For many photographers, the “lens trinity” is a necessary evil. We’re taught that when we’re first starting out as a photographer — whether we’re shooting events, weddings, portraits or other subjects — that having a wide-angle, standard and telephoto zoom lens is necessary for our bag.
I’m guilty of this myself, as these were the first three lenses I purchased when I got into photography. With each system change, I continued to buy them. And rightfully so — I used them a ton. They helped me develop my event skillset.
But with Tamron’s recent 35-150mm f/2-2.8 lens for Sony E-mount, it has me questioning: Is it time to be done with the idea of having a lens trinity?
What’s the lens trinity?
The lens trinity is traditionally what photographers call the combination of wide, standard and telephoto zoom lenses. It’s usually something like a 14-24mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm.
This group of lenses let photographers — specifically those that photograph events — capture all of the different angles of a scene. You could get a wide view of a room, with all the attendees. You could take group photographs easily. And then you could capture speakers from afar.
These lenses also usually have a maximum aperture of f/2.8, making them great in low-light situations.
Downsides to the trinity
The most common thing you’ll hear from photographers about the trinity is that it’s simply boring. It doesn’t provide a creative, artistic view. It captures the scene in front of you well, but if you want to do anything beyond that … well, you might need to pick up something with a bit more character.
This led photographers to picking up something like a 50mm f/1.4 prime lens, which allowed for greater background separation.
The other downside is that you either constantly have to switch back and forth between lenses, or you need to carry multiple camera bodies. With a fast-moving event, switching lenses isn’t realistic. But at an 8-hour event, having two cameras slinging over your shoulders isn’t exactly comfortable, either.
Enter the Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 lens
While I originally tested the Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 back in December 2021, I recently had a chance to check it out again. I used this lens constantly, for everything from events to landscapes and everything in-between.
I was initially a bit concerned as to whether I would miss any of my focal range from the standard and telephoto lenses I’m used to using. Up until recently, I had used the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 G2 lens, along with the Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8. Mainly, I was concerned I would “miss” those extra 30mm on the telephoto end of things.
I quickly realized that I could get away with not having that extra 30mm. Having a 32-megapixel sensor in the Sony a7 IV meant I could easily crop in on my subjects without any major loss of detail. The sharpness of the lens was simply profound, and the depth of field? Stunning, especially for a zoom lens. It also provided me with a bit more freedom while post-processing, and allowed me to look at the overall scene more.
While the 35-150mm obviously won’t fill the need for a wide-angle zoom lens, it has the potential to fill the need for the other two lenses of the trinity.
Other things to keep in mind
Outside of focal range, I did have a few other minor concerns. The main one being whether or not I could use a heavier lens for a long event without getting any fatigue. After all, the Tamron 35-150mm is quite a bit heavier than the 28-75mm and 70-180mm.
While I found myself initially building up a callus on one of my fingers, this went away after using the lens for a couple photoshoots. It became more comfortable to hold, and I learned how to use it with more weight coming from my left hand (which went under the lens) as opposed to my right hand doing the lifting. I didn’t have to think about this — it came naturally after a short period.
The other thing I learned was that for some group shots, I had to step back just a bit further than I would have with my 28-75mm. This was by no means a deal-breaker, and it actually helped me better compose my shot because I wasn’t so close up physically.
It’s time for the trinity to give way to a new breed of lenses
I remember when Tamron first introduced its 15-30mm f/2.8 wide-angle for DSLR cameras. I considered this to be a truly groundbreaking lens. I think the same way of Tamron’s latest 35-150mm f/2-2.8 lens. There’s nothing else like it. And in a world where mirrorless lenses often have a hard time pushing boundaries … it’s nice to see something fresh with picture quality that is second to none.
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No, its not the end if trinity, especially when you are professional. You cannot count and put all on one lense, go to the weddings and realise that lense stopped working.
I agree, you need more than one lens. My argument here is that I wouldn’t take just one lens … but I’d replace two of the three trinity lenses with this one. I’d still have a prime or two, and maybe an all-in-one zoom like the Tamron 28-200.
For me, having a lens like the 35-150 means I don’t need to constantly switch lenses back and forth, or have two bodies on me all the time.
I primarily shoot with prime lenses. I like having a nice selection of lenses with me but could probably shoot 90% plus of most weddings with just a 35mm and 85mm. I think this lens is pretty intriguing though, nice piece!
