Lenses for canon 50d/swishmax anyone??

jenn2

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what lenses are good for weddings?? I know the canon "L" series lenses are my best option but unfortunately right now I don't have that kind of money so what would be another option???
I need something that would be similar to the canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS lens.

Also, does anyone have knowledge of Swishmax3 for dynamic websites?? IF so please let me know, I am having a very difficult time with my website, thanks.
 
If you are going to shoot weddings, you will have to invest some good $$$ in glass. You need fast glass and you will also need at least one lens with fast glass and long reach. Thats for those wedding locations where no flash is allowed and the photographer has to stay at the back of the venue(Church).

70-200 F2.8L IS ($1600)
17-55 F2.8 IS ($1000)
85mm F1.8 ($375) Could use a 50mm F1.8 for starting out ($100)

Those are the ones I use the most at weddings.

My suggestion is that you not try to shoot indoor weddings until you have a backup camera body, some legal contracts in place, insurance, and at least the lanses I listed(or sigma/tamron equivalents). If you get an outside wedding and rception, you can get by with slower glass and would be able to suppliment with more flash too.

Weddings are something that can be a lot of fun to shoot. However, the couple getting married are paying you to professionally capture a special time for them. If you fail, you will be sued. Having the right equipment and backups in place is part of it.
 
Honestly, if you have to ask what you need to shoot a wedding then you are simply not ready. Keep working on your photography, build out the gear, and then think about it again at a later date. It's much too important to the couple than to deal with yet another MWAC who thinks she's a professional because she bought a high priced DSLR.
 
Honestly, if you have to ask what you need to shoot a wedding then you are simply not ready. Keep working on your photography, build out the gear, and then think about it again at a later date. It's much too important to the couple than to deal with yet another MWAC who thinks she's a professional because she bought a high priced DSLR.

Thanks for the advice but my question wasn't about what lenses to use rather what would be the best non canon lens equivalents. I am doing this wedding because the couple are friends of mine and eventhough they know I'm not too experienced, they are willing to give me a shot. Friends or not I want to give them the best, which is why I was asking. I know that getting the canon lenses is what I should do but at the time, (like I said before) that is not an option for me.
 
I realize what your question was, and my response was a valid response. I would expect anyone to be at the wedding level to not only know what camera brand lenses are available, but also know about the "off" brand equivalents such as Tamron and Sigma as well.

The traditional wedding lenses are usually the Canon 24-70 f/2.8L and 70-200 f/2.8L IS. There are others, sure, but these seem to be the top two. Tamron makes a highly regarded 28-75 f/2.8, and a 70-200 f/2.8. Sigma makes two versions of a 24-70 f/2.8, with the newer of which being an HSM version (their version of the USM motor you'd find in Canon) as well as two versions of a 70-200 f/2.8, one with their version of IS and one without.

Both of the newer Sigma's (24-70 2.8 HSM / 70-200 2.8 OS), however, are priced quite closely with Canon's making the savings virtually moot. Also with off brand lenses, you risk getting bad copy after bad copy. I had Sigma's new HSM version of the 24-70 as reviews were actually stating that it was miles above both Tamron's 28-75, and even Canon's 24-70. At $900 it was certainly not cheap. However, my copy was absolutely horrible. It severely back focused which couldn't be 100% corrected for in camera at 70mm, and at 24mm it would report to the camera that the image was in focus but nothing at all in the frame was. It was quickly returned.

This is also something you need to account for while trying to save a buck. No doubt there are good copies of third party lenses out there, in fact I love my Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 to death, but is it worth it...especially for something as important as a wedding...to gamble on a $900 off brand lens when you can get the Canon version for $400 more? The gap between Sigma's 70-200 OS is even narrower. $1700 versus $1900 for Canon's 70-200 2.8 IS (version 1).

If they are indeed your friends, and you really want to give them the best, then offer to help find them a proper photographer. I mean no offense to you or your work, but the information I have provided is very easy to find and something that someone shopping for lenses would have found on their own in less than a few minutes. Asking for specific advice on a specific lens is one thing, but asking for what lenses are available is a completely different monster when one is also stating that it's for their very first wedding job.
 
chammer I really do appreciate your intake on the subject and you are right all the information you provided, anyone can find easily in minutes, which I did. Perhaps my wording was inaccurate, but I wanted to get some feedback to insure that the information I was gathering was indeed correct based on others' experiences with the third party lenses.
Sometimes its best not to look further then what the question is and in this case the question was simply to let me know what wedding lenses are better in the third party lenses {based on personal experience}. Again my wording was off. Thanks though.
 
chammer I really do appreciate your intake on the subject and you are right all the information you provided, anyone can find easily in minutes, which I did. Perhaps my wording was inaccurate, but I wanted to get some feedback to insure that the information I was gathering was indeed correct based on others' experiences with the third party lenses.
Sometimes its best not to look further then what the question is and in this case the question was simply to let me know what wedding lenses are better in the third party lenses {based on personal experience}. Again my wording was off. Thanks though.

