Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Not a wedding photographer, but from my readings the two popular choices seem to be a fast 85 (1.4 on Nikon or 1.2L on Canon) and a fast wide, 24 f/1.4 or 35 f/1.4.

My pref would be the 35L. 85 is nice but you've got that focal length covered already. The 24mm is nice for full group shots but a little too wide for 3/4 shots. Just my preference on how I shoot so take that with a grain of salt. :p

50mm on full frame. Few steps back and you've got a wide, few steps forward and you have something near an 85mm. Won't be terrible if you need to take a headshot. Nice and light setup for use with a second camera if you've got a 70-200 on the first. 85mm is ok, but you would be screwed for group shots and/or tighter places (Lets say the dance floor area isnt as big as you had hoped). 35mm is good, but way too wide if you had to take anything closer than a full length body shot.

I only do small weddings, so it can be a bit more intimate, but I'm usually sticking with the 35L on full frame with the 70-200. Unless you are isolating certain crops, I have found that 50mm is hard to use. I actually end up with 17-40L and shoot at 40mm for little less exagerated perspective.

I'd go with a 35mm

+1 because that's what I have

I get your want to have a fast prime, but for the type of photos a wedding photographer would be expected to take, you will really need a 24-70 F2.8 in addition to the 70-200. In fact, if you are the only photographer, then I'd say that you would be better off just using the 24-70 rather than the 70-200 as you have the ability to get in front of everyone during the different aspects of the event but it's often tough to get the 'must have' shots if you have to keep backing up with the 70-200 in order to get everyone in frame.

If you are a second shooter, or just want to do a particular type of portrait shot, then you can specialize, but just as a word of warning, Brides often really don't like the way a short prime makes them look fat.

(for full-frame though and given that I have all these, my favorite single prime for those 'interesting' wedding shots is the 24L, but I wouldn't dream of using it for a portrait unless I am explicitly doing an exaggerated point of view shot. )

p

My wedding kit is D700 with AFS 24-70f/2.8, and D7000 with AFS 70-200VR1 f/2.8

Anything more, and it just gets silly... no time to pull out another camera for a specialized shot, or lens. Although the last wedding I did ... I did take a few environmental images with my 14-24

50mm 1.2 --> you need it wider .. step back or put it on the full frame, need it longer .. step forward or put it on the crop body. Faster focusing and lighter than the 85mm 1.2

The shallow depth of field really can lend itself to some creative wedding shots, not to mention it's usefulness in low light situations.

^ i agree and if i remember correctly, that's what rhommel has unless he sold it.

Do you guys shoot wide open?
That is at 2.8 or "smaller" if you have a prime?

35 f/1.4, if not then 24 f/1.4. I've been to enough venues where even the 50 was too long and that's on FF. But I'm a wide shooter too.

I find though that if you are shooting hand-held shots where the people are not completely still that you get lots of OOF images because the DOF is so shallow at 1.2. it's great for formal portraits where you can setup your camera on a tripod and have people sitting in static poses; you can get just the eyes in focus and use the DOF to your advantage, but if you are shooting in the middle of the ceremony, then you end up with a lot of shots where the tip of the nose is in focus and everything else starts getting fuzzy. f1.2 is awesome, but with such awesomeness comes great responsibility (and lots and lots and lots of practice to get around the inherent issues. )

p.

Yeah .. you have to know what you are doing with the 1.2 otherwise you will have a lot of oof images. But done right - i.e. for candid still moments, artistic type shots - with a little skill - you can take some really magical images.

Besides - Rhommel is a pro so you could put a kit lens in his hands and he would come up with stellar shots.

Agreed. Gotta know when to expand your dof or when not to. Having an ultra large aperture can drastically expand your portfolio for that job.

I go in usually with a 35L and 85L, i can stop down + flash for deeper dof to going wide open natural light within a snap of a finger.

These two prime lenses are a must

Same here. I also use a standard zoom for group shots and some action shots @ weddings.

2.8 I'll try to shoot at 3.2 for when looking for some DOF and 4.0-5.6 most other times.

1.4 I'll shoot at 2.0 minimum, unless my ISO's start climbing above 2000.

Personally, I try to get technically sharp images by balancing the ISO and Aperature to achieve that (Shutter speed is important, but you can't really play with it unless you're being artistic). Wide open isn't usually ideal for sharpness, especially when you venture down to 1.2-1.4. It's compeltely dependant on your Camera+Lens combinations, as well as your personal preference.

I presume Canon 1.2's will be acceptably sharp at 1.8. If you're shooting with a camera with sub par high iso performance you might perfer softer images to the high iso noise. Like I said, totally depends on your set up, you do the best with what you have.