Which lenses for weddings...?

[JMcDonald]

Im still fairly new to photography and I just purchased a camera and am starting to get my gear together. I have a 28-70mm 2.8-5.6 that came with my Sony A7ii.

What other lenses should I invest in....?

My buddy is selling me his ZEISS 50mm 1.8, so I have that ones coming. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[photo1x1.com]

The Zeiss is definitely something to watch out for.
In general it depends on the style you want to shoot. If it is shallow depth of focus, I´d go with prime lenses. That is what I do. I´ve moved over from Canon, so I am also looking for new glass.
It is always a question of your budget though.
I love my Batis 25mm f2.0, and my Zeiss 55mm f1.8
I´ve already ordered the Sony 85mm f1.8 for its weight.
AND what I´m totally looking forward to is Sigmas new 135mm f1.8 Art. It´s for Canon, but since I own the Sigma Converter MC-11, I can´t wait to get this lens. As soon as it is available in Europe, I´ll have one.
Shooting with prime lenses isn´t always that easy, but I like blurred backgrounds, so I take the chance.

 

[dasmith232]

When it comes to weddings, I really prefer shooting in manual exposure mode. Some other people will prefer aperture-priority or even program mode, and that's okay for them. When you're in lower lighting and at various times getting spotlights or windows (especially stained glass windows, which will catch you by surprise), you need to be really careful about exposure. That's why I prefer manual.

Anyway, the reason for considering the exposure mode with lenses is with constant-aperture vs. variable-aperture lenses. You cited the 28-70/2.8-5.6 lens, which might be the f/3.5-5.6 model...? Sony makes a constant f/2.8 lens that's 28-75mm and another lens that's 24-70mm. When you start zooming in-and-out, your exposure will shift on you, which can be frustrating.

This is why I prefer constant aperture lenses. They're more expensive. Definitely. But if you're going to get serious about wedding photography, you might want consider that. Weddings generate income, which pay for the lenses.

In terms of focal length ranges, I generally use two cameras with a 70-200mm on one, and 24-105mm on the other during the ceremony. For the reception, I switch to 17-40mm and 24-105mm as a starting point (but I'll swap lenses as needed). And this is all for full-frame angles-of-view.

 

[Scoody]

Two lenses I use on every wedding gig are my Canon 50mm prime and my Sigma 11-16mm 2.8. I do have to be careful with my composition with the Sigma but the results are quite astonishing.

 

[mdruziak]

You should be able to get away with using 3 lenses:

Wide zoom- 17-40mm
Standard zoom- 24-70mm
Tele zoom- 70-200mm

These should all be f2.8 lenses since most likely you will be shooting indoors most of the time.

Also don't forget a flash and backup equipment. It would suck if your camera died at the beginning of the ceremony and didn't have a backup body to use!