It’s definitely an interesting idea. Unfortunately, other mounts like MFT don’t have that option, at least yet, though Panasonic has released some interesting lenses lately. I would add one thought here, this is mostly centered on event photography where that focal length is a fairly large percent of the shooting. But other genres such as sports and wildlife that lens isn’t going to replace a 70-200 f/2.8, particularly if it can’t take a teleconverter. There is some argument that could be made that the 35-150 teamed with a 100-400 could however make a nice complement for sports and wildlife, granted… Read more »
There is the Olympus 12-100 f/4. Not quite as fast, but covers a wider focal range. I love mine.
The first thing I was taught in photography is to hold the lens and have all the weight in the left hand. Now I know why. My dad was preparing me for the Tamron 35 – 150 f2.8.
The problem is unless you are an event /Wedding photographer the lens trinity is not a good choice of lenses. For a keen hobbyist graduating from kit lenses, Get slower wide angle for hiking/ landscape a 2.8 100m macro and a long 500mm+ Tele for wildlife forgey the 2.8 trinity.
Pretty good, except that the older Tam15-30/2.8 was really just a version of the “classic” range 16-35, usually available in both 2.8 & lightweight f/4 versions.
What about Canon and Nikon? Is this lens strictly for Sony?
It’s strictly for Sony. Tamron doesn’t currently make mirrorless lenses for Canon and Nikon.
If you use an adapter you can use EF glass on a Canon mirrorless. So you can use Tamron lenses on Canon bodies.
“The lens trinity is traditionally what photographers call the combination of wide, standard and telephoto zoom lenses.”
Say what? Though sometimes used to talk about zooms, the common is use is regarding 3 primes not zooms.
Informative article.
The problem is that it is still a boring lens as it is slow in most of the boring parts of the focal range. I rather carry a 70-200 2.8 and a couple of fast primes for shorter focal ranges for a wedding or better yet, mostly do it with 2 fast primes on 2 bodies to create more separation when needed.
I consider this a more interesting studio lens than wedding lens
I am nowhere near a professional photographer, and in fact I have only been trying to learn about it for the past 3 or 4 months. I am actually more concerned with learning about video, but I do want to learn more about photography as I think that the knowledge will be invaluable, even while shooting video. Now that I have given my “lack of credentials”, let me l get to my point. As sensors are able to pick up more and more pixels per inch, will they eventually be able to fit so much info so that the screen,… Read more »
You see that in some point and shoot cameras, but that’s a digital zoom. Digital zooms really make image quality suffer. So unless sensor tech makes a huge leap in terms of computation with photographs, I don’t see this happening, especially at a pro level.
Hello there, the problem with such high resolution sensors is that they would require much sharper lenses. Lens resolution is measured in lines per millimeter. If you have 100 pixels by 100 pixels in a 1mm^2 area, but a lens that only resolves 2 lines per mm, then it doesn’t matter that you have more pixels because you won’t get a much sharper image when you crop. I greatly exaggerated the numbers here to make a point. Also, putting phone-sized pixels on a large sensor, will produce mobile phone levels of noise. Try setting the camera in your phone to… Read more »
Tamaron 35-150mm is a good lens but heavy and there is not wide side, like 24 mm.
I prefer Sony 24-105mm f/4 G lens and I can add prime lens (Samyang 24mm f/1.8, Sony 55mm f/1.8, Sony 90mm f/2.8 macro ect.) or 70-200mm f/2.8 or even Minolta reflex AF 500mm f/8.
Said with other words I need light kit of lenses, not heavy one like this monster weight 1150 grams to stay on camera long day.
Nice write up. Traded my Tamron 28-75mm and 70-180mm for this lens and so far, so good. Freed up my other Sony body for my 17-28mm Tamron or a fast prime. Not for everyone, but was a perfect fit for me.
I’m so obsessed with 24mm GM and the cheaper 85mm 1.8 with a hipster/S&M dual camera strap. Super lightweight and everything I need. I played around with that lens when Tamron came to town. It’s cool like Canon’s 28-70mm 2.0, but shares the same goofy size/weight. No thanks.
The lens trinity is a dumb idea anyway. Your lenses should overlap. The nature of building telephoto zoom lenses is such that they all stink zoomed in to max. So if you go with the trinity idea, you will have these soft-focus sections around 70 and 200, the upper limits of the larger zoom lenses. It’s not such an issue with the 24. And depending on the lens, the mediocre/poor performance envelop could be rather wide near the limit, such a between 150 and 200 on a 70-200 lens. If it’s a Sigma it might stink between 100 and 200… Read more »