Ultron 35.
I always have regrets selling M6's. Don't know why but I always end up getting another. I've just sold mine again to concentrate on A/F. I say now, that I won't get another but..........
Oh and I regret selling my 60mm Elmarit macro R lens.

 

[sepiareverb]

Right now I'm getting ready to sell the whole XPAN kit- been on the fence with that for a long time, but I just don't get much with it. I'm just not able to see with that frame. I know I'll regret it sometimes, but really I'll make better images with what I get from it.

 

[raid]

Life is too short to worry about selling a lens.

I sold a J-3 that was put together by Brian. It was very sharp. I shall not repeat this act. I sold my Hexar AF. Now I need such a camera. I have done many such sales of excellent equipment. Still, this simply allows me to get other equipment.

 

[mynikonf2]

I DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT! :bang:
😀

 

[kermaier]

I definitely regret selling my Canon FD 85/1.2 L and 24/1.4 L lenses. Who knew they'd get a second life in m4/3?

I sold a Type 2 'cron "Rigid" to get a Type 1, because I had trouble gripping the Type 2's focus ring. (I prefer the ridges on the peaks of the scalloped ring, rather than in the valleys. Same with some of the CV lenses.) The older lens is good, and in better condition than the one I sold, but it's not delivering the same magic. Imaginary? Probably.

And selling the M-Hex 50/1.2 was definitely a mistake.

Ari