Good camera lenses are like buying diamonds – they can cost thousands, stay with you for life – and you get what you pay for. Professional lenses cost a lot for good reasons. Your extra money ensures precise optics that deliver better resolution and contrast and exhibit less distortion than cheaper models. Such lenses also contain some electronic wizardry to focus smoothly, pass information to the camera and even provide optical stabilisation.
Generally, choosing a lens is about making compromises – there is not one lens perfect for all scenarios. The basic principle of a lens is to capture every last drop of available light (there’s no picture without light) and this is measured as an aperture value called an F-Stops, where the smaller the number the more light is let in and your camera can do more wonderful things such as blur the background, speed up the shutter and lower the ISO.
This article will focus on lenses designed for Canon EOS cameras – a very popular choice among wedding photographers.
Canon labels their professional range of lenses with the ‘L’ grade and these are also symbolised by a red ring on the lens body. Certainly you pay a premium for an L lens, and together with some of the best optics available you also get the benefit of water proofing and better construction, with improved handling.
There are essentially two classes of lens for all cameras- prime lenses and zoom lenses. Prime lenses are a fixed focal length and offer no zoom ability, but as a result deliver better quality in their optics and will capture more light due to less optimised glass. Zoom lenses have a maximum aperture of F2.8 compared to F1.2 in the Canon primes range – this is a difference of being able to capture 4 times more light from a given scene, making it possible to capture brighter pictures with more reliable focus in much lower lighting conditions than a zoom lens.
A prime lens or two is hence a firm favourite with wedding photographers who typically have to deal with low light environments such as inside Churches and reception venues. Prime lenses often cost a substantial amount of money. However, Canon also created some very good zoom lenses with fixed apertures at the maximum of F2.8. The main advantage of a zoom lens of course is speed of use and usability in terms of time and space. With a zoom lens you can stay in a fixed position much more easily and take pictures at different levels of zoom almost immediately (no stopping to change lenses) which means you can quickly capture moments as they unfold with different framing – wide or close-up. The decision to go with a prime lens or a zoom lens is predominantly about making compromises based on the location you are photographing in and the subject matter.
With all this in mind, exactly which lenses should sit in the bag of a wedding photographer using a Canon EOS SLR camera? For scenic shots and really wide angles the 16-35mm Mk2 zoom is a must. For telephoto zoom shots, such as candid shots of guests the 70-200IS remains a firm favourite. Next for portrait shots the 85mm F1.2 prime is unbeatable. Finally, sitting somewhere in the middle is the 35mm F1.4 prime – a glorious lens for capturing people in their environment. These four lenses will equip you to handle any wedding of any style and are often the only lenses a pro needs. Unfortunately, you’ll need to invest over £5,000 for the privilege of this set.
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