# What lenses do you actually use most?



## helpful (Jul 21, 2015)

I ran some statistics on my photo database to see which lenses I actually use the most, and I was rather surprised at the results. I did not expect to see that I used the 135mm f/2L so much, or that I use the 24-70 zooms so little.

The data are from the most recent six-year subset of my 21-year photo database, so the total photos included in the sample is a reasonable number n = 1.6 million. I was amazed that all but 400,000 of my photos in the past six years were taken with just 11 lenses.


1. 347,017 Canon EF 135mm f/2L
2. 175,347 Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II
3. 167,511 Sigma 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM
4. 155,148 AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4D IF-ED
5. 99,971 Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
6. 84,307 AF-S Nikkor 400mm f/2.8D IF-ED II
7. 67,937 Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
8. 54,020 AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II
9. 52,225 Canon EF 24 f/1.4L II
10. 49,765 Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM
11. 44,059 Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM

I was wondering--how does this compare to others?

To obtain this data, I ran this command for each camera directory (e.g., 103EOS5D).


```
% exiftool -fast -T -ext jpg -aperture -cameratemperature -datetimeoriginal -daylightsavings -directory -directorynumber -filename -filenumber -focallength -fov -imagesize -iso -keywords -lensid -lightvalue -model -modifydate -orientation -rating -serialnumber -shuttercount -shutterspeed -subject -timezone -filesize\# . > exiftoolinfo
```

And then combined all results together:


```
% find . -name exiftoolinfo | xargs cat > exiftoolinfo.cat
```

And ran:


```
% cut -f 14 exiftoolinfo.cat | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | head  -11 | perl -pe 's|^|$.. |; s|(\d{3}) |,$1 |'
```

Based on the results, I may need to reconsider how I invest my money in lenses. For my workflow, it also demonstrates how much Canon really needs to come out with a phenomenal, lightning-quick focusing, ultra-bright f/1.8 135mm prime lens: as sharp as the Zeiss Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 ZF.2, and as fast-focusing as their best great whites. I would happily sell $20,000 in lenses that I don't use so much and reinvest in two or three of those if such a lens were to be released.


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## wsmith96 (Jul 21, 2015)

You sparked an interest here, so I checked out my lightroom statistics. Here's how I stand:


EF50 f/1.4 52
EF50 f/1.8 100
EF-S 18-55 173
EF-S 60 f/2.8 macro 299
EF24-105 f4/L 474
EF85 f/1.8 687 
EF-S 10-22 712
EF70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM 940
EF70-200 f/2.8L IS II _1.4x III 1354
EF-S 17-55 2175
EF70-200 f/2.8L IS II 4350


My least used are my 50 and 60 mm lenses. To be fair, I haven't had the 50 1.4 very long, and I didn't like the 50 1.8 when I owned it. The 18-55 and 70-300 are my oldest lenses, followed by the 60mm. It was not surprising that the 17-55 and 70-200 were my most used. I love both of them. 

It's interesting to take a look at this every so often. I also found my most used focal length was 200 mm, with 85mm in second and 280mm in third.


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## expatinasia (Jul 21, 2015)

My most used lens (in terms of pictures taken) is the 400 f/2.8 ii, second is 70-200 f/2.8 ii and third is 16-35 f/4 IS.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jul 21, 2015)

Up until I bought my 70-200mm L MK II and 24-70L MK II, my 135mmL was well ahead, followed by my 35mm L and then 24-105mm L.

Now, I've sold all but the 100mm L for lack of use, so time changes things. My 135mm L was slipped to 3rd place behind my 24-70 and 70-200. Then comes the 35mm L and 24-105mmL, both sold.

The big winner though is Unknown lens


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## neuroanatomist (Jul 21, 2015)

About 37% of my images have been shot with a standard zoom (18% with the 24-105/4L IS, replaced with the 24-70/2.8L II now at 19%). 

~21% have been shot with the 70-200/2.8L IS II. 

~10% combined PowerShot S95 and S100. 

~5% with the 600/4L IS II.

The remaining 27% is a hodge-podge of 16 other lenses with none over 2%.


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## TeT (Jul 21, 2015)

24 70 4 L IS with 70 300 L & 135 L splitting the leftovers...


