Nikon 24-120 as wedding lens?

singlerosa_RIP

Senior Member
Anyone using the current 24-120 f/4 Nikon lens to shoot weddings? My wife and I were invited to accompany one of our employees to Mexico for her wedding (she's in her 40s and has been married before). We haven't had a vacation in a while, so we said yes (Playa del Carmen and an exclusive resort, why not?). So, now I get to be the wedding photographer, which I don't mind, but I do mind schlepping all the gear I would use for a wedding. Wedding will be on the beach.

So, I bought a refurbed 24-120 f/4 and hope it can replace my 24-70 and 70-200 for the wedding and associated indoor party shots. Does this make any sense?
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
Anyone using the current 24-120 f/4 Nikon lens to shoot weddings? My wife and I were invited to accompany one of our employees to Mexico for her wedding (she's in her 40s and has been married before). We haven't had a vacation in a while, so we said yes (Playa del Carmen and an exclusive resort, why not?). So, now I get to be the wedding photographer, which I don't mind, but I do mind schlepping all the gear I would use for a wedding. Wedding will be on the beach.

So, I bought a refurbed 24-120 f/4 and hope it can replace my 24-70 and 70-200 for the wedding and associated indoor party shots. Does this make any sense?

I'm sure you could get away with that shooting the wedding on the beach with the D750/24-120 combo, but I would still schlep along the 70-200 if I was doing it.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Anyone using the current 24-120 f/4 Nikon lens to shoot weddings? My wife and I were invited to accompany one of our employees to Mexico for her wedding (she's in her 40s and has been married before). We haven't had a vacation in a while, so we said yes (Playa del Carmen and an exclusive resort, why not?). So, now I get to be the wedding photographer, which I don't mind, but I do mind schlepping all the gear I would use for a wedding. Wedding will be on the beach.

So, I bought a refurbed 24-120 f/4 and hope it can replace my 24-70 and 70-200 for the wedding and associated indoor party shots. Does this make any sense?
Personally, I'd be concerned about not being able to shoot any wider than f/4. But then I'm certainly no wedding photographer and maybe that's not as big a deal as I'm thinking it would be.
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Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
You should be fine but the you might miss the 120-200 range for close-ups and portraits.
 

Zeke_M

Senior Member
Full disclosure. I'm not a wedding photographer. Not by a longshot.

If someone trusted me to shoot their wedding, I would bring every tool in my photographic arsenal.
The 70-200. A couple of portrait lenses. Second camera body to shoot candids and silliness at the reception.
Better to have it and not need it, then to need it badly and not have it.

Weddings are serious business. I'd do my utmost to get it right.
 

singlerosa_RIP

Senior Member
Full disclosure. I'm not a wedding photographer. Not by a longshot.

If someone trusted me to shoot their wedding, I would bring every tool in my photographic arsenal.
The 70-200. A couple of portrait lenses. Second camera body to shoot candids and silliness at the reception.
Better to have it and not need it, then to need it badly and not have it.

Weddings are serious business. I'd do my utmost to get it right.

This is a vacation. I travel light on vacation. I wasn’t invited because I’m a photographer, but since I am, was asked to take photographs as a favor. NFW I’m taking 2 bodies and a bunch of lenses. Plan is a 750, 24-120, 70-300 (just in case) and an SB-800. BTW, I'm not a wedding photog and my friends know that.
 

Kevin H

Senior Member
Destination weddings are way different then weddings here

Mine was a wedding in Cuba cast Me $1800 CAD for 32 people chateaubriand 17 bottles of champagne 5 piece band cake and 2 photographers and guess what nobody cared what lens they had when we got home the pics were good :D

yes they paid for their own flights :D
 

Geoffc

Senior Member
I shot my daughters small wedding with the 24-120 and D800. It will take very nice pictures, even if you can't quite hit the isolation of a 2.8. I did have my SB910 along for the indoor work and fill outside, but that's not really to do with the 24-120.

