Starter Wedding lenses

R

Ryan Galvan

New member
I am purchasing a Canon t2i as a B-cam for wedding shoots. I currently have a $1000-$1500 budget for two or three good starter lenses. For weddings they obviously need to be as fast as possible and also as good resolution as possible. I want to be able to cover the spectrum between 15mm and 200mm. Any suggestions? Thanks!
 
For event shooting I'd go with a nice zoom. You don't want to get caught having to change lenses and missing something.
 
$1000-1500 isn't much for wedding shoots. Most wedding pros use Canon 28-70L and 70-200L IS or IS II. Then a mix of 35L, 50L, 100L, or even 135L. Not to mention having extra batteries, storage cards, and even another camera body.
 
Well shooting higher end large scale weddings, usually with anywhere from 2 guys to 5 guys per shoot. I can tell you what we use, well at least what the 5D guys use. We have anywhere from 2 - 6 5D's and I shoot my 7D. On the 5D we use 24-70L, 16-25L, 70-200L, 50L 1.2, 85L 1.2. Now keep in mind, don't forget the 1.6 crop factor. Now IMHO, my 7D shoots video just as well as the 5D with L glass, and I am using all kinds of crazy lenses. On my 7D I am using Tokino 11-16 2.8 (love the look I get with this for low, wide angle shots), Canon 24-70L 2.8, Sigma 20 1.8, Sigma 30 1.8, Canon 50 1.4, Nikor 35 f2, Nikor 50 f1.8, Nikor 85 1.8 and Canon 70-200L, and everyonce in a while I throw the newest version of the lens baby on. Unlike some others, I don't mind changing lenses, I prefer primes, because they are just that much faster for low light in weddings. Plus I carry my other lenses right on my belt, so its easy to change out. Or I have a 5D on my shoulder with another lens. Don't be afraid to experiment with different lenses. For example the Nikor, I love them with my Durus follow focus cause the focus is a longer throw, which makes critical racking easier. The lens focus ring isnt so dam sensitive.

But if your making the bucks doing weddings don't get to cheap on glass, go for the Canon L glass or Zeiss primes when ever possible. I am actaully thinking about looking into converting my baby to PL soon. Well good luck with lenses, let us know how you make out.
 
Ryan Galvan said:
I am purchasing a Canon t2i as a B-cam for wedding shoots. I currently have a $1000-$1500 budget for two or three good starter lenses. For weddings they obviously need to be as fast as possible and also as good resolution as possible. I want to be able to cover the spectrum between 15mm and 200mm. Any suggestions? Thanks!
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What you absolutely need is a standard zoom (17-50 or 28-70) and a telephoto zoom (70-210). Now you CAN get Canon L glass and have 2 decent lenses or you can make your dollar stretch considerably more by getting a Tamron 17-50 2.8 for your standard zoom ($500) and a Vivitar 70-210 3.5 version 1 through 3 (The first and third versions are supposed to be the best) for under $100. After that, you can get a Super Takumar 50 1.4 for around $100 (compared to the Canon 50mm 1.4 for $300+), a Mir 24 (35mm f/2) for around $100-$150, and a Rokinon 85mm 1.4 for $250. Some of the lenses I mentioned will need an adapter to make it work. Just make sure you stick with Nikon, Olympus, Pentax K, and M42 mount lenses and you'll be okay.

Also, while not necessary, pick up a Helios 44 since you have some money left over. They are easy to find for under $50 and it's an alt lens every videographer should have in their bag. The imagery is gorgeous from it. Best of luck!

I will add that while these lenses are cheap, don't be misled into thinking they are low quality optics. These old manual focus lenses not only produce amazing imagery but they are far more suited to videography than the more expensive AF lenses.

Chris W
 
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