MF primes vs SEL lenses in weddings and parties

[bruzzo]

Not sure if any of you have similar struggles but recently I have attended two weddings, both have hired an official photographer so basically my friend and I are there to snap some shots to provide other angles. My friend uses a Nikon DSLR (D3X I think) and I thought my 16mm and 18-55 kit lenses won't be able to compete with her 24-70 and 105 VR in terms of sharpness and clarity. So why don't I bring some lenses that's more fun and creative to provide a unique perspective of the wedding, rather than the business crisp clear photos in which she was responsible for.

So the 1st wedding I brought my 35mm 1.7 Fujian and Helios-44-2 for the blurry and swirl bokeh effect. Turns out that in weddings and perhaps parties in general, ppl tend to request for photos whenever they see you with a camera and it's very hard work with the helios (87mm) when tables and ppl are in your way and you just don't have enough space to work with. The Fujian is better but doesn't look that good when ppl see that your photos are only sharp in the centre lol. Most ppl are fine but some elders like my grandma would like it to be crisp clear right.

Knowing this, the next time I brought my 16mm kit lens and the Helios and ended up using the 16mm most of the time and the Helios only for portraits of the new couple lol.

So my struggle is, I like MF primes they are fun and allow more creativity but are hard to work with in these situations. In the end it often comes to the conclusion: why don't I just use the 18-55 and 16mm? Any thoughts on this? What lenses do you guys use in parties and weddings? Any experience to share?

Thanks!

[Rolf]

I used mainly (>95 %) only AF lenses.

I don't have the time to find the focus when I try to nail the moment. It is important to get nice and fine images to get the right moment or situation. If you will have time for example group shots in the garden and all members will smile into your cam a MF lens could be a choice.

[eddieitman]

Have to agree with rolf, i love my manual lenses but weddings need af for the capture speed. I can recomend the sigma 30mm f2.8 for Nex a superb lens that even wide open is super sharp

[fermy]

I have to disagree. One time I went to a wedding I've brought 3 lenses: AF Pany 20/1.7, Canon FD 50/1.4 and kit 14-42 zoom (I went with E-PL1). Canon was my most used lens. I've tried to sneak in shots while people weren't posing or posing for someone else so that they didn't have to wait for me to focus. The couple actually liked my shots more than what the official photograph produced. For example this was snapped while official photographer was setting up the couple.

[56 DIN]

i try to understand what you wrote:

your intention was to make personalized pics, not compete with the Nikon supertechnology
your result was making similiar things than your "big" colleague with standard 18% grey scale and autofocus

at first: you are not the only one going this way and beeing unhappy about it

i think your 35mm selection was not bad at all, it it is the right lens, characterwise, i doubt
the helios for shure is a good lens for these applicatios, cause it has a special rendering, so it goes the way you wanted
however for shooting over the table on a APSC it is long

what you need is something like 24mm / 40mm or 20mm/28mm or 35mm for in room shootings like this and what you need is to train a lot in focus fast with these lenses. Here the NEx with the MFocus aid is a great help, as long as you look direct onto the subject, have the cam below your head and tilt the monitor horizontal, means you frame with your eye and control the focus spot with the screen
If you train that, you will get a lot of sharp pictures - at least till it is so dark, that noise on the screen will stop your fast action
then you need a flash and the snapshot skopar at f 8 (goes from -10m to double infinity )

don´t give up - your intention is right
on the other hand i agree, what is written about AF here, if it is "an important party" and i drink alcohol - another noise source - i take my D700 with 85 AFD as backup

[Attila]

People could make great shoots before AF lenses too make unsharp images not too hard with AF lens for example if background get sharper than subject eyes.. take that what you have best experience in past and you are sure you able to make best pictures.

If I won't less any moment my settings is next : mode is S 1/200 ISO is AUTO extension is off max 1600. Drive mode is serial on fast card I can record 8-10 images by one press , 99,9% sure I can get one where is everything is best expression, sharpness, focus etc. I suggest to use F5.6-F8 if possible wide open is risky. If you make sharp nose and blured eyes that is not works, with stopped down well this will not happen. If light is less use powerful flash on 1/4 power and flash will work promptly in serial shoots every second will flashed at least.
I know only 16mm Sony NEX AF lens, definetly crap to me to shoot event , people. It makes Nex to a compact camera.

[kuuan]

I am with fermy, specially if there was another "official" photographer I'd mostly use manual lenses trying to create something more "special" than the AF kit and 16mm lenses can do.