Go lite and enjoy the trip.


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I have had two of these and sold both,,,General opinion is buy it ,test the fine focus adjust at varying focal lengths and then send it back to Nikon for adjustment ...it will come back 10x the lens you sent in.
Not long enough for wedding close ups ..I use the 28-300 on D810 with a 14 mm on a d800 for wide stuff.
 

Ironwood

Senior Member
I think you will be fine with that set-up. Just go with it and don't second guess yourself, work with what you have, and you'll be fine.

I recently used my D7100 and Nikon 16-85 to shoot my Sisters Wedding. I didn't have high expectations placed on me, as there was a pro photographer there using my sisters Canon gear. I haven't seen the pros photos, but my sister and her husband said overall, mine look better than what the pro shot.
I had never shot a wedding before, and I don't normally take photos of people, I fell into a few traps, like mainly concentrating on my family, I didn't end up with enough shots of the Grooms family members, luckily the pro covered what I missed. It was a very laid back wedding, so there wasn't a lot of pressure. I took other lenses with me, but I did everything with the 16-85, which probably has about the same field of view as your 24-120 on fx.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
It will depend upon how much available light is there and where you are supposed to stand. I've taken non-flash photos during my church's Worship service with my 70-200mm f/2.8 on my D750. One time I put on a 1.4 teleconverter but had trouble locking focus. The interior of my church isn't all that bright. Even with an aperture of f/4 with the teleconverter, the lens hunted. That would be my biggest concern for you. My other concern is 120mm on FX isn't all that long so I hope you can stand close enough to get decent images without necessitating cropping.

Perhaps there will be a lot of light on the beach unless it is an evening wedding. And where will the reception be held? Indoors or on the beach? Even with a flash, you might have trouble with the AF. But of course you can always focus manually. ;) Just some food for thought.
 
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RocketCowboy

Senior Member
I agree with @hark. Ultimately, it really depends on the amount of available light. The 24-120 and 16-35 are my go-to travel lenses, but doing night weddings in dark places I'm always going to reach for something faster. If the wedding is outside, during the day, the 24-120 should do fine. For that type of gig, I would probably also bring the 70-300 for small size and more reach.

The other option to consider would be to take two primes if you need better low light performance (and leave the 24-120 at home).


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singlerosa_RIP

Senior Member
The wedding is on the beach and barring an eclipse, there should be plenty of light. Any indoor shooting should be fine, as I do alot of indoor event photography and have used much crappier kit lenses way back when....

If I didn't mention this, I bought the 24-120 (it arrives tomorrow) so I wouldn't have to take the 24-70 and 70-200 with me. I will bring my 70-300, but don't plan on using it for any wedding stuff. This will cut the weight of my bag by about 2lbs and give me a better walk around lens than my 24-85.
 
Its a fallacy that weddings are low light events. There must be enough light for the celebrant to read the service book ( the pope has banned the use of Ipads in catholic churches ) and therefore there is enough light to take photos at F5.6/F8 and the iso goes up to about 2500. The people don't move around much so low shutter speeds are not usually a problem. Flash even if permitted is a bit of a non starter unless you want the celebrant to know you took 100 pics when he/she is expecting about 5. If you use an F1.8 at F1.8 then your depth of field is insufficient to get all 5 participants in the service in focus.
Using long lenses with big apertures is great for backlit couples in the vinyards but to try to put bokeh on all your photos would be a mistake unless that is what you have shown the couple and that is what they want and expect.
The only problem with the 24-120 (owned two) is its not quite long enough and you need the wandering fine focus adjust spot on to get the best quality.
 

kevy73

Senior Member
You'll be fine with the lens. If you were going to get into shooting weddings I would say it won't be fast enough and you won't get as much gorgeous subject separation as you might with the holy trinity, but for helping out someone on the off occasion - you will be just fine.
 
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