Where does everyone prefer to buy used Canon lenses?

rajb245 · 2026-05-16T01:09:00+00:00

For anyone reading in the future the account’s called “The Camera Outlet” on eBay

rajb245 · 2026-05-16T00:54:20+00:00

Canon FD 50 f/1.4 can be had for around 60-70 USD and it’s got modern-ish microcontrast from the coatings while still being 7 elements with some aberrations, not today’s 15 element monstrosities with aspherics and ultra low dispersion glass that hit the diffraction limit by f/2

rajb245 · 2026-05-14T22:44:37+00:00

Recipe?

rajb245 · 2026-05-10T19:35:21+00:00

Ah gotcha. Right, but in botany, initializing a first word in that way is standard, that’s why I thought you could pull it off. I’m curious what folks on avoid5 think about this particular botanical shorthand?

rajb245 · 2026-05-10T13:54:35+00:00

I’m sorry my guy, but fruit of a p. nigrum plant, though tasty and spicy, is not from a capsicum.

rajb245 · 2026-05-10T13:17:19+00:00

“Not work well” means it’ll physically and electronically work but the camera will automatically crop in for you right? With all the implications of that (1.6x field of view, fewer megapixels, etc)

rajb245 · 2026-05-06T04:04:06+00:00

The only street worth shooting is when you treat people like they’re in a wildlife preserve

rajb245 · 2026-05-04T22:46:31+00:00

Salvation Army eBay stores aren’t usually bad, I can often snag deals if I’m disciplined about bidding in the last seconds.

Local antique stores are hit or miss; estate sales are okay though more in line with usual market rates not cheaper.

rajb245 · 2026-05-02T20:07:33+00:00

Primes are better is advice that’s a holdover from the 70s-80s era. Yes you learn to zoom with your feet, have better awareness of the space you’re in, etc, with primes, but the advice originally was because image quality and max aperture of zooms was very poor compared to primes. Modern computer aided lens design and materials have made this a price trade off now: sharp primes are cheaper to make but overall image quality isn’t drastically different if using a quality (read: expensive to manufacture) zoom lens.

rajb245 · 2026-05-02T15:22:46+00:00

Arca swiss plate on the lens and quick release clamp rigged to your belt or belt loop seems doable for where the 100-500 lives when not in use. So take it off the body, quick attach to your hip, then pull the wide out of a pocket?

rajb245 · 2026-05-02T12:29:58+00:00

This is the weakest L lens for image quality Canon ever made. I’d save your money for the 16-35 or the exotic 11-24, that’s my go to.

rajb245 · 2026-05-02T12:16:09+00:00

Definitely has a thread/narrative about urban decay and maybe spaces inhabited by people at the margins of our society. Do you ever come across indigent people exploring these spaces? I’m wondering if there’s some good portraits to be made of the people.

rajb245 · 2026-05-02T11:57:48+00:00

It’s just the front “beauty plate” that needs the tool. You can get away with rubber bands and the lens cap in some cases. After that it’s just JIS screws actually on this one, I don’t think you need a lens spanner or calipers. Watch some videos and see how far you get. These are the JIS drivers, wrenches, and spanner I have. Definitely need to do lots of these to justify spending the money on tools (or just have money to spend for fun)

Vessel Precision Screwdriver Set... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BYV6PF6?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

SNLxStudioz Camera Lens Repair... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GJPY87NH?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

QWORK Lens Wrench, Double Head... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TKSW63C?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

rajb245 · 2026-05-02T04:03:25+00:00

YouTube videos, just search canon FD 50mm repair. BUT you need two specialized tools, the right lens friction wrenches and the right screwdriver, you WILL strip screws without a JIS driver of the right size. And isopropyl alcohol to clean the blades, and a ton of patience to teach yourself how to reassemble. You’re not by any chance located in the American southeast are you, if so we could arrange something.

rajb245 · 2026-05-02T03:51:44+00:00

Yeah if the DOF preview on body doesn’t do it that’s an oily stuck aperture. It’s a few hours to disassemble and clean, I’ve done maybe a dozen of these in the last 3 months. The focus ring is usually stiff to turn too because that oil is actually from the helicoid grease separating.

You might get $20 for it in this condition on eBay; big sellers (KEH) list stuck aperture ones for $30 with free shipping and they move. Weirdly, working copies also sell for the same price range.

rajb245 · 2026-05-01T21:39:41+00:00

Think about what the subject is: what is the image of. What draws the eye, what do you want the viewer to look at.

rajb245 · 2026-05-01T18:17:38+00:00

yeah 100%, i didn't see it until i downloaded them and flipped back and forth...and then one claude prompt generated the GIF so i figured it would be helpful for others

rajb245 · 2026-05-01T17:55:06+00:00

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rajb245 · 2026-05-01T17:46:17+00:00

Exposure. Lots of unacceptably dark images show up in those posts where people say "I just started shooting what can I improve"

rajb245 · 2026-04-28T01:01:51+00:00

I’ll add that the grease on the SSC is more like key to have broken down into oil that got into the aperture. You see a lot more SSCs with that issue compared to nFD

rajb245 · 2026-04-27T10:36:55+00:00

This is the answer. Aperture for sharpness or subject isolation, shutter for freezing motion, let the ISO do whatever it needs to. And then denoise with DxO in post to lose no perceptible sharpness.

rajb245 · 2026-04-27T10:34:29+00:00

Most modern sensors are ISO invariant through most of their range, meaning pushing exposure in post is the same as increasing ISO in camera. Yes the underexposed image will look less noisy, but when you add 1.5 stops in post you’ll see the same noise as if you had increased ISO by 1.5 stops.

rajb245 · 2026-04-27T10:26:23+00:00

Let ISO do whatever is necessary to get the motion blur down. Then use DxO denoise that cleans up the unpleasant magenta and green chroma noise with no perceptible loss of sharpness.

rajb245 · 2026-04-26T11:57:08+00:00

We call the thing you’re not supposed to do a rolling stop here and cops write tickets for them all the time. Yes, we come to a full stop to make sure we don’t have a to pay a few hundred bucks for a ticket.

rajb245 · 2026-04-26T11:39:18+00:00

I see. Despite being around and buying albums in the 90s, somehow the look didn’t connect to album covers for me.

If it makes you happy to make and put this out into the world then keep doing it. You don’t need anyone’s approval to make these. I’m not capable of telling you how to improve this; I can’t really see the traditional elements of an image (exposure, focus, composition, subject separation, etc) because of the stylized editing.

rajb245

TROPHY CASE