What wedding lenses - your suggestions/recommendations

stupar said:
Just to update the thread, my order is placed with lensesforhire.
Canon 17-55 f2.8 and Canon 70-200 f2.8 mk1.
Took the 7 days hire so I can have a personal play with them too.

Met with the bride and groom to discuss ideas recently , going to visit the venue in the next couple of weeks, after that just need to wait on the big day.
Click to expand...

How did you get on?
 
Wedding is a week Sunday, so just around the corner now.
 
stupar said:
Wedding is a week Sunday, so just around the corner now.
Click to expand...

I'm doing one the day before - am planning on using my 50mm for the getting ready shots (its the macro version so good for details) 35mm for groups, 70-200 in church as only one shot is allowed during the ceremony from the back of the church and probably my 100mm with bounced/diffused flash for the party. I have my 500D as a back up camera with a spare 430 flash and a 270 if all else fails

Good luck & enjoy it
 
For the wedding I just shot I rented a 24-70 & 70-200 and it made a lovely combo.

In the morning I had my 60mm macro on one of my bodies for detail shots etc... I think I used my 10-24 for the big group shot and my 35mm 1.8 for about 2mins too :LOL:

Having 2 bodies is much easier having 24-200 on hand can pretty much cover everything!

As Jen has said, good luck and enjoy the day!! :D
 
Cheers guys.
My bride and grooms theme for their wedding is the mad hatters tea party.
They have informed me that there will be a lot of quirky things going on.

They also prefer candid shots rather than staged shots so I can see the 70-200 getting used a fair bit.
 
24-70 f2.8 and 70-200 f2.8 on 2 5D bodies. Covers everything except a very large group (when I use 12-24) and lets you work quickly without having to plan too much from shot to shot.
 
stupar said:
Just to update the thread, my order is placed with lensesforhire.
Canon 17-55 f2.8 and Canon 70-200 f2.8 mk1.
Took the 7 days hire so I can have a personal play with them too.
Click to expand...

I can shoot an entire Wedding on just my Nikon variants of those two lenses - so good choice (y)

I tend to have one on each camera so rather than swapping lenses I just swap cameras - simples :D

I hope you enjoy and it

Dave
 
I'm looking forward to it, I just hope the weather holds up for the bride and groom.
They have hire a nice old Citroen car and there is a window of opportunity after the ceremony to go round "Arthurs Seat" (wiki for those who don't know what it is) for photo's.

Will give me a taste of working in a wedding environment too which is always an experience.
 
I will be undertaking a similar task in June.
Even though i am not the designated Photographer i have been asked by my close friend who is getting married to take pics of the other guests enjoying them selves.

I will have the use of all3 of my lenses, unfortunately only 1 body.

On the lens rental... i dont see the advantage of renting a lens, when buying it and selling it would work out the same cost and risk.

If you damage it they charge you, if you insure and you damage it / lose it they charge you the first £150+VAT, if you lose it they charge you and replace the lens.

Also judging by the prices they charge you to rent, i am sure the charges are at least a quarter of the new value of the lens.. doesnt make sense :s
 
ok, I'll fully admit to not reading all the posts above.

Ones I have done with Don Slimbert - I have gone for the 2 bodied approach.... 17-70 on one and 50-150 2.8 on the other.

Easier to swap a camera than it is to faff around with lenses........ mid service...

Also have played with a 50mm 2.8 macro for close up stuff with mixed results.......

Generally, you'll want something relatively wide i.e. up to 17mm or so for group shots and also something with a bit of length for cheeky candids.
 
CrazeUK said:
On the lens rental... i dont see the advantage of renting a lens, when buying it and selling it would work out the same cost and risk.
Click to expand...

At a smidge under £2000 to buy the two lenses I have rented, unless you have that kind of money lying about, then your theory is null and void.

CrazeUK said:
Also judging by the prices they charge you to rent, i am sure the charges are at least a quarter of the new value of the lens.. doesnt make sense
Click to expand...

I have hired my two lenses for 7 days so I will get personal use out of them as well as for the wedding.
I only paid around £160 inc delivery. I wouldn't class that as expensive.
 
