best lens for Nikon d3200 for weddings?

[Aabug2013]

I have a Nikon d3200, I really want to upgrade but waiting for the funds to do so. I am very new to this. Was wondering what lens is best for wedding photography and outside portraits with a Nikon d3200?

 

[jaomul]

No best, but off the cuff I'd say the nikon 17-55 f2.8 or an alternative like the sigma 17-50mm f2.8 OS coupled with knowledge may be one of the better options. If you need to ask........

 

[robbins.photo]

I have a Nikon d3200, I really want to upgrade but waiting for the funds to do so. I am very new to this. Was wondering what lens is best for wedding photography and outside portraits with a Nikon d3200?

Well for weddings your looking at doing a lot of shots indoors in some pretty difficult lighting conditions, so the faster the lens the better, up to a certain point.

Since your shooting a D3200 you'll want to make sure you purchase a lens that has a built in focus motor, Tamron lenses call it BIM and Sigma refers to it as HSM. Since your camera body doesn't have a built in motor you'll want to make certain the lens you purchase does or you'll have to manually focus.

If your on a budget a Tamron or Sigma somewhere in the 17-50 2.8 range would be a good option. If you can afford it a 70-200mm 2.8 would be a really nice thing to have as well, so you don't have to get quite so close to the action for decent closeups, but of course even the "cheap" options there are going to be fairly expensive. I got a fantastic deal on a Sigma 70-200mm 2.8 without the OS, and I paid $375 for it. Normally you won't see anything in that category go for less than $400 and up.

 

[Aabug2013]

Ok thanks so much! I am definitely going to purchase one, maybe both! Going to check them both out now!

 

[robbins.photo]

Ok thanks so much! I am definitely going to purchase one, maybe both! Going to check them both out now!

I shoot my 70-200 mm a lot, it's my "bread and butter" lens, so for me it was well worth it. I went with the Sigma non-os version, the Tamron's without VC are pretty easy to come by but from the reviews I read almost everyone that reviewed them said they had issues focusing in low light, which of course kind of defeats the whole purpose of a 2.8 lens.

So I stuck with the Sigma. The non-OS version doesn't focus quite as fast as the OS version did, but it's still very usable. I also shot a Tamron 17-50 2.8 on my D7100 for a while, was very happy with the image quality it produced.

This was taken with a Tamron 17-50 2.8 on my D7100:

20160317 029 by Todd Robbins, on Flickr

I had the older model without the built in motor, but from what I understand the newer model with the motor has pretty much the same image quality.

This was shot with my Sigma 70-200 mm, non-os on a D600

20160703_1382 by Todd Robbins, on Flickr

 

[PaulWog]

I have a Nikon d3200, I really want to upgrade but waiting for the funds to do so. I am very new to this. Was wondering what lens is best for wedding photography and outside portraits with a Nikon d3200?

No single camera is best for wedding photography. Make sure you have a great excuse to deliver to the bride if your camera breaks down. If I didn't have at least one back-up shooter, I would think you'd want to be carrying two camera bodies with two lenses at any given time. The second part to the answer really is: Anyone shooting a wedding should know more about what they need already.

With that all said, a 17-50 f2.8 makes the most sense if you can only pick one single lens.

 

[chuasam]

If you have to ask, you're not ready to shoot the wedding.
My choice would be the 35mm f/1.8 for the wedding.
Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 is another choice.

 

[Netskimmer]

As others have said. It doesn't seem like you are at a good place to tackle weddings.
That type of photography can be very demanding (as are most brides) There is so much that needs to be addressed beyond the photography itself such as meeting with the people that control the venue and with the MC (priest, rabbi, ect).
If you are doing this for a friend/family member, failing to meet their expectations could irrevocably damage your relationship with them. If you are doing this professionally (for strangers in exchange for some form of compensation) failing to meet their expectations could result in lawsuits that can be nothing short of life-crushing, especially if you are not properly licensed and insured.