Stop Buying The Trinity. These Lenses May Be Better!

Hi, this is Jay P. Morgan. Stop buying that trinity and consider an option that might be not that much more expensive, more creative and perfect for you. Let’s get started and see what we can do.

So is there a great alternate to the trinity? I believe there is, and one you might want to consider. The trinity has been a standard for so long. It gives you three lenses that overlap or butt up against each other that give you a view. Tamron’s view goes all the way from 15mm to 200mm in EF versions. Every manufacturer is going to be slightly different. But the trinity gives you zoom lenses that start with a wider end lens, to a 24-70mm type lens in the middle, to a 70-200mm on the end. The disadvantage of this group of lenses is that they’re all f/2.8, which means for boca and throwing things out of focus and for low light situations they’re a little slow. And they aren’t necessarily the perfect lenses for those situations. And they’re heavy. They’re big lenses you have to carry with you all the time.

Here’s an alternate you might want to consider to the trinity and why I think it’s important. These four lenses, it starts with a 70-200mm which is a beautiful lens. I shoot products on the street with it, full body to tight shots. It gives you a lot of options. Which is a beautiful lens. They’re sharp. It’s a great place to start.

But then I go to a 50mm. Not just a 50mm, but a 50mm f/1.2. With that f/1.2 it gives you like 2 or 2 1/2 stops shallower depth of field. It’s better in low light situations. And a great lens to shoot landscapes with. Believe it or not, I shoot and stitch landscapes together with this all of the time.

It’s a great view. It gives you a flat perspective of your landscape without distorting the edges. It just gives you a beautiful look. So I use that all the time. I use it for portraits. You can get in tight. That little, shallow depth of field lets everything fall out of focus in the background.

Then I go to the 85mm. The 85mm is just a wonderful lens because as everyone knows it gives you beautiful imagery for people. The focus falls out in the background. But it’s not an 85mm as in f/2.8. It’s an 85mm f/1.8 or f/1.4. It depends on the one you buy. That gives you a shallower depth of field when you do those portraits and lets the background fall out of focus. And it is better in low light.

And last of all, a 24mm. You need something wider to be able to see in the city, to be able to see buildings and architecture. Is it as wide as this side of the trinity? No, there are some disadvantages here. And there are some disadvantages here. The disadvantage in this set is you don’t get as wide as a 15mm. But you do get a wide 24mm, a great 85mm, a beautiful 50mm and a 70-200mm.

You’re probably thinking to yourself, well these four lenses have to be way more expensive than these three lenses. Actually, they’re not. If you just look at Canon primes and this one zoom lens, the canon prices for their high-end lenses, these are only six hundred dollars less than these four. If you mix in Tamron you’ve got a huge difference here as far as the cost of these. But that’s a whole other story. So you’re looking at a trinity of about $6197 and this the JayPinity for $6646.

(**List Correction – should be EF Lenses: Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM Lens $1599 – https://bhpho.to/3MjaPsU Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM Lens $1399 – https://bhpho.to/3GYgORn)

But what you get with this is wonderful, shallow depth of field, great low light capability and sharper images. We all know that primes are slightly sharper than zooms. It’s just a physics thing. It doesn’t have anything to do with the manufacturer. It doesn’t have anything to do with any of that. It’s just a physics thing.

So is there a place for the trinity? Yes, this might be your approach. You might do a lot of event kinds of things. You’re changing your focal length all the time and this kind of a fixed focal length doesn’t work for you. The trinity works great and f/2.8 is plenty of light for you. But even a lot of event photographers are going to a shallower depth of field and a little faster lens because they need more light in those situations. So there is a real strong reason you should look at this set of lenses. These four lenses really give you a great range that allow you to conquer most problems you’re going to be facing and overcome them with a faster lens, better in low light and a little sharper.

So you’ve got to decide which direction would you go? If I’m buying the trinity I start with a 24-70mm. It’s a great lens. It gives me great capabilities and just is a great walk around lens. It’s a really standard walk around lens. Then I would go to the 70-200mm. And the last one I’d get is the wide, that 15-30mm or 16-35mm. That would be the approach. That’s the direct, that’s the order I would buy those in.

If I was going to buy these four lenses this is the order I’d buy them in. I’d start with a 50mm lens because it’s just so easy to shoot products, people and landscapes. It’s just a great overall lens. And at f/1.2 it gives you the capability to get really shallow depth of field. It is a great place to start. Then I go to 70-200mm because I just think the 70-200mm looks absolutely beautiful when you shoot it outside with people. When you shoot it in any kind of a situation where you’re shooting people I think the 70-200mm looks excellent. It can be great for landscapes as well as you stack up the perspective, as you collapse that perspective in the distance. Then I would definitely go to the 24mm. And then the last one I’d add is the 85mm. So that’s the order I’d buy it in. Right there, the order I’d buy this one in would be just like this. It’s like I’m playing a shell game.

All right, so there’s a look at the trinity versus the JayPinity. I learned a lot looking at this and thinking about how I shoot and what I really enjoy. And I have gravitated more and more and more to prime lenses over my career. I still use the trinity. I still use zoom lenses. It’s not that I don’t. I really truly do. But in the end, the reality is you choose something that’s going to work for you and then you go out and make great images. And you can buy lenses all day long. You can talk lenses all day long. But until you get out and shoot, these lenses are not going to do anything for you. You got to get out there and make something happen.

So leave some comments below. We want to hear exactly what you think about this new thought for a replacement of the trinity. Does it work? Does it not? Let’s hear about it. So keep those cameras rollin’ keep on clickin’!

I truly believe that music picks you, you don’t pick to be a musician. Music will find the people that they want to represent them. And once you get the bug there’s nothing you can do about it. If I were to be born today I think, given the opportunity. I’ll do music again. It’s been so fulfilling and rewarding. And people come and shake your hand and girls, “Like, man I was having a bad day. You guys really…” Just that’s when you realize you’re only a vessel. It’s coming from somewhere else. You’re being used to bring peace, healing, whatever it is that that person or those people may need at the moment. And then we go back to being regular knuckleheads going through life. But that’s what music does. I’m Oskar, I’m a musician. And when I go around the world my traveling partner is SKB cases.