When wondering to get only the best lens for wedding photography I want to make sure that you get well prepared no matter where you shoot, here in this story I will share about some cool lens that I personally use on my wedding photo shoot in such beautiful venue. Hi my friend this is Bima and thank you for stumble upon my blog, here in this page I share some reliable information related to photography such as promoting photo services using a blog till get passive income through selling travel and food photos.
I know you might already got your dream lens for shooting wedding but the picture that I saw you here is when I go to Bali for wedding shooting and capturing the most beautiful romance moment right in superb landscape, so generally I want my couple know that they were so gorgeous and they celebrate their wedding in such outstanding venue and landscape. You may shoot wedding in a common but if you got destination wedding photo shoot like what I had in Bali and Maldives than you definitely bring some cool lens that could capture both the moment and the landscape it self.
No matter where you are now my friend but here today I wanna share 10 best lens for wedding photography that you might consider for shooting several needs such as details, landscape, portrait, and also running for the fast moment. I will also will telling you about how is the feeling for shooting with these several lenses, how great it is and how it helps you to provide the most outstanding wedding moment that matter for your couple in the next few decades, in other words you will make your couple feeling blown away ever!
Best Lens for Wedding Photography – Overviews
When browsing about best lens for wedding photography than you must thinking about the most reliable gears that will support you to work as greta as you can on that holy day. Shooting wedding is not simply as taking a photo but you must creating an untold story for your couple that come through your heart and eyes. It’s not that simple my friend because you must be able to feel the moment it self but in the same time you must be able to capture the best moment for your final album.
No matter what kind of photo gears that you use, it could be Nikon, Canon, Fujifilm, or Sony but generally they have several best lenses that come in great features and benefit for fulfil your wedding photographer instinct. In fact there are so many best lens that you might already know, it may cheap but sometimes it comes ridiculous price that will burn out your bank account, so that’s why in this story I will only telling 6 best lens for wedding photography that will help you to work in this business.
- Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L ll
- Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II
- Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
- Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G
- Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM
- Sony FE 24-70 mm F2.8 G
It’s Time for Best Lens Reviews
I’m so excited for this part, so let’s take a look for these 6 top rates lens for wedding photography that will blown your mind, what make this gears great? what photographers tell about it? and the most important thing is how those lenses will help you to provide stunning images for your kind works.
1 – Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L ll – Superb Wide Range!
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L ll is a classic lens for thousands of wedding photographer is this planet even there are so many landscape photographer also own this superb wide range lens for capturing nature for fairly long time. From the earliest series till Mark II and Mark III this ‘beast’ is still come with fast and sharp feature to create the most outstanding images. It’s not that big if you compare with some other high-end Canon lens, it comes in black with red prestigious L series ring on the body and once you fit it on your camera than you wouldn’t stop shooting for great moment.
When I was investing money to bring this lens on wedding photo session than I always have a good chance of capturing moment, no matter I shoot at outdoor or in a super tiny preparation room and only have a low available light that used to come from window lighting or my couple make up lamp but this wide lens still help me to create unforgettable wedding story that will remind my couple about how lovely their wedding is.
As I told you before that this lens also use by landscape and outdoor photographer because its f2.8 aperture set is a great feature that works well for any of you who work in wedding photography industry.
This lens works so well for outdoor and indoor space no matter you only got low illumination on the situation
Pros.
- Able to perform well in most light conditions
- Magical result will come through its raw files
- Sharp not only at the centre but for all round
Cons.
- Heavy
Personally, if I only have this lens in my bag for a short wedding session than I sure that I could deliver great wedding images that blown my couple’s mind away!
2 – Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II – Best for Fast Moment
When I saw this earliest lens back on 2002 I was surprise that finally there is a best lens that I could use for fast moment till several years after Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II was coming to this world with its fascinating feature that help thousand of photographer on capturing moments. You may know that today they already provide a new one but if you want to buy a second one for your daily use than it still comes with great image result for sure.
It doesn’t matter you put this incredible gear on non full-frame camera or we used to called it APSC SLR but trust me that it still belongs to one of the best lens for wedding photography ever. In fact holding this cool lens during 10 hours of wedding is quite taught and I know for sure about it because nowadays I got a right shoulder pain by using this lens for the past 7 years.
