Treat your glass with class – give your favorite lenses a second lease of life

A friend asked me recently, after looking at my camera shelf, which lens I used the least. After sniggering for a second, my smile turned into a frown as I realized there are a lot of lenses on that shelf that really don’t get used very much.

Sure, some lenses simply get used more than others. But in other cases, there are lenses that I literally haven’t used since I bought them – and I think this is a fairly common problem.

We invest so much money in glass that it becomes a case of, “I really need to find an excuse to go out and use that lens!” rather than a sober realization that, “Y’know, this one just never gets put on my camera.”

So we end up with that one (or two, or in my case many more!) lenses sitting unloved on the shelf – always promised that their day will come, but never seeing it. And it’s such a waste!

After my buddy made me realize that there was a bunch of glass going unused, I logged onto MPB to give them a new home. Some I turned into cash, for other things (such as a baby that’s on the way!), others I traded in for other lenses that I actually did have a need for.

We’re all in this boat, to one extent or another. I wonder which of these categories you fall into…

Outgrowing your kit lens

When most people buy their first camera, they buy it in a “kit” with a starter lens. This is usually a jack-of-all-trades (master of none) optic to get you started in photography. It’s super useful to get you out and taking pictures, but it’s not intended to be a lens that you use forever… or, indeed, for very long at all.

As soon as you work out what you shoot, and what you need to shoot it with (whether that’s portrait lenses or wildlife lenses or anything in-between) the kit lens that got you started really doesn’t get used that often.

You’ll probably keep it, until you’ve got another (usually faster) zoom that does the same job better, or until you’ve got a couple of primes that overlap with the focal lengths you tend to shoot with. But sooner or later you probably won’t need those training wheels – in fact, they might even be holding you back.

Rather than letting your kit lens rot away on your shelf, why not let it give somebody else’s camera journey a start? Think about all the memories and all the photographic firsts you shot with it… and now think about how happy somebody else will be, to have those experiences.

MPB is a fantastic place to get that lens on its way to a new owner – and to trade it in towards the next lens you need in your development. Maybe you’re getting into macro, perhaps you want a wide-angle landscape lens, you might even want something to start shooting astro; turn your kit lens into the optic that will take you on the next step of your journey.

The lens that’s not quite right

We’ve all been here. We play with a friend’s lens, or we see a review online, or we read an interview with a favorite photographer who swears by it… and we immediately drop hundreds or thousands of pounds on new glass.

But for whatever reason – the way it handles, the way it focuses, the way it balances on your camera – you just don’t get on with it. There’s nothing wrong with it, per se, but it just isn’t quite right.

I can’t even count the number of times I’ve been in this boat. I’ve bought f/1.4 lenses because I wanted blurrier backgrounds than my f/1.8 glass, but the difference wasn’t as big as I thought. I’ve bought superzoom lenses because I wanted an all-in-one optic, but they were too chunky for my liking.

I even bought tilt-shift lenses because I got really into architectural photography… then got tired of it just as quickly!

As with all too many of my romantic relationships, “it wasn’t them, it was me”. So after kidding myself for a while that I would go out and master them, I resigned myself to the fact that I would be far better off getting that glass into the hands of people who would really appreciate it.

MPB made the whole process easy; I simply went to the website, typed in the lenses and the condition they were in, and I got a quote right away. After arranging a free and fully insured collection, they were inspected by trained evaluators. And because some of them were actually in better condition than I estimated, my quote went up!

After accepting the revised offer, the money appeared in my bank shortly thereafter.

The “special occasion lens” without enough special occasions

We’ve all talked ourselves into getting that one lens, knowing that we won’t use it very often, but promising that when the time does come, it’ll be worth it. And when the time comes, it may very well be!

But it’s all the other times. Those months, sometimes years, between special occasions. Those times when you realize – like I did – that the last time you mounted a lens was the day you bought it.

Case in point, for me, was a 45mm f/0.95 lens. As a portrait photographer, I’d been pining for this lens and convinced myself that I needed it – that on those days where I wanted a nifty fifty perspective with 85mm depth of field, the juice would be worth the squeeze.

Four years, that lens was sat on my shelf doing nothing. Four years! A great lens, no doubt about it, and it took great pictures. But aside from the first day I got it, I simply didn’t have a need for it. And I have friends in similar situations with macro lenses, and telephoto lenses, and all kinds of other lenses that they used a handful of times but now serve as glorified paperweights.

So my advice is, take a serious look at your lens collection and think about how many times a year you actually use each one. There’s nothing wrong with holding onto kit, but if you’ve got one (or more) that doesn’t ever get used, doesn’t ever make you any money and doesn’t ever make it onto your camera, it’s probably time to sell or trade it with MPB.

Turning glass into cash is easy

If you have lenses you'd like to move on to a new home, selling or trading them in with MPB is easy.

Head over to the MPB website and hit the "Start selling / trading" link. Then just enter the model name of your lens, along with the condition (there is a handy guide to help you) and the site will generate you a quote. It's super simple!

If you'd like to proceed, you'll have the option to book in a free and fully-insured collection. All you need to do is securely pack up your gear and then it will be whizzed off to MPB. Once received, the expert team of trained evaluators will examine everything.

After this inspection, you'll receive a final quote – if you're happy, MPB will transfer the money directly into your bank account. If not, it's no problem – your gear can be booked for a free and fully insured return. There's nothing to lose!

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