Lens Rental Advice Please

Jeremy Winterberg · April 6, 2010

I have a wedding coming up on May 8th. And I'm going to have to rent a lens with longer reach. Currently I have the D700 and the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G. I'm planning on renting either the 70-200 f/2.8 VRI, 80-200 f/2.8, 85 f/1.4 or the 135 f/2 DC.

What would you recommend I get? I'm shooting this wedding for a friend, so I'm not getting paid... I would like to keep the rental fee's down. I will be going through BorrowLenses.com to take advantage of the ClubSmug discount!

I'm leaning towards the 135 or the 85 and would probably go with the 80-200 over the 70-200 because of cost... but I want to hear what you have to say.

Darren Troy C · April 6, 2010

Judging STICTLY on quality and personal use...

70-200 VR...HANDS DOWN.

Art Scott · April 6, 2010

I would do the 70-200 and if you can aford it a sigma 17-70f2.8-4 if they have it......you will want to wide zoom for groups and intimate portraits..........I have done many years of wedding with only a 70-210 but a wider lens would have just made life easier........I did foot zooming with the 70-210 to get the wide shots and portraits.............remember it is their wedding and if they want excellent photos they should be willing to at least pay for rental costs............that doesn't give us carte blanche to rent the most expensive stuff but being reasonable they should be happy to help out.

Moogle Pepper · April 6, 2010

I'd do the primes, but that's just me.

Jeremy Winterberg · April 6, 2010

Art, the sigma 17-70 f2.8-4 is a DX lens... aka will not work on my D700 in FX mode. Plus, I only use 2.8 or faster lenses.. I hate lenses that the aperature changes when you zoom in. If I were to get a wide zoom I'd rent the 24-70 2.8, because thats my favorite focal length. But, idk if I want/need that wide.

And I know they should kick in some money to pay for rental stuff... but they're really tight on money. Like, the ceremony is at his church, and his dad is performing the ceremony, and the reception is at a friends farm. Aka all free.

The only cash I'm getting is travel money, and they're paying for a 16x20 lustre print from their engagement session. They're going to have people sign the picture (adding a white border) for the guest book.

Moogle.. between the primes... which one would you choose?

I've been dieing to try out the 135 f/2 DC.. so I'll probably get that. Also, I'll probably only be renting one lens because of the small budget for it.

Moogle Pepper · April 6, 2010

If the 85 is on par with Canon's definitely the 85, as that range you will find much more use than the 135. If you are thinking about cost effectiveness, the 85, since it will get more usage.

Art Scott · April 6, 2010

Jeremy Winterberg wrote:

Art, the sigma 17-70 f2.8-4 is a DX lens... aka will not work on my D700 in FX mode. Plus, I only use 2.8 or faster lenses.. I hate lenses that the aperature changes when you zoom in. If I were to get a wide zoom I'd rent the 24-70 2.8, because thats my favorite focal length. But, idk if I want/need that wide.

I realized what I had done as I left the house for an appointment......will youi need a wide lens??????.....I would say so but then I did shoot for many years with only a 70-210.......it will be lots of foot zooming and even more if you only get the 135.......for a wedding if I had to choose a 24-70 or a 70-200 .......I'd probably go 24-70......I would rather now zoom forward than back when foot zooming.........

If these good friends are not going to be buying large prints why are you wasting the full frame aspect of the D700.....also in your profile it states you have a 70-200 vr and an 11-16 ........so all you need is the 24-70 and every possible field of view is pretty well covered..........

Personally, I would not care if it was my brother....if I knew I was not going to sell any real enlargements I would be shooting in dx format and probably...maybe jpgs to boot..........if you are doing this for a portfolio shoot then your rentals are tax deductible also...............

Jeremy Winterberg · April 7, 2010

I do not own those.. if you look closely they are in the Dream Goodies section

And now that I'm FX I need to remove the 11-16 from that list (EDIT: to avoid further confusion, I have updated my profile to match my current gear

). Why own a FX camera to only shoot in DX mode? Seems like a waste of the camera to me.

Yes, I'm mainly doing it for free for portfolio building purposes. I'm trying very hard to get into the wedding scene, and I think these first couple weddings I have booked will help out greatly (the second one I am getting paid to shoot). The other reason why I'm doing it for free is to help out my friend. They're both in college (he's a sophomore, she's a freshman... so young), and I don't think their parents are paying for much of the wedding if at all.

I pretty much only shoot jpeg now anyways.. the only time I shoot RAW is if I KNOW I cant light the scene properly to get a decent exposure. My take on it is... shoot it right in camera, and you don't have to worry about anything in PP. Gotta love the histogram! Plus it allows me to take more pictures per card.

Well... I guess its down to the 85mm f/1.4 (moogle I hear its very similar to the Canon version) or the 24-70 2.8... I have a month to decide.

Speaking of decisions... when should I order the lens? Obviously I need it to be on time.

ARKreations · April 7, 2010

If you only have the 50/f1.4, then I think you would be really limiting yourself by renting the 85. You'll be juggling lenses and missing shots all day long. The 24-70 is so much more versatile in the unpredictable circumstances that will occur at a wedding. You also don't mention the size of the venues you will be shooting in or any limitations a church may place on you. You could find yourself relegated to shooting from the back row or the balcony in some churches. In that case, the long zoom is a must. If you can roam, then the 24-70 is the ideal lens.

As for the 70-200 .vs. 80-200 consideration, the 80-200 is a very sharp lens that would do a great job. While the 70-200 is much faster focusing, the original VR1 version is known to be a little soft on the edges when shooting wide open on a full frame.

Either way, if your primary goal is to capture the important moments of the day - skip the prime and rent the zoom.

Moogle Pepper · April 7, 2010

ARKreations wrote:

If you only have the 50/f1.4, then I think you would be really limiting yourself by renting the 85. You'll be juggling lenses and missing shots all day long. The 24-70 is so much more versatile in the unpredictable circumstances that will occur at a wedding. You also don't mention the size of the venues you will be shooting in or any limitations a church may place on you. You could find yourself relegated to shooting from the back row or the balcony in some churches. In that case, the long zoom is a must. If you can roam, then the 24-70 is the ideal lens.

As for the 70-200 .vs. 80-200 consideration, the 80-200 is a very sharp lens that would do a great job. While the 70-200 is much faster focusing, the original VR1 version is known to be a little soft on the edges when shooting wide open on a full frame.

Either way, if your primary goal is to capture the important moments of the day - skip the prime and rent the zoom.

That's why shooting with 2 bodies is better than one.

Jeremy Winterberg · April 7, 2010

Two bodies is out of the question right now... Even renting one is too expensive for me.

Its a very laid back wedding. So I will be able to roam. I just asked the bride what she would like for me to wear, and she said "I don't care, but do wear chucks to match the wedding party..."

Any input on when to order things?

ARKreations · April 7, 2010

For a Sat. wedding, I'd go for the weekly rental and want it in my hands by Tuesday prior. That gives you at least 2 days prior to the rehearsal to get familiar and the opportunity to use the rehearsal as a dry-run for the ceremony. You'll also still have the equipment for any "day-after" stuff (gift opening, brunch, etc.) or just some personal play time and time to adjust to the thought of sending it back.
You will most likely become very attached to it

Art Scott · April 7, 2010

ARKreations wrote:

For a Sat. wedding, I'd go for the weekly rental and want it in my hands by Tuesday prior. That gives you at least 2 days prior to the rehearsal to get familiar and the opportunity to use the rehearsal as a dry-run for the ceremony. You'll also still have the equipment for any "day-after" stuff (gift opening, brunch, etc.) or just some personal play time and time to adjust to the thought of sending it back.
You will most likely become very attached to it

Better be PM'ing or contacting Borrow real soon to at least reserve the lens.......if you wait until you're 2 weeks out they may be gone.........

Since your portfolio building make sure to shoot a lot the day after in full wedding dress.....of the Bride and Groom......also the day or 2 before for "Engagement" type photos or just couple in love pix.............it won't matterto the prospective client down the road if the E-pix were shot the day before or 6 months before..............

It may seem wasteful to you to shoot in DX mode with a ff cam but it seems wasteful to shoot in jpg only to me

........ no one can it perfect.......i get danged close but I still tweak in LR and everytime you open and close a jpg it degrades that image........raws do not degrade..........I fully understand shooting in jpg for a photojournalist for news stories especially in today's photoshop the hell out of it world.....but for wedding and portrait work raw is the only way to proceed in my opinion..........raw gives you so much more latitude for doing anything down the road one might want to do to a photo...........

Well good luck and the best to this extremely Young couple.

Jeremy Winterberg · April 7, 2010

I actually took their engagement pictures back in december: http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=153232 - I was having issues with the watermark, so on some of them its still there for some reason... but you can see some of the pictures from their sessioin.

Also, the loss of quality is very minimal. Like I said, if I can't get the exposure in camera, I'll shoot RAW. Otherwise its just a waste of my time and hard drive space to shoot 100% RAW. I have only needed a RAW file for one picture in the 2+ years I've been shooting DSLRs. And that was a timed shot of me and my family for Christmas this past year. I didn't have enough light in the room, and my little SB600 wasn't enough to light the scene. Shooting in RAW is an amateur's safety net. If you can't get it in camera, shoot raw. I nail my exposure 90% of the time so I dont have issues. Yeah, slight tweaks in LR is always going to be needed, but that doesn't mean I have to shoot raw.

Moogle Pepper · April 7, 2010

If you order with borrow lenses, glass and gear, just send the reservation asap. Unless you are using a debit card to reserve they won't actually charge you till the day of renting.

Art Scott · April 7, 2010

Jeremy Winterberg wrote:

Shooting in RAW is an amateur's safety net.

Really??????????????????????

rofl

ARKreations · April 7, 2010

Jeremy Winterberg wrote:

Shooting in RAW is an amateur's safety net. If you can't get it in camera, shoot raw.

