Here’s why photographers tend to keep their old lenses when upgrading camera bodies

Brand loyalty runs deep in the photography community. Many photographers swear by their preferred brand and tend to remain with it even as new releases from competing companies come to realization. While not unheard of, it’s uncommon for photographers to move from one brand to the next, especially once heavily invested in one.

As you get more familiar with interchangeable lens cameras, you may learn of a general rule many photographers live by, and that’s to ‘date the camera body and marry the glass.’ In essence, this concept speaks to the short-lived relationship that photographers will have with camera bodies, while their time spent with lenses lasts much longer.

Dating the body, marrying the glass

Despite being a religiously practiced concept, dating the body and marrying the glass can be more of a suggestion than a rule. There’s nothing preventing you from selling off all your existing kit and switching to another platform, but should you attempt this, you’ll find it’s an expensive endeavor, and probably not one you want to do often. Just ask me how I know…

For this reason, it makes a lot of sense to invest in the ecosystem you plan to use for decades, if not a lifetime. It’s fine to experiment with platforms before your lens collection gets too large, but once you begin accumulating a lot of lenses, selling all of it to acquire another brand’s equivalent of what you already have will be nothing short of costly.

Instead, if you’re feeling an itch to upgrade, then you may want to consider progressing to a different camera body of the same brand you’re already using. For example, moving from a budget camera body to a professional or flagship camera body may be a good option. This way, you can continue using your existing lenses with that camera body without any interruption despite it being an entirely new-to-you system.

Consider this: if you have a $2,500 Nikon Z6iii camera body and a combined estimated $5,000 worth of Nikon Z camera lenses, but you fancy an upgrade, then it might be a better idea to jump up to the $4,000 Nikon Z8 or $5,500 Nikon Z9 camera body instead of switching to a $5,500 Sony A1 or $6,500 Sony A1ii. Why?

If you did this, then all existing camera lenses for your Nikon Z6iii would work right out of the box with your Nikon Z8 or Z9. On the other hand, if you were to buy a Sony A1 or A1ii, you’d want to sell off your Nikon Z lenses to buy the Sony counterparts, which will incur a seriously higher cost as you not only sell your existing lenses at a loss but also pay the equivalent (or more) for the alternative branded glass.

Likewise, if Nikon launches a fourth-generation Z6 camera body, and you go that route instead of buying another camera worth twice as much, then all your existing glass should still already function with it. You wouldn’t need to shell out an eye-watering amount of cash to invest in a new set of lenses.

The camera body is be considered the ‘disposable’ part

Good camera lenses last a lifetime if properly maintained. This means keeping it in a humidity-controlled environment to inhibit fungal growth, avoiding dusty environments that can compromise the seals, and shielding the exposed glass elements from abrasion with the provided covers. Apart from electronic auto-focus motors, there aren’t many failure-prone components in a camera lens, and even when those go out, you can still focus them manually with the focus ring or get the motor replaced.

The camera body, on the other hand, has a finite lifespan. Judging by the number of shutter actuations there are on a given body, you can ascertain if it’s heavily worn, just breaking in, or still like new. That’s because the mechanical shutter on a camera body wears out over time. When that happens, the camera loses an essential operation and needs to be repaired or replaced outright.

The camera body is also the piece that photographers handle and interact with the most, so it will show the greatest amount of wear and tear. From smoothed out grips, to chipped or broken port covers, to large and conspicuous dents in the magnesium-alloy frame, camera bodies tend to show more wear and tear than cared-for lenses by a long shot.

Even if your camera has an electronic shutter, which won’t exhibit the wear and tear of a camera with a mechanical shutter since it doesn’t have any moving parts, the above examples of smoothed out grips, chipped or broken port covers, or dents and dings in the frame still apply.

Having said that, when you decide to replace or upgrade a camera body, it’s almost always in the photographer’s best interest to keep their existing lenses and either buy a replacement body of the same model or upgrade to a superior model from the same brand. This ensures the highest compatibility while offering a more affordable pathway to new equipment when compared to investing in a new ecosystem.

