Photographer Swears This Is the Last Lens He Is Buying, Promise

Lincoln, KS: A local man who recently purchased his 28th lens swears this is the last lens he is buying. Really. He promises.

The photographer, Nate Thatcher, purchased the $4,500 Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4, bringing his total collection to 28 lenses, including 4 copies of the same 50mm lens ("each has a slightly different character") and a 400mm f/2.8 ("in case I ever decide to get into sports"). Thatcher's wife, Nadine, was a bit surprised and perturbed by the purchase, noting:

He told me it was 'the ultimate portrait lens' and kept waving an 'MTF' or 'WTF' chart at me and talking about bokeh. I mean, I guess that's great and all, but I've never even seen him take a picture with a human in it. In fact, when we asked him to do a group portrait at the last family reunion, he said he doesn't break out the camera if it isn't 'golden hour on a mountain.' We live in Kansas.

Thatcher's daughter, Lindsay, notes she's a bit worried about her dad:

He literally spends four hours a day in his shop cleaning them. Last week, we were having a dinner party, and mom asked him to bring in the good glassware for the guests, and he came back with a 200mm lens.

Thatcher claims that his family, who are not photographers, just don't understand, pointing to a group of photography friends on the Internet who support his decision: 

I saw this portrait I really liked on Facebook, so I asked the photographer what lens she was using. She said the Zeiss 85mm, so obviously, I had to buy that lens so I could shoot portraits like her. I mean, yeah, I didn't shoot portraits before this, but that's because I didn't own this lens. Everyone in this Facebook group says it's the best. 

Unfortunately, Thatcher's wife doesn't believe he's done:

I try to support his hobby, but I'm a little worried it's turning into an obsession. He swore this was his last lens, but isn't 28 a bit much? I mean, the owner of the local camera store sends us a personal holiday card and a bottle of wine every year. I still tried to be supportive when he purchased this. I know he cares a lot about autofocus performance, so I asked him what he thought of it with this lens. He started to answer, then he got really quiet, fiddled with the lens for five minutes, then grumbled under his breath and walked out of the room. I didn't think much of it, but I checked our browser history tonight, and the first entry was a Google search for 'world's best 85mm lens bokeh sharp must be autofocus'. We can't afford a 29th lens!

Fstoppers will keep you updated on Thatcher's purchases.