p.2 #2 · Z 24-70 f2.8 S (v1) vs Z 24-120 f4 S for wedding
Shot a lot of weddings back in the day and I personally would never shoot a wedding with a F4 lens. A 24-70mm 2.8 is a workhorse lens for a large portion of the day in addition to a 16-35mm 2.8, 85mm prime, 70-200mm 2.8 and of course multiple bodies. It's hard to cut any of these lenses out of the equation but the 16-35mm is probably the least used but still very important. If I was absolutely forced to pick two lenses for a wedding it would probably be a 24-70mm 2.8 and 85mm prime and just pray I didn't have any really long shots at the ceremony. The 16-35mm or in your case the 12-24mm would be very useful for wider creative shots at the reception but you could get by with 24-70mm even though not ideal. If the 24-120mm is very important for other parts of your trip then that is one thing but for a wedding I’d never ever pick it over 24-70mm 2.8 for a wedding.
You want the fastest lenses at a wedding for a host of reasons. Also know your camera bodies and menus inside and out as whatever can go wrong at the most inopportune time at a wedding typically does go wrong and unless you stage a shot after the fact there are no second chances. You want to make sure you can deal with any issues very quickly if need be. Good luck and hope all goes well.
p.2 #3 · Z 24-70 f2.8 S (v1) vs Z 24-120 f4 S for wedding
Tom RC wrote:
Shot a lot of weddings back in the day and I personally would never shoot a wedding with a F4 lens. A 24-70mm 2.8 is a workhorse lens for a large portion of the day in addition to a 16-35mm 2.8, 85mm prime, 70-200mm 2.8 and of course multiple bodies. It's hard to cut any of these lenses out of the equation but the 16-35mm is probably the least used but still very important. If I was absolutely forced to pick two lenses for a wedding it would probably be a 24-70mm 2.8 and 85mm prime and just pray I didn't have any really long shots at the ceremony. The 16-35mm or in your case the 12-24mm would be very useful for wider creative shots at the reception but you could get by with 24-70mm even though not ideal. If the 24-120mm is very important for other parts of your trip then that is one thing but for a wedding I’d never ever pick it over 24-70mm 2.8 for a wedding.
You want the fastest lenses at a wedding for a host of reasons. Also know your camera bodies and menus inside and out as whatever can go wrong at the most inopportune time at a wedding typically does go wrong and unless you stage a shot after the fact there are no second chances. You want to make sure you can deal with any issues very quickly if need be. Good luck and hope all goes well. ...Show more →
I totally get the utility of using the 24-70mm 2.8 and 70-200mm 2.8 and multiple bodies for pro shooting events. The problem is I do not want to check my camera gear and am planning what gear to take based on a carry on limit of 16 pound. If I want to bring the 2.8 lenses, I'll have to check my gear and I've been burned in the past with stolen gear while in transit.
Since this is an unpaid/volunteer family daytime event, I think the S24-120 f/4 will be fine.
p.2 #4 · Z 24-70 f2.8 S (v1) vs Z 24-120 f4 S for wedding
I totally understand your predicament. I’d at least try to find a rental house where you could get a backup body for the day as Murphy’s Law seems to overly apply to wedding photography. You will more than likely make it through the day on a minimal setup with no backups and end up with a lot of beautiful images. I’m jaded from experience and just not a chance I would want to take regardless of whether I was being paid or not based on the importance of the day to all involved.
