This lens for weddings?

I mentioned this in another thread, but I had a wedding last year that I had to do ISO 5000, 1/50, F/1.4 and still push it a little in post. Granted this ceremony was absurdly dark for odd reasons to the point that I actually did use flash, but the available light shots at the above mentioned settings were my favorite of the ceremony.

gh patriot wrote in post #15518273
I agree and find myself in the 1.2 to 2.0 range quite often. It seems that brides want to make the venue as dark as possible these days. I LOVE outdoor receptions with lots of light before the sun sets but those seem to be few and far between for me.

Agreed on all counts.

highway0691 wrote in post #15517574
I see 3 issues here;

1. It's not the quintessential wedding lens mainly because f4 will not give you that shallow DOF often required.
2. In regards to the lens not being fast enough , high ISO eliminates that issue on todays cameras such as the 5Ds.
3. Also worth noting and need to remind myself of this frequently, IS stabilises camera movement, not subject movement.

All three of these points sum up my view exactly.

I want 2.8 for shallow DOF as high ISO and IS hellps quite a bit in dark envirnoments (I'm using strobes to raise ambient at reception and there isn't much dancing during the ceremony). If I had to, I could work with this one lens all day but not if it was limited to f4 as that wouldn't give me the narrow DOF I would want for portraits.

It also depends on what else you have in your bag. Maybe 24-70 f4 IS is fine for big chunks of the day if you have a couple of good primes to go to when you need.

Peacefield wrote in post #15519119
All three of these points sum up my view exactly.

I want 2.8 for shallow DOF as high ISO and IS hellps quite a bit in dark envirnoments (I'm using strobes to raise ambient at reception and there isn't much dancing during the ceremony). If I had to, I could work with this one lens all day but not if it was limited to f4 as that wouldn't give me the narrow DOF I would want for portraits.

It also depends on what else you have in your bag. Maybe 24-70 f4 IS is fine for big chunks of the day if you have a couple of good primes to go to when you need.

I was thinking about also adding a prime like the 28 f/1.8. I use the 70-200 2.8 IS for most of my ceremonies. Then have the 24-70 f/4L for close quarters stuff with flash. And have the prime for portraits along with the 70-200.

I used the 28 1.8 for a while before I got my 24L and enjoyed that lens. You may want to look for something wide too, even if it's a Rokinon 14mm.

I sold my 34-70 and bought the 24-105 and am really happy I did. I do, however, have several wider primes (Rokinon 14mm, Canon 28mm f.18, and Canon 35L) to cover my wider, lower light sections.

I realized I was only using the 24-70 for outdoor ceremonies and formals, which I can do just fine with f4. The 24-70 was too heavy to sit in my bag for only a few uses, wasnt fast enough to get the really dark receptions or ceremonies, and had a range that could have been extended for my use. Thus, I bought the 24-105 and am really happy with it.

For many years I shot weddings on a medium format hassey with a 50mm 4.0, 80mm 2.8 and a 150 4.0. Film was ISO 160 and 400. So I will say that it is certainly possible. I prefer faster lenses but I do have the 24-105 and use it pretty often.

I really don't see how film turned out ASA 400 with a 2.8 lens back in the day. Wasn't the picture just super dark? I mean some of these venues I"m with these guys where your at iso 3200/6400 and getting 1/40th to 1/80th of a second.

Even with 1.4 Primes and film speed of 400-800 dont' seem like it would get enough light in on the pictures...what flim tricks am I missing? Or did they talk to the photographer and do very lit churches?

sonofjesse wrote in post #15525736
I really don't see how film turned out ASA 400 with a 2.8 lens back in the day. Wasn't the picture just super dark? I mean some of these venues I"m with these guys where your at iso 3200/6400 and getting 1/40th to 1/80th of a second.

Even with 1.4 Primes and film speed of 400-800 dont' seem like it would get enough light in on the pictures...what flim tricks am I missing? Or did they talk to the photographer and do very lit churches?

Seemed to be back then the magic number was "4".
Most ceremony shots I did were 1/4 sec f4 with iso 400 film. A good tripod and timing helped tremendously.

You still tried to get it properly exposed but film also handled a little underexposure better.

I only did probably 12-16 shots during a ceremony as well.

Weddings require fast glass...IS will not stop people movement.

zagiace wrote in post #15525790
I only did probably 12-16 shots during a ceremony as well.

This just makes me wish I was shooting 15 years ago. I can't even imagine what would happen if I handed a bride just a few shots from the ceremony these days.

Drop the film to the lab, get a proof book order prints and album. Done. Everything was simpler then... Heck now days it seems I have to schedule a time to call a bride, the days of just calling are all but gone.

gh patriot wrote in post #15527529
This just makes me wish I was shooting 15 years ago. I can't even imagine what would happen if I handed a bride just a few shots from the ceremony these days.

Drop the film to the lab, get a proof book order prints and album. Done. Everything was simpler then... Heck now days it seems I have to schedule a time to call a bride, the days of just calling are all but gone.

Yea, those days are gone. This month I have about 9900 shots to edit from weddings. One of my goals this year was to stop shooting so much and I am not on the right track.
At least we don't have to card negatives anymore. Not sure you have ever had to do that but it was tedious.

I haven't used this lens but I would want speed rather then IS.

zagiace wrote in post #15528125
Yea, those days are gone. This month I have about 9900 shots to edit from weddings. One of my goals this year was to stop shooting so much and I am not on the right track.
At least we don't have to card negatives anymore. Not sure you have ever had to do that but it was tedious.

We carded negs. That was what we used to call post processing

We wanted more control over all our editing. But we increased our shots to about 10x what we used to shoot and now all our time is spent editing instead of carding.

MFG wrote in post #15517287
i have the 24-105 f/4 which is my holiday lens and never see the lights of weddings. this should sum up my usage.

Second that - my 24-105 sits in the car with my third body as a backup. Plus I found the 24-105 had a lot more vignetting than the 24-70 2.8, though not sure what the 24-70 f4 is like with this.