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## Random Orbits (Jul 21, 2015)

For the year so far, the top three are 70-200 f/2.8 IS II (32%), 24-70 f/2.8 II (28%), 100-400 II (13%).


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## m8547 (Jul 21, 2015)

helpful said:


> The data are from the most recent six-year subset of my 21-year photo database, so the total photos included in the sample is a reasonable number n = 1.6 million.



That's incredible. If you work 40 hours a week, you're taking 2.2 photos a minute all the time on average. And then you have to post process them! 

Here are stats for all the lenses I currently own:

18-55 IS II501055-250 IS1196Tokina 11-1666750mm f/1.8 II62424-70 II63Rokinon 35mm, Rokinon 14mm Unknown

I was surprised by how much I use the 18-55. I like the 11-16 a lot, but I'm surprised by how relatively little I use it. I'm not that good at wide angle yet. I just got the 24-70, and I've been using it as much as I can, which is not that much as a hobbyist.


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## Sauropod (Jul 21, 2015)

Here is my LR breakdown over the last 5 years, ever since I upgraded my 20D to my old 7D. I was surprised to see each year I have taken more pictures than the previous year. I've already shot more this year than all of last year! (I blame the 7D2/Tammie combo and my discovery of the Lower Salt River area...) 

45% - General purpose lenses. I lump the 15-85, 17-55 and 24-70L 2.8 II into this category as each evolved into the other, especially when my 7D became the 5D3. The 24-70 is just so good at so many things for what I shoot it is hard to take it off.

26% - Long lenses. The 400mm 5.6 and Tamron 150-600 account for 26% of my total shots (and the Tamron is 
60% of that number). I was surprised to see my Tamron just last weekend become my most used lens on my 7dx/5d3 bodies, crossing the 31,000 mark in just 17 months versus 55 months for the 15-85 (my previous reigning champ). (If I factor in the 36k clicks the 15-85 did on the 20D it is still my most used lens but I left the 20D info off for this analysis)

8% -70-200L 2.8 II. I thought this one would be higher. I always enjoy the images I make with this lens.

8% - 70-300L. My images indicate this lens is only used from the shotgun seat of a car! I always have a camera up front “loaded”, just in case, and this general purpose lens with its great image quality and small size fits the bill for whomever is passenger.

6% - 200L 2.0. I thought this one would be higher as well. Time to go shoot some wide open shots! This was the only lens that my wife said, "buy this lens!" (thankfully she didn't know how much it cost beforehand )

3% - 50 1.4 and 85L 1.2. In the 85’s defense I only recently acquired it. It is a fun lens with a neat learning curve. The 24-70 (and 17-55 before) has covered this range well enough for my shooting style that I almost never used the 50 1.4 after acquiring the 17-55 other than for specific events (which clearly aren’t all that often). 

2% - Wide angle lenses (defined herein as anything less than 50mm, thus my 28, 40, 16-35, and 10-22). I don’t shoot much in the way of landscapes and, when I do, in looking at the LR results, I tend to use my general purpose lenses instead of swapping to the wide. In a pinch I’ve made pano shots when I wanted a really wide shot. 

2% - Misc lenses like Rokinon fisheyes, my macros (60, 100, 180), and the 800mm I borrowed for a week.


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## Eldar (Jul 21, 2015)

I´m on vacation, so I do not have access to the full data, but I did this comparison a couple of months back.

For number of shots, my most used lenses are the 600 f4L IS II and the 24-70 f2.8L II. The 600 primarily because that is where the 1DX machine gun is activated most of the time.

For number of different compositions, the 24-70 has a clear lead of everything else, being my prime walkaround lens.

Behind these two, there are no clear no.3. I have quite a few lenses to choose from and I was pleased to see that everyone gets a reasonable amount of use. But since I got the 5DSR, I have not used any of my manual focus primes, due to the lack of a precision focusing screen, except the TS-E lenses which are always used with live view. 

It irritates me ALOT that Canon has omitted interchangeable focusing screens from the 5DSR. The argument that it is the same design as 5DIII is not correct. Because they have made changes to the standard screen, and could have easily made this possible. I am waiting for www.focusingscreen.com to confirm when they have a custom screen ready.


