Wednesday 5 July 2017

Essential lenses for wedding photography

Wedding photography isn’t easy and getting wedding photos the bride and groom will be eternally happy with requires using the best lens for the job in hand. Unfortunately, there is a single lens that will capture all aspects of a wedding and you will need to carry a selection of different lenses. The lenses you must have for shooting a wedding, i.e. essential lenses, include:-

Short tele-lens

If you only have one lens for wedding photography it has to be a short tele-lens, i.e. a 24mm – 70mm zoom lens. The 24mm – 70mm lens is a versatile lens that has the necessary focal lengths for small group shorts, couple portraits and individual portrait shots.

Once the wedding ceremony starts there is no stopping it or slowing it down to allow you to change lenses, so you need to make sure you have a lens that is capable of shooting everything that is going to happen during the ceremony. Being a zoom lens I can quickly change the composition and framing for a variety of different shots without having to stop shooting to change lenses. The 24mm – 70mm short tele-lens is the one I have on my camera throughout the entire ceremony.


The short tele-lens I use for wedding photography is the Canon 24mm – 70mm f2.8L lens (full review here)

Focal Length – Full frame/APS-C:- 24mm - 70mm/ 38.4mm - 112mm  / Aperture:- 2.8 - 22/ Min focus:- 15"/ Dimensions:- 3.48" x 4.45"/ Weight:- 28.4 oz/ Image stabilization:- No/ Price (approx.) $USD/£ GBP:- $1,750.00/£1,000.00 


A quick video review of the Canon 24mm - 70mm f2.8L lens, courtesy of Youtube, you may find useful.
If you shoot a Canon camera you may want to take a look at “The best 24 - 70 lenses for Canon cameras”

Wide angle lens

Weddings require group shots and a short tele-lens simply doesn’t have the field of view required to get everyone in the frame. Okay, you could move as far back from the group as possible but being a long way back makes it difficult (if not impossible) to direct, talk to and pose the group for the photo. And then there’s always the chance you may not be able to get far enough back because of a lack of space. Rather than distancing yourself from the group a wide angle lens is a better choice, and the one I would recommend.

You could use a wide angle prime lens but I would advise against this and use a wide angle zoom lens instead. Zoom lenses are versatile and enables you to change the framing and composition quickly, efficiently and without changing lenses. Changing lenses takes time during which the subjects are going to get bored and agitated, which will affect the photo. Using a zoom lens avoids this issue.

Some photographers argue prime lenses have better image quality than zoom lenses, and whilst this is true you have to go pixel peeping to see this, and no-one does that in the real world. I have never had a client complain about the image quality of my wedding photos shot with a zoom lens, and until I do I will continue using zoom lenses for wedding photography.

The wide angle lens I use for wedding photography is the Canon 16mm – 35mm f4L IS lens (full review here)

Focal Length – Full frame/APS-C:- 16mm - 35mm/ 25.6mm - 42mm/ Aperture:- 4 - 22/ Min focus:- 11"/ Dimensions:- 3.25" x 4.44"/ Weight:- 21.7 oz/ Image stabilization:- Yes/ Price (approx.) $USD/£ GBP:- $1,000.00/£820.00 


Standard tele lens

I have to admit I like to get in nice and close when taking wedding photos. Being close to the subjects allows me to talk to them, direct them, pose them and make them feel at ease. I always find being close and personal to the subjects result in more engaging shots, which is what I want. The problem is there are times when it is not possible to get in nice and close to take the photo, and trying to do so will interfere with the wedding proceedings. At these times there is no option other than to use a standard tele-lens, i.e. the 70mm – 200mm tele lens.

 I typically use a standard tele-lens when taking photos of the reception. In my experience wedding guests don’t like a camera stuck in their face when they are sitting down waiting for food or eating therefore I tend to stand further back and out of the way firing off shots with the 70mm – 200mm lens. Similarly, it is not possible to get in nice and close during the speeches so I stand at a distance and take photos using the 70mm – 200mm lens. There are a few situations when I have to keep my distance from the guests, and during these times my lens of choice is the 70mm – 200mm tele-lens.

The Standard tele lens I use for wedding photography is the Canon 70mm – 200mm f4L IS lens (fullreview here)

Focal Length – Full frame/APS-C:- 70mm - 200mm/ 112mm - 320mm/ Aperture:- 4 - 32/ Min focus:- 47.2"/ Dimensions:- 3.0" x 6.8"/ Weight:- 26.8 oz/ Image stabilization:- Yes/ Price (approx.) $USD/£ GBP:- $1,150.00/£880.00 

Macro lens

A macro lens may seem like a strange lens for wedding photography however it is a lens I use for most weddings I now shoot. I say most weddings because I don’t use a macro lens for every wedding I shoot – it all depends on the type of wedding photos the bride and groom want.

There is an increasing trend for “arty” and creative shots and I use a macro lens to capture these. Many couples now want close up and artistic photos of the wedding bands, the bride’s dress, the bride’s lingerie, the button holes, the flowers, the cake topper and the cake, the table settings….. the list goes on. I find the best lens for these shots is a macro lens, therefore I feel it is an essential lens for modern day weddings. I would never use a macro lens for portraits though.

The macro lens I use for wedding photography is the Canon 100mm f2.8L IS macro lens (full review here)

Focal Length – Full frame/APS-C:- 100mm/ 160mm/ Aperture:- 2.8 - 32/ Min focus:- 11.8"/Dimensions:- 3.1" x 4.7"/ Weight:- 22.1 oz/ Image stabilization:- Yes/ Price (approx.) $USD/£ GBP:-$800.00/£685.00 

Related reading

Below are some links to other wedding photography articles, tutorials and posts that may be of interest/useful. Feel free to check them out:-


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