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The Pyramid Burial Lens

jfirneno

Member
All talk to the contrary (and you all know who you are!), the Sony A7 series cameras are the greatest cameras that modern ingenuity has ever or ever will create and within the next few weeks all other cameras manufacturers out of a sense of embarrassment will recall all these other unworthy devices and voluntarily consign them to the ash heap of photographic history and start manufacturing political bumper stickers instead.

Nevertheless, there are attachments that crop up between photographers and lenses that cannot be severed because of changing camera brand or mount type. Lenses so awesome that you intend to have them interred with you like some kind of Egyptian pharaoh or Bronze Age warrior king in the untimely event of your demise. Can you name any lens that because of inherent virtues you will never part with no matter what camera you shoot? This even includes lenses that cannot be attached to the A7 cameras (but is not restricted to these).

I'll start this with my own humble manias.
Sony 135 f1.8
Minolta 200 f4 macro
 
V

Vivek

Guest
LOL!

I will throw in one:

UV-Nikkor 105/4.5

there may be a few others as well. ;)
 

pegelli

Well-known member
John,

I have 3 that will be the last ones I part with (in priority order):
Voigtlander Nokton 35/1.2 II
Sony 135 f1.8
Minolta 200/2.8
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
You realize i can't name one. Only because nothing is sacred in my bag. But i do seriously have some real favorites. I learned many moons ago never say never when it comes to gear because most likely I will flip on a dime for something I think is better. Unfortunately that attitude has not changed. But I do admire everyones loyalty to a certain lens and focal length and I already agree with all of them.
 

jfirneno

Member
You realize i can't name one. Only because nothing is sacred in my bag. But i do seriously have some real favorites. I learned many moons ago never say never when it comes to gear because most likely I will flip on a dime for something I think is better. Unfortunately that attitude has not changed. But I do admire everyones loyalty to a certain lens and focal length and I already agree with all of them.
Guy:
In deference to those rare souls whose only interest in lenses is pure utilitarian merit, I will provide a separate question option.

What is the best (you pick the definition) lens in the world that you've used?
 
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Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Ah now we are getting somewhere

Leica 35-70 R 2.8 extremely rare and extremely expensive
Leica 180 F2 cron
Leica 28-90 R 2.8
Leica 19mm Version 2
Nikon 200mm F2
Canon 180 1.8
Sony 135 1.8
Minolta 200mm 2.8
Im adding this Sony 16-35 F4
Zeiss 21mm 2.8
Canon 24 TSE
Canon 17mm TSE
A ton of Zeiss glass 25, 35, 18, 85, 135

This list is long and short at the same time

See this is very bad if I did the math here we are looking at nearly 25K that I spent just on this list. There are so many more too. This is way to depressing. LOL
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
I'm with Pieter and Guy on the Sony 135mm ƒ1.8 - amazing lens.
+1

Although I'm clicking the pre-order button the minute they announce a FE version with comparable optical performance... and at least a f/2.5 lens. If money were no object I'd also add the Sigma Art 35, Zeiss Otus 55/85, a bunch of Leica M's, and maybe even the 55FE to the list.
 

Eoin

Member
Ones I've had and still have fond memories of ...
Canon EF200 1.8
Canon EF 85 1.2
Leica M Summicron 28
Leica M Summicron 75
Sony ZA135f18
Obviously the short comings of the cameras they were mounted on ultimately
sealed their fate at that time.

I can't say much about my current lenses, other then we're in the honeymoon phase and on the journey of discovery. However the Contax 28 Hollywood & 100 Planar are growing on me.
 

jfirneno

Member
+1

Although I'm clicking the pre-order button the minute they announce a FE version with comparable optical performance... and at least a f/2.5 lens. If money were no object I'd also add the Sigma Art 35, Zeiss Otus 55/85, a bunch of Leica M's, and maybe even the 55FE to the list.
I'll be right behind you on that order. Imagining the 135 f1.8 with a piezoelectric drive and an emount is pretty exciting stuff for me. While they're at it they should add a removable tripod foot to it.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
C'mon guys,... It's just chunks of glass and metal (and/or plastic).

