Wedding Photography Lens

Pictures will be taken at both the church and the reception. Also, there will be both directed poses and photojournalism. Thanks.

There is really no way to encapsulate everything you would need for a wedding with only one lens. No two weddings are really the same, so your needs will differ, but one thing is for certain is that you will need a backup of everything, especially if you're the main photographer for the event. Anything that could go wrong may actually go wrong at your event.

For fixed pose portraits, I generally use a prime lens. I use the 50mm f/1.8 lens ($80) and the 85mm f/1.8 lens ($340). These lenses give you the capability to really blur out the background with beautiful bokeh and generally sharp image quality. If you want another step up from the 50 1.8, you can consider the 50 1.4 ($310) or even the 1.2 ($1400). Another step up from the 85 would be the 85mm f1.2 ($1600). You really need a fast prime lens for those low-light situations at the church and the reception.

For zoom lenses, basically, the faster you can go, the better. For a mid range lens, the favored lenses seem to be the 24-70 f/2.8 as fhotace said, or the 24-105 f/4 IS lens. You need something that can capture well in low light, sometimes without flash. If you can't get that close to the altar during the ceremony, you might need a lens like the 70-200 f/2.8 as well. None of these are cheap- they all run at >=$1100.

Besides lenses, you also need flashes and other lighting equipment for things like posed photography. I have two Canon 580EX II flashes with battery packs. You may also need to invest in some studio strobes from a company like Alien Bees.

Basically, if you are going to be the main photographer, you need to make sure you have backups of EVERYTHING. Things from equipment being dropped to inadvertant splashes of champagne can mean the difference between ruined memories and a well-paying job. Make sure you know what's going on before you dive in. I've included a link to a reputable site with good recommendations for wedding photography.

2007-08-27 08:29:46 by Joe

www.DMGPhoto.com Nikon Wedding Photography Camera & Lenses Nikon D700, Nikon D90, Nikon 70-200 f2.8 VR II, Nikon 85mm f1.4, Nikon 135mm f2.0 ...

Well I'm not shooting the wedding. Just shooting the reception and doing formal shots of the bride her family and shooting the party etc. I have an XT and standard lens as well as a 50mm. I was thinking about investing in a 70-300mm lens. Good idea or not? The reception is indoors.

I know its pretty basic but it works for a broke college student.

The EF 50mm f/1.8 "Nifty- Fifty" and EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM are good lenses for those on a tight budget. The 50mm will be your best bet for low-light indoors at the reception but, you may occasionlly find it frames a little tight on your XT. That's not necessarily a problem but, if you aren't already aware of it, a 50mm lens on your camera will be the 35mm/full-frame equivalent of an 80mm, short-telephoto lens. So if you need to do any wider shots, you'll either need some extra stand-off distance or you'll have to accept the tighter frame.

A wider option, albeit more expensive, is the EF 28mm f/1.8. There's also the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 that many people on tight budgets find very useful for candids. Either of these would get you closer to a "normal" focal length on the XT. Downside is that both lenses get mixed reviews and are much more expensive than the 50mm f/1.8.

For what it's worth, all of Canon's 70-300mm lenses are a bit slow and will require flash under many conditions. If you can, spring for the IS USM version, you'll be able to get away with a few extra stops of hand-held speeds/apertures. This won't compensate for a moving subject but it will make up for a good bit of camera shake on your end. Ultimately, at the pro-level, you'd want something with an f/2.8 or faster aperture and bump up the ISO while being careful about noise. Noise is far less of a problem on full-frame cameras but it sounds like it will be a while before you are ready to make that move.

2009-08-06 14:43:31 by Awesome-sauce

Price: $24.99

I'm looking to take the plunge but wanted to get advice about the best recommended lens selection for either camera - any advice is welcome! Thanks!

Depends on your budget.

You will find that your body will depreciate and be worth less money as you use it, but the lenses won't depreciate so much.
Secondly, the lenses tend to keep their quality, they are good for several years, whereas the bodies tend to get better each line that comes out. Heck, look at the 20D compared to the 50D!
Finally, a good lens more than makes up for a cheaper body - you can almost get away with a 450D with a few L series lenses!

Better to get the 50D and better lenses than get the 5D and cheaper lenses. Having worked with crap stock lenses (and mid-range lenses) before and seen the photographs suffer from all sorts of distortion and softness I would recommend the better lenses.

One last tip, prime lenses are cheap but produce very sharp photographs with little distortion.

Ok, one more tip, you might want to take some photography classes first if you haven't taken any yet, getting an awesome camera does not automatically mean you will take great photographs.

2009-07-08 10:48:54 by hcl118

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I appreciate your input Chris. It seems you have neglected to take into consideration the fact that everyone has to start somewhere... including me. If I had thousands to drop on several $1,000.00+ lenses all at once, I would do it in a heartbeat... without your advice. Tool.

The Canon 24-70 F2.8L is the most used.

Other lenses include a 50mm F1.4, a 70-200mm F2.8L, a 100mm F2.8 macro and either a 16-35mm F2.8L or 17-40 F4L wide angle lens. This and a couple of good flashes, brackets and diffusers and you would have a very nice wedding kit. As someone else said you could use an 85mm F1.8 as well.

2009-06-07 15:27:13 by Little L

I always wonder when people ask this kind of question. Maybe you are an extremely skilled and experienced photographer, in which case you should have some idea of the focal lengths and speed you need. Just having a digital SLR does not make a wedding photographer. The industry is overrun with folks who got their dSLR last month and are advertising to shoot weddings next week. The lens is important, but other factors are so much more important.
Hopefully, you are experienced and are not planning on using someone's wedding day as a trial run.

Your Canon Rebel has a crop factor, so you will need a wide angle zoom and a moderate tele zoom at f/2.8, or a selection of primes to cover the same area. Of course, you have a backup camera body and flash. Bracket. Diffusers. Synch cords. Batteries. Several gigs memory. And you shoot RAW. Photoshop. Fast computer. Good luck.

2007-05-15 16:33:59 by goss