Dilemma: what lenses to take to a friends wedding

[bramley]

Right chaps and chapesses, I'm off to a friends wedding at the weekend. I'm not the official photographer and won't be trying to muscle in on the pro's shots, but obviously I'd like to take my camera and hopefully get a few half decent shots, not forgetting to enjoy myself as I am a guest not a 'tog.

Your kitbag contains the following, but you want to travel light, what would you take:

24-105
50mm 1.4
70-200 2.8
100mm 2.8 (macro)

Realistically, 2 lenses max I think.

I kinda hoping the pro will disappear before the evening bash so perhaps (if I'm not too drunk) at that point I can 'be a photographer' a bit more IFYKWIM i.e. I won't be treading on the main togs toes. So that'll be me, drunk, trying to get to grips with slow sync flash!

[_dobbo_]

I'd take the 24-105 and the 70-200. You need something wide-ish when you do group shots, and the 70-200 is unbeatable for the candid stuff.

I wouldn't worry about treading on the main photog's toes - I'd wager at virtually every wedding these days there is at least one guest waving a DSLR around. I know at the last wedding I was at all the photog seemed to want to do was ask me about my D200 and what I thought of it.

[miniman]

Definitely the 70-200. My third prize winning shot from last month's comp ( ) was taken with my 70-200 2.8 IS:



More here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/binaryimage/sets/7215...

[bramley]

Interesting - I'll give you my thoughts later, but don't want to sway other people's thought processes first!

[Gemm]

Another vote for 24-105 + 70-200.

[Dogsey]

I'll be slightly different and go for the 50 1.4 & 70-200 2.8, 70-200 for the candid day shots and 50 for the low light in the evening.

[_dobbo_]

Cheating slightly - but surely the 50mm is so small you can take it in addition to two other lenses...

[F308 MAN]

why not take everything you have ?

you just never know what may be "around the corner"

be prepared.

d

[Tuna]

Definitely take the 50mm... you could get some fantastic portrait shots in the church, no flash and plenty of natural light. I'd probably add the 24-105 as a nice general lens - you need wide angle for group shots much more than zoom.

My sister's wedding shots are here, but it's an old version of simple viewer, so if you have the latest version of flash it might not work..

http://www.lockfarm.com/wedding

[bramley]

Interesting to hear your thoughts folks, thanks.

I want to travel light so that I don't whizz off leaving my (pregnant) wife to catch me up with a 3-4kg bag. All kit fits into the bag I'm taking, but....it seems a bit greedy/unnecessary to take all of it when I'm just a guest, but part of me wants to have it all! The 70-200 is a given, no way I'd leave that at home, then I thought I'd take the 50 for it's speed and low light ability, and with no zoom it might make me think a bit more about composition? Then I figured it would be nice to have a wider angle...you can see how I keep changing my mind!

Decisions....!

[_dobbo_]

I take your point about weight, but I can't see how the 50mm makes enough of a difference not to take it - it only weighs as much as an apple!

[marctwo]

I'm no pro but no matter now many lenses I take to weddings I always end up using the 50mm.

[bramley]

Sod it, I'm taking all three! 24-105, 50 and 70-200.

Thanks for helping everyone, I'll blame you lot when my wife complains about the weight of the bag and time spent faffing with the camera at the wedding!

[drivin_me_nuts]

The last one I did I took two a 28-75 and 100-300. Also take a tripod. I took over 300 shots and without a doubt the best ones (the ones liked most by the B&G) were the informal ones, friends family, odd moments of people talking and a lot were taken at 300ish on a tripod when people were unaware.

[bramley]

Tripod out of the question sadly - don't forget I'm a guest at this wedding not the main tog! I will miss the tripod the night before when I stroll round london for some evening shots, but c'est la vie. I might squeeze my tiny Slik table top tripod in the bag but it can't cope with anything heavier than the 50mm lens with the 5D.

[trackdemon]

First two, without question. Weddings are predominantly indoor events, and unless you have uber-powerful flash the 70-200 will be useless sans-tripod. You'll need the wide angle for groups, and the 50mm f1.4 will be great for available light portraits.

[_dobbo_]

Not sure about that trackdemon - I was using my 80-400mm extensively at a wedding recently with only an SB600 and a sto-fen diffuser, it worked perfectly, and that's only an f/5.6.

[flat-planedCrank]

bramley said:

24-105
50mm 1.4
70-200 2.8
100mm 2.8 (macro)

Realistically, 2 lenses max I think.

How about 2 bigger lenses and a small one ?

I'd take:

24-105:
The group shots will need something wide, however for the church / reception the f4 max aperture will mean may be unsuited for that.

70-200 2.8:
Great for candid shots of the reception, plus you can get some lovely portaits if you 'shadow' the main photographer doing the standard posed shots.

50 1.4:
I'd bung this in your pocket for its low light shooting and dof. You can get some terrific shots of place-settings and table flower displays, plus if you want to shoot into the evening it'll stop you having to use the 70-200. It'll be a bit more manageable

Have fun

[trackdemon]

I'll agree to differ then

Have to admit I haven't done any weddings, although have snapped at a few indoor events - I ask myself which focal length range would I be willing to lose:

24-105 or 105-200, and I simply cant see a circumstance under which I'd need the latter more than the former.

But then, its not really my chosen field so you should weight my opinion accordingly

[Tuna]

trackdemon said:

I'll agree to differ then

Have to admit I haven't done any weddings, although have snapped at a few indoor events - I ask myself which focal length range would I be willing to lose:

24-105 or 105-200, and I simply cant see a circumstance under which I'd need the latter more than the former.

But then, its not really my chosen field so you should weight my opinion accordingly

I'm with you on this one. Not that anyone cares ;-)