What lenses do you have at the moment, there is no way i would buy special lenses just to shoot a friends wedding i would make do with what i have and hold out to buy the best (which i already have) but i could shoot a wedding with just a 50mmF1.4 if i had to
 
Jenn, in that regard then I would say that there are indeed viable alternatives to the Canon brand lenses. My experience with the Sigma 24-70 2.8 HSM was less than pleasant, however, of the couple hundred pictures I did take with it over the weekend a few were in perfect focus. Those few that were in focus totally blew me away. The optics of that lens proved to be top notch. In fact, I have no problem saying that the optics of that lens was actually quite above that of any lens I currently own. Had I the time and patience I would have had no problem sending it off to Sigma for calibration. For $900, however, I felt that if they couldn't get it right the first time then why should I even bother and that my money would be better spent on Canon's version at a later date.

I feel that Tamron and Sigma both can make excellent lenses, however, when working in a professional environment I feel one should step up and choose professional quality lenses. Canon can produce some duds, and even their own 24-70 (based on reviews I have read) seem to exhibit focusing issues in some copies. However, it does seem that those incidents are lesser than those by off brand lenses. Sigma being the worst culprit based on reviews. Everyone highly regards their 50 1.4 as being a top notch lens, however, people expect to send it back to Sigma for calibration even before purchasing it. I find that to be highly unacceptable that a company be allowed to get away with that or something as pricey as lenses (or anything for that matter).

I guess what it boils down to is whether or not you have the time, patience, and money to not only purchase an off brand copy, but are willing to accept that you may have to try several copies and/or send the lens back to the manufacturer for calibration and wait for its return. I guess what sold me was that I had also ordered the 50 1.4 from Sigma as mentioned earlier, and while it was off I was able to correct for it using the micro-adjustment of my camera. However, I still felt it was a touch off so I sent it back. So that left me at 0 and 2 for Sigma. Canon, however, supplied me with perfect focusing copies of both the 70-200 2.8 IS and the 100mm 2.8L Macro on the first time. It's for that reason I feel the extra money spent up front can save a bit in the long run.

Now, as far as real world suggestions, here's my take with everything being said. Based purely on reviews and what the lenses would be used for, I would take a good long look at Tamron. Their 28-75 2.8 is very highly regarded, and most reviews I have read actually put it above the Canon 24-70 2.8 in just about everything but build quality. With the 70-200 2.8 I would again look at Tamron as an extremely viable alternative. Most reviews compare the Tamron to the Sigma and the general consensus is that the Tamron has better optics, but the Sigma has a better and faster AF motor (due to it being HSM). So if one were doing sports one would choose the Sigma, and if not then one would choose the Tamron. While there could be some moments at a wedding that would beg for a quick shot, and thus auto focusing speed, I think overall I would take quality pictures over faster AF...especially in that environment.

On a side note I re-read my posts and I apologize for its harshness. I have been a bit crabby this morning, and while it was not my intentions it did seem to come out in my posts. There were better ways of stating what I meant without going that route. Again, my apologies.

I do wish you the best of luck, however...you have much more courage than I do. While I have no one I know about to get married or being offered to take such photographs, I would never do such a thing. Weddings are simply where I draw the line. :)
 
Jenn, in that regard then I would say that there are indeed viable alternatives to the Canon brand lenses. My experience with the Sigma 24-70 2.8 HSM was less than pleasant, however, of the couple hundred pictures I did take with it over the weekend a few were in perfect focus. Those few that were in focus totally blew me away. The optics of that lens proved to be top notch. In fact, I have no problem saying that the optics of that lens was actually quite above that of any lens I currently own. Had I the time and patience I would have had no problem sending it off to Sigma for calibration. For $900, however, I felt that if they couldn't get it right the first time then why should I even bother and that my money would be better spent on Canon's version at a later date.

I feel that Tamron and Sigma both can make excellent lenses, however, when working in a professional environment I feel one should step up and choose professional quality lenses. Canon can produce some duds, and even their own 24-70 (based on reviews I have read) seem to exhibit focusing issues in some copies. However, it does seem that those incidents are lesser than those by off brand lenses. Sigma being the worst culprit based on reviews. Everyone highly regards their 50 1.4 as being a top notch lens, however, people expect to send it back to Sigma for calibration even before purchasing it. I find that to be highly unacceptable that a company be allowed to get away with that or something as pricey as lenses (or anything for that matter).

