what lenses did you use most in 2016?

[PedroS]

 

Interesting....
Here's my top 6 (from memory, no statistics) on the bag for 2016:

Descending order
24-70 f2.8
400 f2.8
70-200 f2.8
84 f1.4
105 f2.8 micro

[John Geerts]

Used a lot of lenses in the year but my top of 2016 would be something like this:

Angenieux      35-70/2.5
Nikkor             85/1.4
Nikkor             200/2
Nikkor             105/1.8
Nikkor             17-35/2.8
Voigtlander     58/1.4
Nikkor             80/2.8

[Airy]

I'll do the primary classification by FL, because I mostly use primes and FL is the first thing I choose. Then the choice e.g. between the many 50 or 105 variants is indeed a secondary one.

Most used FLs : out of about 12000 shots,

25 mm   : 1020 shots, all Zeiss 25/2
45 mm   : 1500 shots, all Tamron 45/1.8
50 mm   : 2700 shots, Summicron R leading with 900, then Zeiss 50/2 (either version) 835, then 50/2 AI with 460...
58 mm   : 650 shots, essentially Voigtländer, then a few from the Noct I did not purchase.
105 mm : 1600 shots, with more than half coming from 105/2.5 AIS and AI ; the rest from 70-200, or 105/1.8, or 105/2.8 VR, or a Sigma 24-105 test
Stats are approximate, because LR sometimes fails to identify the lens properly, or because I did not tag the shots with exact lens characteristics .

In terms of lenses, the three leaders are therefore Tamron 45/1.8, Zeiss 25/2, and third being Summicron R and 105/2.5 ex aequo.

[Wally]

Another interesting distribution (# of images vs. focal length) - not specific to any lenses due to multiple versions. All FX Nikkor though! The 16mm is a MF Fisheye, 500mm is a Reflex lens, 14mm represents the 14-24mm/2.8

[benveniste]

Top 10 Before culling -- I didn't have any significant portraiture projects last year; instead I had a number of unexpected expenses which limited my shooting in the 2nd half of the year:

• 24-120mm f/4
• 105mm f/2.8 Micro
• 70-200mm f/2.8
• 17-35mm f/2.8
• 60mm f/2.8 Micro
• 150-500mm f/5~6.3
• 50mm f/1.8 AF-S
• 70-300mm f/4.5~5.6
• 10-30mm f/3.5~5.6
• Sigma 28mm f/1.8

[David H. Hartman]

"what lenses did you use most in 2016?"

My most used lens in 2016 was an AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED. Does that prove I have no self respect?

Dave Hartman

[Airy]

? it's a fine lens, except for size and weight

[MFloyd]

Most of these statistics are very personal, and depend largely from (1) what you are shooting; and (2) what lenses you have available.  These sort of personal statistics taught me that I should buy a 300mm, out of the usage data "by focus length " from my then available 28-300mm.  The same statistics teach me that I should may be acquire a 70-200mm. So, if such data are, may be, not meaningfull for general  purposes, they have been very helpful in validating the selection of some additional lenses.

[chris dees]

I only made a chart of my AF lenses. Bodies D810, D500, Df
The Exif of the about 7500 images taken with MF lenses is a mess.

[Arninetyes]

Wow. Nice pie charts! Mine will have to be from memory. At least half my photos were strictly work, where all I did was document a site or activities. Not fun, but necessary.

For work, it's easy. I always carry the same two, and I use approximately
70% Nikkor 28mm f/2 AI
30% Tokina 100mm f/2.8 AT-X Macro.

For recreational/art photography, I've used many. Used these the most:
Nikkor 20mm f/3.5 AIS
Tokina 100mm f/2.8 AT-X Macro
Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 AIS
Rodenstock Rodagon D APO 75mm f/4 on Nikon PB-4 bellows
Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4 IF AIS
Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4G.

[Matthew Currie]

I'm way too lazy to go through my mess of photographs, and anyway, manual lenses do not register in EXIF for the D3200, which I used most of the year. 

But I confess that if I looked, I'm pretty sure that, since I travel a lot and don't carry that much gear when I do, the great majority would be with the plain old normal kit zoom, or the 55-300DX zoom.  Late in the year I replaced my wearing-out 18-55 with a 16-85, and since then that's been the most used. 

Of course I have all sorts of other lenses, some of which I like to take out for a spin, and my traveling kit almost always also includes either the 35/2.8 PC or the 28/3.5, which make great normal primes. I wish I could say I'd shot a lot with the 200-500/5.6, but I carry it around more than shoot with it.  I think it sends out inaudible signals that birds hear.  Fly away, fly away, it whispers!

[Roland Vink]

When I shot film, I used to take notes (manual EXIF data) in a notebook. I recently started transferring that information to a small database, so I am able to do some interesting analysis. During the period 1994 - 2004, most of my keepers were shot with:
AIS 55/2.8 micro - mostly used for travel as a standard and macro lens
E 75-150/3.5 - very versatile telephoto zoom
AI 20/3.5 - compact wide, often used for travel
AF 105/2.8 micro
AIS 200/4 micro
AIS 135/2.8 - compact tele that I often used when travelling (largely replaced by 75-150 now)

I also used a lot of other lenses such as AIS 28/2.8, 105/4 micro and E 100/2.8 but not as often.

I'm fairly sure the next 10 years would be quite different - I used my AI 50/1.8 much more and much less macro, but I haven't had time to process those notes yet.

[Jacques]

Duplicate post my apologies

[MILLIREHM]

..... A particular lens for some period may rise to favourite position then to be eclipsed by others. If one is to sell a lens once it is perceived to be little used, the need to buy it again later never fails to manifest itself. ....

My best advice is to keep any lens (unless one is in dire financial straits and think in short-term improvement), but to be careful not to buy more lenses on a whim. I try my utmost to follow that advice myself, but am only human ...

+1

[MILLIREHM]

Without in depth analysis just from my memory the AF-S 80-400 was the most used lens in 2016. It formed a good couple with the new D500 perfect for travel and hiking giving some compact long range capability for animals, landscape and some closeups. Made me lazy in lens changing and high fps of the D500 also contributed for the large share of this lens.