If I was the only photographer most likely I'd use the AF lens more though. Not because of more precise focusing but because to get focus right with a manual lens I usually need a bit more time than people, who are used to photographers with AF lenses, would expect. That creates a tension that makes me start screwing up, it also may mean missing the moment.

[fermy]

I'd like to add that a key to anything is playing to your strength and covering your weaknesses.

As good as modern zooms are, they are still slower and slightly weaker than quality old primes in pretty much any IQ component: OOF rendering and transition, resolution, pop, etc. So in going with MF primes you trade convenience and operational speed for IQ, character, and low light ability. With that in mind, your selection of lenses for wedding is IMHO suspect.

1. 35/1.7 Fujian is not a quality lens. It's advantage is size (and price). By choosing it, you trade IQ for size. That would be fine if you were going for an evening walk with your family and kids, but for an event where you are going to take hundreds of pictures, I'd take my best fastest lens in the 24-35mm range.

2. Helios is a well regarded lens and it would be a good portrait choice for an outdoor event. However, for an indoor party it's a bit too slow and a bit too long. I would favor a good 50/1.4 or 50/1.2 lens over it.

[IAZA]

For clear and sharp...Get Voigtlander heliar 15/4,5. sharp at wide open. very easy to focus. just 2m before infinity. everything beyond 2m it sharp. but it's pricy compared to Sony 16/2,8. alternative is Miranda/Cosina 24/2,8.
For effect and bokeh, that fujian 35/1,7 is enough for me.

[yinyangbt]

I tend to use the 28/2 or 35/2 , but as attila allready said , you have to stop the lens .depends on the light . If you can afford 5,6-8 , great! Usually the light is low , at least f4 . don't hesitate to use 1600 or even 3200

[ForenSeil]

The Voigtländer 15/4.5 is not much better than the SEL 16/2.8 on NEX 5N but much more expensive and without AF. Color-shifting, vignetting are even worse on 5N than with the underrated Sony. Plus the Sony offers a lot extra speed and is smaller. If you wan't a better wide angle for NEX I would recommend the Tokina 17/3.5 for example, as it has less problems with the sensor and it's also cheaper.
Anyway an wide angle is imho not useful on an indoor wedding

The SEL 50/1.8+ the Kit 18-55 or a good less wide wide angle would be imho the best choice

I know a professional and very good (wedding-) photographer and he's using a 35mm, a 50 mm and a 135mm lens (all AF) on two Sony FF DSLR bodies for faster change.

[Orio]

One camera with AF, a second camera with MF

[Hari]

[philslizzy]

I do social photography, this is a separate thing entirely to my hobby photography. I use my autofocus DSLR and AF lenses entirely. They are so convenient and fast.

I agree, using manual lenses slows you down and restricts you. You must shoot in manual mode only with the Nikon.

In the old film days this wasn't so much of a problem as you were always using 'full frame' so wide lenses were wide. Once you'd set your shutter and aperture provided things didnt change too much you always got good results. Latitude in film and processing would make even a stop out look perfectly acceptable. Auto exposure (then) could give wildly 'out' exposures eg lights shining in the lens, sky, white wedding dresses all fooled the meter.

Personally when as a guest I use my digital p&s or old Nikon L35AF, with its even flash coverage, and wide lens. Although when i get my NEX it may change!

Ultimately when we use digital cameras with MF lenses we are restricting ourselves somewhat as the two technologies were not designed to work together. I would suggest them only for amateur rather than pro use (except perhaps studio situations where you have more control)

[LucisPictor]

[LucisPictor]

Rolf, I understand you.

MF lenses are great if you have the time to focus or know in what direction the movement is going.
With "time" I mean something like half a second, not some minutes!

But sometimes, when many people are present with unpredictable movements (party, children!) a fast AF lens will give me more usable results. That might be different for other photographers. But I would not like to dismiss AF completely.

[peterqd]

[LucisPictor]

[peterqd]

[fermy]

[peterqd]

[Borges]

[peterqd]

Hello Michael! Well, what a pleasant surprise.
Please pass on my best wishes to Yvonne, and Happy New Year to you both.

If anyone has any questions about taking pictures at weddings, who better to ask than you? Many, many congratulations on the
success of your enterprise, it is so well-deserved. Have you given up your day job yet?

[LucisPictor]

Hallo, Michael! Gute neues Jahr!!

Great to read you again. I agree, Yvonne's work is inspiring.
If I was shooting weddings, I would know where to look and nick some ideas.

[Borges]