What I learned in 2009 is that no matter how many lenses I have, I can only have one on a camera at a time. Realizing this brought me to the conclusion that I should sell what I can’t (and don’t) use to get something I would use. But in order to figure that out, I had to buy and sell a lot of gear.

• Cameras bought and/or sold

  • Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3
  • Olympus E-P1
  • Nikon FM3a
  • Leica M9

• Lenses bought and/or sold

  • Zeiss Biogon T* 2,8/28 ZM
  • Zeiss C Biogon T* 2,8/35 ZM
  • Zeiss Planar T* 2/50 ZM
  • Zeiss Tele-Tessar T* 4/85 ZM
  • Leica Summarit-M 35mm f/2.5
  • Leica Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 E46 (pre-Asph)
  • Leica Summicron-M 50mm f/2 (non-coded)
  • Leica Summicron-M 50mm f/2 (six-bit coded)
  • Leica Summarit-M 75mm f/2.5
  • Voigtlander Ultron 28/2
  • Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35/1.4 (MC)
  • Voigtlander Nokton Classic 40/1.4 (MC)
  • Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/2.8
  • Olympus M.Zuiko 14-42mm f/3.5
  • Nikon Nikkor 24mm f/2.8D AF
  • Nikon Nikkor 45mm f/2.8P AIS
  • Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF
  • Nikon Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D AF

This was a ridiculous amount of buying and selling. Pretty much deduct three lenses and one camera and all of this stuff almost equaled the cost of the M9. Was it worth it? So far, yes. I am left with a Leica M9 and three lenses: Summarit 35mm, Summicron 50mm, Summarit 75mm.

The upside is that after all this buying and selling, I got to experience a whole bunch of different focal lengths, manufacturers, camera styles, and so on. For the first time, I feel like I am at least an informed user. I’m not using the Summicron 50mm because it is the only lens I have, I’m using it because I prefered it over the Planar and the pre-Asph Summilux.

Now let me get back to shooting.