Adapting lenses

Another thing worth mentioning is that camera manufacturers don’t keep the same lens mount forever. sometimes your older lens collection won’t pair up with a newer mount on the latest camera body, so when you choose to upgrade, you may need to plan accordingly for this.

Whether the camera company requires a mount with a larger flange or additional electrical contacts to support more functions in the lens, new mounting systems are inevitable. Every major manufacturer, whether it’s Canon, Nikon, or Sony has changed mounts at some point – especially during the mainstream evolution from DSLR to mirrorless camera bodies.

In these cases, it may still be possible to adapt older lenses to newer camera bodies when the mounting systems differ. For example, before acquiring my first Nikon Z-mount camera body, I had a Nikon F-mount camera body and several F-mount lenses. At that time, I used a Nikon F-to-Z adapter to use all my F-mount lenses with the Z-mount camera body, and that worked just fine.

You can also find adapters that let you use brand A’s lenses with brand B’s camera bodies. These are almost never offered directly from the manufacturer and instead come from third-party manufactures at the expense of performance for features. For example, many adapters in this category don’t support auto-focus or may have built-in auto-focus motors to compensate. Others may limit shooting speed.

Adapters can be hit-or-miss, but they offer a feasible way to stay married to your older lenses when switching from one system to another, whether it’s Brand A’s older mounting system to Brand A’s newer mounting system, or Brand A’s mounting system to Brand B’s mounting system. But just be wary as your mileage may vary in the world of lens adapters just as they did for me.

While there’s certainly an appeal to buying the latest and greatest glass from the camera manufacturer because of the latest advancements in glass crafting resulting in incredibly tack sharp images, lower chromatic aberration, and better flare control, many photographers prefer the look that comes from older glass. An older lens, if properly cared for, may produce its own character when snapping images that look completely different from newer glass, so it can be beneficial to your photography kit to adapt these kinds of lenses to your system.

Possible exceptions to the general rule

There are different classes of lenses, and as you might come to expect, there’s also a gap in cost. Professional camera lenses, like those with wider fixed apertures, advanced optics, and image-enhancing glass coatings, fetch a lot more money than kit lenses or consumer-grade zoom lenses. That said, following the general rule offers the greatest benefit to those investing in expensive lenses.

If you only own cheaper lenses, such as an entry-level kit lens and a nifty fifty (50mm) prime lens, then trading up to another brand’s equivalent won’t be a costly switch. On the contrary, if you’ve got the trifecta of f/2.8 lenses, a collection of large aperture prime lenses, and expensive telephoto lenses, then trading up to another brand’s equivalent is where the dollar signs add up quickly.

When I first got into photography, I had a Nikon F-mount camera with an entry-level glass kit described above – an 18-140mm zoom lens – and a 50mm prime lens. Market value for those lenses is under $200 these days, so it made sense in my case to buy a better lens after moving to a mirrorless system. The only time I wouldn’t is if money was tight and getting an adapter was feasible. In some cases, it isn’t.

Alternatively, if what I had for my F-mount system was a 24-70mm f/2.8, a 70-200mm f/2.8, a 500mm PF, and some more expensive f/1.4 prime lenses, I would second guess upgrading to newer glass. That’s because these lenses add up to thousands of dollars competed to the cheaper examples mentioned previously, so upgrading to modern replacements would cost a small fortune.

Got a damaged camera lens? This is another possible exception to the general rule. If you’re going to invest in a totally new system, and your existing lens is damaged beyond repair because of a cracked element or damaged lens barrel, then buying a new lens makes perfect sense.

Lastly, I would consider whether you use your camera for business or for hobby shooting. If you’re using it for business, then it’s easier to justify expensive upgrades since you have both a return on investment as well as a potential tax benefit. But if you’re just a hobby photographer, making larger investments isn’t as justifiable because you don’t get anything out of it besides a ‘feel good’ feeling.

Wrapping up

So now that you understand the concept behind ‘dating’ your camera body and ‘marrying’ your glass, perhaps you’ll put these wise words of advice to good use the next time you consider a camera upgrade.

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