I guess what it boils down to is whether or not you have the time, patience, and money to not only purchase an off brand copy, but are willing to accept that you may have to try several copies and/or send the lens back to the manufacturer for calibration and wait for its return. I guess what sold me was that I had also ordered the 50 1.4 from Sigma as mentioned earlier, and while it was off I was able to correct for it using the micro-adjustment of my camera. However, I still felt it was a touch off so I sent it back. So that left me at 0 and 2 for Sigma. Canon, however, supplied me with perfect focusing copies of both the 70-200 2.8 IS and the 100mm 2.8L Macro on the first time. It's for that reason I feel the extra money spent up front can save a bit in the long run.

Now, as far as real world suggestions, here's my take with everything being said. Based purely on reviews and what the lenses would be used for, I would take a good long look at Tamron. Their 28-75 2.8 is very highly regarded, and most reviews I have read actually put it above the Canon 24-70 2.8 in just about everything but build quality. With the 70-200 2.8 I would again look at Tamron as an extremely viable alternative. Most reviews compare the Tamron to the Sigma and the general consensus is that the Tamron has better optics, but the Sigma has a better and faster AF motor (due to it being HSM). So if one were doing sports one would choose the Sigma, and if not then one would choose the Tamron. While there could be some moments at a wedding that would beg for a quick shot, and thus auto focusing speed, I think overall I would take quality pictures over faster AF...especially in that environment.

On a side note I re-read my posts and I apologize for its harshness. I have been a bit crabby this morning, and while it was not my intentions it did seem to come out in my posts. There were better ways of stating what I meant without going that route. Again, my apologies.

I do wish you the best of luck, however...you have much more courage than I do. While I have no one I know about to get married or being offered to take such photographs, I would never do such a thing. Weddings are simply where I draw the line. :)

Thats why i have the Canon 50F1.4 and will only buy Canon lenses
Harsh and Crabby are in at the moment :lol: keep it up
 
Thats why i have the Canon 50F1.4 and will only buy Canon lenses

Yeah, I think it's Canon only for me too. But that Sigma 50 1.4 is just simply stunning. I hate that it's also so flaky. :(

Harsh and Crabby are in at the moment :lol: keep it up

Hah! It may be in, but it's not me. Just had a ton of deals fall through over the weekend and today, and it's starting to wear on me. I lost out on two separate mint copies of a 5d mkI. One for $7, and the other for $3...and that's just the tip of the iceberg. The only reason why I lost the $3 one is because PayPal felt the need to verify my CC three separate times for $1 each. Very upsetting. :( I think I'm about ready to give up on the quest for a 5d mkI, and put my 50D up for sale and just spring for the mkII. Less frustrating that way. :)
 
chammer, thanks I really would opt for the canon lenses and still am. I'm just not too good at getting my customers to pay me on time (which I know I should be), so I was looking for options in the event that I can't get the lens ultimately want.
I truely do value your input and can totally appreciate that you took the time to respond, even when you are having a tough time.
P.S I think my friends figure that I am a better option then disposable cameras.:lol:
 
Thats why i have the Canon 50F1.4 and will only buy Canon lenses

Yeah, I think it's Canon only for me too. But that Sigma 50 1.4 is just simply stunning. I hate that it's also so flaky. :(

Harsh and Crabby are in at the moment :lol: keep it up

Hah! It may be in, but it's not me. Just had a ton of deals fall through over the weekend and today, and it's starting to wear on me. I lost out on two separate mint copies of a 5d mkI. One for $7, and the other for $3...and that's just the tip of the iceberg. The only reason why I lost the $3 one is because PayPal felt the need to verify my CC three separate times for $1 each. Very upsetting. :( I think I'm about ready to give up on the quest for a 5d mkI, and put my 50D up for sale and just spring for the mkII. Less frustrating that way. :)

Don't give up on a 5Dmk1 they a fantastic well mine is
 
Jenn. Get the Canon 50mm F1.8 for $100. It will save you at the reception whne light is going to be trouble.

Is the wedding inside our outside? Does the church/preacher allow flash? Are you limited to where you can shoot from?

Personally, I only buy Canon lenses. However, i will try to help you with some suggestions. I just need some more details. In a ppinch, you could get the sigma 70-200 F2.8 without optical stabalization. It's much cheaper, but I have never been happy with what I have seen from it. It's quite soft for my taste.
 

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