Fixed lens or zoom lens for wedding photography low light situations?

Question

Fixed lens or zoom lens for wedding photography low light situations?

Answer 1

I'm a professional photographer.



If you asked most "pros" what they use for weddings, you would find that f2.8 24-70 mm and 70-200 mm zooms are their "go to" lenses for 90% or more of their shots. Specialty lenses - wide angle, macro, super-telephotos, or very fast primes - account for the other 10%. This applies regardless of whether they are Nikon, Canon, or "Brand X" shooters.



f1.4 may give you another 2 "stops" in very low light situations, but you can achieve the same effective "speed" by increasing the ISO setting on your camera from 400 to 1600. If you're shooting with a Canon 5D or a Nikon D700 (or better) you'll get very useable images at those ISO settings.



My recommendation would be to go for the flexibility of f2.8 zooms ranging from 24 to 200 mm, and when your budget allows, add the prines.



If you're in a major metropolitan area like New York, you can rent the primes to "try before you buy" or add to your arsenal for a particular occasion. I often rent primes to give me that extra little something for creative shots (like the super soft and blurry backgrounds with an 85mm f1.2 prime). Hint: many rental companies will give you a daily rental for the entire weekend from Thursday or Friday afternoon till Monday.

Answer 2

I shot weddings in the past, and yeah, this can be a problem. You do not state what camera you have, but my solution with my Canon was the 70-200 2.8 L lens with image stabilization, (IS). With the addition of the IS, I felt that made up for any extra speed I would have with a faster prime lens, yet I still had my zoom when needed.



I am pretty sure Nikon has a similar lens if that is what you are using. So bottom line, a zoom with 2.8 can work well if it also has image stabilization. That lens is NOT cheap though.



Actually, if you can afford the fast IS zoom, you should also be able to afford a fast prime, something in the 1.6 or 1.8 range is much less expensive than the 1.4, and you are only talking about four tenths of a stop... sometimes you have to look beyond the numbers and think in practical terms of what that tiny amount of extra speed is really worth in dollars and cents.



So, if your budget is very limited, get a fast prime, in most cases you can use your two legs as a zoom. If your budget is larger, get the fast IS zoom AND the prime.



steve

Answer 3

An affordable prime lens that can work in the most situations would be the 35mm f1.8 AF-S DX. With a tripod, it could be sharp enough for your 24 MP to actually look good at 100% for a change.

Answer 4

You generally won't find a zoom lens that isn't also a floating f/stop throughout the range of the zoom. That's why fixed lenses have lower f/stops too... less moving optics.

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Answer 5

When I'm unable to use strobe (happens frequently in churches for example) I use my 70-200 2.8 IS on a monopod with IS turned off (never shoot with IS on a tripod/monopod). Shoot in burst mode and get a few frames of each shot so you'll have a shot or two to pick the one with the best sharpness.



In dire circumstances, bump up your ISO and go the Black & White route.

Answer 6

wedding photographers use FLASHes in low light situations.

Answer 7

You don't mention if you are shooting film or digital.



If you are shooting FF digital then you will have quite a bit of flexibilty of being able to increase your ISO without adding too much noise to the image. You might be surprised at how flexible an IS/VR f/2.8 Zoom lens on a FF digital camera can be.



Ultimately, as a Pro wedding photographer you are going to want to have the f/2.8 and, for those just "in case" situations, the f/1.4 too.

Answer 8

There is always a trade off between fixed or zoom lenses. You've already seen that the faster lenses tend to be fixed focal length (prime lenses). While there's a convenience to zoom lenses, the sacrifice you make is speed and sharpness. Zoom lenses just aren't as sharp as prime lenses. Why? Because the glass in a zoom lens is ground to the best average of the focal range. That's also why there tends to be distortions (barreling and pincushioning).



Prime Lenses aren't as convenient but they make up for it in overall results. While some lower quality prime lenses will have distortion and other undesirable qualities, in general, good quality prime lenses are fast and clear; just what the client is looking for. Also, why would you go for convenience if you're not going to like the end result?



My suggestion is to use both, depending on what you're shooting. Use the better quality primes for the important stuff (ceremony, formal group shots, etc.) and a good zoom for other stuff (reception, happy snaps, etc)