I learned this tip from UK-blogger/photographer/awesome guy Brian Worley and darn it’s a good one — it’s how to use a feature in Lightroom Classic to find out which lens (or lenses) you use the most. It’s a deceptively easy way to find out which lens is your favorite (it must be because you use it the most).

STEP ONE:In Lightroom’s Library module; in the Catalog panel on the left, click on ‘All Photos.’

STEP TWO:Press the backslash key [ \ ] to bring up the Library Filter across the top of your thumbnail preview area. Click on the Metadata tab up top (shown circled below in red).

STEP THREE: If it’s not already selected, in one of the columns choose “Lens” as the column header (also shown circled in red above), and it will instantly display the number of images you took with each lens you own (as shown above, where not surprisingly my 70-200mm f/2.8 is my most-used lens). My 14mm ultra wide angle isn’t far behind. Click on any listing, it will display just those photos taken with just that lens. The stuff that Lightroom does behind the scenes for us is really impressive.

Thanks, Brian! Also, please check out Brian’s Guest Blog post from April of this last year. Great stuff (as always).

Here’s to all the opportunities and possibilities of another great week!

-Scott

P.S. Thanks to all the awesome folks in Indianapolis and Minneapolis where I kicked off my new full-day seminar “The Ultimate Photography Crash Course” to more than 450 photographers. I had such a great time, and I was thrilled at how well the new seminar was received. I met so many nice folks who are really passionate about photography and Photoshop and Lightroom — totally my kinda folks. Thank you all for the warm welcome and gracious hospitality. 

Share:

4 comments

  1. Warren 14 May, 2019 at 18:20 Reply

    If you’re inclined and knowledgeable enough, you can also open the catalog file with sqlite tools and extract any data using the right query ( or export to a .CSV file and work in your favourite spreadsheet app).

  2. callmebob 14 May, 2019 at 08:01 Reply

    And, you can search by “Focal Length” to figure out which prime lens you might do well to own as well based on how your images distribute within individual zoom lenses’ range.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *