Which lens would you use for events/weddings coverage?
- Thread starter SimonKing
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JediForce4ever
Senior Member
of course 16-35mm.Thought its heavier, the f2.8 gives you space to play around with bokeh.freecloud said:
JediForce4ever
Senior Member
then why bother to ask in the first place?freecloud said:
I would say that the 5mm's usefulness depends on the situation.
From experience, wide angle is more important in a wedding then tele. Usually I can move close up to my subject, but no space at times to move back!
So I use my 17-40mm 80% of the time and 70-200mm 15% and 90mm f2.8(low light "bo bian") situation 5% of the time.
Have not got a situation that I wish for another lens that I do not have so far. Playing with ISO settings can be a great help. Always shoot Large, if not RAW, so that you can have better chance to reduce noise later in PS.
Cheers!!
So I use my 17-40mm 80% of the time and 70-200mm 15% and 90mm f2.8(low light "bo bian") situation 5% of the time.
Have not got a situation that I wish for another lens that I do not have so far. Playing with ISO settings can be a great help. Always shoot Large, if not RAW, so that you can have better chance to reduce noise later in PS.
Cheers!!
Primes for me,
17/3.5
35L
135L
It really depends on what event i am shoooting, for stuff like basketball, then the 35, 50 and 135 will work well. for Indoor events, the 35 cant be beat. the 70-200 is necessary for rugby/soccer, a 400mm will be nice too (i dont have the 400):sweatsm:
17/3.5
35L
135L
It really depends on what event i am shoooting, for stuff like basketball, then the 35, 50 and 135 will work well. for Indoor events, the 35 cant be beat. the 70-200 is necessary for rugby/soccer, a 400mm will be nice too (i dont have the 400):sweatsm:
JediForce4ever said:then why bother to ask in the first place?
I would say that the 5mm's usefulness depends on the situation.
Since I have tokina19-35 and use eos 10d. I feel 35mm is not long enuf, and I need to change the lense frequently which is very troublesome. I hope to get a wider focal length lense to decrease the frequency of lense exchange.
I am considering buy canon 17-40L. Do you think the performance of 17-40 is much better than tokina 19-35, such that it is worthwhile for me(poor) to replace the tokina 19-35? and is the 17mm much wider than 19mm for eos10d? I also feel 19mm is not wide enuf on 10d.
Ihsan Chua
New Member
Will choose EF2.8 16 -35. Group shots gd to use. Wide angle coverage.
You can consider the Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 Di. Used by many CS-ers here, its lightweight and gives good image quality. Price is fairly reasonable too, about $600+.freecloud said:
I did not used the Tokina 19-35mm before, but I had the Tamron counterpart (also 19-35mm) before switching to the Canon 17-40 f4L, and yes the switch was thoroughly worth it. Better colours, contrast, sharpness and faster AF, and superb build quality.:thumbsup:freecloud said:
As for whether its wide enuff or not, it depends on your usage for the lens. The 17-40 f4L does well for group shots in weddings/events, coupled with an external flash, its a workhorse for many a wedding/event photographer. I feel 17mm does have a slight edge over 19mm when you factor in the 1.6x crop (FOV of 27mm compared to 30.4mm).
Garion said:
Thank you for your nice reply, Garion. You give me confidence to do the switch. Yes, I do have a T28-75 and I am very satisfied with its performance. The only thing I am annoyed is that it is not wide nor long on DSLR. But I am going to keep it for some time.
I hate to exchange lenses during shooting. it is really troublesome to me.
Belle&Sebastain
Senior Member
freecloud said:
me too, that is why i shoot with 2 bodies all the time.
JediForce4ever
Senior Member
with the new 17-55 IS....this would be my choice..
Equipment used to shoot:
For 90% of the Shoots (esp for wedding dinner)
1DmkII +24-70L
580EX + Lightsphere + External Power Pack (CP-E3)
For the last 10%,
I would use either a 85L or 70-200/2.8L IS
If I was using my old equipment, it would just be my 300D + 18-125 Sigma. I would still use the 580EX+Diffuser+CP-E3. Personally, I think the flash, diffuser, powerpack combo is almost a must for wedding photography esp for the wedding dinner. In the day, you might have enough light, but in the evening, you need as much light as you need. While using a fast lens might help in focusing, the low DOF will work against you, and I regularly use f5.6 even on my 24-70L. So with f5.6 and ISO 3200, you might still end up with impractical shutter speed. I rather set my ISO to between 800 to 1600, shutter at 1/125, f5.6 and let the flash do the work. The lightsphere diffuser will work very well to provide a combination of bounce flash(if ceiling is low) and indirect flash. I also cannot help but recommend use a wide angle lens as since you are using indirect flash with f5.6, your flash range is only a few metres. Using a wide angle helps you stay closer to your subject so your flash can cover it. Also in wedding dinner, it is very tight and hard to back up.
