Hi all , I need your opinions on this.
I want to take a wide angle lens to shoot at weddings, so my first choice is obviously 35mm 1.4, however canonrumours giving an indication of another version of 35mm coming soon, I dont want to buy it, also as of now I have a crop but want to upgrade to FF soon, do you think 50mm would be a good option? also can you tell if 50mm is wide enough to take group photos at weddings or birthday parties?
How far can you back up? As long as there is sufficient space behind you the 50 should be OK.
Since I am rookie in photography, please bear with my questions, if we go back and take pics wouldn't the subject become small in that pic, thats where the wide angle lens has the advantage right?Originally Posted by jfritz
You want your subject to be small in the picture. That's the whole point of taking a group shot. There are two ways to accomplish that: you can use a wide angle lens, or you can increase the distance to the subject.
Generally wide angle lenses will give you a greater depth of field (at the same aperture), and will tend to magnify closer objects more than distant ones. Thus, you can generally get less distortion at a longer focal length, but you may find yourself too far away from the group to communicate with them.
Here is a group photo taken from a mountaintop of a fairly large group. I used my 10-22@10mm for this shot, since I could not back up any further without going down the other side of the mountain. This represents an extreme case, but note how bigger the people in front, and especially on the side are. The close people were about 7 feet away from me.
You want your subject to be small in the picture. That's the whole point of taking a group shot. There are two ways to accomplish that: you can use a wide angle lens, or you can increase the distance to the subject.
Generally wide angle lenses will give you a greater depth of field (at the same aperture), and will tend to magnify closer objects more than distant ones. Thus, you can generally get less distortion at a longer focal length, but you may find yourself too far away from the group to communicate with them.
Here is a group photo taken from a mountaintop of a fairly large group. I used my 10-22@10mm for this shot, since I could not back up any further without going down the other side of the mountain. This represents an extreme case, but note how bigger the people in front, and especially on the side are. The close people were about 7 feet away from me.
wowwww....... awesome pic, please answer one question, I intend to take pics that are not that big group from your pic,iam looking to take pics for a group of at max 10, do you think 24mm would be a good fit for it at the same time can I use it as a general walk away lens
I would think 50 on a crop is definitely not wide enough. Depending on the size of the wedding I have found 24 on a FF only just manages most times.
Steve U
Wine, Food and Photography Student and Connoisseur
What is the number in that group that you usually takes pics with 24mm?
I am so inclined to get the 24mm , but I read many reviews regarding the focusing issues of 24mm, did you face that? Also is the 24mm only usage for group photos and environmental pics, or can we use it for any other purpose?
Perhaps you should think about getting a good fast zoom that covers those ranges. Like the 24-70mm F/2.8L, after you use it a while you will see what you really need.
Some how, I got a hang of the prime lens that I dont want to use the zoom, I have the 24-105 lens which is good, but I still love my primes 100mm f/2.8 lens and 135mm f/2 lens. So I am looking for another prime that can be used to take group pics
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