Looking for group help on lenses, please read.

Ghoste · Jul 11, 2006

Ok guys, I havent been around in a while, but you are allways helpful so here it goes. I recently went back to a photography store I used to work at under a new owner and name. I'm now head of sales and Canon just gave us a call saying we have our license (Nikon should be soon). So I'm about ready to make a huge buy from Canon: Professional bodies and lenses. Ranging from the Consumer shooting a 350D or a Nikon D50, to Mike Colon shooting 20 D2X's. I need suggestion on lenses. So if you were about to start your bag over.. what lenses would you start with and what would you end with. Be realistic here.. not if you had a million dollars. But also if you were able to afford a more pro setup, then what would you buy? Please tell me if you are a professional/freelance or just a hobbyist, that'll give me some ideas.

Thanks in advance guys!

P.S. I'm mainly looking for Canon lenses right now but if you were to just be speeking of a general lense with general features thats cool. Thanks alot guys!

markc · Jul 11, 2006

This might help: http://thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53157

I'm not sure what your customer base is like. Average Joe consumer has a love affair with cheap zooms. Many pros prefer primes, or at least fast/sharp zooms.

thebeginning · Jul 11, 2006

mark hit the nail on the head. for consumers (aka 'ohhh you mean you can put other lenses on it?' customers), long zoom range cheap zooms like the 18-55, 17-85, 28-135, and 75-300 sell the best. for middle of the road guys, cheaper nice canon lenses such as the 17-55 2.8, the 50mm's, the 85 1.8, the 70-200 f4, the 10-22, the 17-40L, etc. get the most action aside from 3rd party stuff. For pros and wealthy amateurs L lenses are pretty much the 'big buys'. zooms: 16-35L or 17-40L, 24-70L or 24-105L, 70-200L's, 100-400L IS. primes: 15L fisheye, 35L, 85L, 135L, 300L's, and above. those are the most popular ones IMO.

i guess i'm somewhere between the middle of the road guy and the pros, but the majority of your business is probably coming from the middleman and below. but still, ill give you my ideal setup (minus a few things for the sake of reality):

bodies: 5d, 30d/20d
flashes: 2x580ex, flash sync chord, wireless transmitter
lenses:
primes: 35L, 50mm 1.4, 85L II, 135L, 300 f4L IS (and 1.4x TC)
zooms: 16-35L, 24-70L, 70-200L IS

that's probably overdoing it. but you get the point i think. for consumers the 35 f2, the 50mm 1.8II, the 85 1.8, the 17-85 IS, the 28-135IS, and the 70/75-300IS will get you the most sales IMO. you should have a good selection of 'pro' stuff too though (a 5d and a 1dIIn are almost a must, the 1ds's arent really as important at this point). it really does boil down to your customer base.

i've typed too much

EBphotography · Jul 11, 2006

Well I'm impressed with the knowledge!

niccig · Jul 11, 2006

I know I'm probably not entirely representative of the population, but here are my personal "haves" and "wants".
For myself, I recently bought:

Nikon F80
Nikkor 50 1.8D
Nikkor 35-80 4-5.6D

That was basically my "startup" kit for my b&w film class that I'll be taking in the fall.

In the nearish future (like in a year or less) I'll be purchasing:

A zoom lens (70-200ish), hopefully Nikkor, but probably a third party due to the budget
A prime or maybe two in the wide angle range (18, maybe 24?)

Eventually, I'll probably want some fast, sharp, and otherwise generally awesome Nikkor primes/zooms, but that will need to wait until I figure out what direction I'm going with my photography (probably no need for a 400mm if I decide I like doing portraits, huh?).

General things that I'd look for in a lens:

Best value for the money (duh). I'd be willing to pay a couple hundred more for a lens that would give me noticeably better results than a similar cheaper one (assuming I have the extra couple hundred to spend). For the average Joe from the street, comparison photos might help (if you have access to the inventory for testing).

Compatibility. I'm using a glorified p&s digital right now (at least, when I'm not shooting film), but I eventually want to get a nice DSLR. When I do buy it, I'll probably buy lenses with it, but probably only ones that I can use with my F80.

Budget. I'm lucky enough these days to have a little bit of disposable income (which all goes straight into my camera bag!), but compromises in quality still have to be made for price reasons - which is why I have the zoom I have, instead of the 35-70 2.8. So I guess what I'm saying is, even if a lens isn't the best, the broke college students will thank you for carrying it :lol:

And a minor nitpick that has nothing at all do with lenses: store hours (if you have any input into that). We only have one camera store in Lexington, which as far as I know is the ONLY place within a 1.5hr drive to get film other than Kodak Gold 800. And they're open 9-5:30 on weekdays. From work to the store puts me there at about 5:35. Rarr. Sorry, that's probably more advice than you wanted!

BTW, I'm a hobbyist who would possibly like to go pro (or at least make some money on the side) eventually. I only started to get truly into photography a few months ago after wanting to for years, so I'm only a couple steps beyond Joe (though I have discovered interchangeable lenses).

Sw1tchFX · Jul 12, 2006

niccig said:
I know I'm probably not entirely representative of the population, but here are my personal "haves" and "wants".
For myself, I recently bought:

Nikon F80
Nikkor 50 1.8D
Nikkor 35-80 4-5.6D

That was basically my "startup" kit for my b&w film class that I'll be taking in the fall.

In the nearish future (like in a year or less) I'll be purchasing:

A zoom lens (70-200ish), hopefully Nikkor, but probably a third party due to the budget
A prime or maybe two in the wide angle range (18, maybe 24?)

Eventually, I'll probably want some fast, sharp, and otherwise generally awesome Nikkor primes/zooms, but that will need to wait until I figure out what direction I'm going with my photography (probably no need for a 400mm if I decide I like doing portraits, huh?).