Personally, if you are going to shoot event or wedding, it is a MUST to learn how to use flash. Why? Because you simply have no time to figure out if your photo has hand shake, subject shake, under exposure or wrong focusing. Half the time you are watching the scene trying to catch the moment. There is no second try, you must get it the first time. If you set your camera and workflow correctly, flash photography makes things so much more safe. You just have to make sure your subject is not too far away such that the flash cannot reach it and you focus correctly. ETTL will handle the rest and you will assured with a perfectly exposed picture with no hand or subject shake. Some may say that the flash might kill the mood of the pictures, but if you weigh in all the uncertainties and troubles of using a fast prime and slow shutter speed, I rather go for my flash. I am saying this as a primary photography at weddings and event. If i am a guest at the wedding or a secondary photography, I will whip out the primes and shoot because I am not shooting the "money" shots. I am allowed to miss critical shots as the primary photog will get it anyway. I can either shoot a more arty kind of photos or push the camera to shoot without flash.
Anyway that is the way i work. I tried shooting events with primes, fast zooms, slow zoom, ultra zoom and I find that in the end, a wide normal zoom with a battery powered diffused flash is the best compromise. I dont have to think about technicalities of the photography and can focus on capturing the moment. Most weddings and events happens only once. You cannot expect the bride to go back and walk down the aisle again because you screwed up.
For 90% of the Shoots (esp for wedding dinner)
1DmkII +24-70L
580EX + Lightsphere + External Power Pack (CP-E3)
For the last 10%,
I would use either a 85L or 70-200/2.8L IS
If I was using my old equipment, it would just be my 300D + 18-125 Sigma. I would still use the 580EX+Diffuser+CP-E3. Personally, I think the flash, diffuser, powerpack combo is almost a must for wedding photography esp for the wedding dinner. In the day, you might have enough light, but in the evening, you need as much light as you need. While using a fast lens might help in focusing, the low DOF will work against you, and I regularly use f5.6 even on my 24-70L. So with f5.6 and ISO 3200, you might still end up with impractical shutter speed. I rather set my ISO to between 800 to 1600, shutter at 1/125, f5.6 and let the flash do the work. The lightsphere diffuser will work very well to provide a combination of bounce flash(if ceiling is low) and indirect flash. I also cannot help but recommend use a wide angle lens as since you are using indirect flash with f5.6, your flash range is only a few metres. Using a wide angle helps you stay closer to your subject so your flash can cover it. Also in wedding dinner, it is very tight and hard to back up.
Personally, if you are going to shoot event or wedding, it is a MUST to learn how to use flash. Why? Because you simply have no time to figure out if your photo has hand shake, subject shake, under exposure or wrong focusing. Half the time you are watching the scene trying to catch the moment. There is no second try, you must get it the first time. If you set your camera and workflow correctly, flash photography makes things so much more safe. You just have to make sure your subject is not too far away such that the flash cannot reach it and you focus correctly. ETTL will handle the rest and you will assured with a perfectly exposed picture with no hand or subject shake. Some may say that the flash might kill the mood of the pictures, but if you weigh in all the uncertainties and troubles of using a fast prime and slow shutter speed, I rather go for my flash. I am saying this as a primary photography at weddings and event. If i am a guest at the wedding or a secondary photography, I will whip out the primes and shoot because I am not shooting the "money" shots. I am allowed to miss critical shots as the primary photog will get it anyway. I can either shoot a more arty kind of photos or push the camera to shoot without flash.
Anyway that is the way i work. I tried shooting events with primes, fast zooms, slow zoom, ultra zoom and I find that in the end, a wide normal zoom with a battery powered diffused flash is the best compromise. I dont have to think about technicalities of the photography and can focus on capturing the moment. Most weddings and events happens only once. You cannot expect the bride to go back and walk down the aisle again because you screwed up.
Some of the answers are rather shocking! 
(In a moment of anger, I posted some nasty things, but decided against writing them later. All I want to say is that some wedding photographers are not worth a single cent. Do you not know that a wedding is a very important occasion to the bride and groom? How can you ruin such an occasion and still have the guts to ask for money? Some of you are really pathetic.)
(In a moment of anger, I posted some nasty things, but decided against writing them later. All I want to say is that some wedding photographers are not worth a single cent. Do you not know that a wedding is a very important occasion to the bride and groom? How can you ruin such an occasion and still have the guts to ask for money? Some of you are really pathetic.)
thw said:Some of the answers are rather shocking!
(In a moment of anger, I posted some nasty things, but decided against writing them later. All I want to say is that some wedding photographers are not worth a single cent. Do you not know that a wedding is a very important occasion to the bride and groom? How can you ruin such an occasion and still have the guts to ask for money? Some of you are really pathetic.)
Why are any of the answer shocking?
Anyway, I agree with you that a wedding is indeed a very important occasion and it is totally not cool to ruin someone's else wedding with bad behavior or bad photos. When my sister got married, I refused to take photos for her and told her to get a 3rd party pro to do. If anything happens, there will not be any bitter feelings within the family...
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