What was your first (Not kit) lens for weddings

I'm trying to find a good portrait lens. I have an ok zoom for weddings, but not great. I'm thinking 85mm f1.8 I've heard nothing but great things (relative to the price range of course.) I was just wondering what lens was your first purchace. How much did it cost? and did you wish that you had splurged for the next best thing?

My first wedding lens was the 24-70. It is still my most used lens. A good prime choice would be the 50L, 35L, or 85L. The 85 is especially good for the bridal portrait.

What's good for you will depend greatly on what body you use, what other lenses you own, and whether or not you'll be able to use flash.

My very first was the 28-135IS, which was quickly switched for the 24-70L. Absolutely fantastic wedding lens, especially on FF.

right now I have a 350D body a 24-85mm f/4-5.6 is lens and off brand flash. I'm saving up for a 30D & 580EX but I think it's more important that I have a better lens first. RIGHT???

Federkeil wrote in post #3037609
right now I have a 350D body a 24-85mm f/4-5.6 is lens and off brand flash. I'm saving up for a 30D & 580EX but I think it's more important that I have a better lens first. RIGHT???

If you are planning on doing a wedding you will need a good lens and a flash. The 350D is fine. I shot a wedding with a 350D, 580EX, and 24-70. On the crop sensor the 24 may not be wide enough for the larger group shots if you space is not large.

My first wedding was shot with a Sigma 15-30mm
No kidding. I was a serious newbie then!
Got some good group shots.

Federkeil wrote in post #3037609
right now I have a 350D body a 24-85mm f/4-5.6 is lens and off brand flash. I'm saving up for a 30D & 580EX but I think it's more important that I have a better lens first. RIGHT???

a good fast lens is more important than the flash because it's much less invasive/disturbing and oftentimes there are wedding locations that won't allow the use of flash. I would say look at getting a 24-70 or a 35L, 85L, or 135L, or even a 70-200 2.8 to get shots from the back of the church/wedding hall/whatever.

thing about wedding photography is you need some good, fast, heavy, and expensive lenses....and two bodies in case one fails for any reason.

started with quantary lenses (28-70 and 70-300) and gradually worked my way up to mostly L and other awesome gear.

Yea i started with an xt and a sigma 17-70

Im at a 30d & XT. 17-55 2.8, 70-200 2.8 IS, 50 1.4 and 24mm 1.4 and now i feel like i have a complete kit.

My first wedding lens was a Tamron 17-50 2.8. This was a very nice lens. I switched to primes when I went FF, fast, Great IQ.

My first 2 wedding lenses were the 24-70 2.8L and 70-200 2.8L non-IS. I used the kit lens to go a little wider.

But your title is misleading. You ask for wedding lens in the title, and portrait lens in the post. Sometimes they're the same lens but not always. Which do you really want? The 85mm is a really good lens, but it's not a zoom and it's not very versatile.

I WANT THEM ALL!!! Ok well, not all of them. But I have to work up gradually. I want to do weddings the most, but I get more family, baby, portrait type jobs. (very small town) And I feel much more controlled in the later. I love weddings, but I'm still too green to do many and feel very comfortable. So to answer your question, I am looking for a good portrait lens first, but one that will still be usable for couples shots before and after the actual ceremony of weddings. I think I will get the 85mm f1.8 and then start saving for the 70-200mm f2.8 does that sound about right?

I bought the 17-55 EF-S IS to shoot my niece's wedding in July 2006. Best decision I ever made.

After shooting two weddings last year I have discovered that the 50MM is a tad long ofr indoors shots on the crop body foramt...so, I purchased the Sigma 30MM f/1.4 to use in that role. I have two weddings coming up this summer and that will be my combo with the 70-200MM f/4 EF L and the 100MM f/2.8 Macro playing supporting roles.

24-70L would be the best IMO, However on a crop sensor maybe a 16-35mm.

17-40 from my experience with using an F4 lens its very difficult to take photos especially when no flash was allowed! Thankfully i wasnt the main photographer!