Wedding Photography Lens

[ems3369]

I am looking to broden my photography scope to weddings. I am looking at adding a weddling lens kit to my already extensive lens collection. I was wanting to know what some of you thought about these lenses.

I was thinking about the following lenses
Tokina 50-135 2.8, for all-around wedding lens.
Nikon 50 1.8 for good portrait lens
Sigma 24-70 2.8, for groups and wide angle pick.

These 3 lenses would be the fastest lens I would have. The fastest lens I have at this time is a 3.5 and it is horrable for indoor exsiting light photography. And with wedding I am wanting to do mostly exsiting light work. I don't won't to have to rely on flash and extra equipment. Want to do mostly artistic style work. And yes I know that it is up to the wedding party what pictures they want. But I am not doing this as my main source of income. So please don't give me the whole lecture on what I should be doing. Just what you think about the lenses I have been thinking about.

 

[CxThree]

You are going to need more reach. 70-200 F2.8. Many churches require that the photographers shoot from the back of the church of from upstairs. 135mm will not cut it there. I have been in churches where 200mm was not enough.

What camera body do you use? 24mm may not be wide enough on a crop to do what you want. It may work, but you might want to consider something wider.

Do you have multiple good camera bodies? Multiple flashes? Assistants? Stands, umbrellas? You will find all of this very useful for weddings/receptions. When people pay the price it takes for wedding photography, you cannot risk equipment failure. You really need backups of most of your essential gear.

If you are looking at weddings, add this to your list. Liability insurance, a lawyer, and a good contract to get signed before accepting the job. Weddings are risky at the least. They are a lot of work for sure. But you can bet your last dollar that a bride and her mom will put a lawyer on you quickly when they do not get what they want. It has not happened to me, but i have sene it happen to others.

 

[Shockey]

Swap the 50-135 for 70-200 2.8 and you should be set.
As CX said you will need backups for everything, don't even think about doing a wedding without backups for everything.

 

[Big Mike]

What camera body do you use? 24mm may not be wide enough on a crop to do what you want. It may work, but you might want to consider something wider.

That's my question also.

 

[inTempus]

While the 50mm certainly makes a suitable portrait lens, there are other options. Personally, I prefer the 85mm for such tasks. At weddings I've always had the luxury of space so I can get far enough back to make use of the 85mm.

The shorter the focal length the more distortion in the image you have which can mean unflattering images. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

http://www.stepheneastwood.com/tutorials/lensdistortion/index.htm

Of course you can control the distortion to some degree and minimize the effect it has on your images. Not being right up in the face of your subject is one way (like the sample images linked to above).

But given the price of many 50mm lenses ($100 or so) it's not a bad idea to have one in your bag even if you do buy a more expensive 85mm lens. I love the 50mm, it's a great lens. But for portraits I stick my 85mm on when I can.

 

[Shockey]

I shot a lot of weddings with a 28mm on a DX body. Can count the number of times I needed wider on one hand, of course most of my weddings are outside.
For inside weddings where you may run into tigher spaces you would need wider, as others mentioned.

 

[Nikkor]

You'll want to go with something with a large range and a low aperture. A lot of times you have to stand on a balcony, but something that covers a broad range will prevent you from having to switch back and forth a million times between lenses or cameras. I'd go with an 18-135 then a 70-200. You shouldn't need anything else (besides macro if you do maco detail shots at all). Happy shooting!

 

[ems3369]

Okay, if this helps, this is what I have as of right now. Nikon D300, Nikon D200, 18-55, 28-55, 28-105, and 70-300. I am needing faster lenses. The fastest lens I have is 3.5. Money is tight so I was wanting to add lenses at a time. I use my 28-105 the most. I do a lot of senior and portrait outdoor only. I like exsisting light only. I shoot only artistic photo's. Don't do prefab as I like to call it. I do this as a hobby only. And just for select cliental. My weddings will be by word of mouth and with an interview to see if they are the type of clients that I even want to work with. The lenses I am thinking of adding will be re-placements for some of the lenses I already have just faster. I want to continue with my senior work mostly. But have been asked if I would concider some wedding's because of the art that I bring to my work.

 

[CxThree]

Yep. You will easily see that F2.8 is really not fast enough in many applications. I use my 50mm 1.4 a lot and am buying the 85mm 1.8 very soon.

 

[ems3369]

Okay, how about this. With all the information that is being given. I need to see if I am thinking correctlly.
With a dx format sensor with 1.5 crop factor, everyone is suggesting a 70-200.

Wouldn't a 50-135 with 1.5 crop factor give me a 75-202. And isn't that in the range of 70-200? But any way. How about these lenses. Again wanting to replace some of the lenses I already have for portrait and senior.

16-50 2.8
50-135 2.8
50 1.4

I am thinking that these would be a good set up for weddings and seniors. I understand that sometimes I will have to be far away and need to get close. But I do have a 70-300 which should do the trick for those odd situations.

 

[CxThree]

I have a 70-200 on a crop and it's barely enough sometimes. You want a 70-200 lens for sure. F2.8 for sure. I have no idea on the image quality of the 50-135 in Nikon. I am a Canon guy.

I will just say this. If you plan on doing weddings I'd get high quality glass. It makes a large difference in bad lighting and you will get lots of bad lighting in churches and reception halls. I know the Nikon 70-200 F2.8 IS lens gets great reviews and it a quality piece of glass. I'd highly consider that one for sure.

 

[ems3369]

CxThree. Thank you so much for all your advise. I am looking at some 70-200. I think that they would work well for seinors as well. So let me ask your opinion on these lenses.

sigma 70-200 2.8 for distance and portraits
tokina 16-50 2.8 for groups and wide angle
nikon 50mm 1.4 for close portraits

You think these 3 lenses would be a good wedding kit?

 

[CxThree]

Yep. That should cover you for a starting wedding kit. You will have good range/speed on your zoom. A relatively wide angle at 16mm for group shots, and you can fall back on your 50mm for low light. You have a good flash, right? For group shots at the wedding, you may want to have 2 flashes that you can put on light stands.

 

[ems3369]

Yes, I have 2 Nissin Di 866's. Do you think these would be good or would you switch with Nikon SB-900's.

 

[CxThree]

I'm not much help with the Nissin oens. I know the SB-900 is a great flash that can throw a lot of light. Thats what I have used on the Nikon side and the 580 EXII on the Canon side.