I Have A Small Problem

Last time I did a count on my f1.4 “standard” lenses, I found 13 (actually 14 as one eluded the tally). I had a day off last week, so I decided to do a more comprehensive inventory of all my lenses with focal length between 40mm and 58mm.  The result astonished me.  Before that, I estimated I had about 40 to 50 of them.  I was way off, by a large margin.  All the lenses, including the projection, enlarging, and lenses from rangefinder/folder cameras, totalled 123, or thereabouts; just between the focal length of 40-58mm.

I felt really, really bad, and guilty.  Perhaps I purposely underestimated my collection, so that I could continue buying them without too much guilt.  In any case, I broke down the lenses by groups and found that the most duplicated lens was the Pentacon 50mm f1.8, with 5 copies (6 if includes the Meyer-Optik Orestor, essentially the same lens).  Perhaps, reviewing and writing this would help me stop and think the next time I see another normal lens.

The German Origin -- 45 count:

     Row one, from left to right:

• Pentacon Multi Coated 50mm f1.8 -- M42
• Pentacon Multi Coated 50mm f1.8 -- M42
• Pentacon Multi Coated 50mm f1.8 -- M42
• Pentacon Multi Coated 50mm f1.8 -- M42
• Meyer-Optik Gorlitz Orestor 50mm f1.8 -- M42
• Pentacon 50mm f1.8 -- M42
• Schneider-Kreuznach Exida-Xenar 50mm f2.8 -- M42
• Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 58mm f2 -- M42  

    Row two, from left to right:

• Domiplan 50mm f2.8 -- M42
• Domiplan 50mm f2.8 -- M42
• Domiplan 50mm f2.8 -- M42
• Meyer-Optik Gorlitz Primotar 50mm f3.5 -- EXA
• Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm f2 -- EXA
• Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm f2 -- EXA
• Kilfitt Makro Kilar D 40mm f2.8 - EXA

    Row Three, from left to right:

• Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f1.4 HFT -- QBM
• Rollei Planar 50mm f1.8 HFT -- QBM
• Rollei Planar 50mm f1.8 -- QBM
• Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Xenon 50mm f1.9 -- DKL
• Schneider-Kreuznach Xenon 50mm f1.9 -- DKL
• Contax Carl Zeiss Tessar 45mm f2.8 -- CY
• Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f1.4 -- Leica-M

    Row four, from left to right:

• Meyer-Optik Gorlitz Primoplan 58mm f1.9 -- M42
• Meyer-Optik Gorlitz Primoplan 58mm f1.9 -- M42
• Carl Zeiss Tessar 50mm f2.8 -- M42
• Carl Zeiss Tessar 5cm f3.5 -- EXA
• Carl Zeiss Tessar 5cm f3.5 -- EXA
• Carl Zeiss Tessar 45mm f2.8 -- Fixed from Contaflex
• Staeble-Kata 45mm f2.8 -- L39 (non-standard)
• Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 5cm f2 -- EXA

    Row five, from left to right:

• Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Xenon 50mm f2 -- Fixed from Kodak Retina
• Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Xenon 50mm f2 -- Fixed from Kodak Retina
• Schneider-Kreuznach Xenon 50mm f2 -- From Diax IIb
• Rodenstock Heligon 50mm f2 -- From Balda folder camera
• Leidolf Weztlar Triplon 5cm f2.8 -- Fixed from folder camera
• Steinheil Munich Cassar VL 50mm f2.8 -- From folder camera
• Schneider-Kreuznach Radionar 5cm f2.9 -- From folder camera
• Rodenstock Trinar 45mm f2.8 -- From folder camera

    Row six, from left to right:

• Voitlander Color-Lanthar 42mm f2.8 -- Fixed from Voigtlander rangerfinder camera
• Voitlander Lanthar 50mm f2.8 -- Fixed from Voigtlander rangerfinder camera
• Voitlander Color-Skopar 50mm f2.8 -- DKL
• Schneider-Kreuznach 50mm f4.5 -- Enlarging Lens
• Rodenstock Omegaron 50mm f3.5 -- Enlarging Lens
• Rodenstock 50mm f2.8 -- Enlarging Lens
• Schneider-Kreuznach Componar 50mm f4.5 -- Enlarging Lens
• Leitz Wetzlar 5cm f3.5 -- Enlarging Lens

The Fast and the Curious -- 9 count:

    Row one, from left to right:

• Canon EF 50mm f1.2L -- EF
• Canon nFD 50mm f1.2L -- nFD
• Canon FD 55mm f1.2 S.S.C -- FD
• Canon FL 55mm f1.2 -- FL

    Row two, from left to right:

• JML TV Lens 50mm f0.95 -- C-Mount converted to E-Mount
• Canon FL 58mm f1.2 -- FL
• Kowa 50mm f1.2 -- Projection Lens
• Kodak Ektagraphic 50mm f1.2 -- Projection Lens
• Lomo 50mm f1.2 -- Projection Lens

The Russian Connection -- 11 count:

Row one, from left to right:

• Zenith Helios-44M-4 58mm f2 -- M42
• Helios-44M 58mm f2 -- M42
• Helios-44M 58mm f2 -- M42
• Helios-44-2 58mm f2 -- M42

Row two, from left to right:

• Arsat 50mm f2 -- Nikon F
• Helios-103 53mm f1.8 -- Kiev/Contax 
• Helios-103 53mm f1.8 -- Kiev/Contax 
• Jupiter-3 5cm f1.5 -- L39

Row three, from left to right:

• Jupiter-8M 5mm f2 -- Kiev/Contax
• Jupiter-8M 5mm f2 -- Kiev/Contax
• Industar-2 50mm f3.5 -- M42

Canon Legacy -- 8 count:

Row one, from left to right:

• Canon FD 50mm f1.4 S.S.C -- FD
• Canon FD 50mm f1.4 S.S.C -- FD
• Canon nFD 50mm f1.4 -- nFD
• Canon FL 50mm f1.4 -- FL

Row two, from left to right:

• Canon FD 50mm f1.8 -- FD
• Canon FD 50mm f1.8 -- FD
• canon FL 50mm f1.8 -- FL
• Canon EF STM 40mm f2.8 -- EF

Pentax Love -- 7 count:

Row one, from left to right:

• Macro-Takumar S-M-C 50mm f4 (1:2) -- M42
• Macro-Takumar 50mm f4 (1:1) -- M42
• SMC Pentax-A 50mm f2 -- K-Mount

Row two, from left to right:

• SMC Takumar 55mm f1.8 -- M42
• SMC Takumar 55mm f1.8 -- M42
• Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 55mm f1.8 -- M42

Row three:

• SMC Pentax-M 45mm f2.8 Pancake -- K-Mount

The [Mostly] Japanese Club -- 15 count:

Row one, from left to right:

• Auto Chinon Multi-Coated 55mm f1.4 -- M42
• GAF 55mm f1.4 -- M42
• Auto Chinon 55mm f1.4 -- M42
• Auto Chinon 55mm f1.7 -- M42
• Auto Chinon 55mm f1.7 -- M42

Row two, from left to right:

• Vivitar 50mm f1.9 -- M42
• Vivitar VMC 50mm f1.7 -- M42
• Olympus F.Zuiko 50mm f1.8 -- M42
• Mamiya-Sekor 55mm f1.4 -- M42
• Sony 50mm f1.8 -- E-Mount

Row three, from left to right:

• Yashica Yashinon 50mm f1.9 -- M42
• Yashica ML 50mm f1.9 -- CY
• Nikon Series E 50mm f1.8 -- F-Mount
• Auto Topcor 5.8cm f1.8 -- Topcor/EXA
• Haiou-64 (Seagull) 58mm f2 -- MD

The Minoltas -- 8 count:

Row one, from left to right:

• Minolta Rokkor-X PG 50mm f1.4 -- MC/MD
• Minolta Rokkor-PG 58mm f1.4 -- MC/MD
• Minolta Rokkor-X 50mm f1.4 -- MD

Row two, from left to right:

• Minolta Rokkor-PF 55mm f1.7 -- MC/MD
• Minolta Rokkor-PF 55mm f1.7 -- MC/MD
• Minolta Rokkor-PF 55mm f1.7 -- MC/MD

Row three, from left to right:

• Minolta Rokkor-QF 50mm f3.5 macro -- MC/MD
• Minolta Rokkor-X 45mm f2 -- MD

The Family Portrait -- 123 count:

This picture includes some of the lenses not in any of the group pictures above.  This does not include 2 Xenar 45mm f2.8 DKL and a Leica-R 50mm f2 which I couldn't find (and possibly others as well).  Also some 50mm lenses still mounted to the cameras.

Signs that You Are Addicted to Gear and May Have G.A.S

G.A.S = Gear Acquisition Syndrome.  A disease that affects mostly men.  It infects the central reasoning area of the brain and makes men vulnerable into thinking more gear make them better photographers, and thus buying gear that they don't need.  There is no known cure, but there is a silver lining; some men are able to recover as the photographs they make shift from pictures of cameras, lenses, brick walls, and resolution charts to other form of pictures.