The flaw in that logic is that by the time you find out that you can't get it in camera, it's too late to change. By your logic, I'd rather be the amateur that successfully delivered the "once in a lifetime shot" than the pro that missed it.
(Nobody says you have to keep the RAW on your HD if you're happy with the JPG.)

Jeremy Winterberg · April 7, 2010

ARKreations wrote:

The flaw in that logic is that by the time you find out that you can't get it in camera, it's too late to change. By your logic, I'd rather be the amateur that successfully delivered the "once in a lifetime shot" than the pro that missed it.
(Nobody says you have to keep the RAW on your HD if you're happy with the JPG.)

I'm not going to get into this discussion because it simply is not the point of this thread. I'm going to leave it with my view on what makes someone an amateur and a pro is similar to Ken Rockwell. Also, I know many pro wedding photographers that only shoot in jpeg. I consider myself an amateur, and many of the photogs on this website amateurs or beginners.

Moogle Pepper · April 7, 2010

Yeah lets not get into the raw v. jpeg debate here, since you can find that everywhere already. If Jeremy is comfortable shooting jpeg with some raw in tough spots, that is how he works. We all have our own ways to do things and our own workflow.

One of the great things with borrowlenses.com and or glassandgear.com is that you can really talk to them and they will help you out with your rental. I tend to send rent requests months in advance and some times in short notice without an issue. So rent with them with confidence.

Jeremy Winterberg · April 7, 2010

Moogle Pepper wrote:

Yeah lets not get into the raw v. jpeg debate here, since you can find that everywhere already. If Jeremy is comfortable shooting jpeg with some raw in tough spots, that is how he works. We all have our own ways to do things and our own workflow.

One of the great things with borrowlenses.com and or glassandgear.com is that you can really talk to them and they will help you out with your rental. I tend to send rent requests months in advance and some times in short notice without an issue. So rent with them with confidence.

Thank you, and I just placed my order through BorrowLenses.com for the 24-70 f/2.8. Now, I just have to wait... Dang... $100 for a week is expensive... but, its better than paying - what like $1400 for the lens?

Qarik · April 7, 2010

note you can use the 11-16mm on the D700 from 14.5-16mm. That's still < 10mm on DX.

also get the 70-200mm VR. I would think you will need the VR in reception type enviroment.

Ed911 · April 7, 2010

Jeremy Winterberg wrote:

Thank you, and I just placed my order through BorrowLenses.com for the 24-70 f/2.8. Now, I just have to wait... Dang... $100 for a week is expensive... but, its better than paying - what like $1400 for the lens?

Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8...more around $1740.00. But, worth it and on the D700...very nice set up.

I've used mine ever since they came out, preordered, and it hasn't left my camera.

I'm going to sell one of my D300's and move this lens to the new FX model. I'm waiting until the new releases later this year, and yet, I may buy a D700 once pricing is established for the new line.

Dooginfif20 · April 11, 2010

Jeremy Winterberg wrote:

I have a wedding coming up on May 8th. And I'm going to have to rent a lens with longer reach. Currently I have the D700 and the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G. I'm planning on renting either the 70-200 f/2.8 VRI, 80-200 f/2.8, 85 f/1.4 or the 135 f/2 DC.

What would you recommend I get? I'm shooting this wedding for a friend, so I'm not getting paid... I would like to keep the rental fee's down. I will be going through BorrowLenses.com to take advantage of the ClubSmug discount!

I'm leaning towards the 135 or the 85 and would probably go with the 80-200 over the 70-200 because of cost... but I want to hear what you have to say.

As a recent purchaser of the 24-70 2.8 I would go with that. Totally awesome lens! I also have the 50 1.4G and this year plan on having the D90 with the 50 1.4g on it and the D200 with the 24-70 2.8 on it all day every wedding. Good luck and let me know how everything goes!

Dooginfif20 · April 11, 2010

I say go ahead and buy the 24-70. Get ahold of Frank at Adorama and see if they any refurbished. Mine was never used by anyone outside of the store. Was sent to Nikon and checked and inspected and was sent back and I got it for $1579 shipped. Then I would rent the 70-200 VR I or VR II. I dont know what you shoot or how often you do but you will use the 24-70 more often then the 70-200

Jeremy Winterberg · April 11, 2010

Dooginfif20 wrote:

I say go ahead and buy the 24-70. Get ahold of Frank at Adorama and see if they any refurbished. Mine was never used by anyone outside of the store. Was sent to Nikon and checked and inspected and was sent back and I got it for $1579 shipped. Then I would rent the 70-200 VR I or VR II. I dont know what you shoot or how often you do but you will use the 24-70 more often then the 70-200

I shoot weddings and portraits. But, I do not have the money to purchase one... which is why I'm renting one... Right now all my cash is being put into branding my business (logo, business cards, letterhead and envelopes, matching blogsite, etc...). Which is way more important than a lens.

Lens Rental Advice Please

Comments