General things that I'd look for in a lens:

Best value for the money (duh). I'd be willing to pay a couple hundred more for a lens that would give me noticeably better results than a similar cheaper one (assuming I have the extra couple hundred to spend). For the average Joe from the street, comparison photos might help (if you have access to the inventory for testing).

Compatibility. I'm using a glorified p&s digital right now (at least, when I'm not shooting film), but I eventually want to get a nice DSLR. When I do buy it, I'll probably buy lenses with it, but probably only ones that I can use with my F80.

Budget. I'm lucky enough these days to have a little bit of disposable income (which all goes straight into my camera bag!), but compromises in quality still have to be made for price reasons - which is why I have the zoom I have, instead of the 35-70 2.8. So I guess what I'm saying is, even if a lens isn't the best, the broke college students will thank you for carrying it

And a minor nitpick that has nothing at all do with lenses: store hours (if you have any input into that). We only have one camera store in Lexington, which as far as I know is the ONLY place within a 1.5hr drive to get film other than Kodak Gold 800. And they're open 9-5:30 on weekdays. From work to the store puts me there at about 5:35. Rarr. Sorry, that's probably more advice than you wanted!

BTW, I'm a hobbyist who would possibly like to go pro (or at least make some money on the side) eventually. I only started to get truly into photography a few months ago after wanting to for years, so I'm only a couple steps beyond Joe (though I have discovered interchangeable lenses).

Yes, generally cheaper, $200 f/4-5.6 plastic lenses will sell more than $900 metal 80-200mm ED f/2.8's.

Since you mentioned that you'll be getting Nikon equipment too, I'll go ahead and tell you what I'll be starting out with as far as digital is concerned.

I'll be using my current glass, so my AF Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8D, AF Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED, and in the near future, an AF-S Nikkor 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5D ED-IF. I'll be buying a D200 (get alot of those because they sell like hot cakes), I already have an SB-600, but I need a new camera bag.

Pretty much, if you're going to sell Nikon, get alot of D50's, D70s's, and D200's. The D70 I'd imagine would be your best seller, next to the D200, and then the D50. Few would buy a D2H's or D2X's because they are so much cheaper online, so unless you plan to price competitively with online retailers, don't stock them, or put an empty box out and just say you are temporarily out of them and they'll be the first to be notified when they come in and just do them on a single order basis.

As for glass, have a few ED-IF and a couple VR lenses, but for the most part, do 3rd party ones or cheap Nikkor's for kit compliments eg. 55-200mm in addition to the 18-55 kit lens. Like the D2x's, the pro's will be saving their money and buying online.

I'm surprised that you are actually selling Nikon products, in my area, the nearest Nikon dealer is an hour away because from a business standpoint, they're hell to work with, so my town is flooded with Canon dealers.

Ghoste · Jul 12, 2006

Just checkin' in before sleep. Thanks for the replys. Yeah, Nikon dealers are rare. But we are gunna get it. As for now with the new business and budget for lenses it's hard. Thats why I'm asking for a general list. I put together a $15,000 order for my store from Canon in cameras and some flashes that I will order tomorrow and also a $15,000 in lenses (only half the list is finished) of stuff I would like to carry in the future. When we have the store running in a couple months.. we will have it all.. SD550's to Mark II's, and EF-S 18-55mm kit lenses to 600mm L glass. Pro lab, in store and outlab down the street that does stuff no one else does (Only place in the world developing Scala). We will have it all, we price match all our stuff, as long as we dont loose money on it and our online store is being built right now. It looks amazing! And I've seen alot of online stores. Way better then B&H

Haha, so check us out soon when get the online store running at www.InLightPhotographics.com. I'd love to get you all anything your looking for and beat everyone elses pricing!

snownow · Jul 12, 2006

I know your speaking of just Cannon and Nikon orders, but you might want to pick up some lower price point Sigma lenses or Tammaron. The Sigma 70-300 and 28-70 are very inexpensive and sell very well. Easy to sell them as an add on to your rebel and d50/d70 kits.

Oh if your nikon order comes in i've been waiting for a 18-200 vr lens for 7 frigging months, so i'll take it. :x :x :x :er: :mrgreen:

snownow · Jul 12, 2006

double post sorry

snownow · Jul 12, 2006

niccig said:
A zoom lens (70-200ish), hopefully Nikkor, but probably a third party due to the budget

BTW, I'm a hobbyist who would possibly like to go pro (or at least make some money on the side) eventually. I only started to get truly into photography a few months ago after wanting to for years, so I'm only a couple steps beyond Joe (though I have discovered interchangeable lenses).

Right here is 95% of your customers... Want a bigger lens but wants it cheap. and the hobbyist that wants a nice camera. (prosumer? rebel xt, d50/d70s)

Your biggest problem Costco and stapels carry these but not all the fun addons and lenses

Ghoste · Jul 12, 2006

Grrrr. Costco... I worked for them for a while.. I know.. I'm sorry.

Snownow, I might be able to get you that lense right now. I believe my boss even shoots that lense. PM me if your looking I'll see what I can do for you. If I can get it it'll take about 2-3 days for me to get it and then I'll ship it however you want. I'd love to do business with you and give you some deals on memory or filters or somethin'. So yeah, PM me.

Ghoste · Jul 12, 2006

Oh, where in SoCal are you?

DocFrankenstein · Jul 13, 2006

Besides cheap consumer stuff mentioned, if you want to attract "advanced" clientelle you need the L lineup.

All 3 70-200
100-400
24-70
17-40
16-35
50s
35s
28s
100s
135

Ghoste · Jul 14, 2006

We allready are deffinetly caring the L line-up. Pretty much all of it. It was the consumer stuff I was lookin' for. I'm soooo stoked for the L glass comin' in!