Which Lens for a wedding??

[Jetl3on]

Hi,

some beginner help please, I have an entry level D40x and Sigma 180-200 lens and a wedding coming up to practice my people shooting.
What lens do you recommend for this event, people eating, drinking, dancing, nothing expensive please, wide? telephoto? zoom? someone suggested a fixed 180? (not sure what that is tbh).

My second question is flash, I will need one of them, but are they all so big? Is there something small and unobtrusive I can use, something less in-yor-face if you see what I mean?

Thanks

[Moonhawk]

Jetl3on said:

Hi,

some beginner help please, I have an entry level D40x and Sigma 180-200 lens and a wedding coming up to practice my people shooting.
What lens do you recommend for this event, people eating, drinking, dancing, nothing expensive please, wide? telephoto? zoom? someone suggested a fixed 180? (not sure what that is tbh).

My second question is flash, I will need one of them, but are they all so big? Is there something small and unobtrusive I can use, something less in-yor-face if you see what I mean?

Thanks

A fixed 180 is exactly that - a lens with a 180mm focal length that is fixed (i.e. its not a zoom lens).

Personally - for candid shots - I always use my 70-200mm. It allows you to get shots of people being natural because they dont have a camera in their face. It would also allow you to get in close if you are taking photos during the ceremony etc.

Flash is a must if you are planning to take shots inside during the evening. Try to bounce it where possible as direct flash can be quite harsh.

Edited by Moonhawk on Tuesday 29th June 12:40

[NewNameNeeded]

Jetl3on said:

I have an entry level D40x and Sigma 180-200 lens ...

Do you mean 180-200 mm lens or 18-200mm ? If the later then this should give you all the range you need for a wedding. The wider end (18mm) will be great for group shots and capturing the whole crowd and scene and buildings, whilst closer to the 200mm end will allow you to focus in and isolate people. Both are just as valid, though you'll tend to find most people stay at the wider end so if you use the long end you'll perhaps capture the wedding in a different way to what everyone else has.

A flash can be very useful indoors (if allowed - they soemtimes aren't during the service and you should also check the wedding photographer doesn't have an issue with you firing your flash whilst they try and capture the 'official' shots). It's amazing how much better a flash unit fitted in the hotshoe beats the camera body flash. I'd never been a fan of using the camera body flash as I found it very unnatural and poor at illuminating the whole scene. Getting a separate flash totally changed my view.

Not all separate flash units are huge. I've the SB900 (which is overkill, to be honest) but the SB600 is a fair bit smaller and lighter and even the SB400 (to be had for around £100) which is positively tiny, will be much, much better than the built in flash.

[Starfighter]

Try a fast, short prime. A 50mm F1.8 (ish) will give a length that will allow a mix of small group shots and the ability to get individuals without havbing to get intrusive. At F1.8 it will be fast enough to use without flash (more flattering) or drop the background out of focus.

From experience, this type of picture is not something the ProTog will do and the couple will love natural pictures of the family and friends in a relaxed state.

[CDP]

Fisheye.

[Simpo Two]

Starfighter said:

From experience, this type of picture is not something the ProTog will do and the couple will love natural pictures of the family and friends in a relaxed state.

Book me and take the day off

(If you shoot Nikon you can even borrow a lens if I'm not using it)

[Jetl3on]

NewNameNeeded said:

Jetl3on said:

I have an entry level D40x and Sigma 180-200 lens ...

Do you mean 180-200 mm lens or 18-200mm ? If the later then this should give you all the range you need for a wedding. The wider end (18mm) will be great for group shots and capturing the whole crowd and scene and buildings, whilst closer to the 200mm end will allow you to focus in and isolate people. Both are just as valid, though you'll tend to find most people stay at the wider end so if you use the long end you'll perhaps capture the wedding in a different way to what everyone else has.

A flash can be very useful indoors (if allowed - they soemtimes aren't during the service and you should also check the wedding photographer doesn't have an issue with you firing your flash whilst they try and capture the 'official' shots). It's amazing how much better a flash unit fitted in the hotshoe beats the camera body flash. I'd never been a fan of using the camera body flash as I found it very unnatural and poor at illuminating the whole scene. Getting a separate flash totally changed my view.

Not all separate flash units are huge. I've the SB900 (which is overkill, to be honest) but the SB600 is a fair bit smaller and lighter and even the SB400 (to be had for around £100) which is positively tiny, will be much, much better than the built in flash.

Argh!! Sorry, Typo. Its 18-200mm

Its possible im taking this too serious and the sigma will do, but the flash is essential.

Thanks

[NewNameNeeded]

Which sigma lens is it? I seem to recall their 18-200mm lenses are all quite slow (i.e. > 3.5 f-number). That being the case you'll need to use a higher ISO to keep the shutter speed fast enough that there is no blur in the shot. So you're probably up against two limitations with your current set up - poorer high ISO performance of your body vs. poorer performance in low light due to slowness of your lens.

