Wedding photography is a unique combination of every type of photography. Fashion and portrait photography, architectural photography, product photography, macro photography, family and children photography, and sometimes even travel photography are all included under the required knowledge umbrella of wedding photography.
In order to deliver a complete wedding photography product, you’re going to need lenses that allow you to capture each of these aspects with artistry and creativity. In a perfect world, we’d have the finances and manpower to haul every available lens to the venue; but in reality, we’re limited to a handful of accessible, high-quality, and versatile lenses.
Here is a subjective list of 6 must have lenses for any given wedding. It should be noted that we, the authors of this article, have a bias for shooting wide open (low apertures) in most situations. Also, we list Canon lenses, as the authors of this article shoot with 5D Mark II’s, but each lens listed should have an equivalent for every other brand name DSLR producer.
This is my favorite lenses. It creates a beautiful bokeh (blur) at f2.8, and the compression you get when you’re zoomed in from 150-200mm gives your image a look that’s hard to achieve with any other lens. It also allows you to get in close on the moment without disrupting the moment, such as the following image:
It also allows you to capture candids, from the tears at a wedding ceremony (pictured below) to the laughs at a wedding reception.
This is another one of my favorite lenses. It can save the day when the light starts to drop and allow you to bring out the backgrounds. It also, makes you less reliant on your flash, creating a softer, more natural look for your subjects, as illustrated in the following outdoor dance floor picture.
The 50mm also allows you to create stunning portraits, as the low aperture creates the shallow depth of field that makes your subject pop off the page and softens your subject’s skin.
This is a critical lens for smaller spaces. For example, a tea ceremony in a Chinese wedding is commonly held in a living room. The 70-200 would be too close for this situation, and the 50mm would not provide enough versatility, as you typically don’t have too much room for movement.
4. 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
If your bride and groom are spending thousands of dollars on the details of a wedding, they are sure to appreciate you capturing the event in detail. With the 100mm Macro, you can capture detailed shots with the same quality and detail as product advertisements in magazines. Add in your touch of lighting and creativity, and you get ring shots like the one below.
5. 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye
The fisheye is important for capturing the moment with a unique perspective. This perspective pulls everything from the edges into the center and creates a surreal, ultra-wide view of a venue or ceremony site, as pictured below.
Using the fisheye to capture dance floor shoots at a reception or, for example, an Indian Baraat (as pictured below) creates a interesting and exciting image, as the distortion on the edges focuses your attention on the subjects in the middle, yet the composition of the frame still allows you to see the smiles and emotion of the crowd.
6. 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens
Sometimes the 24-70mm lens just isn’t wide enough to capture everything you want. The ultra wide angle helps you capture your surroundings, such as this shot of our wedding party in the streets of San Francisco.
Venue and landscape shots are also a great addition to your wedding day coverage, as it sets the scene for the day and allows you to take full advantage of amazing scenery.
Honorable Mentions:
1. 85mm f1.2L II USM
This is a great lens, but not a necessity if you’re happy with the results from your 70-200mm.
2. 24-105mm f/4 L Lens
The major advantage of this lens is its versatility. But, as stated before, we are partial to lower apertures, and sometimes the f/4 just isn’t fast enough, nor does it create our desired bokeh.
I hope you enjoyed this article, if so, please share the love and feel free to comment and add additional insight below!
By: Lin and Jirsa Wedding Photography, Los Angeles and Orange County Wedding Photographers
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olivier
85L is not great … it’s magical…
135L should be mentionned … much sharper than the 70-200f2.8
but for me the number one lens is the 35L….35mm is just perfect, so close to natural vision and at 1.4 beeing abble to isolate a subject with the narrow dof with a wide angle lens is amazing
Michael
Great short article on wedding lens recommendation.
I would tend to agree with most suggestions, however,
in my opinion the Cann 85 1.2L is just too slow for
weddings, you miss 90% of the shots. It’s great to
impress people with, but the 85 1.8 is far more
practical and gives you a far higher keeper rate.
And it can double duty for the telescopic compression
effect of the 70-200 2.8 with a far faster aperture.
The 70-200 2.8 is a brick to carry around during an
8 hour plus all day wedding event. Just my thoughts.
Dana Goodson
I’m a Nikon shooter so I’ll have to mention the 14-24 2.8. It’s costly but I opted for this instead of a fisheye to use on my D700. It’s incredibly sharp and I don’t have to worry about any edge distortion. I love that I’m able to get some pretty dramatic images due to how wide it is.
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Thanks for the article. Very informative.
Jon Phillips
I recently added a 200mm f/2.8 L series to my arsenal. I found that when I was using a 70-200, I was always shooting at 200.
Xsightn
Nice article though all Nikon, we get the picture
I have to agree with Goodson, the 14-24 2.8 is a great addition for Nikon shooters. Yet to get one though but am working towards it
mike
Ten? Ten lenses? Non sense. I shoot with a 17mm, 50mm and 180mm. 90% of my images are with the 50.
Scotty
Great! Now all I need is $7,000 and I’ll be a successful wedding photog! Dx
Brandon
In my experience, the 70-200 is great, but doesn’t work well in small chapels, as it just can’t back out far enough. The 24-70 is ideal, but the 24-105 is far more versatile in situations where a little extra zoom compression is necessary.
Samantha
Scotty, I think most successful wedding photogs would say it takes so much more than just lenses, cameras, and equipment to be good at what you do.
And Mike, I also think everyone has their own style of shooting. Some of my best weddings were shot on only 3 lenses (16-35mm, 50mm, and 70-200mm). But, I would definitely have to agree with the authors picks on these lenses.
The lenses listed are quite standard and staple lenses. Though I would have to say I hate shooting on the 24-70mm. I would rather use a wide and a 50mm prime to cover that range. I don’t really like the look and feel of the bokeh on the 24-70mm, I feel like everything comes out looking too standard.
I would have to say that anyone that doesn’t think a fisheye is an amazing lens, hasn’t shot enough weddings =). It creates some of the coolest effects for wide angle shots and dance floor shots.
Here are my favorites (in order):
1) 70-200mm F2.8 IS
2) 50mm F1.4
3) 16-35mm F2.8
4) 15mm F2.8 fisheye
5) 100mm F2.8 macro
6) 24mm F1.4
The 50mm F1.2 is nice, but I find that it’s impossible to shoot anything moving at F1.2, and around F1.8+ I can’t really tell the difference between the 50mm F1.4. So, might as well stick with the cheaper lens.
Kudos to the author, loved the article.
Pye
Brandon, I would have to agree that I love the additional range on the 24-105mm. But, to be honest, we bought one to try out, then ended up selling it because it simply just wasn’t fast enough in low light, and it seems like we are always shooting low light. Do you typically use your 24-105mm during the day or in well lit areas? I am curious, what would be your 5 or 6 staple lenses?
Lorena Monjardim
70-200 2.8 L IS is definetly my baby!!
I love my 50 mm L 1.2 but it is an artistic extra equipment in my pack.
My 24-70 2.8 L is used only in small rooms or where 70-200 is impossible to use.
(my hus uses it more than i do)
I agree with the authors about large apertures..
Nice article!
2.8 is my smallest choice!
John Donnelly
Been a while since I’ve used my film camera. I have a fantastic 35-200 that covers mostly everything. I have a 28mm wide angle and a 500mm fixed for anything else. Enjoyed your article, some really great pics!