Your favourite lens for wedding shoots

Hi,
My friend who is a good portrait photographer although not a professional is planning on shooting her daughters wedding photos for her....

She is planning on buying a new lens (its her xmas present) and is a quandry as to which one to buy....I wondered if any of you guys had a favourite lens that use?????

Thanks

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=255604

Canon 17-55 F2.8 IS

Tell your friend to hire a photographer to do at least part of the job - she needs to be enjoying her daugher's day, not busy taking photographs. By all means shoot and take candid stuff, but trying to do the whole thing herself will be a big distraction.

Ann and I shoot around 95% of a wedding with Canon 17-55 f2.8 IS on a 30D, and Canon 24-105 f4 IS on a 20D ...and we have 70-200, or 12-24, or 50 f1.4 sitting on the 350D for the other 5%.

Rob

RobKirkwood wrote in post #2458743
Tell your friend to hire a photographer to do at least part of the job - she needs to be enjoying her daugher's day, not busy taking photographs. By all means shoot and take candid stuff, but trying to do the whole thing herself will be a big distraction.

Ann and I shoot around 95% of a wedding with Canon 17-55 f2.8 IS on a 30D, and Canon 24-105 f4 IS on a 20D ...and we have 70-200, or 12-24, or 50 f1.4 sitting on the 350D for the other 5%.

Rob

Almost exactly the same advice, your friend runs the risk of spoiling her day twice. She should be there for her daughters big day, she may regret not being there for it, and she may not be pleased with the photo's. Shooting a wedding isn't an extended portrait shoot, there are many competing priorities.

Nic and I shoot around 90% of a wedding with Canon 17-55 f2.8 IS on one 20D, and Sigma 24-70 2.8 on the other ...and we have 70-200, or 10-20, or 50 f1.8 sitting on the 300D for the remainder. The 70-200 shoots almost all of that (mostly on the 20d).

Great advice, everyone! I was thinking, I would like to shoot my sons' (whenever that happens) weddings but really will probably hire a pro. My brother is a retired pro, so I may hand him my Canon stuff and let him do some of it. He shoots with Leica film. Mother or father of the B&G should never do anything else but enjoy the event they paid for. Now, if you are compulsive, like me, you may bring your camera bag along anyway, but limiting herself to the before wedding get togethers may be a good compromise. The only real problem is "If she is taking the pictures, she's not in any of them." My sons' reasons for not having me shoot our family events.

My daughter got married last year..I hired a friend and he did the work, I told him I would bring my camera, but stay out of his way...I got some really nice shots....

One thing...I asked my camera be placed at my seat, and some well meaning folks thought they knew better andkept my camera from me....I was so angry. I lost all those shots...BUT, i did enjoy the day. I did not shoot at the reception at all..I walked and talked and danced and enjoyed myself...

My advice...bring the camera, hire a pro and enjoy the day.

Oh, I forgot what the OP wanted as a suggestion. Always, 24-70L for walking around, 50 1.4 or 85 1.8 for the close-ups. I don't have the 17-55 because I have the 5D, but I heard it's a great lens and on the 20D or 30D or XT's, it would be wonderful. Great gift for someone having a joyous event coming up.

80% with 24-70L on a 20d
15% with 70-200L 2.8 on a 20d
5% with 12-24 on my 300d

I shoot almost exclusively with the 24-105 f/4 on one body and 24-70 f/2.8 on the other. One of the bodies is full frame and as a result I very rarely ever run out of space to fit a group in. If I do I always have the 16-35 f/2.8.

I will use the 70-200 f/2.8L IS on some selected shots.

Is there a budget, because if L's are out of her price range, the Tamron SPAF 28 - 75mm XR Di LD f2.8 would also be a good choice IMHO. Others may prefer the Sigma equivelant, of which I haven't used.

But in line with what others have said here, your friend should really be in some of the photo's, and not have the worry of it all, and enjoy the day.

The obvious question: how can you be in the wedding that you are shooting? Seems like a "key person" will be missing from a number of key shots. But like many others have said, hire a pro. There are extensive threads on the pitfalls of being your own attorny.... er, I mean wedding photographer.

But to answer the question - both my bodies are FF. One always has the 24-105L which I find to be wonderful - combines the wide angle for all the group shots, medium wide for walkaround, normal, and short tele for candid portraits. The other 5D has the 70-200L f/2.8 IS, another wonderful lens. - Stu

If she's planning to take the candids and maybe some of the line-up shots (over the WPs shoulder) be sure to get the WPs agreement first. Many WPs expect to make some $$ on residuals from the prints. Also be sure to discuss getting a high-res CD of the WPs work - often that's an extra charge. Many of the more experienced ones don't seem to offer it (because they stopped doing it years prior for one reason or another) but it's something to be aware of.

It's a fair bet that they'de be the types to like having royalty-free copies they can share and reprint.

Thanks guys....I've passed your info and advice on to my friend the rest is up to her...but she said to say thanks..