Everything can be overcome (at a price) or you might find that so long as you know the limitations you're happy with the results. For instance at a wedding I was at recently the light was relatively low and so lots of people had very blurry shots due to camera shake or long shutter speeds - I compensated for the lower light by using a higher ISO to keep the shutter speed acceptably fast. That meant i'd pin sharp shots but with some noise (due to higher ISO). Although a little noisy the shots were more than acceptable, the bride and groom loved them, and I didn't need to spend anything on better kit.

[Ed_P]

If you're just there for a "practice", then what you have is fine. The wedding will provide a good opportunity to try different framing and composition ideas, a mix of formal (smile please) and "reportage" shots and to start to develop your own wedding style.

If you're thinking of "official photographer" status, then at F3.5-6.3, your current lens is going to limit you because of its "slowness". You'll need to review this and possibly invest in something faster.

In my opinion, hot-shoe and off-camera flash facilities are essentials in the wedding 'togs armoury too (plus a good understanding of how to configure it and the camera for best results). You don't always need it, but sometimes, nothing else will do. Don't worry whether it's a big one or a small one. Match it to your equipment, style and the likely needs of the shoot. If you're planning on more weddings, get a "big one"!

[Simpo Two]

Jetl3on said:

My second question is flash, I will need one of them, but are they all so big? Is there something small and unobtrusive I can use, something less in-yor-face if you see what I mean?

A powerful flash can be turned down, but a small flash can't be turned up. In this case, more is better and ignore the size, it's performance you're after, especially with slow lenses and fighting against the sun. If you buy nothing else, buy a proper flashgun. How about a s/h SB800? Plenty of power and a discount price.

Edited by Simpo Two on Tuesday 29th June 16:22

[NewNameNeeded]

Simpo Two said:

How about a s/h SB800? Plenty of power and a discount price.

Last time I checked these were trading secondhand at more than the cost of a brand new SB900. Now you could get in to the debate of SB800 vs. SB900 (there are millions of threads out there about the two) but personally, for £300 I'd get the newer SB900.

Or £200 for SB600.

[Simpo Two]

NewNameNeeded said:

Last time I checked these were trading secondhand at more than the cost of a brand new SB900.

Blimey!

[NewNameNeeded]

Simpo Two said:

NewNameNeeded said:

Last time I checked these were trading secondhand at more than the cost of a brand new SB900.

Blimey!

Indeed! Seems a lot of photographers find the SB800 a bit of a gem and issues of reliability of the 900 (overheating and overzealous cut out) mean there seems to be very strong used prices for the 800.

[RobDickinson]

Starfighter said:

Try a fast, short prime. A 50mm F1.8 (ish) will give a length that will allow a mix of small group shots and the ability to get individuals without havbing to get intrusive. At F1.8 it will be fast enough to use without flash (more flattering) or drop the background out of focus.

Unfortunatly the nifty fifty wont autofocus on the D40 and manual focus will be impossible with the focus screen in it, tho it will focus confirm on all 3 of the af points. Its a good chouce, just not on a d40.

[AndWhyNot]

NewNameNeeded said:

Simpo Two said:

NewNameNeeded said:

Last time I checked these were trading secondhand at more than the cost of a brand new SB900.

Blimey!

Indeed! Seems a lot of photographers find the SB800 a bit of a gem and issues of reliability of the 900 (overheating and overzealous cut out) mean there seems to be very strong used prices for the 800.

I've bought both my SB-800 used - first cost me £175 second was £215, time spend searching for the right one is money saved. Still a lot for a used flashgun but not quite SB-900 money.

[Starfighter]

RobDickinson said:

Starfighter said:

Try a fast, short prime. A 50mm F1.8 (ish) will give a length that will allow a mix of small group shots and the ability to get individuals without havbing to get intrusive. At F1.8 it will be fast enough to use without flash (more flattering) or drop the background out of focus.

Unfortunatly the nifty fifty wont autofocus on the D40 and manual focus will be impossible with the focus screen in it, tho it will focus confirm on all 3 of the af points. Its a good chouce, just not on a d40.

That is kind of worrying. I have never noticed a restriction on Nikon glass other that with crop lenses so I assumed full backward capability as with Canon.

[NewNameNeeded]

It's to do with in body motors to drive autofocus. I think D50 was last Nikon entry level DSLR which had the in body motor and so allowing auto focus of any Nikon lens (possibly D40x ?). Since then (so for last three years it so) I believe all their entry level cameras need AFS lenses (that have motor in lens) to auto focus. So I think D90 is cheapest in Nikons current line up with the in body motor.

[RobDickinson]

Yep.

D40,d40x, d60 , d3000 and d5000 all lack the body motor so wont drive screw drive AF lenses.

[Starfighter]

And to think of all the crowing from Nikon when Canon brought out the EOS system with no back compatability!

[ovlovist]

RobDickinson said:

Unfortunatly the nifty fifty wont autofocus on the D40 and manual focus will be impossible with the focus screen in it, tho it will focus confirm on all 3 of the af points. Its a good chouce, just not on a d40.

The new AF-S 35mm f1.8 would autofocus on the D40 without any problems:
http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/nikon_35_1p8g_...

...as would the AF-S 50mm f1.4, but it might be too expensive:
http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-nikon-50mm-f1-...