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## niels123 (Jul 21, 2015)

Here's my list for the last 4 years:

Canon 100L Macro: 33 % (15747) (I consider myself a macro photographer ;D)
Canon 50 1.4 + Sigma 50 art: 13 % (6055) (In LR I can't distinguish between these two lenses)
Canon 135L: 11 % (5019)
Canon 85 1.8: 6 % (3033)
Sigma 35 1.4 art: 4 % (2078) but I've only had this lens for a few months now and I use it really a lot ;D

Niels


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## Sporgon (Jul 21, 2015)

helpful said:


> 1. 347,017 Canon EF 135mm f/2L
> 2. 175,347 Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II
> 
> 5. 99,971 Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM



I find it interesting that you appear to use the 135L and 200L much more that the 70-200 f2.8II, Is the conclusion being screwed by you not having had the zoom lenses so long ?


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## Sporgon (Jul 21, 2015)

neuroanatomist said:


> About 37% of my images have been shot with a standard zoom (18% with the 24-105/4L IS, replaced with the 24-70/2.8L II now at 19%).



So does this mean the 24-70 f/2.8II is only 5% better than the 24-105L ?


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## chauncey (Jul 21, 2015)

I only shoot with the intention of photo-merging and/or photo-stacking, that said...
99% of the time, my glass is a 180 macro or a 300 f/2.8.


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## kaihp (Jul 21, 2015)

Eldar said:


> For number of shots, my most used lenses are the 600 f4L IS II and the 24-70 f2.8L II. The 600 primarily because that is where the 1DX machine gun is activated most of the time.
> 
> For number of different compositions, the 24-70 has a clear lead of everything else, being my prime walkaround lens.



I don't use LR, so I don't have statistics available right now. I could install the exiftool on my Linux NAS box and run it later, though.

My most used lens depends heavily on what I'm shooting. For motorcycle track days, it's the 300/2.8L II all the way. But for general walk-around, landscape etc I'm with Eldar: 24-70 II by a far margin.

Just sitting here reflecting on the data, I would question the sense in lumping everything together, because the data would be heavily skewed depending on which lenses I had when, and when I changed from APS-C (10D/50D) to FF (5D3). On the crop, I used the (now sold) 17-40L as walk-around, now it's the 24-70L/II.
Also, I've changed the type of things I shoot over the years, and that impacts the choice of lenses.


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## GuyF (Jul 21, 2015)

Eldar said:


> For number of shots, my most used lenses are the 600 f4L IS II and the 24-70 f2.8L II. The 600 primarily because that is where the 1DX machine gun is activated most of the time.



I was thinking along the same lines. Possibly the better question is, what lens gives you the most keepers? After all, we take shots to get great results. If you machine gun away with a big white, how many are genuinely top notch images that you would show to others? I probably take most shots with my 500mm II but the keeper rate is far below what I'd get with my Sigma 85mm f1.4 or Canon 16-35 f4.

Makes you wonder.


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## pwp (Jul 21, 2015)

No hard stats, but in order:

70-200 f/2.8isII
24-70 f/2.8II
16-35 f/2.8II
300 f/2.8is
100L macro f/2.8is
24 f/1.4II
90mm TS-E

It's plain....I'm a zooms guy. And zooms have never ever been better.

-pw


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## notapro (Jul 21, 2015)

I never would have imagined this, but my most used lens over the last several months is the 16-35mm f/4L.

After that, it's like this:

100mm f/2.8L
24mm f/1.4L II
50mm f/1.2L
70-200mm f/2.8L IS II


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## ajfotofilmagem (Jul 21, 2015)

As we buy and sell frequently lenses, I can not do a statistical ... But I can say that my Tokina 16-50mm F2.8 has more use than any other lens mine. 

Recently Sigma 50 Art is gaining more and more importance, but I still use a lot of Canon 18-55mm STM in high-risk places.


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## NancyP (Jul 21, 2015)

LR users, is there a way inside LR to access this information?
OP, about your %exiftools script - is this run on a Mac OSX in the command line platform? 

My comment about usage is that one's interests may change per season or per year or per new lens purchase. I am currently running about 80%+ with a single recently purchased macro lens (the terrific Voigtlander 125mm f/2.5 ApoLanthar 1:1 macro) - I am on a wildflower and fungus kick.


