Advice on standard zoom for wedding.

Let me first say that this is not my first wedding. I have done

several using MF equipment and 35mm. Since my last wedding I was

very disappointed with the results that the 24-85 2.8-4 was giving me

so I sold it and bought a 50 1.8 and and 85 1.8 witch are both

incredeble. I also decided not to do weddings anymore and

concentrate on portraits.

 

I was asked to shoot a friends wedding only a month away. It will be

400+ in attendence. Its an asian wedding and I'm told just the fact

that I was asked is a great honor. From what I understand at the

reception the bride and groom go to each table and are presented with

a gift and I am supposed to capture everyone at the table in each

photograph. There isn't much time to switch lenses and each table

may have either only a few people or 10 or more. So I think I need

to buy another zoom so I can work quickly .

 

I currently have the 18-35, 50 1.8, 85 1.8, and the 80-200 2.8

 

I was considering the Tokina 28-70 2.6-2.8 , Used Nikon 35-70mm 2.8

Nikon 28-105mm . My backup 35mm body is a FM so I really don't want

a G lens. I don't want to spend much money on this because I like

using my primes for my potraits and I see this lens getting little

use after this .

 

ANy advice would be gretly appreciated

Believe me, you would not be disappointed with the Nikon 35-70/2.8 AF. It's optics rival primes. I also use primes, and this lens could be considered a prime zoom as the optics are as good as any Nikon prime. As for shooting at a wedding and reception, you'll be using some sort of a flash, so an f/1.4 or f/1.8 lens is not of much importance anyway.

Ron

 

I should have stated that I will be using my Nikon N80 mounted on a stroboframe with a SB28 flash. For the ceremony and formal posed portraits I will use my Mamiya 645 . I am just looking for a lens for the candids.

I'd rent a Nikkor 24-120 F3.5-5.6D, it is a great all around zoom lens that goes a tad wider than the standard normal zooms.

 

Brian

bmacphoto.com

For posed traditional shooting the 50mm (80mm in MF)is the lens to use,2nd lens is the 35mm (60mm in MF)for groups.Many professionals (including me)shoot entire weddings with these two lenses only!The newer constant aperture zooms are really great lenses.Id think that the 35-70 f2.8 Nikkor would be ideal for me if I were zoom inclined.What it would do for me is save me a lot of foot steps!I used an early non "D" AF 35-70 f28 zoom and was impressed with its sharpness,but it is not as bright in the VF as my primes.

A buddy of mine does weddings (mostly asian weddings as a matter of fact) and the 35-70 f/2.8 Nikon AF lens is his 'money lens'. He has two and is looking for a third (he and his wife each use one during weddings, and the third is for backup). If you were disappointed by zoom image quality in the past, I think the 35-70 is the 'no brainer' to go to.

I have done the table-to-table pictures in weddings. A fixed 28mm or 35mm would do the job (depending on how cramped it is between tables), you don't need anything else for these type of shots. So your 18-35 would do nicely. I'm assuming you haven't done this in the past weddings you've covered, but if you have, ignore my friendly advice :)). Another important thing is the timing of these activity in the reception programme (If it's right after the meal, the table may be cluttered with used table napkins, dirty plates, etc. that would be un-photogenic, so you need to watch out for that.)

 

For the rest of the reception, anything covering 28-70 would be perfect. I used to use 35mm and 50mm primes (but I needed to be on top of what's going to happen next...), but now have a 35-70/2.8.

 

Good luck.

Brian,

 

can you elaborate on your use/experience of the 24-120? How sharp is it? How does it perform wide open across the board?

 

Cheers,

I prefer to use the 28-105 all the time for this application (over a 28-70, 2.8 AFS and a 80-200, 2.8 AFS) with a Stroboframe bracket an SB-28 or 80 and a F5 or N90s. It's light and has the right range for most shots. Also relatively inexpensive but a solid performer. Sounds like what you need considering the occasional use you plan but I'll bet that you will use it more than you think.

Rent the 24-120, and if you'll be carrying it on a shoulder strap all day also bring some aspirin.

I second the 28-105 as the basic wedding zoom. I use mine on an F100 with an SB-28 on a stroboframe bracket. TTL works better than matrix as a flash setting for interiors. I use the Lumiquest 80/20 when there's a ceiling close enough.

F100 and Nikkor 28-105, fantastic for weddings, just about the only lens I use, but have the 18-35, 85 f1.8, and 80-200 at the ready.

Sold the push-pull clunker 35-70 f2.8 and have never regretted it. Was always trying to zoom further with that damn thing anyway.

Samuel,

I am an asian photographer and only do asian weddings (mostly Chinese and Vietnamese). And I am speaking from mye experience. Let me brief about how the wedding goes first. You'll know what you need.

 

If you never shoot asian wedding and you doing the ceremony and the reception for this one, considering you are doing 2 weddings. This will be a long day. (depend on how traditional they are). The ceremony mostly occurs at the bride's and groom's home in the living rooms. They usually ask for lot of group photos after the ceremony.

 

For the ceremony, I use the AF 28-85/3.5-4.5 during the ceremony and prime AF 24/2.8 for big groups after that on my N90s. 24-85 zoom is also great for this but you weren't happy with it. Not sure what's the reason. Many people had bad 28-85 zoom and said it's not sharp. But I have 2 of them and they're both super sharp. I love them. I tried 28-105 but didn't like it as the 28-85. The 28-105 also a great lens. I think either 28-85 or 28-105 will work very well for you. For the wide end, your 18-35 will serve well for big groups. I had 35-70/2.8, it's a sharp lens but not very useful for weddings.

 

For the receptions, most couples go to each table. There will be one guest in the each table represent that table to speak to the bride and the groom. It is very hard to get every one at the table in one picture. I usually split the table in half in each picture. 2 pics for each table. The first picture I capture the bride, the groom, one person respresents table (while standing up and speaking) with other people to make a first half. The second picture for the rest that make the the other half. The first picture is more important. Sometimes, space and time will not allow for the second pic. I use 28-85 at 28 position for these pics. I think your 18-35 will be perfect for this.

 

You mentioned to use an N80 in your follow up post. I think it will be informative if I share my experience with the N80: I once shoot with N80 on the Pro-T bracket and found that it was extremely hard to hold the N80 without the MB-16. It was unbalanced on the pro-t. Got the MB-16, it was better but still coudn't handle as well as the N90s with or without MB-10. The lightweight of the N80 made me feel uncomforatable when holding it with a flash bracket.

 

I hope this will help.

Thank you everyone for the great advice. I am learning what to expect and this is calming me somewhat. I plan to order a 28-105 ASAP.