Sold my lens with a tinge of regret

In 2016, sometime in the month of June, I bought my second lens for the Olympus OM-D EM5 Mark II camera. It was the 40-150mm f2.8 lens. At that time it costs almost S$2000. But I loved the lens to death. It was one of the sharpest lens I ever owned. Incredible bokeh, thanks to the constant aperture, it was a joy to use it.

What wasn’t so much a joy about this lens is how big it was, even though it was for a micro four thirds camera. Over the years, I used the camera less and less often, till it become neglected. The sheer size of the lens was a major issue, especially when it comes travelling. Bringing my camera with the 12-40mm f2.8 lens in addition to the telephoto lens was becoming a huge hassle especially when I become more conscious of what I carry with me during my travels. Travelling light, suddenly become a more enticing prospect than lugging the lens around just so that I can take a good shot of the places I travel.

And so, I decided to sell my lens for about S$1100. A major price depreciation, but nonetheless, it was at least sold to a buyer intent in putting it to good use.

So now that my passion in photography has been rekindled, I suddenly felt a tinge of regret selling that lens away. Strictly speaking, from a logical standpoint, I don’t think I am attracted to the idea of bringing such a huge lens around any longer. But still, I will miss it’s incredible and super sharp images that lens is capable of. I have taken beautiful photos out from that lens and I don’t think I will ever be able to revisit that moment again because that lens is no longer with me.

Now, Olympus has March promotion going on, giving major discounts to their ‘pro’ lineup of lens. I have been eyeing a different kind of lens, one that would allow me to take shots at ultra-wide angles. This is particularly useful in taking urban and landscape shots to places I will travel in the future. It’s the 7-14mm f2.8 lens. The lens is pretty small, no bigger than my current all-purpose 12-40mm f2.8 lens. Now that new lens I am eyeing, I am perfectly willing to carry it around. It’s small and doesn’t that took much space.

But looking back, I have to critically ask myself: Will I ever use it? Will it be just another white elephant in my camera arsenal, just like the one that I sold away. Right now in the month of March, Olympus is selling the less for just S$1300 and the offer ends in March. I am travelling in the month of March and I will definitely miss the window if I don’t take action now. The question is; should I pull the trigger? The original price of that lens is S$1800, so I am getting a substantial savings out from this current promotion Olympus is having right now. Will this be another impulse buy?

Right now I made the decision to borrow the lens I am interested in from a friend of mine. Now, he was willing to lend it to me for the duration of my upcoming trip to New York at the end of March. I will have a chance to do a test-run on the new lens, learning new photography tricks and compositional strategies that will be unique to the lens, and perhaps take great photos with it without costing anything. But that would mean missing out on the promotion. I could also look at it this way: I have the chance of using the lens, take great photos, and after much deliberation, decide not to buy it and saving myself $1300 along the way.

Should I take the plunge to get the lens for myself, or should I just be content with using my friend’s lens for the time being for free? Will he lend it to me again for my upcoming Morocco trip? How about Iceland in October?