MT Shooter Loc: Montana

I need every damned one of them!!!!!
(Just not all at the same time, thankfully.)

chase4 Loc: Punta Corona, California

I used to shoot BIF with my Wincherster Model 21 Grand American but now I'm limited to some DSLRs and telephoto lenses. Gettin' old sucks.................chase

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Professional photographers generally do not need all that many lenses. The work of most professional photographers is very specialized and repetitive, requiring a fairly limited range of focal length.

Bipod

Zero. Try a pinhole.

How many cars do you need? Answer: it depends. Do you:
Commute to work?
Have a large family?
Haul firewood or construction materials?
Camp in RV parks?
Haul a trailer?
Drive off-road?
Compete in road races or gymkanas?

If you answered "yes" to more than one of the above, you may
need more fhan one vehicle.

Can't one vehicle do it all? Yes.--but very poorly.
Same with lenses.

cowboydid2 Loc: The highways and byways of America

Four.

Okay, maybe five.

Oh, hell, one of each. For each camera.


Realistically, as a photography neophyte who has only become serious about the craft in the last 6 months, you're led to believe that crop cameras suck, if you don't have full frame you're not taking this seriously and will always have crappy pictures, if you don't buy ff lenses exclusively, you're not taking this seriously and will always have crappy pictures... Wow, just realized I'm on a rant. Sorry about that.

Truthfully, in my opinion, if you have a good walk-around, say 18-70mm, 18-140mm, or 18-200mm, a mid-range tele @ 70-300, a prime lens, 35mm for crop cameras, 50mm for ff, and possibly a long lens, something from 400mm to 600mm for reaching out there, is all any newbie needs for the first couple of years learning how to make good photographs, without breaking the bank. Because GAS can get you in a lot of trouble.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

1 is needed. Having more is a matter of choice and circumstance. If you are a "completist" then nothing less than ALL the lenses will suffice. This is a silly question.

cmc4214 Loc: S.W. Pennsylvania

Until the cabinet is full, then you will NEED a bigger cabinet

hammond

Well, let's see...

I regularly use the following lenses:

- Sigma 150-600mm + 1.4x TC for taking pictures of the moon, birds, and surfing (things that are far away)
- Sigma 10-20mm for wide-angle shots (buildings, landscapes)
- Nikkor 8-15mm fisheye for a different kind of wide-angle and stylistic model shoots
- Nikkor 35mm for fast street photography
- Sigma 18-250mm kit lens for when I just want to carry one lens and have range of options.
- Micro Nikkor 40mm for macro photography
(I also have the kit lens that came with first DSLR and another Nikkor kit lens that I bought early and now never use)

... my wife only uses one lens: a Tamron 18-400mm, of which I am jealous, but probably would only replace one lens in my kit.

Kind of comes down to what you're interested in taking pictures of, and how you want to use different lenses to capture your vision for various shots.

I could live with keeping just 4 though: the telephoto, the fisheye, the wide angle, and the kit.

If I were to buy another lens, it would probably be a more expensive portrait lens in the 50-75mm range, but not feeling too GASsy at the moment.

FiddleMaker Loc: Merrimac, MA

Well...……..I see you have a Leica M10. Nice !! But for nearly $7200 does it take much better images than a Fuji X-T3 for example ?? I guess if I won the lottery or inherited a whole lot of $$ AND was much younger, I could talk myself into getting one.
My wife's grandmother had a Leica 35mm film camera and one of the nieces threw it out not knowing what it was. This is long after the grandmother passed away. The camera was in excellent condition.

juanderfulpics Loc: central jersey

You will buy what you feel you need for the image you want. Maybe a better question is
Is there a lens that will do it all? ie 18-400

Jerrin1 Loc: Wolverhampton, England

This is a question I posed myself sometime ago. When I owned a Nikon D500 system and Olympus EM1/EM1 mark II system in tendem, I owned the following lenses for my wildlife photography;

Nikkor 300mm f4 PD EF VR + Nikkor TC14EIII
Nikkor 200 - 500mm f5.6
Sigma 180mm f2.8 OS macro + 1.4TC
Olympus 12 - 40mm f2.8
Olympus 40 - 150mm f2.8 + 1.4TC
Olympus 12 - 100mm f4
Olympus 300mm f4

Today I own a Sony A9 and a Sony A7III and have the following lenses:

Sony 28 - 70mm f3.5/f5.6
Sony 90mm f2.8 macro
Sony 100 - 400mm f4.5/f5.6 G Master
Sony 1.4 TC ( to be purchased soon - ish).

The above three lenses (and the 1.4 TC) allow me to capture virtually everything I wish. I have no need for any more.

FiddleMaker Loc: Merrimac, MA

Looks to me that you have all the bases covered.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

You never know when I will need one of my vast stable of lenses. It is far better to OWN one than NEED one.

par4fore Loc: Bay Shore N.Y.

seven 16, 21, 28, 40, 55, 80-200, 300

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

One consideration is focal length. I'm covered from 12mm - 300mm. I have a 1.4 Kenko TC, so make that 600mm. Aside from focal length, some people like certain lenses because of the quality or features. If you prefer to shoot with prime lenses, you may find yourself with a lot of them.

Looking at my list, I see I have ten lenses, covering Nikon and Sony.