It can certainly help you make a decision. I’m not sure if lenses have ever been as expensive as they are now. The only thing that is more expensive than ink is your printer’s ink (my friend always asks, “How can home printer ink cost more than a barrel crude oil? What is in the ink?” “Gold flakes?” But, I digress.
Right now, a lot people are purchasing lenses for their mirrorless bodies to replace the lenses that they previously had on their DSLR. B&H sells lenses like the Canon 24-70mm F/2.8, but it’s for a DSLR and not for a mirrorless body.
It’s expensive at $2,300. Question is, will I use it? How much have I used the old one? And what f/stops was it set at? Perhaps I don’t even need an f/2.8 — an f/4 might work just as well, and is half the weight and price. Lightroom is a great tool for both of these situations.
This is what you need to do: Go to the Library module, and press the backsplash key (as seen above) to bring up Library module filters. The Metadata tab will be displayed at the top. Four columns will then appear. Click and hold the name of column 1 at the top-left of the column to bring up a menu with options. Set the second column to Lens. Set the third column (as shown) to Aperture.
Hold the Shift button and click the five-year column (like I did here) to select the photos of the past five. In the column for lenses, locate your old 24-70mm, click it and it will tell you how many photos you have taken or at least kept with that lens over the last five years. I obviously took more than one, but only kept one). Look at the third column. I didn’t take even that single keeper shot with f/2.8. I took it at F/4.5.
The conclusion of the article is:
It’s not just that I don’t need the f/2.8 version, but I also don’t need the f/4. I should sell my 24-70mm lens f/2.8 because I haven’t used it in five years, and I never shot it at f/2.8. Lightroom will tell you all of this instantly. It could save you thousands on new lenses. I hope you found this helpful.
Imagine spending two days at a live seminar with the man that literally wrote the book about aviation photography? This is a great opportunity for aviation photographers to learn from some of the best. Tickets and more information can be found here.
Reveal of the Month
It has nothing to with Lightroom, or photography. But I think that Tater Tots is such a perfect food, that they probably were brought to Earth by aliens as a benevolent act to help mankind. Who’s here with me?
We hope you have a wonderful weekend and will see you on Monday. Cheers.
-Scott
P.S. The “Photoshop World Conference”, with your favorite Photoshop World teachers, is returning for three days online. More details over on my blog today, or over at photoshopworld.com. It’s 2021, August 30 – September 2nd. Yes, the entire track is in Lightroom! Awwww, yeah!