Your Most Disappointing Purchase

[Steve5D]

I bought, and long ago sold, the Canon 20-35mm. I guess it was a nice enough lens, I just never really had a use for it.

I also bought a set of older Novatrons from my brother. They work fine, but I've never had them out of the case...

 

[Garbz]

Manfotto 488RC0 ball head.

The plate was really hard to get on the camera and never held it properly. The ballhead was hard to manipulate and felt like it was incorrectly tensioned and the one time I did come to service it I couldn't get any of the screws out. In the entire time I owned it I can't take credit for a single level horizon or picture that was framed correctly.

Threw it out and bought a Manfrotto 3way and haven't looked back.

 

[Compaq]

I bought a Yashica Lynx 14 from a someone who "thought" it "might" work. I wrote a few tests to see if things worked, but she was not really into old cameras. When I got it, it didn't work and couldn't be fixed. I paid $100, so it wasn't a huge crisis, only, I really wanted that camera! It's a rangefinder from the '60s - with an f/1.4 lens!

 

[Usul]

Almost everything I bought in the first year becouse when you don't exactly know what you need you eather buy a cheep bad thing and after want something better or spend a lot of money for unusefull stuff. So I bought a terrible tripod Fancier WF-5317 and I've broken it in 1 month and a flash I never used.

 

[bentcountershaft]

Manfotto 488RC0 ball head.

The plate was really hard to get on the camera and never held it properly. The ballhead was hard to manipulate and felt like it was incorrectly tensioned and the one time I did come to service it I couldn't get any of the screws out. In the entire time I owned it I can't take credit for a single level horizon or picture that was framed correctly.

Threw it out and bought a Manfrotto 3way and haven't looked back.

Which three way did you go with? I have the 808RC4 and while it works fine I hate the handles on the thing. There isn't much to grip on them so it's difficult to make them really tight and then to loosen them afterwards. They are also a bit long and difficult to fit in my tripod bag.

 

[slow231]

dang, i nothing really comes to mind. i guess that's a good thing. over the years i've gotten some killer deals, like a 70-200 vrii for 1300, a 50 1.4 for 175. even the lenses i ended up selling had put their work in before i let them go. i do tend toward the high end stuff though, so there's probably a lot of buyers confirmation involved lol.

 

[JacaRanda]

I have to say it's the canon 430EX II flash. I could have gotten 2 Yongnuo 565's plus several remote triggers for the price of the 430. I was convinced my first flash should be a canon to insure compatibility.

Honorable mention would be the Nifty Fifty, for no other reason than it is rarely used. However, I am glad I did not go for the 50 1.4 because that money has been spent towards obtaining more reach for birding and wildlife.

2nd runner up would be the Apollo 43" speedlight kit along with reflectors etc. That stuff has gotten no use since we finally figured out what we like to shoot most.

Major Edit: #1 perhaps should be the T3I since wifey loves birding and wildlife too....3.9fps not cutting it unless she's shooting turtles.

 

[MK3Brent]

Nikkor 20-35 2.8

Maybe it's mine, but that thing is butter knife dull in the edges. Even stopped down.

 

[Sunwharf]

My 20-35 Nikkor is great. Most pro (F2.8) Nikkors were soft at the edge, Nikon concentrated on getting the centre pin sharp as that is what the Pro's needed.

 

[nmoody]

First important fact is I am on year 2 of learning photography, so im not beating myself up too badly for these.

1. Spending money on UV filters. I am now of the belief they are useless I an current cameras. I know this is a debated item but this is my opinion.
2. Buying the D3100 for dummies book. Between the manual for the camera and Digital Photography series by Scott Kelby it was redundant.
3. Eye-Fi card. Its just too buggy, randomly will not detect and transfer is too slow.

 

[bratkinson]

I'd have to rank an Alzo Flash Bracket as my #1 disappointing purchase. Heavy, bulky, and difficult to get camera on and off the bracket. I used it once. Sold it on ebay for about 1/2 what I paid for it. An L bracket and RRS WPF flash bracket works far better.

#2 was a cheap ballhead for my monopod. It couldn't hold my 60D with a 24-105 f4L mounted. It sits gathering dust, now.

 

[Tom47]

UV and Skylight filters I have come to the conclusion they not needed.
Vivitar Wireless shutter remote.

 

[Rocketman1978]

First important fact is I am on year 2 of learning photography, so im not beating myself up too badly for these.

1. Spending money on UV filters. I am now of the belief they are useless I an current cameras. I know this is a debated item but this is my opinion.

Same, now I just hood them.

 

[rokstomper]

Mine is from 4 years ago when I was 12. I decided to waste my time and money on cheap point and shoot cameras.

 

[Tiller]

I haven't regretted anything yet, thankfully. But I'm an obsessive researcher so that may help. I just bought a nifty fifty from a member on POTN tonight so we'll see how that goes. I don't have a prime yet, so this is just a way to test the waters. If I like it, next step would be the 85 1.8.