Wedding 24mm which lens??

I'm still tossing up between the 16-35mm f4 and the Tokina 16-28mm. My hesitation is mainly around NOT using a Canon L series lens but the reviews on Photozone concluded:

"Technically the Tokina is superior to the current Canon EF zoom lenses in basically all the analysed image aspects!"

These guys rate the Canon f4 over the 2.8, and only are unsure if the Tokina is much better because of quality control.

Anyone have real life experience with the Tokina?

Honestly I think exactly the same thing when people wax lyrical about the beauty of using a prime instead of a fast zoom.

I use a 24-70 2.8 for the ceremony, a second camera is fitted with a 70-200 2.8 unless I'm in somewhere VERY tight, on which case its the 16-35.

A single shooter, covering the ceremony with a prime, is probably going to be doing a lot of cropping in post. Or they are the flash.

Live, nonrepetable events demand a zoom. In my opinion. Your mileage may vary.

Weddings can happen really fast...almost too fast for a lens change at times.... I think it's best to have something like a 24 - 70 along with a 80 - 200 or 70 - 200 so you can cover a huge zoom range with less lens changes.

The 24-70mm is my bread and butter for weddings. If I was in the market for 24mm, I'd get that first.

Now I also use the Canon 24mm prime, but I consider it a luxury, not a necessity like my zoom. I use this during prep or reception sometimes when shooting without flash to be unobtrusive.

So I guess my answer would be... get both!

Try telling all the prime shooters out there that weddings are so fast they need zooms.

I use mainly primes too except during times when a zoom is more unobtrusive, for example the ceremony and reception speeches where I typically choose a spot and stay there rather than moving around too much.

I haven't tried any of the other 24mm's you've mentioned except the Canon 24L II which I find really good. I also highly rate the 24-70L II

i have the 24-70L but dont use it for wedding. i have and use the 24LII at reception when light is low

the latest lens i acquired is the 16-35LII (which has the 24mm in it). its super wide with lots of distortion at 16 but gives a different feel to the type of photos from 24-35 focal length.

now, now bridal portrait lenses are usually the 16-35LII and the 70-200LII.

20mm 1.4 sigma art. I have the 24mm 1.4 canon and it's very average.

vanmidd wrote in post #17929877
20mm 1.4 sigma art. I have the 24mm 1.4 canon and it's very average.

I wouldn't call it average. It's one of my most used primes at weddings. What do you not like about it?

It's soft wide-open and the vignetting wide-open is also severe. I like to shoot wide open alot, so I'm often comparing my sigma 35mm art with my 24mm canon and it's night and day, the sigma kills it. I've changed my shooting style when I use it, and never shoot wider open than 2.0/2.5 anymore. And when I have to do that I start to dislike the lens.

Which is why I'd suggest anyone considering it buy a sigma 20mm or 24mmm art instead.

Have to agree with Vanmidd about the Canon 24mm. Average lens imho never really an L for me. I do prefer the 24 focal length though.

vanmidd wrote in post #17929952
It's soft wide-open and the vignetting wide-open is also severe. I like to shoot wide open alot, so I'm often comparing my sigma 35mm art with my 24mm canon and it's night and day, the sigma kills it. I've changed my shooting style when I use it, and never shoot wider open than 2.0/2.5 anymore. And when I have to do that I start to dislike the lens.

Which is why I'd suggest anyone considering it buy a sigma 20mm or 24mmm art instead.

memoriesoftomorrow wrote in post #17929985
Have to agree with Vanmidd about the Canon 24mm. Average lens imho never really an L for me. I do prefer the 24 focal length though.

Are you talking about the Canon 24L II? Most reviews of the Sigma that I've read conclude that optical performance is slightly better than the Canon. Yes, the Canon has more vignetting, but that doesn't bother me much.

Yes I'm talking about the Canon MKII. Very soft wide open.

yeah, you guys must have bad copies because my 24L II is blazing sharp wide open with -3 MA. Have you tried to see if that was the issue? Easily my most used prime at weddings. Maybe I just have a REALLY good copy.

But I'm rarely at f1.4 since I'm making a bunch of my own light. 1.4 is super sharp when I do use it. f2 all day with that lens. It's perfect IMO.

Also, the Canon focuses MUCH more consistently in low light. While I loved my Sigma Art lenses, there's no comparison in low-light focusing. Lets remember that Canon doesn't give Sigma their special sauce when it comes to the focusing algorithm. Sigma reverse engineers it and I've never had an Art lens focus consistently when the dancing starts.

Canon 24mm 2.8 STM... super cheap and super sharp. It's an amazing lens.

I never use mine at weddings though. I shoot 90% of everything with my Sigma 18-35 1.8