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Top Lens Recommendations for Wedding Photographers
Today I’m going to talk about the lens that I use the most on any given wedding day. I do want to first start by saying that the reason I use this particular lens the most, is not necessarily because I like the outcome the most.
If I were to choose a lens that had my favorite outcome it would likely be the Canon 85mm 1.2 or the Canon 135mm 2.0. Both of these lenses have beautiful compression in them, and I love the way the bokeh looks especially with the 135mm. I also love that they have a nice wide aperture so it helps me out in low-light and in creating the look that a lot of my clients like. However my favorite one is the Canon 50mm at 1.2 L lens.
The reason I love this lens so much and I would choose it over any other lens… if I could only have one lens to shoot a wedding with, is because it’s so versatile. I can shoot anything with it, I can shoot details with it and I typically shoot a lot of the reception details with this lens. I can shoot portraits with it, and I’ll shoot a lot of the bridal portraits with this lens, and I can do things like landscapes or bridal party shots or nighttime shots.
This lens is also super fast in focusing so it’s great to use during the reception when I don’t have a lot of light helping me find focus. It’s a very crisp, sharp, beautiful lens and while it does go down to 1.2 I typically don’t go lower than 2.2 on my aperture just because I really like a crisp image, and I don’t want an image that’s too blurry or too soft, or when you blow it up only one eyelash is in focus. The 50 millimeter lens has been in my arsenal for quite some time, but before I was able to afford the 1.2mm, I had the Canon 50 mm 1.4.
Lastly, the best part about this lens, is it’s extremely durable. I have had it for about eight years now. I’ve had to bring it to Canon to have it calibrated to my camera, or maybe to have the focus adjusted a little bit because I use it probably 60 to 70% of the time on every single wedding I shoot. If you’re a wedding or event photographer I know you will love this lens as much as I do.
Vanessa Joy