Lynton said:
Generally, you'll want something relatively wide i.e. up to 17mm or so for group shots and also something with a bit of length for cheeky candids.
Click to expand...

That's why I chose the two lenses i did.
My bride and groom have preferenced candid over staged so the 70-200 will be invaluable, but the 17-55 is there for some group/couple shots.
 
Sorry to hijack your thread but just wondered if anyone would suggest if the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens would be suitable for weddings or not?
 
I carry;
70-200mm 2.8
18-105mm
50mm 1.8

I havnt yet found a shot I struggled with these lenses. I am however looking at aquiring a 24-70mm 2.8 just for faster wide shots.
 
Brokenwings said:
Sorry to hijack your thread but just wondered if anyone would suggest if the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens would be suitable for weddings or not?
Click to expand...

I'd say, Not!

Too long, I rarely get near the 200 end of my zoom on the crop body, and at 5.6, unless you're planning to buy extra ISO by buying a 5d III that's just asking for trouble. The 2.8 zoom is definitely the way to go.
 
Phil V said:
I'd say, Not!

Too long, I rarely get near the 200 end of my zoom on the crop body, and at 5.6, unless you're planning to buy extra ISO by buying a 5d III that's just asking for trouble. The 2.8 zoom is definitely the way to go.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice Phil! Much appreciated. :)
 
Brokenwings said:
Sorry to hijack your thread but just wondered if anyone would suggest if the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens would be suitable for weddings or not?
Click to expand...

I'd say no too - but not necessarily for the same reasons

For me, I do indeed use the long end of my 70-200 quite a lot and a pal of mine swears by his 300mm - but both these lenses are f2.8 and while f4 isn't too bad at the low end you'd probably find f5.6 too slow at the longer end - as you do need to keep your shutter speed up too to avoid camera shake

Added to which f5.6 would have too much DoF for those dreamy OoF backgrounds everyone loves

Dave
 
Well it's D Day tomorrow!

The venue has been assessed, and ideal locations scouted out for various shots/ideas.
The bag is packed and all the batteries are charged for both cameras and flashgun.
All memory cards are blank and ready to go and some generic base settings applied to the camera and flashgun.

Fingers crossed now the weather stays nice for the couple to be! :)
 
Mine was today - I had such a good day & it was my first paid wedding. My most used lens was my 50mm f2.5, then a few with the 70-200 f2.8 (I'd say 85% 50mm 10% 70-200 & 5% 35mm & 100mm) - no shots were allowed during the ceremony though

Good luck, have a great day :)
 
Iris said:
Mine was today - I had such a good day & it was my first paid wedding. My most used lens was my 50mm f2.5, then a few with the 70-200 f2.8 (I'd say 85% 50mm 10% 70-200 & 5% 35mm & 100mm) - no shots were allowed during the ceremony though

Good luck, have a great day :)
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'm looking forward to it!
 
Iris said:
Mine was today - I had such a good day & it was my first paid wedding. My most used lens was my 50mm f2.5, then a few with the 70-200 f2.8 (I'd say 85% 50mm 10% 70-200 & 5% 35mm & 100mm) - no shots were allowed during the ceremony though

Good luck, have a great day :)
Click to expand...

Hi,

No shots during the ceremony? I've never experienced this before.
Once had a priest say he didn't like it, I told him that we had both been paid to do a job so we both will. He agreed and I carried on.
For them to say no shots in the ceremony is quite odd to me?! Are the couple ok with that?
 
A weird one that!
The wedding I'm doing today is a humanist ceremony and they told me to take as many shots as I like!
 
The rector said I could take 1 during from the back (so I did take 3 lol) but the assistant was surprised and said its usually none at all. I found this out a few weeks ago so let the couple know before they paid. We had some time afterwards though. I did a search for weddings at this church which only threw up images of brides arriving & couples emerging so I guess I caught the Rector on a good day
 
How did you get on Stu? I was in a similar situation myself the other week... im very interested in how the 17-55 and 70-200 held up, esp in low light.

will you be considering buying one / both of them? looking forward to seeing some of the shots!

