need a 200mm prime lens with lowe f/stop
- Thread starter cpinch73
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Soldato
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whats wrong with a nifty fifty?
In my experience of shooting weddings, you need something longer than 50mm for the ceremony and reception, unless you don't mind getting in the way! Even if you don't mind, I guarantee the registrar/priest/video guy certainly will!
200mm is a useful range to discretely position yourself off to one side of the service and not be too obtrusive, although shutter noise always sounds like a gunshot in a church anyway!
Sounds like a 70-200 f2.8 is what you're looking for, it's what I use at any rate?
If so, then Tamron and Sigma both make decent ones, with the Sigma in particular being pretty quiet focussing wise due to the HSM. The Tamron is a good lens also, but has a noisier focussing motor. You could always focus manually though. Bear in mind that not all examples of those lenses will be as sharp as you'd like wide open, which is where you'd be wanting to use them. Cranking up the ISO and sorting the noise in post processing is an option, and then you could get away with f4 where both those lenses are very sharp.
I'm not a user of Canon equipment so I'm not familiar with anything they may have that's suitable, so I'll let others comment on that.
200mm is a useful range to discretely position yourself off to one side of the service and not be too obtrusive, although shutter noise always sounds like a gunshot in a church anyway!
Sounds like a 70-200 f2.8 is what you're looking for, it's what I use at any rate?
If so, then Tamron and Sigma both make decent ones, with the Sigma in particular being pretty quiet focussing wise due to the HSM. The Tamron is a good lens also, but has a noisier focussing motor. You could always focus manually though. Bear in mind that not all examples of those lenses will be as sharp as you'd like wide open, which is where you'd be wanting to use them. Cranking up the ISO and sorting the noise in post processing is an option, and then you could get away with f4 where both those lenses are very sharp.
I'm not a user of Canon equipment so I'm not familiar with anything they may have that's suitable, so I'll let others comment on that.
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I use an old Tamron 180mm f2.5 (Adaptall-2 edition), and i find that for most indoor situations it is too slow to use handheld. A monopod would be a serious asset. It is an exceptional lens that cost me very little. A prime will serve you better for wide-open shooting, if you aim for quality pictures over the limited convenience of a zoom.
My advice would be to rent a lens like the canon 200mm f1.8 or the newer 200mm f2 IS to try out. Some other people here know where you can rent these quite cheaply.
Another useful focal length to have would be between 85-135mm too, these are also cheaper and usually faster.
My advice would be to rent a lens like the canon 200mm f1.8 or the newer 200mm f2 IS to try out. Some other people here know where you can rent these quite cheaply.
Another useful focal length to have would be between 85-135mm too, these are also cheaper and usually faster.
They are extremely convenient if you find your back against the wall, and still too close for, say, a 180mm or 200mm prime.
cpinch73, You need to check the venues too, then you can better assess what will work and what won't.
Thats why i have every prime lens from 17mm - 300mm. 
I do have some zooms as a desperate backup plan should i ever need it. I find i enjoy the challenge of shooting completely manual with a limited choice of focal lengths and manual focus, even when shooting difficult subjects. I find it more rewarding when i succeed since i can say that i did it rather than i pressed a button and the camera did everything.
If a zoom is essential then obviously i would also recommend a good quality 70/80-200/210mm f2.8. The canon is a bit too expensive even though it has IS, the sigma is quite good and the tamron is supposed to be near the best in terms of price/performance since it more than matches the others for image quality and costs a fair bit less.
I do have some zooms as a desperate backup plan should i ever need it. I find i enjoy the challenge of shooting completely manual with a limited choice of focal lengths and manual focus, even when shooting difficult subjects. I find it more rewarding when i succeed since i can say that i did it rather than i pressed a button and the camera did everything.If a zoom is essential then obviously i would also recommend a good quality 70/80-200/210mm f2.8. The canon is a bit too expensive even though it has IS, the sigma is quite good and the tamron is supposed to be near the best in terms of price/performance since it more than matches the others for image quality and costs a fair bit less.
The 200 1.8 fits that bill...
Does that exist? I know there's a 135mm f/2 and a 180mm f/3.5 but I can't seem to find anything on a 180mm f/2. (Not being facetious, genuinely wondering.)
Soldato
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I shot this wedding almost entirely with a 200mm f1.8 rented from LensesForHire. Loved it so much that I bought a 200mm f2.0
http://www.tug.com/blog/20081011_Karen+Greg/
Andrew
Erk, sorry my bad, your right it doesn't exist. The macro version does but not a normal lens, I was confused with the 135 and 200 F2.8 prime (which would be fine)