A wedding video is equivalent to a lifetime memory. Hence, choosing the best elements to shoot it is earth-shattering. But today’s market puts you at sixes and sevens with millions of options. So, how do you find the right one among all the wedding videography lenses?
Well, chill out! We are here to guide you during your stressful wedding phase. Let’s know which lens is the right choice for you and how to choose the best one!
Key Takeaways:
- Show Stopping Detail with Prime Lenses: With 24mm, 50mm, or 85mm primes, capture spectacular stunning detail of those close-up emotional wedding moments that are a must-have in an album.
- Better Mobility by Zooming In and Out: Enhance your sight to stay ahead with a 70-200mm lens. It is ideal for ceremonies as it captures those split-second snaps because it doesn’t get in the way.
- The Duel Between Zoom And Prime Lenses: The moment primes for dimly lit places with their wide aperture come alive creating a dreamy bokeh, zooms do grab the attention when the action starts moving briskly allowing adjusting to the fast-paced requirement.
- The Adage ‘Try Before You Buy’: Avoid committing to a lens before even trying to see how it works. Renting a lens before buying one helps understand if it fits your wedding videography style.
- Getting Familiar With Your Gear: Ensuring that you are familiar with your gear inside and out it is important to practice with lenses chosen after analyzing the type of wedding and memorializing the moments.
Best Wedding Videography Lenses for Stunning Videos
| Lens Type | Pros | Cons |
| Prime Lens |
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| Zoom Lens |
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| Wide-Angle Lens |
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Prime Lenses
Prime lenses are considered to be the most versatile all-around lenses. Sharpness and low-light performance. Prime lenses are capable of capturing light at a four times greater rate than zoom lenses.
Isolating insignificant backgrounds gets easier with prime lenses since their depth of field is way shallower than that of other lenses. Also, these tend to be super sharp. With prime lenses, you get to move frequently while taking closer shots. This lens is more suitable for weddings in messy environments.
Zoom Lenses
This type is eternally popular for its flexibility in changing focal lengths. It is ideal for big weddings with larger dance floors and seating areas.
It lets you pace in low light as well. With a 16-35mm lens, zoom lenses can get you landscape images. The ultra-wide zoom lens lets you capture the emotions of the wedding entirely. In short, you can shoot every ceremony of the wedding from a distance without disturbing the rituals.
Wide-Angle Lenses
Wide-angle lenses can turn out to be a good option for wedding videos regardless of the minor limitations. You can bring a hint of uniqueness to your wedding video using the distortion advantage feature of these lenses.
However, it is not preferred due to its requirement for a larger space to shoot. Also, it might block the view of guests or family members.
Essential Lenses For Different Wedding Scenes
Selecting a perfect lens for videography can go a long way in defining your wedding footage. Moments across the wedding day particularly require specific types of lenses to ensure that the magic is captured perfectly.
A wedding can include intimate moments such as capturing theIn the calm of the bridal prep and or in the frenetic of the dance floor, regardless of the atmosphere, the lens will set the entire tone of the video.
The prime lenses that we typically select for more intimate bridal close-ups include the likes of 24 mm, 50mm, and 85mm. It does not matter if it is the bride’s makeup, the bride’s dress lace intricacies, or even the bride’s pupils locking eyes with the bridal party, it’s possible with primes.
Thanks to their wide aperture, they are efficient in shooting in most lights including indoors with very little natural sunlight. Not only do they replace images perfectly, but the overall visuals become sharp, personal, and detailed enough to feel like you are in the particular scene making primes fantastic for warming moments.
As the wedding ceremony draws near and the couple is about to take their vows, it’s time for something different. Stylistic to these scenarios would have to be the zoom intermediary, 70–200mm, as it’s best suited for such occasions and the scenario wished to achieve.
It is one such ‘zoom lens’ that offers the flexibility of standing at a distance and snapping a picture of them exchanging oaths without intruding into the delicate moment. Even shaking hands, throwing up one’s hair, or laughing nervously at subtle, endearing motions during a wedding ceremony can be recorded without making any noise by zooming slowly into the action.
In a wedding shoot, the reception is one of the most highly anticipated events, that said, one should always be prepared for the reception as it is the highlight of the wedding day, the finale to all the events before it and to capture the energy, the lens adapter comes into play.
This is where the zoom lens shines even more: it keeps you in the action without requiring you to keep changing the extenders constantly.
Best Lenses For Wedding Videography: Different Events
Different events may require you to use different videography lenses. Now we will share some of our insights on this!
Preparation/Makeup with 24mm, 50mm, 85mm Prime Lenses
When it comes to the preparation, and makeup sessions for your wedding day, we tend to use a 24mm, 50mm, and 85mm prime lens and makeup with it.
The prime lens allows focusing on the scene and the tiny details to look sharp and part of the scene. Whenever we are shooting the bride as she gets her makeup done, her hair done, or her jewelry, these primes pick every shot. Each lens is designed differently, and they all zoom in perfectly during these special moments.
However, Why is this so? The 24 mm prime seems to be excellent for close to wide shots, especially in tight locations such as the bridal suite, and a wedding garment area, where the makeup artist and relatives fit into one frame.
It lets us include the whole scene—bride, makeup artist, family members—without losing any of the atmosphere.
