knowing when to fold

Back in September we began packing to move, citing finances as the primary reason.  By mid-October we had packed 3/4 of our goods, including my K-5, a few primes and Quantaray 28-90 & 100-300 zooms plus the 24mm and 8mm fisheye. Surely I could do without them for a month or two?

Given the circumstances, in mid-November I took a calculated risk by purchasing a lens with six months' freedom from payments or interest. Soon after that the K5ii went on an incredible sale; we would be debt free very soon so why not?

Now it's March and 'a month or two' has become five, and 'why not' has become painfully obvious.  With no confidence that we will be free of home & debts within two months, a few newer parts of the kit must go.  The new K-5ii body and 28-75 Tamron went first, and most likely the da50-200wr will go next.  These moves have put a good amount of cash back where it belongs until the move is truly finished.

So the K-01 resumes its primacy in my kit with the Q in reserve.  For primes I will keep the 17mm fisheye to go with the 40mm; some unknown prime would fit nicely in the 70-135mm range, some day.  As to zooms, the 18-135wr was too cheap to justify parting with it just to pay more later, and neither the Quantaray 28-70 f/2.8-4 nor the white DAL 18-55 have much value in the market.  Note also that a Vivitar 2x teleconverter with macro-capable extendability is here too; I have not decided it that will remain, but it has been another interesting way to get up close without a dedicated macro prime.  Sitting safely in storage are the SMC-A 24mm, SMC-M 50mm, a 400mm Hanimar and the two Quantarays I mentioned earlier - as is a Rokinon 8mm fisheye that now finds itself out of work thanks to the SMC 17mm!

I sure wish that I hadn't packed up those lenses and the K-5 - the body is functional but needs servicing when more funds are handy, and a WR body is handy in the springtime.  The 100-300‘s presence would keep me amused at times, and safely away from thrift stores both virtual and real!

Truly I have nothing to complain about: with the K-01 and lenses I still have, impressive images are easy to create. It hurts that I fell for the six-month-free cash trap though, that is embarrassing.  We had no reason to doubt that we'd be moved within that window, and in fact we still could - but our recent past should have kept us from making general statements about the future, as life just isn't predictable right now.  Real Soon Now though!