Wedding photography differs from other forms of photography in that you must change positions frequently, looking for every tiny crucial detail to capture. In addition, you are also constantly trying to photograph every interesting step or action taken by your clients. Your clients will expect you to create stunning and memorable photographs from everything.
Similar Articles you may like to read –
Can you shoot a wedding with one lens?
how to do low light wedding photography without flash?
What Type of Flash is Best for Wedding Photography?
What is the best camera for a beginner wedding photographer?
How to shoot wedding photography?
In wedding photography, several activities take place so fast. Unlike other forms of photography, with wedding photography, you won’t have a second chance to recapture missed shots. That means every single snap must be sharp, intriguing, and accurate. Hence, you will need to use the best available lens in your collections because weddings happen only once in a lifetime. And you have to get the shots right as the photographer.
Therefore, this essay will discuss the best camera lenses for wedding photography and when to use each lens. The article will be well-detailed and informative.
Is a 24mm lens good for weddings?
Yes, a 24mm lens can be a great choice for wedding photography. It offers a wider perspective, which is suitable for capturing group shots, venues, and arrangements of the wedding equipment. However, it is not suitable for clicking close-up portraits.
What Are The Best Camera Lenses For Wedding Photography?
Prime and telephoto lenses are the best for event and wedding photography. These lenses allow you to capture sharp images of every moment from different angles without stepping on toes. Nonetheless, below are our list of the top best wedding photography lenses.
Wedding photography, a genre of photography that focuses on capturing the special moments, emotions, and details of people on their wedding days, is a competitive but lucrative niche. The niche requires a great deal of skill, creativity, determination, and attention to detail alongside professional gear to produce stunning images of couples. Our Master guide has some helpful information to help you start.
Click Below to Read a Comprehensive Guide to Start Wedding Photography.
Lenses Guide: What To Look For When Buying A Lens For Wedding Photography
Here are a few things to consider when choosing a lens for wedding photography.
1. A Fast Silent Wave Motor
A silent wave motor (SWM) is a motor installed in lenses to make them focus faster and accurately. A fast lens motor is vital because it allows you to autofocus quickly.
2. Maximum Aperture
The maximum aperture refers to the extent to which a lens can be opened. A lens with a wider opening like f/1.8 or f/2.8 will allow more light into the image sensor than a lens with a narrower aperture (high f-number).
Most wedding venues are often decorated with different light bulbs; thus, we recommend buying a lens capable of operating between f/1.8 to f/2.8.
3. Autofocus Options
Autofocus (AF) is the ability of a lens to adjust and focus on a subject intelligently. A lens with a good AF feature will make it easier for you to track and keep the couples in focus.
You can learn more about autofocus in our article: How To Set Dslr Camera Lens To Autofocus?
Other factors to consider include:
- Lens version
- Compatibility with your camera
- Budget
- Weather resistance
- Durability
- Image stabilization, etc.
What Are The 5 Best Nikon Lenses For Wedding Photography
Several photographers have been asking questions about the best Nikon camera lenses for wedding and event photography. Here is the answer!
1. The AF-S NIKKOR 20mm f/1.8G Lens
When photographing weddings or events, it is ideal to use an ultra-wide view lens. So you can capture your photographic subjects from wide angles or in tight environments.
The Nikon 20mm f/1.8G lens allows for capturing wide landscape shots of wedding or event scenes. The lens is fast and can perform brilliantly in low lighting conditions. In addition, it is lightweight, cheap, sharp, and fast.
2. The AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G
This lens is super-swift, sharp, and reliable for wedding photography. Its fixed aperture of f/2.8 across a wide 24-70mm range allows the lens to perform exceptionally in low light conditions and produce epic images. This lens can be a versatile choice for wedding photography, especially if you want to skip bringing multiple prime lenses with you and save yourself some time and energy. It is advisable to always use a wide-angle lens for wedding shots. Thus, you can capture your subjects in tighter environments, such as when photographing a large group. Although there are many wide-angle lenses, the Nikon 20mm f/1.8G lens is the most ideal for wedding photography.
In addition to its high-end performance, the lens is also made up of a nanocrystal coat which helps reduce glare or light reflection when shooting in a harsh lighting wedding scene. It also has an internal focus system that provides fast, quiet, and accurate focusing without adjusting the length of your lens. Thus, you can retain your subject to a reasonable working distance through the entire focus range.
Therefore, the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G is a suitable option if you are looking for a rugged, reliable, and versatile lens for tight wedding photography.
3. The AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.4G
The 35mm f/1.4G is another popular Nikon lens among professional wedding and event photographers. It is popular because many photographers find it wide and long enough to serve as a practical camera lens for environmental portraits and also suitable for occasional close-up shots. Although it is not designed for close-up portrait shots, the lens performs well when you want to reveal a bit more of the surroundings.
With its fixed fast aperture of f/1.4, you can capture beautiful images from tight corners. In addition, the lens also has a 35mm focal length that provides a natural point of view, similar to the human eyes. The 35mm f/1.4G lens is one of the best prime lenses produced by Nikon. Thus, you can also consider this an option if you want to create stunning wedding photographs.
