Your Realistic 3-5 Lens Collection

maybe you should donate your lunch money too

Hard to believe this is still going.
Shooting Sony now so if it's just 3 lenses
16-35 GM
70-200 GM and a 600 GM (not so realistic....lol)

If I went with the Canon R5
24-70
70-200
100-500

well maybe this thread is finally dead

I can't believe this goes all the way back to 2005... 15 years!

I'll update mine. Since I have the RF 15-35 and the RF 50 1.2 now, I would say a RF 135 that should be coming out sometime next year would complete my ideal 3 lenses.

Obviously there's still a bit of a 'hole' from 35mm to 100mm... lens collections abhor a vacuum, right?

Finally I just had to plug that focal-length gap, so grabbed a used 18-135mm off evilBay which is indeed a nice cheap walk-around for landscapes and sunsets etc.

• Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM
  
• Canon EF 35mm f/2.0 IS USM
  
• Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Nano-USM
  
• Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L II USM

15-30
24-70
70-200
100-400
+1.4x TC

16-35L f4
24-105 f4
100-400 v2
500/4
100mm IS macro

I’m assuming teleconverters could be added and not count as my five.

Currently own
Tamron SP 35 1.4
24-70 2.8L II
70-200 2.8L IS II

Would like to own
16-35 2.8L III

Might just settle with a manual Rokinon SP 14mm f/2.4 for a fraction of the price.

I may have posted here back in the day, but will update.

Right now it would be thus:
500/4
24-70/2.8
135/2

The 85/1.2 ii really should be there, based solely on IQ, but I find 85 a strange focal length. It is either too close or not close enough, if that makes sense.

I shoot primarily with the Sony a7riii and my lens collection includes, with some af adapters:

Nikon 200mm f2
Pentax 645 FA 120mm f4 macro
Sigma 105mm f1.4
Canon 85mm f1.2
TTArtisons 50mm f0.95
Sigma 35mm f1.4

My 2021 version for Canon 5DS-R and 90D cameras includes (all Canons)

16-35mm f/2.8 L III
24-70mm f/2.8 L II
70-200mm f/2.8 L III
100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L II
1.4x extender

plus

Samyang 8mm f/3.5
Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM
Canon 85mm f/1.8

When I was using Sony I had the worst G.A.S so now I’m back using Canon I’m only Im trying to control it and going for this setup:

Currently Own
RF 35mm f/1.8 - General lens for most uses
RF 85mm f/2 - portraits, product and still life

Ordered
Tamron 100-400mm - wildlife and cityscapes/landscapes

Planning
Samyang AF 14mm f/2.8 - Wide travel/cityscape lens when 35mm is too tight

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 50mm f / 1.8 STM
Canon 85mm f / 1.8 STM
Canon 135mmL
Canon 24-105L
can't decide between Sigma 35mm art or 50mm art

MatthewK wrote in post #19077369
I posted this in 2017, and I still believe that this is a spectacular, realistic, do-everything line up. Yet, all of that gear is long gone, replaced with smaller + lighter equipment from Fuji and Nikon. I'm more specialized now too, so I rarely shoot with zooms anymore.

Fuji 16 f/1.4
Fuji 35 f/1.4
Fuji 18-55 or 16-80
Fuji X100V
Nikon 500mm f/5.6 PF

Realistically, I would be perfectly content with just the X100V and Nikon D500 + 500PF, as these two have me covered for pretty much everything I generally want to do (family/travel/birds). The X100V has a built in digital TC for 50 and 70mm of reach when I need it, but there's an IQ hit for that, so I only use it in a pinch.

The Fuji 16 f/1.4 is a "swiss army knife" kind of lens, it's a fantastic and fun to shoot with, especially comes in handy for capturing closeup shots of my family indoors. The IQ is exquisite and the minimum focusing distance is almost macro, which is a huge plus for me.

The Fuji 35 f/1.4 has taken the place of my beloved 50L. These are "character" lenses, I have them for their look, and both of these optics are so fun to use.

I actually don't have the 18-55 or 16-80 now, but I eventually will acquire one once we start traveling again.

My yearly check in, and I'm happy to report that all around, my gear collection has drastically been reduced. Since last June, here's where my refined 3-5 lens collection:

Fuji 16 f/1.4
Fuji 35 f/1.4
Fuji X100V
Nikon 500mm f/5.6 PF

(Non lens: downsized my X-T3 in exchange for the diminutive X-E4)

No more zooms, I'm a prime guy from here on out. Used the 16-80 zoom one time over the past year on a trip to Sedona, but otherwise the lens sat for an entire year, so I passed it on. The Fuji trio of lenses (24/35/50mm FF equivalents) have captured awesome family photos, they especially delivered (no pun intended) for the birth of my second daughter this past fall, and continue to help document our day to day as the girls grow. The 500PF continues to defy all sirens calls for switching to a ML setup, as it just has no peer in any system currently, and the Nikon Z-series AF leaves a bit to be desired.

See you all next year