Pete
 
Charles Burley said:
Hi,

No shots during the ceremony? I've never experienced this before.
Once had a priest say he didn't like it, I told him that we had both been paid to do a job so we both will. He agreed and I carried on.
For them to say no shots in the ceremony is quite odd to me?! Are the couple ok with that?
Click to expand...
I've only done one wedding but also wasn't allowed shots during the ceremony - just one from the balcony during the singing of the last hymn. It was a rule of the minister and the couple knew this and were fine about it.
 
Photogo! said:
How did you get on Stu? I was in a similar situation myself the other week... im very interested in how the 17-55 and 70-200 held up, esp in low light.

will you be considering buying one / both of them? looking forward to seeing some of the shots!

Pete
Click to expand...

Hi Pete,
The day went well but I won't deny that things can be fast paced at a wedding with little time to pay with.

The lenses worked really well especially in low light, no hunting at all and good clean images at 1600 ISO and excellent IQ.

Became more familiar with light control (fill light, flash exposure compensation etc) too which was good.

Won't be buying the 17-55 as I'm changing to full frame but would consider the 70-200 f2.8.
 
Glad the day went well, will we get to see some shots when you're done?

I opened a photobox gallery yesterday as a possible means to selling extra prints to guests and family members - might be worth looking into (and they do everything, saves me doing it)
 
Iris said:
Glad the day went well, will we get to see some shots when you're done
Click to expand...

All going well. Priority is to get the imaged finished for the couple before the computer gets packed away for a few weeks whilst the wife and I move house.
If I remember after that I will post up a few of the images.
 
stupar said:
All going well. Priority is to get the imaged finished for the couple before the computer gets packed away for a few weeks whilst the wife and I move house.
If I remember after that I will post up a few of the images.
Click to expand...

I told the couple I'd have them back to them by the end of the week - my eyes are square
 
My personal take on wedding photography is to have 2 bodies, a crop and a FF. 35mm f1.4 on the FF and 85mm f1.2/1.4 on the crop. And there's the availability of redundancy in case one body fails
 
A little late on parade but I like to use the following.

2 bodies
12 - 24 only ever a couple of shots, but required I think.
24 - 70 Low light church, reception and group.
50mm 1.4 Church
135 - I use this more than most, great for candid stuff at the reception
70 - 200 Outside of church and outside at reception.

2 Flash guns.

A shed load of memory cards and batteries.
 
stupar said:
All going well. Priority is to get the imaged finished for the couple before the computer gets packed away for a few weeks whilst the wife and I move house.
If I remember after that I will post up a few of the images.
Click to expand...

Can't wait to see your photos from the day. What body/bodies were you using? I will be a second shooter at a wedding next month and will be using my 60d with the 17-55 2.8 but might hire the 70-200 2.8 as I loved it the last time I used it on a wedding training course.
 
Iris said:
I told the couple I'd have them back to them by the end of the week - my eyes are square
Click to expand...

Really looking forward to seeing some of the photos. What body did you use and did you swap lenses often? I'm a second shooter at a wedding next month and will be using my 60d 17-55 2.8 with maybe a rented 70-200 as I've always been impressed with it albeit a little long on a cropped body.
 
bpooltalkphoto said:
Really looking forward to seeing some of the photos. What body did you use and did you swap lenses often? I'm a second shooter at a wedding next month and will be using my 60d 17-55 2.8 with maybe a rented 70-200 as I've always been impressed with it albeit a little long on a cropped body.
Click to expand...

I think about 90% of my shots were with my 50mm macro, used the 70-200 for the shot from the rear of the church & a few times in the reception for candids - both on my 5D2
 
Iris said:
I think about 90% of my shots were with my 50mm macro, used the 70-200 for the shot from the rear of the church & a few times in the reception for candids - both on my 5D2
Click to expand...

Wow mainly the 50, I assume you had to switch to wide for the group shots?
 
Stuart - hopefully the move has passed off without hitch - any previews for us? ;)
 
Apologies for the late response.
The move did go smooth, I had a few family things to sort out recently which is why I haven't been on here in any great capacity.

I will get some shots thrown up in the people & portraits section in due course (y)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top