Good Value Wedding Lens?

brianhanley

Hello everyone. I have my first wedding coming up, and I have a nikon D50 with the 18-135mm lens that comes with the D80.

Is there a VR lens (or something similar) that I can get for around 200-300$ that would be a good all around wedding day lens?

Thanks!

Scott_Quier

brianhanley wrote:

Hello everyone. I have my first wedding coming up, and I have a nikon D50 with the 18-135mm lens that comes with the D80.

Is there a VR lens (or something similar) that I can get for around 200-300$ that would be a good all around wedding day lens?

Thanks!

It's pretty much a given that "good glass" and "inexpensive glass" are mutually exclusive. In addition, VR technology (like Canon's IS) is not cheap.

If you are on a tight budget, I can think of a couple of options open to you:

• Buy a couple of primes. You won't be able to get even one good one for the $200 - $300, but you will get value for your money.
• You could look to get a decent 24-70mm lens with a constant f/2.8 aperture. This is not option.
• You could rent from some place like http://www.borrowlenses.com/ (check out this thread for more information).

Good luck on shooting the wedding. I fyou haven't thought about it yet, please consider equipment backups because - life happens.

brianhanley

oOOoooo awsome site! I wil show up to the wedding with a 7,000$ football lens

Shane422

The only VR lens in that range is the 55-200MM. Buts its not a fast lens (i.e. f2.8 or wider). You can pick up something like the Tamron 28-75MM f2.8 or the Nikom 85MM f1.8 for about $400 new.

Art Scott

I don't want to come off the wrong way but if you think you need VR or IS that tells me you do not own a tripod or did not really plan on using it.......I have shot untold weddings and never owned anything IS, VR or a stabilized body (until now....Konica Minolta...now sony) and have used Sigma lenses on nearly every camera I have ever owned.....shoot everything you can on a tripod.....that should be everyting from prewedding thru the formals after the wedding....the reception is a hand holdable event except ofr a few shots that you need to treat like formal portraits ie anything around the cake..cutting...feeding each other..toasting)....on the dance floor that is another matter......for me it was pretty easy to hold a camera steady....I came from a family of shooters...guns.....and there are similarities to shoot and photographing...as not purhing the shutter button but slowly easing it down...holding breath at critical moments...tucking the elbows into your torso for added stability...maybe even using a monopod

As for lenses I would recommend the Sigma 17-70 f2.8 (or the 24-70 f2.8) and the 70-200 f2.8......and when you get the money get a second body ASAP.....cameras quit, it does happen.....it happened with me with a brand new camera....I learned my lesson.....I always have a second camera, even if I have to borrow one from a friend as a back up (but know how to use it also)....since I am buying another Konica Minolta A2 soon that will give me 2 back up cameras...they are P/S but also ProSumer 8MP with a 8mp sensor...the only bad thing for wedding use is the electronic view finder focus changes show up slow but I havea focus beeper that tells me when it has focused.........same with flashes....never travel to a wedding without a spare and also extra memory at least 2 extra 2gb of memory and also shoot in raw, takes a little more room on memory but in the end can save your tail.........

sorry for the long post..................

Good Luck.

SavedByZero

Tokina AT-X 28-70mm f2.8 and never, never, never loose focus or you'll miss shots like this.



Best cake fight I've ever shot. They got cake everywhere!!!

Tee Why

Only VR lens for that price that may work for wedding is the upcoming 18-55VR for about $200.
http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=5&productNr=2176

However, this may not be suitable to shooting moving subjects in low light as you may get subject movement blur. Consider a fast zoom or a fast prime lens. Most fast normal zoom like the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 are closer to $400 though.

z_28

brianhanley wrote:

oOOoooo awsome site! I wil show up to the wedding with a 7,000$ football lens

No !
Just buy Nikkor 24-70/2.8
perfect lens for weddings and way much cheaper than $7000

swintonphoto

Art Scott wrote:

and when you get the money get a second body ASAP.....cameras quit, it does happen.

I totally agree with that! Just last week in the middle of a portrait shoot at my studio one of my two camera bodies quit on me. I have an extended warranty on it so it is on its way to the repair shop, but, had I only had that one body I would have been in big trouble.

As for the VR lens - the only one in your price range is the 18-55mm. Here is a link:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/532521-USA/Nikon_2176_18_55mm_f_3_5_5_6G_VR_AF_S.html

But it looks like it should be a good lens if your on a budget.

Icebear

I strongly endorse Scott's idea about renting the best lens you can for a job like this. Might help you decide what to buy too. I'll bet in Albany there's a shop.

rpcrowe

Murphy's Law Of Camera Equipment
A mid-range zoom like Art Scott mentioned is the basic tool of a wedding photographer. IS or VR is icing on the cake but, certainly not a necessary component of a mid-range zoom. Weddings have been successfully shot for a long while before the advent of any type of motion compensation system and are still being shot that way and will in all likelihood be shot without IS or VR for many years to come.

A tripod contributes wonders towards getting a good image however, as with any other bit of photographic equipment there is a learning curve inherent in tripod use. Additionally, if you are not pretty adept in the use of a tripod - everyone you are shooting will know it. You will look like a blind dog in a butcher shop.

I STRONGLY URGE YOU NOT TO ATTEMPT TO SHOOT A WEDDING WITHOUT BACKUP LENS, CAMERA BODY AND FLASH UNIT.

Murphy's Law states that the probability of equipment failure is in a direct relationship to the importance of the equipment and in an inverse relationship to the availability of a spare!

As described by another poster above, I also had a camera fail for no apparent reason. The Canon Service Center in Irvine had it fixed and back to me in a week but... If I were shooting a wedding when it happened - I would have had egg on my face. Unless I had a backup available. I know a photographer who had to rush away from a wedding reception and buy a P&S from a drug store (the only store open that evening) because he did not have a backup camera.

Additionally....

I strongly urge anyone considering shooting a wedding to take an objective look at his or her photographic capabilities. In reality, it is difficult enough to shoot a wedding when your equipment is second nature to you; it is almost impossible when you don't have a deep familiarity with your equipment and of general photographic techniques such as exposure, focus and lighting. A wedding (or any other non-repeatable event) is not the time to learn your equipment.