Hi folks, need your advice and recommendations on this,
I recently added the legendary 14 - 24mm f2.8 N AF-S Ultra Wide Angle Zoom to
my arsenal of pro glass for the purposes of getting another perspective, taking big
group shots, working within the confines of a small bedroom or bathroom, as well
as taking these sweeping photos of bride and groom with a glorious landscape.
A fellow successful wedding photographer who has been in the business for more
than 8 years told me that you will never need anything wider than a 24mm. He
said that for wedding photography purposes, anything wider than 24mm is
uncalled for and is a waste of money that could better be spent on other aspects
of the business.
I shoudl also add that the front element is too big and you cannot use any filters
on this lens.
I have the 24 - 200 mm range covered with other pro lenses, so what do you guys
think? Should I keep this legendary 14-24 beast?
The only things I might consider over this lens is the 85mm f1.4 cream machine
(which is rumored to be up for an upgrade soon), or more lighting equipment as I
need to step that up as well very soon.
well, in that thread there's a lot of "he said" and "he told me"... that leads me to think that in his personal style, he never needed wider than 24mm which is not to say that you will not.
If you like it, go with it. You listed the reasons you bought it and they make sense to me, and also, I think the 14mm would come in handy for other things besides weddings.
I know it's an amazing lens, and I am personally in love with it, but I can't afford to be putting that $2,000 on non-wedding lenses. Not at this time anyway.
Other equipment I can put my money on:
- Telephoto Primes.
- AB800 + Vagabond + Radiopoppers.
Like TezM said, if you like it and it fits your style keep it. I personally never need anything wider than 24 so it would not fit my style. The 85 1.4 that you mentioned does fit my style and it is one nice piece of glass and would highly recommend it if you do decide to trade.
you can us filters with a bit of mod search DP for it,
sometimes with the 24-70 your backs to the wall and you want more, sweeping dancefloor with a high ceiling and a chandelier, small room, inside a car, big formals at 24mm but you need 20mm.
14-24 stomps the 24-70 at 24mm,
just ditched the 24-70, and bought a footzoom Sigmalux 50
The 14-24 will give your images a signature no other lens can. On top of that it's tack
I bought this lens for weddings as I have to shoot in very tight situations. The image quality is EPIC. It is one of the sharpest lenses I have ever used in my life.
I returned it after a few weddings. It's just TOO wide and the barrel distortion at 14mm can get extreme. It was wonderful to work with, however, just not my style.
Some people can make ultra-wide angle look amazing... check Quan's work. However, I realized I didn't need anything wider than 24.
Saad Syed wrote:
I bought this lens for weddings as I have to shoot in very tight situations. The image quality is EPIC. It is one of the sharpest lenses I have ever used in my life.
I returned it after a few weddings. It's just TOO wide and the barrel distortion at 14mm can get extreme. It was wonderful to work with, however, just not my style.
Some people can make ultra-wide angle look amazing... check Quan's work. However, I realized I didn't need anything wider than 24.
Damn, had the exact same experience. Also the exposed front element makes me nervous in crowded environments, scraping it again a cement wall or something.
I don't remember the last time I used anything wider than 24mm. For wedding work, I don't see a huge need for it, its more of a rare exception when I do.
Daan, I think you misunderstand the use of wideangle here. I used to have the same wrong idea about the wideangle use... Anyways, long story short, if you used other FL under those conditions you wouldn't have the same amount of clouds and sky in the background. It's not about fitting the couple in the frame, it's about how much background you can fit while still having the couple the size you want.
I hope it makes sense!
)