[vrrattko]

Hi guys,
I'm aware that some of you do a wedding photography, mostly with fast zooms like DA*16-50. My question to you is what focal lenghts do you use mostly at wedding? I'm kind of prime guy, although I owned DA*50-135 which was great, at the moment I have only primes in my bag. So I wonder if it would be possible to take K-5 + the backup body, flashes and instead of zooms set of primes like FA20/2.8, FA31/1.8 and DA70/2.4 as the main lenses....with FA43 as a backup lens?
I'm just bit worried by the sound of screwdrive focusing - in that aspect DA*16-50 will be much better choice. Do anybody of you use primes for wedding?
cheers

[hcc]

Generaly 30 mm for group photography, 50mm for body and shoulder shots, 70-85 mm for face portraits..

Your FA31mm and FA77mm are spot on and you may consider an extra 50mm lens (eg DA*55mm) and a 17-70mm zoom to complement your lineup.

There are several experienced wedding photographer at PF and you will get hopefully further first hand advice.

Food for thoughts...

[Ash]

I use it for staged shots. For roaming and candids I always have my zooms - Tamron 28-75 and 70-200. Primes are great, but you don't always have the opportunity to zoom with your feet, or the time to do so with how quick you need to be for some candid moments at weddings. I'd bring both the primes as well as zooms. And I'd never let screwdrive noise get in the way of getting good moments captured on the camera.

[TOUGEFC]

Yes I use primes for weddings. Favorite being the DA*55 f/1.4

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Last edited by TOUGEFC; 05-12-2012 at 06:37 AM.

[vrrattko]

Thanks for quick answers....

hcc - I was also considering DA17-70 + one prime on the other camera (probably 43 for bokeh shots). DA17-70 has a good reputation, better range than 16-50 and is SDM so silent and precise, but f4 on the other hand.

Ash - thanks, zoom + prime combination is surely more reasonable option, and much more convenient ...no question about it. But then which zoom? Screwdrive noise is really terrible only when focus goes all the way, from close to infinity or other way. Prefocus will mostly eliminate this I hope. The worst case scenario would be the lens hunting to focus, that could be quite disturbing.

[vrrattko]

Yes I use primes for weddings. Favorite being the DA*55 f/1.4

that is beautiful, like most of your photos.......basically some of your photos convinced me to try FA limiteds, and now your photos in Sigma 30/1.4 thread do exactly the same

[hcc]

...Screwdrive noise is really terrible only when focus goes all the way, from close to infinity or other way. ....

When photographing wlidlife and screwdrive noise is an issue, it does help to wrap the lens in some cloth to lower the noise. I have done it with my FA*300mm and it works.

But it may not be pretty at a wedding unless you use a lens buddy like this one (https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/photographic-technique/185872-lens-buddy.html).

Hope that the comment may help,

[vrrattko]

lol....not sure about wedding but for street this would be cool - finally there will be some smiling people in my streetphotography

[adpo]

my current philosophy regarding lenses is simple - have something wide, something fast and something long.
as i stand with my current gear, my wide is a tamron 17-50, the fast is the da*55 and the long is a tokina 80-200 2.8. (hoping to upgrade to a 50-135 at some point). Wide is mostly there for group shots, shots of the venue, and quick grabs of the little moments that you can't focus/frame fast enough with on the other body, the fast lens for quick portraits/details of the venue/etc, and the long lens is just there in case you're stuck somewhere and can't get closer to where you know the action is (which happens occasionally for some ceremonies).
from what i can see in your first post, you could probably get by with the 20mm on a second body as the wide, your 31/43 as the fast one and the 70 as the long one. i'd personally be more comfortable with something in the 85-135 range for a long lens, but that's just me.
hope that helps!

[Marc Sabatella]

The sound of the AF is much less than the sound of most shutters (well, the mirror slap), although the K-5 may be the one exception in Pentax-land. And considering the number of people snapping away, with flash at that, with their own cameras, and the ordinary sounds of the wedding, there is no way this should be a concern at all.

I think 20/31/70 sounds like a great combo, although I'd probably want something longer for the ceremony as well to get closeups without needing to be quite so close.

[Ash]

You can't go too far wrong with a DA* 16-50 and DA* 50-135 for noiseless wedding photography. It's less of an issue for the post-ceremony photography, so the FA 31 + DA 70 would be excellent choices to carry along with you.

[frank]

If you are the main photographer, better use zoom lenses so you won't miss any important moment. If you are a backup photographer or just to have some fun at friends' wedding, then prime lenses would be fun to carry and use.

[Vylen]

I'm sure this might be obvious but since it hasn't been noted explicitly.... wouldn't it be best to have two camera bodies in these situations? One dedicated for zoom lenses, the other for primes?

[frank]

I'm sure this might be obvious but since it hasn't been noted explicitly.... wouldn't it be best to have two camera bodies in these situations? One dedicated for zoom lenses, the other for primes?

I've shot wedding w 2 cameras, one w FA31 mounted, and the other w FA85. But I much preferred carrying just one camera w a zoom (either a DA*16-50 or FA*28-70) for the same event. When taking weddings, you might need to free at least one hand for something else other than grabbing a camera.

[Allison]

Primes are just what you want for all of the detail shots and staged portraits. I just purchased two primes (da35 ltd and 100 macro wr) for those pictures. Your 20 and 31 should be good for larger group shots. The 70 will be good for the bride and groom stuff and some close-up detail shots.

If the ceremony is long enough you can change lenses to get a variety of shots. For example, during a Catholic ceremony I will change out several times. If it is going to be 10-15 minutes then I have two bodies... The k5 has the 16-50 and the k20 has either the 50-135 or the 60-250. It depends on the ceremony location. In a 20 minute ceremony I will start with the 16-50 for the processional and some wide shots, but change to the 60-250 for some nice tight shots during the exchange of rings, unity candle, kiss, etc. If the church or location isn't that long or is especially dark, then I use the 50-135 for that. I will take a couple of shots during the ceremony with primes, but I really have to have the ability to zoom without my feet. Some churches have strict rules about where and how much you can move and zoom helps with that. Personally, I think it is very important to be as invisible as possible during the ceremony.

The reception is a whole other thing. Primes are fun and you can move around a ton. I do use the zooms for some candids, but primes add Something special to toasts, dancing, etc.

Your best bet is really going with a combination of primes and zooms.