Gordon cited my continuing surprise at the relatively low sales of
accessory lenses for both 35mm RF/SLR and medium format SLR cameras, based
on Rick Nordin's figures for Hassy C lens sales (over half were the 80mm
normal lens - amazing!) and only 2.3 lenses sold for SLRs per JCIA stats
(for japanese made SLRs including those in Chinese and other overseas
factories). The situation is evidently similar for Leica M mount lenses by
Leica per study of their body and modest M-lens sales figures.

It appears that the majority of camera owners have only the original
camera kit lens. I also infer that the situation is similar with accessory
backs for interchangeable back SLRs etc.

In other words, lots of buyers are paying for features like
interchangeable lens mounts and interchangeable backs (in MF) and then
never using these features.

This is one reason, I think, that the basic TLR does so well as an entry
level MF camera - it is light, compact, often cheap for quality of lenses,
relatively inconspicuous, nifty and a classic camera design, and many MF
SLR owners only have one lens anyway, so the TLR entry level user is able
to make many of the same images just as well ;-)

I agree with many of Gordon's comments (and QGdB's ;-) on lenses, but will
add that you can do a lot with the "wrong" or non-ideal lens.

I once did a 10,000+ mile bus trip around the USA on an Ameripass in which
I grabbed the wrong camera bag in my early morning bleery-eyed departure.
I ended up with a 24mm lens instead of the short zoom I had planned.

I still managed to take a number of up close and personal environmental
portraits (with surprisingly little facial distortion if you shoot
mid-body) and similar photos in which the very wide angle nature of my one
optic on the trip was not as obvious as I had feared ;-) The close
focusing capabilities of the 24mm was surprisingly useful, though I still
missed the macro option ;-) The very wide angle was quite useful in many
shooting situations where a 28mm would have been not wide enough...

One result of the trip was my recommendation to do short local trips with
different lenses, preferably with one lens on each walkabout, forcing you
to fully explore what each lens can do under many situations.

I think past amateurs were better aware of their lens capabilities, due to
having only a few in hand, than many of us with a dozen or more optics in
our camera kits? ;=)

grins bobm
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* Robert Monaghan POB 752182 Southern Methodist Univ. Dallas Tx 75275 *
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