need a good lens

I need a very good lens for doing weddings
It would have to be an all rounder wide and telly so I don’t have to keep swapping lens anyone got any ideas ?
if anyone has got one are they selling it ?

I think you will be looking at 16-50 lenses so for example the DA*16-50 f/2.8 of course the Tamron or Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8, Sigma 18-55 f/2.8 or something around that range.
If you want to have more distance you either need to give in on focal range or lens speed.
The DA17-70 f/4 is a very good lens and so are the sigma and tamron equivalent I believe.
If you want to give on focal range there are quite a few good lenses around the 24 to 75mmm range that still have f/2.8.

thats great thanks you so much stefan i knew you could help me with this thanks again

Hello Shaun,

I agree with Stefan - you've got to be heading for f2.8 lenses ideally and he's mentioned the obvious ones. And if you really wanted to cover all bases, I think you'd ideally be taking two bodies - one with the 16-50 and another with 50-135 for shots from the back of the church etc.

One other suggestion - you could consider 17-70 and supplement it with a fast 50mm prime (eg 50mm f1.4 - oddly enough I have one for sale!!!). I think quite a few pro wedding photographers take one of those in their pocket too, as they can be very helpful in poor lighting conditions as well as being ideal portrait lenses.

Jon

I agree with Stefan - something like the 16-50 or 17-70 would be ideal, coupled with a decent flash. I have 'shot' one wedding (not something I am in a rush to do again:shock, and used the 16-50 exclusively, along with a 540 flashgun...

Regards

thanks fellas i really do need the help and jon have you sold yours yet and if not could you let me know how mush your selling it for thanks again

Hi Shaun - I am currently selling 16-45 which I do not think is right for your needs (too slow and not enough reach), plus an old manual focus 50mm f1.4 SMC-M prime lens for £60 (see separate thread in classifieds). To be honest, I wouldn't go with that either unless you are well-used to manual exposure and manual focus - a lens with auto exposure ability would make life rather easier. So, SMC-A or SMC-FA (the latter would also give you auto focus).

Don't want to do myself out of a sale here, and it's a lens I would be reasonably comfortable to use in a wedding - but only because most of my kit is made up of lenses that are almost as old as I am and I've got used to them! Let me know if you are still interested anyway!

Cheers,

Jon

jon its very kind of you to tell me that manual focus would be a bit awkward for me i think the auto focus would be better thats sad i would rather buy from one of you fellas then a shop

Just done a wedding yesterday, and the answer does depend a lot on your definition of 'tele'!

Kit used:-

2x K-7s
2x Flashguns with diffusers
DA* 16-50
DA* 50-135
DA 12-24 for interiors at brides house
DA*55 for some narrow depth of field shots & low light shots at receptions.

You did say 'I need a very good lens for doing weddings. It would have to be an all rounder wide and telly so I don’t have to keep swapping lens...' can we take from this that 'doing weddings' implies that you plan to do this regularly & for money? If so, then I have to say that this approach is normally the opposite of what is needed!!

Every wedding is different so different lenses are needed for different situations, every wedding photographer needs a back up so a minimum of 2 bodies would be needed, so you may as well have 2 lenses permanently attached to 2 bodies to make switching a lot easier. Also with 2 bodies, if you have an assistant with you, then they can change a lens on one body for you while you are still shooting on the other.

If you had to only have one lens, then I would say it would have to be the 16-50, don't forget that weather sealing comes in very handy in the UK!

I agree totally with Unlocker's post.

Try a forum search - the question of advice/kit for shooting weddings crops up regularly. I picked up a lot of advice last year when I did one.