Weddings: Sigma or Canon?

[Mitch]

I need to decide on either a Sigma 70-200 2.8 or the Canon 70-200 F4L. (I will be shooting weddings with a 10D.) I will need this zoom for wedding shots in a church and candids at the reception. About 70% of the time, the church light is OK, but 30% of the time the lighting can be low. Also, most receptions go dim about two hours after they start. The posts on a similar topic confirmed that the Canon 70-200 F4L was better (sharper) and lighter than the Sigma 2.8. But, will the benefit of f2.8 capability of the Sigma out weigh the sharpness advantage of the Canon in shooting in wedding environments? My budget currently prohibits my purchasing the Canon 70-200L 2.8 or the IS version at this time.

[rodbunn]

I'm one of the few on this board that likes Sigma but I use the Sigma with my (loaner) 10D for weddings and am very happy with it. The 2.8 comes in handy for candids of the bride/groom head shots together talking or the "kiss", you can get a real blurry background when you want it.

Good luck, Rod

[Belmondo]

This is one of those applications where the extra f-stop can really come in handy. I'd probably try the Sigma.

[scollins]

I'm with Rod here, there seem to be very few here, but I like Sigma too. I only have one Sigma lens, and it has performed flawlessly for me. The only drawback may be the motor noise when autofocusing. My lens is not HSM equipped and is a little loud compared to my Canon lens. In a quiet setting like a church that may be even more obvious. --I just looked up the lens you're considering, and it does have the HSM, so noise shouldn't be a problem. The extra stops would definitely come in handy here.

[DaveG]

Mitch wrote:
I need to decide on either a Sigma 70-200 2.8 or the Canon 70-200 F4L. (I will be shooting weddings with a 10D.) I will need this zoom for wedding shots in a church and candids at the reception. About 70% of the time, the church light is OK, but 30% of the time the lighting can be low. Also, most receptions go dim about two hours after they start. The posts on a similar topic confirmed that the Canon 70-200 F4L was better (sharper) and lighter than the Sigma 2.8. But, will the benefit of f2.8 capability of the Sigma out weigh the sharpness advantage of the Canon in shooting in wedding environments? My budget currently prohibits my purchasing the Canon 70-200L 2.8 or the IS version at this time.

What about the Canon 200 f2.8? Or even the Canon 100 mm f2. I think that I'd suggest the 100 and then save your $ for the Canon 70-200 f2.8.

The Sigma will make you happy today and probably tomorrow. My concern is in about three or four years. You can measure sharpness in tests but you can't measure durability.

[TimNYC]

I have owned the Sigma 70-210 APO f/2.8 for about 8 years now and it is an awesome lens. Crisp,clean focusing with spectacular results. In fact, I just had it rechipped for my 300D. This lens has given me years of exceptional service. The f/2.8 really makes the subject stand out and the background nicely blurred. IMHO I highly reccomend this Sigma lens.

[Malaxos1]

I do a lot of weddings and think that the f.28 is the way to go. My last camera had an f2 lens and I used it all the time. I think that 70-200mm will be nice but you will want something wider than that. I am currently using a Tamoron 28-75mm f2.8 as my main lens for weddings. Also I should mention that while I use f2.8 a lot, I mostly shoot at f5.6 because the bride or groom being just a hair behind the other may render them out of focus. It's imposrtant to watch that...Dean

[Mitch]

Thank you Rod, Belmondo, Steve, Dave, Tim, and Dean. I really appreciate your counsel on this matter. I feel a lot more comfortable about the Sigma lens, although, I do see the wisdom of Dave's comment about durability. I just want to get something that does do what I need it to do, reliably. And, conversely, I intend to stay completely away from anything that does not, in fact, get the job done.

[Erin]

I've had a 70-200 HSM EX Sig for two years, I use it for editorial photography. Its a very solid lens and has never malfunctioned.
I expect it to perform like TimNYCs Sigma 70-210 2.8 Apo that has served him well for 8 years,

[DaveG]

For what it's worth the Sigma 70-200 f2.8 is $700 at B&H. The Canon (USA) 70-200 f2.8L is about $1130, while the grey market version is $70 cheaper.

[bluebomberx]

I have no experience in wedding photography; but, I've been using a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 EX HSM for almost a year now. I purchased mine from B&H's used department for $550. In my opinion, it is an awesome lens. It is also my most used lens. It works great with all of my EOS bodies, including the 10D. It focuses quickly and quitely. Some say it's slightly louder than Canon's USM, but that's a stretch - It might be so, but passers-by still wouldn't hear it unless they had their ear to it. I've linked to a couple of high-res photos. These are from a Canon 10D and Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 EX HSM. They have obviously been post processed in Photoshop. I tweaked the exposure a minor amount on each image, converted to b/w with the channel mixer, resized to 5x7.5 at 300DPI, and finally sharpened them with Fred Miranda's 10D CSPro action. Standard post processing if you will... Anywho, to sum it up, this is a great lens at a great price point.

1/250 at f/2.8 - 5x7.5 at 300DPI - 1.24MB (http://www.phototalk.net/rryerson/albums/private/126_2647.jpg)

1/250 at f/14 - 5x7.5 at 300DPI - 1.38MB (http://www.phototalk.net/rryerson/albums/private/IMG_0405.jpg)

[rodbunn]

Just an added comment, I've had my Sigma 70-200 for 4 years, shot 1000's of snowboarding pics in 20 degree weather, 30 or so weddings (some in 100 degree weather), and I've been lucky but it's still going strong (fingers crossed ;-)

Don't worry so much about the equipment, get out there and shoot, shoot, shoot !

Take care all and enjoy!

[rodbunn]

I just remembered, the Sigma lense hood makes a great snow cone when you want one. I fell down the ski slope head first at Snow Summit with my Sigma in front of me.... Right into the snow.... when I got up (took a while with a 50 pound pack of eq. on my back) I had the perfect snow cone in my lense hood!

Some great memories!


SEE YA !!!!!!!!!!!!!

ps. for those of you who have followed my 10D problems with Canon, they still have it but I have a loaner that works great ! After 4 trips to Canon repair, I hope they keep my original 10D body.....