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## dcm (Jul 21, 2015)

Seems I prefer my telephotos 2:1 over my normal/wide lenses so far this year. In the past it would have been reversed, but I recently added some longer lenses to my collection. Part of that is what I've been shooting and part is practice/experimentation required to improve my technique.

I think a better question is which lens do you get the most keepers from. I'm a bit behind on post processing, just returned from a vacation with lots of images so that answer will have to wait.


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## Zeidora (Jul 21, 2015)

#1 Zeiss 100 mm Makroplanar (both Contax CY earlier, now ZE)
#2 MPE-65, but that could be skewed because I mainly stack, so one image = stack of 50-150 images.
#3 most likely Zeiss 21 mm CY or ZE.
#4 Zeiss EVO40 XVP: that is a scanning electron microscope with one three-element zoom lens: some 20K images give or take.
#5 Zeiss planapo 0.63x and planapo 1.5x on Zeiss Discovery V12/V20 and Axiocam HRc [Stereomicroscope set-up also quite a bit of z-stacking]

The rest is odd lenses in 35 mm as well as 4x5"


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## Random Orbits (Jul 21, 2015)

NancyP said:


> LR users, is there a way inside LR to access this information?
> OP, about your %exiftools script - is this run on a Mac OSX in the command line platform?
> 
> My comment about usage is that one's interests may change per season or per year or per new lens purchase. I am currently running about 80%+ with a single recently purchased macro lens (the terrific Voigtlander 125mm f/2.5 ApoLanthar 1:1 macro) - I am on a wildflower and fungus kick.



Yes, you can do it from the Library module. I usually key CTRL-F, but it should be under View. The link below gives some more direction. You can select metadata and sort based on camera, lens, use, etc. I arrange my pics by year and quarter (subfolder), so I can easily compare how habits change from one year to the next.

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/help/finding-photos-catalog.html


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## RLPhoto (Jul 21, 2015)

1. 135L 
2. 50mm f/1.2L
3. 17-40L

That will change in time as I no longer own the 50L nor the 17-40L.


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## patrickfd (Jul 21, 2015)

Canon 24-105 L is my primary lens on a Canon 7d II
Canon 70-300 L is on my Canon 7d

Most times I carry both 

I just 20 minutes ago bought the Tamron 70-200 2.8 so we'll see how much I use that once I get it and see how I like it.

www.squadfirephotos.com


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## pedroesteban (Jul 21, 2015)

The 24mm f/1.4L II is my most used lens by far. 
The 135 f/2L is in a distant second position.


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## Deleted member 91053 (Jul 21, 2015)

GuyF said:


> Eldar said:
> 
> 
> > For number of shots, my most used lenses are the 600 f4L IS II and the 24-70 f2.8L II. The 600 primarily because that is where the 1DX machine gun is activated most of the time.
> ...




Isn't that more down to the subjects being shot?
Probably 80-90% of my photography is done with the 800mm F5.6 L IS and a 1DX (in "Machine Gun" mode), my keeper rate is mainly determined by the composition/activity of the subject rather than focus accuracy etc. To me the reason to use high FPS is to catch a moment, this inevitably means there will be quite a number of deletions! When using my 16-35 F4 or 24-70 F2.8 I take very few shots, carefully composed, so the keeper rate is very much higher - it's just the nature of the beast.


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## Hector1970 (Jul 21, 2015)

I never thought of looking before.
I think the 10 FPS of the 7D II is distorting it a little

Lens	%
Ef 100-400	64.999%
EF100	11.598%
EF 24-105	9.705%
EF 70-200	6.080%
EF 50 1.2	5.350%
TSE-24	1.101%
EF 50 1.4	0.969%
EF 28 1.8	0.189%
EF 18-55	0.005%
Sigma 150-500	0.003%


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## Hector1970 (Jul 21, 2015)

Interesting Question. I never checked it out before.
2015 so far looks dominated by the 7D mark II. 10 FPS has alot to answer for.
I think you'd tend to spend more time but taking less landscape photographs.
It looks like I'm getting good value from the 100-400.
I'd say last year the 70-200 would have topped the list.