I just realized I have a lot of "normal" lenses between 40mm and 58mm, probably in the 40 to 50 in total, so I decided to see how many of them are f1.4.  The tally?  13.  Just the f1.4 lenses.  I thought I should write down some of the things that might be signs of gear addiction, and was very surprised how quickly the list came out.  Duh!  Of course it's quick.  Most of these apply to me!  Without further ado, here is the list.  Feel free to add your own in the comments:

• You buy printed photo magazines just to look at the ads
• You have a copy of A Lens Collector's Vade Meccum
• You know exactly what a "normal" lens is
• You have all 5 versions of the same lens
• Words like Noctilux and Otus motivate you to make more money so that you can buy them
• You name your daughter Tessar, and your son's name Nokton is not misspelled, and your dog's name is Skopar
• You think Hologon is the most beautiful word in the world
• You scare your partner at night uttering words like "Fisheye", "Bigma", in your sleep
• You justify all your gear purchases as investment
• You buy similar looking cameras so that your significant other can't tell the one that you use is not the same as the 4 others in the locked closet that only you have the key to
• You tell your wife it's worth the expense of the 85mm f1.2L because it would make her look more beautiful in the picture
• You convince yourself that the purchase of a Leica Summilux will one day make you as good as Henri Cartier-Bresson
• Every time you see a red band, or gold band, it reminds you of your favourite lens
• You are a Pentaxian, and you know the word "Limited" is not a disadvantage
• You have been buying K-Mount lenses for the last ten years, because you believe one day, there will be a full frame Pentax camera, like you believe in Santa Claus
• You get excited when you hear words like Holly Trinity, Magic Drainpipe, The Dust Pump, Sigmarit, and you know exactly what they refer to
• You use Ikea shelves to store your cameras/lenses because you can't afford better shelves since you spent all your money on cameras/lenses
• Decimal numbers like 0.95, 1.0, 1.2, 1.4 bring tears to your eyes
• You just realized that the lens you bought yesterday is exactly the same as 2 others that you didn't know you had
• You take pictures with enlarging, projection, and printing cell lenses on your mirrorless camera
• You have many lenses without apertures
• You have many lenses without focus mechanism
• You have drawers full of lens adapters
• You have a large bin of lens hoods, and most of them don't fit your lenses, but you tell yourself one day, you will get the lenses that will fit the hoods
• You can't understand why anyone needs to use the aperture on the lens, since you always shoot wide open
• You feel no shame when others look at your ugly self-made lens contraption in disgust
• 100% of your pictures contains 99% bokeh, and 1% subject that's in focus.
• Your favourite pastime is to browse antique/flea market for vintage cameras/lenses
• You never miss a single camera show
• You created an app with a SQL database to catalogue and keep track of your cameras/lenses because a spreadsheet has reached its capacity
• You remember the minute details of a lens, but forget your kids birthdays
• Your wife is annoyed that you spend more time with your gear than with the kids, or with her
• You blog about your favourite lens in length, and the only picture that accompanies the blog entry is the picture of the lens
• You have 9 camera bags, and all of them are full of gear
• You have 8 different tripod heads, and each one has a specific purpose, and each one is used exactly once
• You fondle your cameras/lenses and talk to them like they are your lover
• You spend more time on Flickr and online forums than taking pictures
• You carry your camera with you everywhere you go, but you hardly take any pictures
• You can't understand why anyone would read whatever Ken Rockwell has to say, and you visit Michael Johnston's theonlinephotographer blog religiously
• You tell your wife you paid $20 for the very beat-up Speed Panchro that you actually paid $2000 for and she believed you
• 80% of the photo in your Flickr stream is picture of cameras and lenses
• Your wife thinks your planar is something to organize your daily tasks
• Your wife can not understand why all your lenses do not zoom or focus themselves
• You made your kids call you Prime Master
• You have a RAID 10 storage setup to protect the terabytes of pictures you took of your cameras and lenses
• You have another RAID 10 storage setup to protect the setup above
• You drove 4 hours to photograph a sunrise, only to find out you shot everything wide open out of habit, and all the pictures are overexposed
• You made penholders out of broken lenses
• You have a box you call treasure that's full of parts from dismantled cameras and lenses. 
• You hope that you can use them to repair lenses/cameras, but deep down you know that will never happen because that's why they became parts in the first place
• You use a stack of filter rings in place of a hood
• You have a dozen rolls of exposed film in the drawer from 1998, but never developed
• You get bored of the auto focus lenses you spent tens of thousands of dollar buying, and are having a blast with a $20 enlarging lens taking pictures of your AF lenses
• You know by heart the first two digits of a Vivitar lens serial number corresponds to which manufacturer who made the lens
• You love pictures in RAW, and hate those cooked in jpeg
• You have thousands of tiny screws harvested from dead cameras/lenses

Fabulous Fifty f1.4s