Wedding Group Shots - Which Lens?

[bellapop]

Hi, I have the 24-70 f/2.8 L
and the 70-200 f/2.8 L

Yesterday at a practice wedding I shot some of the group shots with the 70-200 - I guess because I wanted to throw the not so pretty background out of focus (and it seems to be the telephoto does that more) I don't know. This seems to be one of those things where I may not be thinking quite right.

I guess basically my thoughts are how to focus on a wedding group, and wondered if when trying to get them in sharp focus, if my choice of lens would have made a difference.

Any thoughts?

Brandy

[highway0691]

I'd definitely go for the 24-70. And use some kind've aperature to get dome depth of field, say f8+. Also depends on how large the group is. I've found that using longer lenses on groups can result in poor DOF. You may just be stuck with a poor background.

cheers

damian

[jillybean]

I agree with damian

[Raphael V]

+1.

Also try to focus 2/3rd into the group, so that every one in the group will look sharp enough.

[tutumon]

1. How many people are in the group?
2. Are you going to be using flash? If so, on-camera or off-camera?
3. How much working space do you have, can you backup a bit?
4. Are you shooting full length or bust level?

The above are some of the factors to be considered. The 24-70 would be the easier choice and more versatile for group shots, but If throwing the BG out of focus is important, you would have to use the 70-200 but it might not be practical though. If you have enough distance from your subjects, you might be able to use the 70-200.