If you shoot wedding with journalism style than I know you will shoot so fast even you see less on your LCD because you running for the moment it self, and if you do so than this lens will belong to your best friend on any situation because it will get the focus so fast and please remind that it comes with superb f2.8 aperture too.
24-70mm f2.8 will be the best friend for any photographer who shoot fast!
Pros.
- Focus will be so fast
- Sharp
- It’s all round lens
- Best for portrait
Cons.
- Still belong to one of pricy lens
I’m a wedding photo journalist person so having this lens on my daily wedding session truly help me to shoot fast and move to other side than got another cool moment over and over again!
3 – Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED – Wide Angle Lover Must Have
I brought this Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED on my previous engagement session and I was impressed by seeing this gear at the first time because it has unique convex front lens. Since I have a full frame Nikon D810 camera too in my hand than this lens bring outstanding ultra wide range effect to capture both the couple and the landscape at the same time. Since its first announcement back on 2007 this lens already belong to most favourite gear for photographer who love capturing objects or landscape with ultra wide angle.
Focus is extremely fast and come in great stunning images even you don’t put nothing about post production at all. As a guy who use also the Canon 16-35mm f2.8 than try this 14-24mm f2.8 than I could telling you that this lens will bring a unique photo result experience at the end. With f2.8 and ultra wide angle feature, so when you work on destination wedding session that will meet so many beautiful view at the venue than this gear will gonna be your best partner for working in great.
No matter you shoot on an outdoor space or come into indoor space that goes with low illumination than you still able to shoot like a ninja with no mistake at all. Generally I could tell you than,
This beast is made for masterpiece creator
Pros.
- Super fast focus and come with sharp image result
- Most favourite lens for wide angle lovers
- No result excuse both for outdoor and indoor space
Cons.
- Make sure you put the focus in a right way because the 14mm range will make an extreme distortion if you put it on a wrong way
I personally suggest you to own this incredible super wide lens for landscape and wedding shooting that come with outstanding outdoor venue liek Fiji, Maldives, and Oregon.
4 – Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G – Best for Beginner
Someone who investing on fix lens like Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G must be a person who love for shooting in detail and sharp, 50mm in f1.4 is superb even you may try the f1.8 too on your first trial. Bring this cool lens on your wedding and portrait session will definitely give you an extreme image result that come in sharp and clean, trust me both you and couple will love the result for sure.
50mm is a great range because someone believe that when you use full frame camera than this unique range is the same way how our eyes look the objects. Main challenge about this lens is it comes in f1.4 which can be your benefit or disadvantages. 1.4 is a superb aperture where you can get a sharp image with lovely blur background but if you shoot fast and got mistake for putting the main focus than the other part will looks so blur. Just a simple fact, when you shoot for people portrait face than I suggest you to put the focus on their nose rather because all surrounded body part like eye brow, eyes, lips will be focus too but if you put the main focus point on ear than all the eyes part will blur and seems to not good result.
Dedicated for sharp image lover
Pros.
- Affordable price
- Bets for portrait scene
- Sharp and clear image result
Cons.
- Put the focus on a wrong point will effect to bad image
Are you expecting for fast shooting and ultimate sharp image, than this 50mm lens will take all your final photo become masterpiece.
5 – Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM – Best Sony’s Fix Lens
Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM is a premium lens that will blow your mind especially when you also had Sony A7 Mark III on your hand, with two extreme gears on your bag than you gonna shoot on wedding or portrait no matter where you are than these gonna be your powerful weapon to improving your photographer instinct.
Couple months ago I touch, put it on, and shoot with this 85mm lens and when I use it for indoor area with only few tungsten light source than the portrait photo become outstanding. I know for sure that Sony published their low budget fix lens but trust me this cool gear will bring your business into the next level. Again and again it’s a fast and sharp lens that you can bet to capture your wedding moments, you can walk down the aisle or shooting on a dark church than this lens will be able to catch the focus in super fast and break it down into masterpiece.
It’s Sony User Favourite Lens
Pros.
- Ultra fast lens for capturing moment
- Superb on low illumination source
- Most favourite lens for photographers
Cons.
- Pricy (even it’s still worth it)
If you are a Sony lover than rather than buy too many lenses than investing your money on this incredible 85mm lens is one great decision that you could made.
