Best canon lens for wedding photography? 24-70mm f2.8

[iND]

I upgraded my 70-200 f4 to the f2-8 with no regrets. My background is indoor sports. but my last wedding with the 17-49mm f2.8 was forgetable. Even with flash Im not satisfied. Is the 24-70 f2.8 my best bet since I can only afford one new lens a year


I dont mind heavy I just want great shots.


How is the 24-70 wide open.





I also upgraded 20D to 50D


Any other wedding recommedations.


I have the 580EX II and a Gary Fong clear dome


Do I need an external battery pack?

[Dallasphotog]

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This was shot with the EF24-70MM F/2.8 L USM on an XTi


This was F/2.8, 1/20, ISO 800, 25MM. I was using a 580EXII asa master and triggering a 430EX low left in slave mode.





I Love the EF24-70 F/2.8 and it is always on one camera at a wedding. I mount my EF70-200MM F/2.8 L IS USM on my 1DMKII for shots from the back of the ceremony. Just make sure you have lots of spares. Something always fails at the most inopportune moment.

[Daniel Browning]

If you want a normal to telephoto zoom on your 50D, the 24-70 f/2.8 is the best choice. I've shot a few weddings with the 20D and the 24-70 f/2.8 and it worked great, but I really missed having a wide angle. You can


For a wide-to-normal zoom, though, the 17-55 f/2.8 IS is the cream of the crop. The image quality is a little better than the 24-70 f/2.8 L, but the biggest difference is the field of view and image stabilization. You couldn't ask for a lens with more resolution or contrast. Build quality and focus ring is lacking, though. If you don't need IS, you can get the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 for less than half the price.

[Madison]

It really depends on your personal style of shooting. Whether you do natural light only, or you incorporate flash (and how you incorporate it).


Some people, like Canon Ambassador Jeff Ascough, shoot it documentary style with the 16-35 on a full frame, and with the 35mm 1.4 for low light work, all without flash. Others, like my sister's wedding photographer, shoot it with a full frame as well but with the 70-200 and the 24-105, and use flash in low light situations (which in my opinion is a no no during the party but that is a metter of personal taste).





So experiment, find your style, your way of working, what makes YOU special as a photographer.


It won't be your lens choice. You see what I mean? 'What is the best lens' is a start but the answers depend on what you want to do and what your vision is.


I shot one wedding (for a family member), all black & white, all documentary (non posed), with the 24-105 in broad daylight, on a 400D body back then, with as little flash as possible. Here is one example from that shoot:

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[Madison]

PS: Diffusing flash is great, but you *really* want to look into doing off-camera lighting for weddings. Seriously, you should read into it.


'I just want great shots' depends a lot on where light is coming from and what it is doing to people's faces when shooting wedding (posed shots and unposed shots alike).





Is the only tip I wanted to make sure you did not forget to check out. Previous posters mention it too, and they are right. Really great wedding shots almost always have off camera flash. You will learn to sculpt with light faster than you think. Just position some people in your back yard and test things out for a day or two and you will get a feel for the lighting for certain situations.

[Todd Reichman]

My favorite lenses for weddings are the 24 1.4, 50 1.2 and 135 2.0. I don't need anything else. I pay attention to directional light and can add it when I need it but I find off-camera flash to be a hassle and I can generally find some great light on an available basis and when it isn't there you can often bounce on-camera flash directionally to great effect.


I could do whole weddings with the 35 1.4 and 135. I do enjoy the 100 macro and 200 2.8 occasionally as well. My wife does the whole wedding day with a 24, 85 1.2 and limited 70-200 during the ceremony. You gotta find what produces the look you like best.





- trr

[mzemljic]

Hi there


Upgrade to f/2,8 is professional choice and smart decision in my opinion!


Full frame is a must in my case!


I am full time wedding and fashion photographer and my personal style is; Think, Think, Think......KLIK


In my personal opinion, 24-70 f/2,8 L would always be my first choice for weddings and it is fairly sharp wide open!


24-70 is a very best wedding lens, special if You pair it with 70-200 f2,8 L IS and You already use a "full frame".


I am using a lot of other equipment... And it's true... Zoom lens could only dream what primes can do if You have time.


Example of my creamy princess on this forum:


http://community.the-digital-picture.com/forums/p/313/1270.aspx#1270

[Stuart]

Personally, I believe the 24-70 f/2.8 is the best if you had to choose one all-around lens for a full frame body like the 5D II. It gives decent quality pictures, but it isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, especially wide open. For a cropped sensor like the 40D,the 17-55mm f/2.8 is much sharper than the 24-70mm f/2.8 - a much better lens for the money.


Now, if you're intorazor sharp images,creamy smooth bokeh, natural (low) light photography, color and contrast that need practically no tweaking in Lightroom or Photoshop, and you have a big budget, prime lenses like the 24mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4, and 85mm f/1.2 will give superior images. You'll geta lot of exercisemoving back and forth for zooming,and it'll take more time to change out lenses, but you'll be much happier with your images.

[Keith B]

I hate to admit it but the 24-70 is on my camera 90% of the time. I kept telling myself I didn't need this lens/range. I was wrong.


My copy seems to be super sharp. I have to test it against my 16-35 at 24 and 35 to see which is sharper someday.


Look up Annie Leibovitz on youtube and check out what lens she is using in just about every shoot (except the Profoto one, Nikon ponied up some serious cash for that from what I heard).

[lculpin]

The 24-70 is great on a FF, and either throw the 70-200 on a crop body or do a wide-angle on the ff and the 24-70 on the crop... depends on how you shoot though. Like others here have said, off-camera flash is a biggy (assuming you're using flash at all). And you can definitely go the prime route (and I know that technically primes are sharper and that there are all sorts of charts and table that have cataloged this, but if you go buy a 24-70 are you gonna be looking at your pictures and saying "Oh, my dead lord, these are just NOT sharp enough"? Kinda doubt it )