I had the opportunity to second shoot a large East Asian wedding this weekend and try out the Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 lens on my Nikon D300 body. The other shooter had recently purchased the Tokina on my recommendation because he wanted something very wide and in F2.8. I was on the stage shooting back toward the happy couple, gathered family and friends during some of the various activities with the Tokina lens. I must say; "man, that is really a wide view". I had previously owned a Nikon 12-24 F4 G lens as my widest but the Tokina was something else entirely. For me, I would say, it is too wide. Has anyone else ever realized that a wide lens can really be too wide and unreasonable at a wedding? I would like to hear your experiences with very wide lenses, other than a fisheye. How wide can you go at a wedding and still be comfortably effective? What are the widest lenses that you actually use at a wedding?
Tokina has some interesting wides in Nikon mount such as the 11-16 F2.8 and 12-24 F4 and 16-28 F2.8. In the past, I have also used a Nikon 20mm F2.8 AFD and I thought that was a nice, useful focal length for FX weddings. The larger Nikon zooms don't interest me. A 16mm or 18mm Nikon prime would seem interesting and practical to use at a wedding. Any thoughts?
Besides the fisheye, which my 2nd shooter uses regularly, I use the 16-35 on a full frame quite a bit. Mostly to show off our environment. Personally, I love extreme perspectives, so I tend to shoot either wide or tight. I'm not talking about posed formals; for those we always use a normal perspective. Dressing room, ceremony, reception, grab shots throughout the day are ofter shot either extra wide or extra tight. The key is to recognize the purpose of the shot. For the examples mentioned above, I am not worried about distortion. For me and my style of work, extra distortion can actually accentuate the appeal of the shot. The key is in presentation with balance. Too much of anything is a bad thing. Presented properly, ultra wide can add impact to any gallery set.
I dig the very wide end, especially as was mentioned to show the environment etc.
One lens I've had a hard time falling in love with in this respect is Nikon's 14-24 2.8 ... technically it's an amazing lens with far less distortion than it *should* have.
On the other hand while my copy sucked optically (at 2.8 ... it was great from 4 up) I preferred the range of Canon's 16-35 as I found myself wanting a narrower option than 24.
Now that I got the D800 I've been playing with the 14-24 and I wouldn't be surprised if I stays on the body A LOT MORE than it did on the D700. with the three crop options (ok there are 4 but the 8x10 is mostly a "print crop" mode the lens acts as:
14-24 (FF)
17-29 (1.2)
21-36 (1.5)
which definitely opens up a lot of opportunities.
And yes I realize that I could always keep the body on FF and just step back a couple of steps and shoot something to then crop it later... but it's not the same thing. Call me crazy but I like seeing the crop lines (or mask).
Mostly I think I'll not be *scared* to be *caught* with the lens on. For instance if I'm taking some fun shots on the dance floor, I would hate it when a group would ask me to take a shot of them and all I had was the one body with that lens. at 36 I'm comfortable I can get an undistorted group shot (also keep in mind that at 12mp the D700 had less resolution than the D800 has in 1.5x crop mode ... an awesome camera for sure but not something that would make you think "I'll just back up 6 feet and shoot it... and then crop this 24mm view to 36mm).
Remember this, subject distance is more important than focal length. If you fill the frame with a person at 24mm it's going to look awful. Then again you can back up and photograph someone with a 16mm and it can look pretty good (as displayed above).
Interesting comments. As a specialty lens, for a unique photo, wides are very interesting. I have admired wedding pros who use a wide lens effectively throughout the wedding day. They seem to use something in the 24mm range for FX. The new Nikon 24mm F1.4 is a very nice lens. As a non specialty wide lens on FX, throughout the day, I would consider a 20mm as my practical limit. Nice pics here.
We're experimenting with our next wedding in a couple of weeks...not going any wider than 35mm. If it works, we'll stick with it. If not, we'll pick up a 24, and that's as wide as we'll go.
Something else that I have been looking at in the Photozone lens reviews is distortion numbers. Keeping straight lines straight is important to me when shooting groups of people at events. For instance, the Nikon 24 F2.8 AFD has 1.2% distortion. The Nikon 24mm F1.4 has 1.7%. The Nikon 24-70 has 1.1%. The Nikon 14-24 F2.8 lens has 1.4%. These are rather good in comparison to some of the other wide lenses. The Nikon 12-24 F4G has 1.7%. These numbers change from DX to FX. The Nikon 14mm F2.8 has 2.6%, which is high.
Soft edges, and edges that curve inward or backward probably would not be recommended for people pics but might work better for outdoor pics. Only so much can be straightened out in a computer program. So much to consider. Of course, Nikon does not shout this info out.
i use the tokina 11-16mm a LOT...weddings and engagements....yeah it's wide, but that's what's awesome about it....it's my go to for dance floor photos, as well as the garter (removal)....also use it a TON for getting ready.....i just like the look...you just have to watch the edges, as the camera really does add about 200lbs to anyone at the edges of the frame....
Shoot Nikon's 14-24 and sometimes shoot large family portraits. I frame the family so they aren't close to the edges and crop in during post. Wide angle is also awesome for reception shots.
Wide lenses are specialty lenses in my opinion. Much like a fisheye or a tilt-shift. When used sparingly and appropriately to add to the image (eg. capturing a cityscape with an UWA lens or creating a fun environment with a fisheye) they work very well. But, I repeat, should be used sparingly.
I use my fisheye just a little bit during receptions, and use my wide angle during receptions (sometimes) and usually for just a few shots of the ceremony to capture the entire environment.
