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Photography Question 

Susan Winnie
 

Canon Digital Rebel For taking Weddnig Pictures


Hi
I have a Canon Digital Rebel and want to use it to take pictures of my nephew's wedding. I want to know what lens would be good to use in the Church?
There is no flash allowed. I have a
Canon 18-55mm and a Quantaray 70-300mm are these good enough or should I buy a 50mm f1/8 or 50mm f1.4? What lens would be good for outdoor pictures? They are going to a park to have pictures taken.
The wedding is April 30th.
Thanks for any help
Susie


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January 11, 2005

 

Susan Winnie
  Gee I want to thank you all for answering my question. I know you don't reply to everyone but I have asked a couple of question now and have gotten no replys to any of them. I guess it a good thing I am taking your on line class maybe that way I can figure it out myself.
Susan


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January 31, 2005

 

Kerry L. Walker
  Sorry, I didn't see your question the first time around. I understand your frustration, which is why I try to give a response to as many questions as I can, providing I can give an informed answer. I would think your Canon lens would be sufficient for the wedding, as long as you use a fast ISO and a tripod. (Try using ISO 400 if you can and use a tripod.) You should be able to use a flash for most shots wxcept during the ceremony. Perhaps you can even re-stage those shots. It would also be a good choice for outdoor shots as well. The longest lens I use when shooting a wedding is a 150mm. Since I am using a medium format camera, that would translate to about a 90mm in 35 mm.


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January 31, 2005

 

Susan Winnie
  Hi Kerry
thank you very much for answering my question. I really appreciate it. I was reading some of the answers that people were giving and I got the feeling that a lot of people use the 50mm?


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January 31, 2005

 

Kerry L. Walker
  Well, you need to realize that with the digital cameras the 50mm is equivalent to a 75mm lens on a 35 mm camera. That would make it great for portraits but it won't be much use with groups. It will, however, give you a little extra speed to work with. If you don't mind making that investment, the 50mm would be quite useful. As I stated, it would really be helpful with portraits.


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February 01, 2005

 

Susan Winnie
  I was thinking it would be good for the church pictures?
Thanks for the help
Susie


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February 01, 2005

 

Kerry L. Walker
  If you are talking about the available light pictures in the church, yes, the 50mm will help, especially since it is a faster lens. You can get by without it, but, if you don't mind the investment, buy it. You won't be sorry. Still, you will need to use a tripod. Otherwise, you will have to set the ISO so high you will get a lot of noise.


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February 01, 2005

 

Andres Llopart
  I have the EF 50mm f/1.4 lens and I really love it (It is sharp and fast), but remember that even it is a very fast lens at 1.4 that will limit your DOF. This means that if you are going to take a picture of a couple, it can get tricky to have both of them in focus at 1.4 or 1.8 because the DOF of high apertures... (I am telling you this cause I think you haven’t use a lens with this such a big aperture before) If you are going to get it… practice a lot before the wedding taking pictures of couples in low light. You can get a lot of pictures in which one of them will look out of focus. For bigger groups consider also the EF 24mm f/2.8 or EF 28mm f/1.8 USM. They are pretty fast and sharp and good for pictures of small groups.


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February 01, 2005

 

Susan Winnie
  What is the diffence between the 50mm f/1.4 and the 50mm f/1.8?
NO I have not used a camera lens that is that fast. Was thinking of getting it this weekend to practice with. I do have a tripod so I will use it. Any suggestions on what settings I should use?


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February 01, 2005

 

Kerry L. Walker
  In my opinion, there is not enough difference between the 1.8 and 1.4 for the use you will get from it. You might even want to consider doing what Andres said and get the 28mm f/1.8. It will increase your depth of field at any given aperature and, considering lens conversion factor (1/5 on the Rebel, I think), it would be only slightly wider than a standard lens on a 35mm. I suggest you shoot at the smallest aperature(highest f-number) you can - shooting at about 1/30 or, possibly, 1/15 on a tripod.


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February 01, 2005

 

Andres Llopart
  EF 50mm 1.8 cost around 50-60 dollars (no USM so is kind of noisy I guess)
EF 50mm 1.4 USM and cost around 250 dollars
The main difference is that extra stop on the aperture and the USM.


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February 01, 2005

 

Susan Winnie
  ok so let me get this right. The 28mm f/1.8 would be good for inside the church and would give me more depth of field? I do own a tripod so that isn't a problem. Also the 28mm would be good for taking small group shots. A lens with the USM is better, less noisy but cost more. Kerry what do you mean slightly wider? Can you get a 28mm f/1.8 with the USM?


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February 01, 2005

 

Kerry L. Walker
  OK, we are getting into some technical info here. A 50mm lens on a 35mm camera is considered a normal lens because it sees approximately what the eye sees. Because the image sensor on a digital camera is smaller than 35mm film, there is a "conversion factor" of, usually, about 1.5. That is, a 50mm lens on a digital camera is equal to a 75mm lens on a 35mm camera. Thus, the 50mm normal lens becomes a short telephoto lens. Telephoto lenses are called long lenses and wide angle lenses are called wide lenses. A 28mm lens, which is a wide lens on a 35mm camera, becomes, because of the conversion factor, a 42mm lens when considering converage area, on a digital lens. Thus the 28mm is slightly "wider" at 42mm than a 50mm normal lens. At 42mm, it would still be considered a normal lens.


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February 01, 2005

 

Andres Llopart
  Susan maybe this link will help you answer some questions...
http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/lessons/lessons_11-15.html


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February 01, 2005

 

Kerry L. Walker
  Susan, if you need further assistance, send me your phone number to klwbkb@aol.com and I will call you and answer any questions I can.


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February 01, 2005

 

Susan Winnie
  Thanks for the offer Kerry. I will read the link Andres sent and see if that helps. I really just want to get a good lens that will allow me to take good pictures of my nephew's wedding. I want to thank you both for your help.
Kerry if I need more help I will send you my phone number.
I really appreciate both of you helping me
Susie


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February 01, 2005

 

Kerry L. Walker
  Susan, I am a wedding photographer so I am always glad to help when I can. Good luck on the shoot.


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February 01, 2005

 

Andres Llopart
  One last advise... Use a RAW format when you take the wedding pictures... It will take more memory but you will give you more flexibility to fix any small mistakes (Also USE a fast Compact flash card)... Good luck...


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February 01, 2005

 
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