Rex Photography
What is the most essential lense for the Canon Rebel XT for doing wedding photography?
If I was to purchase a lense what wold be the most important one. I have an 18mm-55mm the came with it.
Public Comments
- Wedding Photography is tough, and demands more than one lens. Personally, I like shooting with primes, but if you want to shoot with zooms, I would get the following if you have the funds for it: Either 16-35mm f2.8L Mk II or 17-40mm f4L for groups. 24-70mm f2.8L for general use. 70-200mm f2.8 L IS for individual portraits and shooting at a distance during the service. If you can't afford that I'd get: Still the 17-40mm f4L for groups (or keep your 18-55) 24-85mm f3.5-4.5 70-200 f4L (IS if you can afford it, non-IS if you can't) If you still can't afford that, I'd at least pick up a 50mm f1.8 as it's a nice portrait lens on the XT, is lots faster than your 18-55, and costs less than $100. If you have the funds, add another prime or two. (A 35mm f2 and an 85mm f1.8 maybe). Good luck.
- You would probably want a couple of lenses and it would depend on how much money you want to spend. The most important would be a medium telezoom with a fast aperture, and I would recommend the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM. [that 18-55mm will do nothing for you] It has a constant fast aperture which is ideal for use where a flash would not be prudent and still have bright images. And with image stabilization you can hand hold down to 1/20-1/40 sec shutter speed, wide open if you're a steady shot. It's an expensive lens, but well worth the money. I shoot with a nikon D80 and I'm saving up for a nikkor version of the same lens. The focal range is ideal for getting good shots without being too close, yet still have the range to get good macro[like] shots from around 5 feet or so. The only other lens I would suggest would be a wider angle zoom, like a 16-35mm f/2.8L or a 28-70mm f/2.8 [to shoot groups of people or the church itself]. Be sure to remember your image sensor "crop", at 1.6x or 1.5x a 200mm focal length is really 300, 16mm is really 24mm and so on. And there are a couple of schools of thought with regard to "which" lenses you should be buying with regard to the "brand" of camera you will be attaching it to. While a "canon" lens would be ideal for shooting with your "canon" body, the price you pay for a fast constant aperture is exeedingly high, but there are alternatives. Companies like sigma and tamron make excellent lenses with high reviews that often cost half of what a canon or nikon lens would cost. For example, one of the highest rated "third party" lenses on the market is the tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 and has been described to be sharper at f/4 than the nikon equivalent, and costing about half of what that nikon lens costs and I know it is the same for canon as well. "L" glass is an investment, and NO OTHER lens can really beat them, but when you consider what you are able to afford [if even an issue], a cheaper fast aperture lens may get you through a wedding or two while you save up for an "L" lens. Below are links to B&H photo, an excellent resource for camera equipment. You'll spend hours looking at accessories and reading reviews [trust me]. I hope this helps and good luck. Peace