6 – Sony FE 24-70 mm F2.8 G – Must Have Lens
Once again this kind of range is a must have gear and still belong to best lens for wedding photography in any brand, if you use Sony system than Sony FE 24-70 mm F2.8 G is one great thing that you could invest for. At any situation, indoor or outdoor than this lens will provide you with its great sharpness and fast focus and once you got it on your hand than try to zoom in for an image that you already took and see the detail, it’s impressive!
As same as the 85mm, this kind of lens is also come in a ridiculous price but if you calculate for long term business than it still rely on your studio for sure. Just bring it into low light area like preparation room or church than it still able to to focus in so fast and you wouldn’t miss the moment it self. Its f2.8 is insane and come with extreme sharpness for the best but you could bet on other aperture setting too.
Must Have Lens!
Pros.
- Extreme sharp at any setting especially on f2.8
- Fast focus in low light source
- Focus lock button
- Metal filter
Cons.
- Heavy
As a personal suggestion, if you only could afford one Sony lens than I highly suggest you to buy this 24-70mm rather than 85mm.
Best Lens Buying Guide
If you just want to start your wedding photography business than I will telling you that this is ain’t cheap business, except marketing and branding cost, here you may also consider about what kind of gear that will suit on your needs. Running out and stumble upon photography gears will never end because every brand will compete each other to provide good lens and better gears for thousand of photographer in this planet. As a friend to friend my suggestion about buying your best lens for wedding photography is,
You must be able to say enough!
In general shooting in wedding is not that so complicated because you can use any kind of lens from the cheapest one till the most ridiculous one, overall you only gonna shoot for these 2 things:
- Details and
- Moment
So let me give you an example, if you want to feel safe for shooting wedding than you can buy a primary camera like Canon 5D Mark III + Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II lens so with a budget for less than $3000 than you already can buy a fine photographer gears and built your own photography blog to promote your services.
Type of Lenses
There are various lenses that you can buy for your business but in a general way you will know some of lenses like wide range, medium range, and zoom range. In a simple way I could describe that you can consider to buy some lenses such as:
- Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L ll for wide range
- Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II for medium range, and
- Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS for zoom lens
But, are you willing to make a lenses collection or starting a business?
If you want to start a business than one camera and one kind of best lens for wedding photography is ENOUGH and you can run your business after all. In the next few years once you got a better paid than you can buy another lenses or simply upgrading into the latest series. Three lenses sample that I mentioned above are just the example but trust me you also can buy the cheaper one to start your business and that’s fine.
Remember, all you need to have to start your business is just a camera and one lens!
How to Keep Your Lenses Safe?
Buying a photography gears will seems to buy a used car so it means you gonna spend thousand of dollars out of your bank account and that’s matters. So let me give you some with some guidance to keep your lenses safe and it can be used for the next few years.
1 – Keep it in a Dry Air Condition
The most extreme enemy of your lens is humidity so make sure to keep it all on the dry area which come with low humidity level. There are a lot of option to make sure your lens is in a good storage, here you can simply keep it on your room with a good fresh air and weather which is you can regularly turn on your air conditioner of if you want to do in a better way than you can buy these kind of things:
Camera Dry Cabinet
This FORSPARK Camera Dehumidifying Dry Cabinet is a good storage that made with nice materials, glass door, and dryer
Waterproof Box
Watertight Box, generally it just a storage that you can use for keep your lens in a waterproof condition. It’s cheap for sure and you can put some silica gel in just to reduce the humidity
2 – Clean It After Daily Use
Keep your lens in clean is one good thing to do especially when you just finished for some outdoor shooting. Make a concern too about your outdoor location because some places like beach or lake will damage your lens faster so you can buy some reliable lens cleaning set such as:
Altura Cleaning Kit
Consider to own this cleaning kit on your camera bag so you can directly clean your lens and camera once your photo shoot is done.
Conclusion
I love photography so much and this business is brought me to make a good living for the whole family. I know that you may have the same dream and expectation through it too and I sure by working hard and keep learning for something than you can make a better living too. So much love to share for some cool information that I really hope it can helps you as well and inspire you about how to buy only the best lens for wedding photography.
Just let me know if you want to ask something about it and simply write a comment below and I will try to reply it immediately. Just in case you still need some inspiration in photography and want to read something cool through this blog than you can consider to read about how I make DIY photography studio box for shooting my stock images that could be sell on Shutterstock.