lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

I have own a few really weird ones over the years, many bought and sold. Not to make a listing of them all, which I can't because I don't remember what some of them were.

1. I found a huge (Xerox) Copy Machine lens at a Surplus Shop. No shutter, and the back flange is so huge I have no idea what shutter could fit it (#8?) to work on say a View Camera. I finally gave it to a friend to use as a photo paper weight.

2. A lens I still have. But for digital is would be pointless and for 35mm film it would weight as much as a box of camera bodies. I bought this from a co-worker years ago because he wanted to sell everything he had and not just the lenses I really wanted. A smc Asahi Pentax-A 28-135mm f/4 Zoom Lens. This beast is all glass, steel and brass, built like a tank and weighs more than my arthritic hands can hold today.

I also intentionally bought a smc Asahi Pentax-A 70-210mm f/4 Zoom Lens from the same fellow. That lens got a little use but, is also in my "possible discard box" for the same reason, weight. This one might also have questionable sharpness. And I have other lenses covering its 70-210 range and are modern and lighter.

3. I bought a add-on lens to use for wider angle on a digital Kodak PnS camera I once had. The lens is huge, dwarfing the old 7.1MP camera it was for. The thing is as large as some of my Large Format View Camera lenses. I don't believe I had ever taken a photo with it! It just sets in its wooden box. Again since the back flange is wide, no idea if I could have it mounted on leaf shutter or not (the thread pitch and size). This crazy thing comes in parts like a convertible lens. I have found that part of it mounted on the front of another DSLR lens acts like a high power "macro" filter (15x perhaps). But who needs a giant macro filter when I already own several real macro lenses, sets of extension tubes and two Asahi Pentax Bellows Units (M42 & K).

4. There is nothing really wrong with this lens but it being so redundant and not the most usable type series for my digital cameras. I have a smc Asahi Pentax-K 55mm f/2 normal lens. Using any Pentax K or M series bayonet mount lens is little fun on my K-20 or K-5, and a pain on my K-3. Those DSLR cameras work best with AE & AF focus lenses such as series A, FA, DA, DA*, DFA & HDFA lenses. And all the old and many of the new lenses may be used with Pentax SLR K, M, or A series cameras. Thing is I already had and have a Pentax-K f/1.4, Pentax-M f/1.7, Pentax-A f/2 50mm, Pentax Takumar M-42 55mm f/1.8 prime normal lenses. What is 5mm? I bought the 55mm K-mount with a used Asahi Pentax K1000 camera body. Not something I really needed as I rarely shoot film these days!

b top gun

Least used for me is a Nikkor 200mm f/4 manual focus from film days. If I want the reach with a DSLR, I have a Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 current iteration. Nothing wrong with the manual focus 200mm, in fact it has hardly ever been used; bought it to take to Wyoming one time back in my "youth" when I chased pronghorn and mule deer. I also have a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 manual focus; it is a nice lens but lately I have been testing a Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 macro manual focus and the macro seems to give me what I want and then some. Old manual focus Nikkors on Nikon FF bodies like the D850 can deliver the shot; and they are much lighter and smaller than their AF counterparts. 28mm f/2.8 manual focus Nikkor on a D750 body makes a fun carry around landscape combo for me.

photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

My "least used" lens is my Tamron 28-75 f/2.8. I use it primarily for portraiture and I haven't shot a lot of portraits lately. I also have it on my backup camera when shooting landscapes. I have taken it out to shoot landscapes at f/2.8 a number of times.

If I have a useless photo product, it's my Zeikos 3.5X "telephoto lens". It actually screws on to the end of the lens and should turn my 200mm zoom into a 700mm. It did, but it had a lot of bad side effects, like losing multiple stops of light and extreme vignetting, to name two. I forget how much I paid for it, but I used twice and put it on a shelf. I just took it down for the first time in about 10 years to find out its name and particulars.

Toment Loc: FL, IL

The one I forgot to take...

FotoHog Loc: on Cloud 9

Perhaps so, but it is a great lens.

rdgreenwood Loc: Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

Excuse me, but I had to laugh when you put your 43-86 at the top of your "unused" list. I also started with a Nikkormat ftn, and I also bought a 43-86. Very quickly I adopted the mantra "Ah, the 43-86, soft at an focal length." A few years later, when I dug it out of the bottom of my camera bag and sold it, I truly felt guilty for passing it along to someone who, as I had, thought he was buying "the" walkaround lens to beat all walkaround lenses. What a terrible piece of equipment!

xt2 Loc: British Columbia, Canada

I never keep a “useless” lens for very long...I always give someone else a chance by selling it quickly. Cheers!

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

Least used lens is 20mm Nikkor, a hold over from film days. With a D7200 crop frame it has no use I can find.

ronpier Loc: Poland Ohio

My least used lenses are two 18-55 kit lenses that came with my D3400 and D50.Nothing wrong with them.Just have others that are more useful especially my Tamron 17-50 f2.8 and my Nikkor 18-70 f3.5-4.5.

dvbird

Really, you don't like the 14-24mm. I'd like to read more or see examples. I'd been looking at those (or the 17-35mm) for landscape. I guess I'll rethink it. Initially I'm only going to get one lens for a new full frame camera. (I'm fairly well equiped on my D7100 crop camera.)

cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast

I have to say, reluctantly, my Nikkor f.1.4 50mm lens is least used. I haven't touched it in 2 years. I chose it for low light work and have found that the excellent results digital technology has developed I no longer needing to use the lens. The last time I used it was for the bokeh.

User ID

You reminded me. I have the 55-210 kit tele from the a6000 ... somewhere, no idea where it is.

bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

a 35mm manual lens. I used it for a while but just got tired o fplaying with it.

RodeoMan Loc: St Joseph, Missouri

Hoggers, lets imagine a world where our most unwanted and unappreciated lenses could be transferred to people who would use and appreciate them. There would still be some "orphans" left who did find a new home and are unwanted and unloved where they still are, these, I think, could be the basis of an interesting discussion.

rlscholl Loc: California

The EF 24-105 zoom kit lens that came with my Canon 5D-II. It’s only plus is convenience. All of the lenses I have acquired since are optically superior, faster, and/or fill some need the zoom cannot (e.g., wider angle, or longer). I haven’t used it in years.