I'm an amateur photographer whose son just recently got married. I brought my camera (a new 6D) to the wedding and reception and took pictures, carefully trying not to interfere with the professional photographing the events. While I was pleased with many of my photos, my biggest mistake was bringing only one lens, a 50mm f1.4. I woefully lacked sufficient depth of field in several shots (even with flash and ISO 3200) as both venues were dimly lit and the reception venue was extremely tight and crowded. Since I'm mainly an outdoor/nature photographer, I'm curious what you wedding pros consider your best and most reliable lenses to use at events with similar shooting conditions to what I mentioned. Thanks!
Question for Wedding Professionals
- Thread starter RiceCanon
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24-70 f2.8, far and away the most versatile event shooting lens. There is only one lens I could shoot an entire wedding/event with and that is a 24-70 f2.8. If there isn't enough light you need to bring enough of your own to make it work.
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RiceCanon said:
Applying fast primes at a wedding needs a lot of compositional skill and experiance. Space and light are often limited and one has to act fast and make quick shooting desicions. Often one needs to go longer or wider than 50mm to work in the space provided. Thin depth of field works best when you have control over a group and can arrange a flat plane of focus. Either that or selective focus is needed. Perserverence and experiance are needed by the bucket load....so don't expect to glean all of your photographic answers in one shoot. I've been shooting pro weddings for 8 years, last year I shot 30+ weddings and at each wedding I still learnt something.
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I have to admit, I had a bunch of different mid level lens when I started, but after my kit was stolen I took the plunge and got a 70-200 2.8 and a 24-70 2.8 II......wow what a difference.
And the 24-70 almost never comes off my body (5d3) now too!
And the 24-70 almost never comes off my body (5d3) now too!
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Unless you manually set the aperture of the lens, in low light the camera will choose the maximum aperture, or nearly so. The depth of field is very shallow with 50mm F1.4, and one can only focus correctly such a person. To focus on more than one person with 50mm F2.8 or F4 is needed, and if the light is weak, there is no way to avoid using flash.
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I'm not a wedding shooter, but I have shot weddings...RiceCanon said:
Step 1: (already done) Go Full frame.... You are going to have poor or challenging light so you need all the help you can get. Your 6D will beat any crop camera in poor light.
Step 2: Get a good flash... Go straight to the 600.... for the difference in price it's not worth considering lesser options. Light is your friend....
Step 3: Get a 28-70. This lens is as sharp as a lot of primes, even sharper than many... and you are not going to waste time changing lenses.
You could shoot the entire wedding with that setup. If you have space, throw in an ultra-wide and a 70-200... If you are not doing ring shots you can forget hauling a macro lens around with you...
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I started weddings with the 24-70 2.8 and 70-200 2.8. I've since added the 35mm 1.4 and the 85mm 1.8. I shoot with two bodies with a 3rd for backup, all FF. Each body has a speed light with a radio attached to trigger my AB Einstein.
I use the zooms for reliability/versatility and incorporate the primes for creativity. I prefer using the primes, but there are always circumstances that require the quick response of the zooms (ie staying out of the way during ceremony, speeches etc or diving into the crowd on the dance floor).
For group shots I never open up further than F4 and will try to get as much DOF as possible.
Lighting wise, more often than not venues require additional light beyond just high ISO, wide apertures, and on camera flash...hence the extra strobe as a room light. It still requires a lot of attention and adjustment throughout the event. There is no "set it and forget it" situation unfortunately.
It's part of why I enjoy weddings. They are fast paced challenging situations that are always pushing me to squeeze the best out of the situation. There are still plenty of times that have me cursing under my breath, but I keep coming back for the times I really hit it under those tough circumstances. It's a bit of a rush....but it ain't easy.
I use the zooms for reliability/versatility and incorporate the primes for creativity. I prefer using the primes, but there are always circumstances that require the quick response of the zooms (ie staying out of the way during ceremony, speeches etc or diving into the crowd on the dance floor).
For group shots I never open up further than F4 and will try to get as much DOF as possible.
Lighting wise, more often than not venues require additional light beyond just high ISO, wide apertures, and on camera flash...hence the extra strobe as a room light. It still requires a lot of attention and adjustment throughout the event. There is no "set it and forget it" situation unfortunately.
It's part of why I enjoy weddings. They are fast paced challenging situations that are always pushing me to squeeze the best out of the situation. There are still plenty of times that have me cursing under my breath, but I keep coming back for the times I really hit it under those tough circumstances. It's a bit of a rush....but it ain't easy.
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To get more dof in your shots you might be better off using a 35mm lens. The 35 IS is a really good option for low light. Otherwise you could also use a monopod to stabilize your camera.
Choose an ISO limit and work around it. For weddings you'll not want to go much higher than 3200. With the 6D you could prob push it a bit more but additional lighting is the way to go if you want to retain a high quality look. You might want to keep one flash on camera for bounce and fill shots. Get creative with another flash off camera as an accent light / backlight. This is where you start to realize that you need an assistant. You can't be composing a shot and setting up the lighting at the same time. Weddings are hectic and you need a flexible set up.
If you're not the main shooter you could get by with just 6D + 24-70 + flash.
Choose an ISO limit and work around it. For weddings you'll not want to go much higher than 3200. With the 6D you could prob push it a bit more but additional lighting is the way to go if you want to retain a high quality look. You might want to keep one flash on camera for bounce and fill shots. Get creative with another flash off camera as an accent light / backlight. This is where you start to realize that you need an assistant. You can't be composing a shot and setting up the lighting at the same time. Weddings are hectic and you need a flexible set up.
If you're not the main shooter you could get by with just 6D + 24-70 + flash.
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Zv said:
What he said. Stick a flash on a stand preferably with wireless control (so you can adjust power remotely), but if $ is an issue any flash on slave mode will work. Have it positioned as a cross/backlight. Then put a 2nd flash ontop of your 6D, aimed at a 45 degree angle w/ its bounce card pulled out (or a note card rubberbanded to it). It'll add fill to the room and a catch light in the eyes. It'll take some familiarity with flash on your part to get exposure right, but bada bing bada boom, you now know a basic reception setup.
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