Aside from events, the lens is also suitable for astrophotography, fine art photography, and other forms of creative photography.
4. The AF-S NIKKOR 58mm f/1.4G
The Nikon 58mm f/1.4G lens is most photographers’ favorite lens among standard camera lenses. For a good reason, it makes gorgeous images. Although it doesn’t produce sharp photographs like other prime lenses, especially when operating at full aperture, it is still one of the best for wedding shots.
Nikon specifically designed the 58mm f/1.4G lens to provide sharp, evenly lit photographs. In addition, it also adds a dramatic sense of depth to your composition – both in long and short-distance landscapes. Generally, the lens is versatile, fast, and performs incredibly in lowlight conditions.
5. The AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G
The Nikon 50mm f/1.8G lens features a lot of splendid innovations that enhance your photographic experience. The lens is sharp, fast, lightweight, and cheap. It also offers an expansive field of view equivalent to the human eyes; thus, it is most suitable for travel and event photography. In addition, its 50mm focal length allows you to create epic half-body portrait photographs of your subjects.
Its fast f/1.8 aperture allows you to shoot with a slower shutter speed and lower ISO range in low light. Thus, the lens can perform well when covering a wedding ceremony without a tripod.
Best Canon Lenses For Wedding Photography
The best Canon lenses for wedding ceremony photography include:
1. The Canon RF 15-35mm F2.8L IS USM
The Canon RF 15-35mm F2.8L is a super-fast ultra-wide zoom lens for professional wedding and event photographers. The lens is sharp and great for landscape, architectural, and fast-action photography. In addition, it also has a fast and excellent autofocusing system, making it perform exceptionally in all conditions. This lens is ideal for capturing eye-catching and dramatic marriage events and activities.
The RF 15-35mm lens allows you to capture wide view images from close range, like when the couple is cutting the cake. You can easily snap good pictures of the reception and dancefloor from anywhere in the scene. Thus, it is an ideal multipurpose lens for any event photography.
2. The Canon RF 85mm F1.2L USM
The Canon RF 85mm lens is known for capturing sharp details. With this lens, you can capture beautiful landscape and portrait pictures of the couple from anywhere in the scene.
The lens is also characterized by its advanced optical design to produce well-corrected imagery. Its fast F/1.2 aperture makes it convenient for shooting in low light. Thus, you can still capture bright images of the dance floor. In addition, the lens focuses quickly and smoothly and gives creamy background.
3. The Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM Lens
This lens is one of the most versatile camera lenses for portrait and landscape shots. It is wide enough to capture sharp images of multiple subjects in the frame without blurriness.
The Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L nails focus accurately in low-lit venues. Although the lens is expensive, its color and contrast are gorgeous, and it’s a beast when it comes to clicking perfect lifestyle and wedding photographs.
Other Good Lenses Include:
- The Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8GM lens
- Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 lens
- The Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM lens
- Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 VC USD lens
- The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens
Zoom Vs Prime Lenses: Which Is The Best For Wedding Photography?
Zoom lenses cover more focal lengths. Therefore, they serve multiple-purpose tasks such as wide-angle mode, telephoto mood, standard mode, and much more. This means that you can save more space in your camera bag because there will be no need to carry extra or more lenses for the events. On the other hand, prime lenses allow you to shoot at wider apertures. Obviously, this is a huge advantage over zoom lenses, especially if you are shooting in poorly lit locations.
A prime lens also makes it easy if you want to blur the backgrounds or create bokeh effects. In addition, prime lenses for wedding photography are cheaper, smaller, and lightweight. However, you may need more than one of these devices to click epic images at a wedding. Therefore, most amateur photographers prefer shooting wedding photographs with zoom lenses. In contrast, most professional wedding photographers often shoot with prime lenses because they offer more versatilities.
You might be interested in knowing the best Camera Lenses For Photography, When To Use Which Lens? Type Of Lens
More articles you may like to read –
what should be the camera settings for wedding photography?
What should be the photo settings for wedding photography?
What is the best mode for shooting a wedding?
How can I improve my wedding photography skills?
Zoom Vs Prime Lenses: When To Use Which Lens For Wedding Ceremony?
Both prime and zoom lenses are good for shooting wedding photographs in any condition. Prime lenses have wider apertures that make them ideal when shooting in low-lit venues. Zoom lenses will allow you to capture wide or landscape images of the couple.
Thus, we recommend that you use a prime lens when:
- You are in a lowlight environment and want more light
- You want sharper and well-detailed images
- You can easily move around the venue
- You want a shallow depth of field
You can learn more about prime lenses in our article: Prime Lens Photography? When To Use Prime Lens? Why They Are Good?
And we recommend zoom lenses when:
- You want to capture artistic or dramatic wedding photographs
- You are in a tight environment and cannot move easily
- You want more flexibility and versatility.
You can learn more about zoom lenses in the article What Are Zoom Lenses? When And How To Use Zoom Lenses?
However, note that lenses are just tools. In addition to a good lens, you will need proper setup and practices to capture the best images.