Underbought Equipment???

[Iron Flatline]

My Leica Noctilux 50mm f/1.0. The current price is $5,600 (before tax) and I bought it for $2,100 from someone who was no longer using it. The lens has become my signature lens, I only wish it were wider (or that Leica had a Full-Frame sensor on the dRF M8.)

I also bought a Voigtlaender 35mm f/1.2 to augment it.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

right now, my 24-120VR. It's been my workhorse while my 17-55 is in the shop.

I use it on my D70, and I use it exclusively on my N80.

 

[usayit]

My Leica Noctilux 50mm f/1.0. The current price is $5,600 (before tax) and I bought it for $2,100

Wonderful example of supply vs. demand!!! I got mine for just under yours and within 1 year Leica announces that the cost and availability are going up due to some hard/rare materials required to manufacture the lens. Some guy offered me twice as much on the streets of NYC.. cash. Tempting but no deal... I enjoy it way too much.

Yeh.. its a bit long on a cropped body. I ended up with a summicron 35mm f/2 instead of the Voigtlander 35mm. One big lens is enough in my bag.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Yeah, the Nokton is even BIGGER than the Nocti, but lighter. Talking of gluttonous lens consumption, I also have a Leica Summilux 35mm f/1.4 - it's a LOT smaller.

... but that would be an OVERBOUGHT piece of equipment.

 

[sabbath999]

Ok, now that y'all have flashed around the "L" word for a while (both for L lenses and Leica) I will throw in an absolutely indispensable bit of kit for me that is third-party, unsexy, slow and dirt cheap...

Let's hear it for my lowly Tamron AF70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2 purchased as part of a D80 kit.

I originally planned on using the lens until I could afford to upgrade, then sell it on eBay for $50. You see them all the time brand new for around $100. I would rather part with fingers on my hand than this lens, let me tell you why.

It is absolutely sharp as a tack through most of the range (tailing off a bit at 300mm), weighs absolutely nothing (less than a pound), zooms well, has a good 1:2 macro setting, and did I mention it was sharp as a tack? It also has a lens hood that doesn't shadow the built in flash.

This is my carry around lens for my zoo work wherever I can use it... letting me keep the BigMa in the bag (in the trunk of my car) in many situations.

The lens is pretty well disposable at this cost, so I don't have to worry about expensive glass getting banged around in a crowd... and it is light enough to carry all day (sometimes I am shooting for 10 hours a day, walking many, many miles).

Unsexy, slow and cheap... but I wouldn't get rid of it for anything.