Lens Rental for Renewal of Vows

My wife and I are renewing our vows at the local church. As it's a small event I

didn't want to spend big bucks on a pro photographer. I am going to get a friend

to take the photos on my 400d. The only relatively decent lens I have is the

50mm 1.8 so I was looking to rent some lenses from a local store. The options

they stock are:

 

14mm f2.8L

35mm f2

50mm f1.4

16-35 f2.8L

17-40 f4L

24-70 f2.8L

 

Unfortunately, I cannot find anywhere that rents the EFS 17-55 2.8.

 

The church is reasonably well lit, but not brilliant. We are having a bit of a

gathering at the local pub afterwards. There will be about 60 people there.

 

I'm a bit stumped about which lenses to go for. I was thinking the 1.4mm and the

24-70mm. I guess that should cover most angles. Has anyone had any success with

any of these lenses on a 400d/XTI in similar circumstances?

Glassandgear.com rents the 17-55 2.8. They are very easy to deal with.

For the pub the 50mm f/1.4 seems a good choice and then maybe a wider prime 28mm

f/1.8 also. In most british pubs i would say a 2.8 is not fast enough unless you use a flash

especially if subjects are moving around a lot and your not doing posed shots. This is based

of my extensive time spent in English pubs rather than my expertise with a camera.

Not very long ago, 4 or 5 years ago the days of film photographers using medium format cameras, the photographer often used 1 lens during the entire event, which was the 80mm equal to about the 50mm in this case. I like the 100mm. Thats another story.

 

Nothing was said about a flash, get one, memory cards 16 gigs or so. Pick up a wide angle from a friend Seems like you will do wonderful.

 

If you have the bucks well nothing beats the 24-70mm. If money is tight, don't buy much of anything. If you like this work buy something new after a few weddings, then again after a few more. Soon you will have a nice system.

If the person doesn't know what they're doing, I would be inclined to just put the 50 1.8 on and try for natural light shots. Set the shutter at 1/30 or 1/60 and shoot raw. It's your best chance for good indoor pictures. 2.8 may likely not be fast enough for indoors without flash. If you have to use a flash, everything gets a bit more complicated, and I think the chance of the pictures turning out well goes down.

Thanks for the responses. I will have natural light shots in the church. I went in there last week with a 50mm and it is a good length to use. With regards to the after party, I think I will use the 50 1.4 and the 16-35 2.8 (I'm sure at some point in the evening I shall grab the camera and take some shots). At least I'll have some keepers then (assuming I take the photos before the beer starts flowing).

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