Shooting my first wedding with my 20D

I am just getting into the wedding photography and am shooting my friends wedding on Saturday. Any suggestions on a good lense / lenses to use?
It will be just the reception, she wants mostly candids and it's all indoors at night.

perhaps the best place to ask this question is in the wedding photography section, youll probably get better feedback. are you going to be using a flash, what focal length do you find yourself using the most?? if you give us more info we can help you even more.

Are you the "official" photographer? Weddings are one time things, and have to be done right. Lighting will be a HUGE issue. Second body is a must. Several memory cards too. Lenses from UWA to tele are utilized, but one can use a "normal" focal length fast prime to do it all.

This is just a guestimate but would be my of looking at it assuming this is a casual affair and you are not the only photographer - just there to get some more pictures and practice - as others have said if all of the responsibility is down to you to get the pictures on their big day then you need backup bodies/backup lenses/etc/etc.

If it is at night and indoors then it would seem to me that you are going to want primes for their larger apertures.

If it is just for the reception then you probably only want one lens which is versatile enough with a bit of foot zooming to grab candids as they happen and you won't have to worry about swapping lenses.

On the crop body you won't want anything too long if it is indoors (i.e. 85mm) and at a reception wide angle would probably encompass too much and so be distracting (i.e. 24/28mm).

So in my amateur logic I would go for either the 35 or 50mm primes. The 35 is a F/2 or F/1.4L. The 2 may be too slow and the 1.4 might be too expensive. The 50mm is 1.8/1.4 or 1.2L. The 1.2L is WAY too expensive, the 1.8 is slow to focus.

QED: The lens you want is the EF 50mm F/1.4 USM (IMHO)


Disclaimer: This could be total c**p and I accept no responsibility should it turn out to be so..!!


Steve

you don't list your gear, what have you got to do the wedding with?

Rhinotherunt wrote in post #2329707
Are you the "official" photographer? Weddings are one time things, and have to be done right. Lighting will be a HUGE issue. Second body is a must. Several memory cards too. Lenses from UWA to tele are utilized, but one can use a "normal" focal length fast prime to do it all.

Personally I dont 100% agree with all of this. Lighting is a huge issue but thats one thing the "photographer" will always try to fight with and compete with. But learning how to adapt to any lighting situation is what makes a great photographer. Second body is definately not a "must".

Fast primes are great but most of the time your lighting situation is going to be so horrid that even the 1.2 isn't going to save you. Speedlite or a flash gun is definately a must imo. Most of the time I find that I can move around a lot and any focal length is fine but I look at my distribution of shots and around 50mm-70mm and 150-200mm used the most. The only time you're very restricted in terms of movement is the church. So go with whatever lens you can creatively shoot best in I think.

kevinsyn wrote in post #2329821
Lighting is a huge issue but thats one thing the "photographer" will always try to fight with and compete with. But learning how to adapt to any lighting situation is what makes a great photographer.

Fast primes are great but most of the time your lighting situation is going to be so horrid that even the 1.2 isn't going to save you. Speedlite or a flash gun is definately a must imo.

I did not mention a speedlight, but kinda figured it was understood when I stated that lighting is going to be the biggest issue. I recommend the fast prime route due to the cost of faster zooms. Most consumer zooms are quite slow. One could get a Tamron 28-75 2.8 and a speedlight and do very well however.

Thanks for all your advice. No, I am not the primary photographer, just helping a friend out with some extra shots. I have the 20D with the 18-55mm lense. I was planning on renting all my equipment, so far I know I need the 580EX flash but am unsure about a lense.

mmmphotography wrote in post #2330087
Thanks for all your advice. No, I am not the primary photographer, just helping a friend out with some extra shots. I have the 20D with the 18-55mm lense. I was planning on renting all my equipment, so far I know I need the 580EX flash but am unsure about a lense.

Work with what you've got or work with gear that you will buy.

430EX works just as well as the 580EX, even the sigma 500dg and such.

kevinsyn wrote in post #2330107
Work with what you've got or work with gear that you will buy.

430EX works just as well as the 580EX, even the sigma 500dg and such.

Ditto^^

The 28-70 2.8L is my lens of choice for weddings. I usually have a second body with the 70-200 2.8L handy, but it hardly gets used. And I have a couple of 550EX flashes. I never felt the need for a WA lens because of the way I shoot (PJ style, with lots of closeups).

So, if you plan to rent equipment, rent the 24-70 2.8L and the 580EX and you should not be disappointed.

perfect_pixel wrote in post #2329748
If it is at night and indoors then it would seem to me that you are going to want primes for their larger apertures. If it is just for the reception then you probably only want one lens which is versatile enough with a bit of foot zooming to grab candids as they happen and you won't have to worry about swapping lenses.

So in my amateur logic I would go for either the 35 or 50mm primes. The 35 is a F/2 or F/1.4L. The 2 may be too slow and the 1.4 might be too expensive. The 50mm is 1.8/1.4 or 1.2L. The 1.2L is WAY too expensive, the 1.8 is slow to focus.

QED: The lens you want is the EF 50mm F/1.4 USM (IMHO)

Disclaimer: This could be total c**p and I accept no responsibility should it turn out to be so..!!

I would totally disagree with this - the one advantage that a prime might offer you in this situation is a brighter viewfinder and improved focusing ability as a result. The large aperture won't be useful when taking the majority of shots as you will need to stop down to get sufficient DOF. Get a fast zoom (seconding the suggestions of 24-70 F2.8, either canon, sigma or tamron) and use high iso to get your backgrounds to the right exposure and your flash to expose the foreground.

A second body is only a must if you are the pro.

sigma 30mm 1.4 is a good budget lens for this focal length. also read up on indirect flash, and get at least a 430ex, they work great in mostly any situation. remember to use ISO as needed, and chimp the histograms after most shots. aim to shoot at f4 and open the aperature a bit when you really need to.

many people would make the mistake of using AV mode, putting it on 1.4, and ignoring other things like ISO.

I say rent/buy a 430 and rent a 24-70f/2.8 if you can...

I provide rental equipment. Will be updating the site later tonight cause theres some packages at the post office that were rented out. Link in sig.