Wedding lens advice?

Dubn83

Dubn83

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David
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Hey guys, I'm sure there's been loads of threads like this bit can't find what I want in the search.

I've been asked by my mate to do the before the big day pics ie; bride gettin ready ect. And snap of the family in the evening (out of the way of the payed photographer of course).

Current kit consists of, D3100, kit lens (witch I'm planing to swap for a tamron 17-50 or sigma 24-80 both f2.8 ), 70-300, sigma 10-20, nikon 50 1.4 & sb400/diffuser.
Do u guys think I've got the bases cover with one of the 2 lens I'm lookin to replace the kit lens with plus my 50? Or would a 85mm 1.8 come in handy, u know let me stand back a bit and let people be more natural?

Any advice welcome, thanks Dave
 
I photograph weddings on my crop sensor D7000.

My most used lens for bridal prep is the 35mm 1.8. Can be had for £100 on here.

I often shoot wide open (or near enough) with it and found the 50mm prime too long.
 
Dubn83 said:
Ok would the tamron 17-50 or sigma 24-70 not b ok for this? Or step bk with my 50 where possible?

And how about at the meal/evening do?
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There's no real right or wrong rule which is prob why people get frustrated seeing these threads cropping up.

You could use the Tamron or sigma, I have the Nikon 17-55 but I love the feel of the 35mm and the extra couple of stops to 1.8 is a massive help. I found if I use a zoom lens for prep I got lazy and my composition suffered so the prime made me think and I created better images.

For speeches etc it all depends on the size, available light, setup of the room so each wedding is different.

The same can be said for the evening do although a zoom lens is a must for me. You won't be shooting with much available light so will almost certainly be flash (either on or off camera) so 1.8 isn't essential and you'll want full body shots so wider than 35mm even will be needed.

I used to ask similar questions when I started out but you need to answer them yourself with experience and preference. Pop down to the venue and have a play, you'll soon get a feel for it.
 
Cheers for the reply, im sure ill get some decent pics but as it only happens once and dont have a load of time to waste (wouldnt want to make the bride late!) I wanted to see if the more experienced guys on here would use any of the kit I had or was looking at gettin b4 I go for this.
Plus any tips of course ;)
 
Balls out honest - what I'd use, or how I'd use it, is no use whatsoever to you.

The worlds best wedding photographers don't:

Use the same gear
Shoot the same stuff
Agree about fundamental photography stuff

Use what you know, shoot what you feel. Otherwise I might as well give you a list of gear and a storyboard to shoot and you will produce a set of boring photo's.

Of course there are some fundamental photography principals underlying the above:

Will light be restricted, no flash options, need fast glass.

How is your fill flash / dragging the shutter technique, practice that till you can balance it however you need at the flick of a switch.

But still most of all, you need to know what you're doing, there's not much chance for retakes, understand your gear and work to your strengths. The instant someone feels you need help and starts to pose / organise stuff for you, you're screwed. they don't see light and shadows the way we do.
 
Personally I wouldn't go with the 24-80 on a crop sensor, it's a nice lens on full frame but I'd miss the wider end. Bridal prep is often in fairly confined spaces, small rooms with a crowd of people, I like the option of a wider zoom in places like that, I know you have the 10-20 but you don't want to be swopping lens all the time if you can avoid it.
 
The sigma 24-70 isn't just for the wedding it's goin to be my kits lens replacement/new walk around lens. And there will only b the bride, brides mum, sister & best mate in the house and they've said I can get there at 6am (even tho the wedding isn't till 12ish) so loads of time and I've got a second body (d3000) I can borrow off another mate goin to the wedding so lens changing wont happen a lot.
 
Dubn83 said:
The sigma 24-70 isn't just for the wedding it's goin to be my kits lens replacement/new walk around lens. And there will only b the bride, brides mum, sister & best mate in the house and they've said I can get there at 6am (even tho the wedding isn't till 12ish) so loads of time and I've got a second body (d3000) I can borrow off another mate goin to the wedding so lens changing wont happen a lot.
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Think what has been said is the 24-70 will be too long on the crop body.

I had the Tamron 17-50 non VC and loved it, only upgraded to the Nikon for build quality.
 
Dubn83 said:
A lot of people have said that but I want more reach, and there dosnt seem to b much choice other than the sigma.
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Take your kit lens at put it at 24mm and put tape over the barrel to keep it there.

Take some shots inside and out and see whether you'd prefer wider.
 
Dubn83 said:
The sigma 24-70 isn't just for the wedding it's goin to be my kits lens replacement/new walk around lens. And there will only b the bride, brides mum, sister & best mate in the house and they've said I can get there at 6am (even tho the wedding isn't till 12ish) so loads of time and I've got a second body (d3000) I can borrow off another mate goin to the wedding so lens changing wont happen a lot.
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We have a Canon 17-55 and a Sigma 24-70, whilst i would love to have the length to 70 sometimes, so Nic gets frustrated with having nothing wider than 24:shrug:

There isn't a 17-70 2.8, it's your choice - wider or longer :shrug:
 
If this is only for a one off mates wedding then invest in the equipment you will want for future photography. Don't buy stuff for the wedding alone. Your mate will understand and as you say there is a pro there for most of the stuff in any case.
 
Dubn83 said:
Well with my lens looking like this with the kit lens taken out; 10-20, 50, - , 70-300. The 24-70 fits in nicely and only leaves a gap between 20 & 24.
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I have said this to people before, but building a lens collection around numbers is bulls*** that's not how we use them.

We should build lens collections based on how we use them. Having said that, it I often use the UWA zoom on one body and the std zoom on another, where the 24-70 would be playing to its strengths But for bridal prep, the 17-55 and nifty are a perfect combo. (for me)

There are plenty of people who use a 24-70 std zoom on crop, It's horses for courses, the only thing that bothers me is when people feel they need the wisdom of the hive mind to tell them it's ok to do, and people who build a lens collection on crop 'that'll still work on FF' :nuts:
 
Thanks for ur views guys, but I had decided to upgrade my kit lens b4 my mate asked me to do the wedding stuff as when ever i take off the 50 1.4 and switch to the kit lens i almost always need a flash (i shoot at nite most of the time due to work). and had picked either the sigma 17-70 2.8-4 or 24-70 2.8 as my lens of choice for the extra reach b4 I asked on here and got told by the majority that it wasn't worth it and I should get the tamron 17-50 non VC.
 
Nikon used to do an 18-135mm which wasn't a bad lens, and a good range.
 
I'd say I have to agree with Phil V. There's no point in anyone telling you what they'd use to get a certain style that they like. The 85mm might let you stand back a bit and help people feel less uncomfortable, but I expect your presence will still be noticed and there will still be an effect where people are aware of you.

I think if capturing people acting naturally is your aim then building rapport with your subjects is your best tactic. This will also help you appear more comfortable and in control. Concentrate on rapport to start with and focus on the pictures once your subject is comfortable with you. If there's one person that you're really clicking with, use that relationship to help other people feel comfortable.

In the end, it's better to get a hundred quality images than a thousand where the subject in each one looks like they've just sat on a drawing pin. You know the groom by the sounds of things so I'd leverage that with the guests if you can.
 
I use the tamron 17-50 2.8 and its superb, we also have 50mm 1.8 and a 50mm 1.4 both of which we barely use on the short end of the scale.

We have a 70-200 sigma but I am wanting a canon 70-200 also.

But as above, the venue dictates the length at what we need, it also dictates the different positions that Iain and I shall be to cover different shots through the proceedings, mainly I shoot closer with the 17-50 and Iain further on the 200
 
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