Lens	%
Ef 100-400	63.014%
EF100 11.244%
EF 24-105	9.409%
EF 70-200	5.894%
EF 50 1.2 5.187%
EF 17-40 3.054%
TSE-24 1.067%
EF 50 1.4 0.939%
EF 28 1.8 0.184%
EF 18-55 0.005%
Sigma 150-500 0.003%


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## pj1974 (Jul 22, 2015)

I don't have LR stats on my lens use (most of my photos don't go through LR) - but here is my list of lenses, and how I use them on my Canon 7D.
I won’t even guess on the %, but I put in order of my educated guess at how much I have used them in total (first = most frequent, last = least frequent)
•	Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM (general purpose zoom / usual 1 lens travel option, events)
•	Canon EF 70-300mm L f/4-5.6 IS USM (telezoom most often used for wildlife & birds, sometimes outdoor sports)
•	Sigma AF 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DC HSM (ultra [ultra!] wide angle zoom – for landscapes, architecture & occasional scenery fun)
•	Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro (macros [duh!] and occasionally products, shallow dof)
•	Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM (portraits low light, playing with shallow dof, indoor events. Have only had this lens about 2 months)

Regards, Paul 8)


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## Maximilian (Jul 22, 2015)

I am too lazy to run any statistics but out intuitively I'd say top three are

24-105L about 40%
100-400L about 25%
100L Macro about 10%


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## Bernd FMC (Jul 22, 2015)

I have to look at the Statistic´s - has got DPP also an Statistic ? 

Most used Lens is for sure the 24-70 f2.8 L II

But as an Amateur i am playing with my Gear and a new Lens will be used much more for a While.

My "early Years" in Photografics was influenced by medium Telezoom, switched to Digital several Years ago i
noticed the normal Focal Range becomes much more interesting for me ( because i am getting old ? :'( )

So i become a new Owner of an 100-400 II - to feel a bit younger 8) .

All my Lenses have there Usage - depending of what i want to catch on my Sensor.

Greetings

Bernd


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## Dick (Jul 22, 2015)

Quite interesting that zooms seem to be the main lenses for most people. Personally I use my primes the most: these days the 24L2 dominates followed by the 85L2. The only zoom I actually use is the 8-15L fisheye and it is rarely used since I don't want to over use a fisheye or it gets boring. Been traveling for a few weeks now and only the two mentioned primes have been used.


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## JPAZ (Jul 22, 2015)

While this should be easy, over time, trends and equipment changes. For example, change to FF in 2012 and subsequent changes in my arsenal since then. Also, usage depends on the situation, but here goes:

>24-70 f/2.8 ii (replaced the 24-105 which replaced the 15-85 which replaced the 17-85) : 50 %
>70-200 f/2.8 ii (or the f/4IS when I travel) : 20%
>17-40 (which replaced the 10-22) : 15%


And the rest is a mix of anything with a 300 /2.8, 100-400 (now 100-400 ii), 100 macro, 40 2.8 and 50 1.4


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## photon (Jul 22, 2015)

It would be interesting to me if there was a way to compare most used along with favorite/best shots.

What I mean is say for example your standard zoom is used for 70% of your shots and your 85L is used for 10%...

..what percentages of those numbers would be images you want to sell/showcase/or are just your favorites.

Maybe I only shot 100 images with the 85L, but 80 of them are some of my favorites vs 10,000 shots with a normal zoom and 100 of them are favorites. 

I didn't want to use "keepers" because that doesn't necessarily mean its your stand out work just because it got the job done.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jul 22, 2015)

This is a really good example as to why asking for a lens recommendation without carefully specifying exactly what you need it for, will give so many different answers. We all have our favorite lens based on our usage.


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## nc0b (Jul 22, 2015)

On trips to Easter Island, Machu Picchu & Alaska where I had to keep weight and bulk under control: 24-105mm on 6D & 70-200mm f/4 on 60D. 400mm f/5.6 on 6D for wildlife in that order. Indoor events 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II on 6D.


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## Boromir883 (Jul 23, 2015)

~ 110.000 shots within the last 3 years -statistics look like:

43% EF 70-200/2.8  L IS USM II
27% EF 400/2.8 L IS USM 
14% EF 100-400/4.5-5.6 L IS USM
7% EF 24-105/4 L IS USM
4% EF 85/1.2 L IS USM II
5% Zeiss Planar 50mm/1.2 ; EF 100/2.8 IS USM, EF 16-35/2.8 II ; EF-S 10-22mm


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