:ROTFL::ROTFL::ROTFL:






>>




>>





Okay, I'll play :D. The ONE lens right now would be my 28/1.4 Nikkor AF-D ASPH. Almost everything else I own can be duplicated with another just like it, or similar enough I wouldn't care too much. But the 28ASPH's are rare, singular and thus extremely difficult to find one that pleases all around.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Which reminds me the next best thing to do is getting my taxes done so I can go buy more glass. LOL
 

jfirneno

Member
C'mon guys,... It's just chunks of glass and metal (and/or plastic).
:ROTFL::ROTFL::ROTFL:
Okay, I'll play :D. The ONE lens right now would be my 28/1.4 Nikkor AF-D ASPH. Almost everything else I own can be duplicated with another just like it, or similar enough I wouldn't care too much. But the 28ASPH's are rare, singular and thus extremely difficult to find one that pleases all around.
Jack:
Human nature being what it is, saying something is just glass and metal is like saying that Secretariat was just a horse. Or an amazing wine is just grape juice and yeast metabolites. I've heard it said that if form follows function almost anything can become a work of art. Of course some objects of desire are more obscure than others. A Leica lens is probably not as commonly sought after as the latest Porsche.
 

mbroomfield

New member
Ah now we are getting somewhere

.......
Canon 180 1.8
....
This list is long and short at the same time

See this is very bad if I did the math here we are looking at nearly 25K that I spent just on this list. There are so many more too. This is way to depressing. LOL
Oh how quickly we forget!! I think this lens is the 1st I ever saw Guy write something about selling the lens over his dead body .. over 10 years ago on FM ....

Except that it's a 200mm F1.8 :)
 

fotografz

Well-known member
All talk to the contrary (and you all know who you are!), the Sony A7 series cameras are the greatest cameras that modern ingenuity has ever or ever will create and within the next few weeks all other cameras manufacturers out of a sense of embarrassment will recall all these other unworthy devices and voluntarily consign them to the ash heap of photographic history and start manufacturing political bumper stickers instead.

Nevertheless, there are attachments that crop up between photographers and lenses that cannot be severed because of changing camera brand or mount type. Lenses so awesome that you intend to have them interred with you like some kind of Egyptian pharaoh or Bronze Age warrior king in the untimely event of your demise. Can you name any lens that because of inherent virtues you will never part with no matter what camera you shoot? This even includes lenses that cannot be attached to the A7 cameras (but is not restricted to these).

I'll start this with my own humble manias.
Sony 135 f1.8
Minolta 200 f4 macro
I'm addicted to "atmospheric" optics shot wide open.

Previously it was the Zeiss 110/2FE on a Hasselblad 203FE, The Leica R35/1.4 and 85/1.4, the Leica M-75/1.4 ... all of which I increasingly couldn't manually focus as my eyes aged ... GONE.

Then the AF Contax N85/1.4 ... GONE due to Kyocera abandoning photographic gear.

Then it was the AF Canon 85/1.2, 135/2, and 200/1.8 ... GONE due to swapping systems.

Then the AF Hasselblad 100/2.2 which I used for many years, GONE due to leaving system.

I was adrift for a while until recently securing the Leica S-100/2 ... heavenly optic with Mandler OOF and acute IF areas, with a delicious roll off one to the other.


My Pyramid is under construction as I write this. 2,000' square at the base, 5,000' high ... with warrens worthy of a colony of ants ... the end of one which will house a solid gold shrine with the S-100/2 lens inside an ASPH transparent casing being made in Leica's glass foundry.

Any grave robber entering this chamber will be deleted by a custom program being written by Thomas Knoll ... who himself will then be deleted by a program written by an anonymous hacker, who in turn will be exposed to Plutonium poisoning ... ect., etc., etc.

The final safeguard is personal ID firmware Leica is installing that allows only me to take nice pictures with it. Any one else will take nothing but crap shots no matter how good they are.

I plan on using it in the afterlife ... probably to document the 2nd circle of Dante's Hell due to LUSTING after all these lenses.

ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE!

- Marc
 
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