If you could get any 3 lens, what would they be and why?

[ph0toe]

A lot of people say the trinity lens comprising of wide angle, medium and telephoto.

Will 3 expensive lens be enough to cover all of your needs? explain. I'm genuinely curious to hear

 

[Derrel]

My vote would be in Nikon a 24 to 70mm 2.8 afs, the newest 70-200 F / 2.8 zoom lens, and a lens that I sold off a couple years ago, the 200mm F2 with vibration reduction and two telephoto converters, the 1.4 X and the 1.7 x.

 

[dxqcanada1]

Yes.
As an APS-C user, I have both a high IQ wide angle zoom (16-50mm f/2.8) and long focal length zoom (70-400mm) ... the third lens would be, for me, a 150mm macro f/2.8.
For me, this covers everything I shoot ... though I do have a number of other lenses I can't seem to want to get rid of ... but those three are my primary.

 

[dxqcanada1]

@ph0toe ... what's your reply to your own question?

 

[jaomul]

My vote would be in Nikon a 24 to 70mm 2.8 afs, the newest 70-200 F / 2.8 zoom lens, and a lens that I sold off a couple years ago, the 200mm F2 with vibration reduction and two telephoto converters, the 1.4 X and the 1.7 x.

Have you had a change of heart on f2.8 zooms?

 

[jaomul]

For me I'd say a 70-200 f2.8 that has stability for Nikon, maybe that siggy 135mm f1.8 and the Nikon 300mm f4 freznel type light one

 

[Original katomi]

Hi yes your 1st post is my lens list when going on holiday and limited on what camera kit I can take
This lenses change with time but it’s much the same each year wide med far
The current list is sigma 10 20
Canon EFS 17 85 and canon 70 200 f4 non is l series with the option of a 2 times l series extender
I use a crop sensor canon so the sigma gives me the wide
Without to much distortion, the 17 85 is a nice walk about
And 70 200 gives me the reach

 

[petrochemist115 140]

I can't cover all my uses in 10 lenses let alone just 3!

Given the chance to add 3 lenses to my current selection (without having to find the cash or track down a copy)
I might select:
the Canon MPE-65 or perhaps the Laowa 24mm/14 probe lens, (very different extreme macro options)
the Coastal optics 60mm f4 UV-VIS-IR APO macro (a UV lens with very little focus shift)
and round it off with a large format wide angle or (very different) a Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS

Even here adding specialist options to my existing hoard I've gone over the allowance of 3 lens roles!

I regularly shoot: IR, extreme telephoto, extremely low light, fisheye, macro... in addition to the typical roles a trinity might cover.

The IR shots might be OK with the trinity lenses but many top line modern lenses have hotspot issues, while cheaper or legacy lenses are generally usable.
Reflected UV is something I've tried but not yet got reasonable results with, it definitely needs a specialist lens.

 

[RVT1K]

Only three??!!

My Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 is my best and favorite. But I have to say the the 18-105mm kit lens that came with my D7000 would be one of the three. If I had to stick with only three, I think I would also include my ProOptic

 

[Designer]

A lot of people say the trinity lens comprising of wide angle, medium and telephoto.

Will 3 expensive lens be enough to cover all of your needs? explain. I'm genuinely curious to hear

Interesting question.

Here is a limited selection from my wish list:

I still need a wide angle, such as the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 20mm f/1.8G.

I would like to get a Nikon Nikkor 105mm f/1.8 Ai-S for portraiture.

Then, I would take the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR. for those long shots. My longest lens now is 300mm.

My wish list does not include any of the so-called "trinity" of zooms. In fact; only one zoom; the 200-500. I already own two zooms, and that seems to be enough for now.

 

[Derrel]

My vote would be in Nikon a 24 to 70mm 2.8 afs, the newest 70-200 F / 2.8 zoom lens, and a lens that I sold off a couple years ago, the 200mm F2 with vibration reduction and two telephoto converters, the 1.4 X and the 1.7 x.

Have you had a change of heart on f2.8 zooms?

Well if I were limited to just three lenses my three choices would be the three I listed. I cannot imagine being limited to just three lenses, so I would pick 2 lenses that cover my most used focal lengths, with both of them being zoom lenses and the 200 F2 which doubles as an extraordinary portrait lens and with the converters gives me a choice of three different focal lengths all with a wide maximum aperture value. If I were to buy just one big Glass lens it would be the 200 mm, which with the 1.4 X converter installed is extremely close in performance to a 300 mm f / 2.8.

 

[ph0toe]

@ph0toe ... what's your reply to your own question?

For me, it'll be the
canon 70-200 f/2.8 L Is 3 usm lens
canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L 3 usm lens
canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L 2 usm lens

 

[Designer]

I don't think the OP meant that we would be limited to only three lenses.

The thread title is; "If you could get any three lenses, what would they be, and why?"

I included my reasons in editing my post.

 

[ronlane]

The trinity would not be enough for my work.

Now to answer your question, I would get the following three lenses.

1) 400mm f/2.8 L (newest version) - for sports this is practically a must have (at least have a 300mm f/2.8).
2) 70-200mm f/2.8 L version III - for portrait work and for a second camera body for sports.
3) 24-70mm f/2.8 - for portraits and general use, this is a great walk around lens.

 

[jcdeboever]

18-55, 55-200, 300