A Different Wedding Lens

I attended a wedding yesterday as a guest and left my Canon gear at home. The pro and his assistant had three 30D bodies and he had the Sigma 120-300MM f/2.8 lens mounted on two of them. He had a Canon 17-55MM EF-S IS on the third body. I have not seen much talk here about the Sigma 120-300MM f/2.8 and was just curious as to its merits. At the reception the pro set up two remote flash units, one on a pole and the other on a glass door suction mount, he aimed both at the ceiling and had them slaved to his 30D which had a 580EX mounted. Whenever he made a shot the whole room lit up

BTW...I was reduced to using my wife's Olympus P&S...ugh...red eye in most of the shots I did manage to capture a couple of decent shots...here is the new Mr. & Mrs. coming down the aisle after the ceremony was complete.

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TWO bodies with the 120-300 mounted?! That's insane. I could see 1 out of 3 bodies with that lens, but 2 out of 3 makes no sense. But everyone's different in their methods, I guess.

JimAskew wrote in post #3941765
Whenever he made a shot the whole room lit up

Did this feel annoying?

120-300? Interesting.... never even heard of wedding shooters using this lens. But no stabilizer, which is why I suspect it isn't popular in this group! It's also weird that he would have two.

picturecrazy wrote in post #3947487
120-300? Interesting.... never even heard of wedding shooters using this lens. But no stabilizer, which is why I suspect it isn't popular in this group! It's also weird that he would have two.

Both he and his assistant were sporting one...it looked like a bazooka to me. Big, long, and probably heavy!

The pro also had the 17-55MM EF-S slung on his shoulder and was swapping back and forth at the reception. During the ceremony he had the assistant standing on the groom's side against the wall. He was standing in a side door on the bride's side and was shooting directly at both. From their positions they should have gotten some awesome shots. The church was an old wooded structure and might hold 100 folks max. I'm just curious at the long lens on a 30D to boot?

TXLEBER wrote in post #3945573
Did this feel annoying?

I shot a 25th Anniversary party last week and had two 580EX II on bogen 3361 stands. I was concerned about whether or not the flashes would be annoying. But guess what? After it is all over the pictures are all that matter and if they look bad that is all the credit your going to get...

Create images that meet your standard of excellence and the customer will be thrilled with your capture of the event.

Was the photographer and the assistant both taking pictures? I could see if they each had a body with the same lens. But if only one was shooting pictures...I don't get it. lol

B-H-P wrote in post #3964739
Was the photographer and the assistant both taking pictures? I could see if they each had a body with the same lens. But if only one was shooting pictures...I don't get it. lol

Yes, both were shooting all day. The lead pro had two camera and kept switching from the 17-55M camera to the one withthe long Sigma. The 2nd shooter used the long Sigma all day.

pcunite wrote in post #3963892
I shot a 25th Anniversary party last week and had two 580EX II on bogen 3361 stands. I was concerned about whether or not the flashes would be annoying. But guess what? After it is all over the pictures are all that matter and if they look bad that is all the credit your going to get...

Create images that meet your standard of excellence and the customer will be thrilled with your capture of the event.

I didn't find the lights that distracting and after a few minutes I did not notice them. I have never attended a wedding with remote lights in play before and I found the process interesting...I can't wait for my friend to show me the proofs...should be a lot of good captures as they took hundreds of shots...

JimAskew wrote in post #3965395
Yes, both were shooting all day. The lead pro had two camera and kept switching from the 17-55M camera to the one withthe long Sigma. The 2nd shooter used the long Sigma all day.

First off, I don't know anything about Sigma lenses. But I have been assisting and have just started shooting in a training capacity with two local wedding photography companies in town. (they have the exactly same style as each other). The second photographer (the photojournalist) shoots everything with a 70-200 (or 80-200 for those Nikon folks) and the lead photographer switches between the 70-200, 24-70, fish-eye etc. Sounds kinda like the same set up. The two companies I work am working with here in town both shoot film only (don't ask lol). The second shooter only uses B&W and is trying to get more candid images. The Lead Photographer shoots all color.

So it sounds a little bit like the same deal.

I'm a regular sports shooter and the results I have seen with the Sigma 120-300mm are pretty good, BUT I would have never ever considered it being used for a wedding let alone two! I find it weird having anything over 200mm but then again I guess with his remote flash units he could shoot anyone from 30 metres away! I'd love to see his results. I fins it off that the focal length he wasn't covering (55mm-120mm) is the prefered focal lengths of a lot of wedding shooters! Very different

I can't get over the gap 55-120. With that "hole" I would expect them to miss many shots. Amazing!