Lightroom focal lengths

AndrewSt

AndrewSt

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Having shot a whole wedding with a 24-70 and 85mm I have been looking through the metadata on Lightroom, it makes for quite interesting reading, making me think about the need for the zoom to be honest.

Out of 1786 images 337 were shot on the 85mm and 1449 on the 24-70 (221 at 24mm and 613 at 70mm).

Of those that made the final cut (334) 40 at 24mm, 97 at 70mm and 82 at 85mm

Not sure what my point is here but it is quite interesting, it seems with a zoom I shoot either as wide as possible of at the telephoto end.

What I am thinking is that perhaps a wide lens such as a 24mm prime combined with a 70-200 would be the best combination. Any thoughts?
 
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I will answer the tool question though there is always
the cost factor that I will ignore!

In my bags, there is a great variety of tools. I never dared
ask myself "where should it end?"… but if I can justify one
more in business terms then I get it… its a tool.

I like your thinking process and I would try to extend my
tool box instead of changing them. I your case, still not
considering the cost factor, my suggestion is to simply add
the 70~200 ƒ2.8… logically!
 
The 70-200mm is a very useful lens. I drool after a f/2.8 but have an f/4 and am very happy with it - so is my wallet :) (I've a 24-70mm f/2.8 if I really do need the extra stop.)

Elliott's call on a second camera is a good one - I could never go to a wedding with only one as if it fails (or I drop and break it) then at least there's a backup.
 
So you could do the whole thing with one lens.
If you're a Canon user a 24 -105 f4
If you're a Nikon user a 24-120 f4.
 
Funnily enough I did this exercise a few years ago, event photography, most of my images were taken at 135mm. Interestingly Canon make a 135mm f/2 lens
 
AndrewSt said:
Not sure what my point is here but it is quite interesting, it seems with a zoom I shoot either as wide as possible of at the telephoto end.

What I am thinking is that perhaps a wide lens such as a 24mm prime combined with a 70-200 would be the best combination. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Can't follow your thinking here as you say "with a zoom I shoot either as wide as possible of at the telephoto end". So you are considering ditching it for a different prime and another zoom which you will then 'shoot either as wide as possible of at the telephoto end'. :confused:
 
I would guess that all those 70mm shots could have been taken with the 85 instead.

If you've shot loads of weddings without the need for a 70-200 you've already trained yourself not to need it, buying one wouldn't improve anything.

I'd like to see the final cull, it seems an odd mix to me, but you don't say whether it's crop or FF?
 
Hi Phil, will post a link to the blog once after the couple has them all. I have two camera a FF D750 which had the 24-70 on all the time apart from the bridal portraits when I switched to the 85, the second camera DX D7000 had the 85 on but I hardly used it to be fair. I think you are spot on, the 70mm shots would have been perfect on an 85. I did think about an 35/85 combo but the fact that I shot a lot at the 24 end might be relevent.
 
So the 85 was on a crop which is a significant fact, they're closer to 135

BTW it's quite common to use zooms at the extremes.

My favourite lenses on FF are 35 and 85, the only time I need wider than 35
is for large groups.
How about the Sigma 24-35 f2 art
 
Phil V said:
So the 85 was on a crop which is a significant fact, they're closer to 135

BTW it's quite common to use zooms at the extremes.

My favourite lenses on FF are 35 and 85, the only time I need wider than 35
is for large groups.
How about the Sigma 24-35 f2 art
Click to expand...
Yes, the Sigma 24-35 does look good. The F2 would be nice over the F2.8 of the 24-70.
 
The other thing is:

Whilst those figures give us the majority of what you delivered - there's a significant amount of 'other' shots we haven't got a clue about. You might miss a significant number of shots if you cut down to our advice.
 
Sigma 18-35 on the D7000, 70-200 on the D750.
Due to the number of images taken at 24, 70 and 85mm it seems to me that you are FL limited. I would be hesitant to put too much emphasis on the number of 85mm images... With a prime, you tend to "compromise" position because that's the lens/FL you have. There's no other choice other than stopping and changing camera/lens.
 
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