The fifty-millimeter lens, popularly referred to as the nifty fifty, is often our first choice for taking natural and intimate kinds of shots. It is perfect because it sees the same things that our eyes see so it equals perfectly when capturing the raw emotions of the bride and her close family and friends.
For the close-up shots, the 85mm prime is what we use. This lens helps in focusing and bringing out all the small elements that make a wedding special: the trim of a romper, the sparkle in wedding rings, or even a mother gently fixing her daughter’s veil.
Coverage of the Ceremony with a 70–200mm Zoom Lens
While filming the ceremony, the use of a zoom lens, especially the 70-200mm lens, is invaluable. This lens allows us to capture close-up images of important moments such as the exchange of vows and the first kiss, without the camera being invasive.
Bridal ceremonies have an aura of intimacy and the longer focal length of this lens allows us to step back and ensure that the comfort of the guests is not jeopardized. A simple zoom of the smallest movements can be achieved without any distortion of the images.
One of the biggest advantages of the 70–200mm zoom lens is the fact that it can assist you in partaking in the wedding ceremony regardless of the distance that is maintained.
These lenses can focus on the small details when the couple is busy gazing at each other or the officiator is softly speaking during the vows.
There is, however, a problem whilst using this focal length: It is the problem of achieving steady footage. Long zoom shots, particularly those using the zoom feature, would tend to produce shaky footage.
A tripod, or other equipment, in this case, is quite useful because, without such devices, we cannot smoothly zoom into moments such as the first kiss or the exchange of wedding bands.
Details of the Reception using 35mm, 50mm, or 85mm Lenses
For the reception, we enjoy using 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm lenses for every important moment. Such as when we are photographing the venue, guests, or the minute intricacies of the decor, these lenses provide flexibility.
Each lens has its own strength that adds up to the overall coverage of your reception from the beginning till the end.
On the other hand, the 35mm lens is ideal for shooting at wider angles, as it allows us to fully capture the essence of the reception. It does a good job showcasing venue features such as the guests’ beautifully decorated tables, and floral arrangements while not distorting the picture.
This lens assists in giving the viewer a feel of the space and the energy of the many people present – providing the background for all moments in time to be captured.
For closer angles, we reach for the 50mm or the 85mm primes. It’s also during the reception when the family’s emotions are on a great high; be it a crying guest during a speech, or be it the loving glances exchanged between the couple or laughter from the associates, these lenses get it all.
The 50mm lens especially is useful when capturing honest emotions, and thus we divert half the lens toward the people and their expressions. It also allows us to attain accuracy while still attempting to obtain realism, getting the subject sharp while gently blurring the diverse background.
Smooth Transition from Reception to First Dance
Last but not least, the transition from the ball to the first dance is probably one of the most interesting moments. It is in such moments that a wedding video cameraman needs to capitalize.
The 50mm and 85mm lenses are fantastic here. These allow us to zoom in on the bride and groom’s first dance, and capture many guests who are excited and ready to watch the couple. Such lenses never restrict us from focusing on the couple but also on the varying excitement in the background.
The 50mm also gets in focus the bride when she releases her partner’s shoulder. Whether it is due to the romantic nature of the song and the character of the couple who share that very slow dance, the 50 mm lens is not a miss as it captures all such special occasions. I
As it gets darker outside, we will reach for the 85mm so we can also capture the emotion and details closely. The shallow depth of field allows us to keep the couple crisp while the background blends into a creamy haze.
Can You Shoot a Wedding with a 50mm Lens?
Among videographers, a 50mm lens is known as the most versatile tool. It makes shooting a wedding video more efficient.
- The 50mm focal length makes it easier to keep a balance between capturing the ambiance and being closer to action.
- Carrying it throughout the whole wedding day is super easy since it’s lightweight and portable
- With a 50 mm wide aperture, you get to gather a greater rate of light even in low-light settings like candlelight or gloomy reception
- It gives a natural and classic perspective
Scenarios Where a 50mm Lens Excels
Let’s learn about the situations 50mm turns out to be ideal:
- Capturing beautiful venue shots in the morning or golden hour
- Taking candid shots of the bride with veil, bouquet, or other special elements
- Getting large friends or family group shots
Prime Lenses for Wedding Videography
Prime lenses have to be the most popular choice for wedding videography nowadays. Well, it’s fair enough since the advantages of using prime lenses for such important events would require pages to be described. Let us bring up the key points.
Better Quality
The biggest benefit of using prime lenses would be their capacity to gather more and more light through wider apertures. The hole in the prime lens gradually opens up wider to let more light in.
Without the hassle of lifting ISO or reducing shutter speed, you get preferred exposure with a prime lens. Hence, even shooting in extremely low light can’t affect the quality of the video.
Unique Perspective with Focal Length
A prime lens on the camera helps you pre-visualise the moment. This way you get to shoot the whole video with a better perspective more creatively. Unlike zoom lenses, it is ideal for approaching the video in your very own style while focusing faster.
Effectively Efficient
Prime lenses let you get the shots creatively and deliberately. Without the hassle of zooming, you get to shoot without wasting any time. Therefore, it’s ideal for beginners and experts.
Better Shots
Prime lenses get sharper shots. Also, with a shallower depth of field, the shots look very professional and classic.
Suggested Primes for Weddings:
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- 35mm for wide-angle shots
- 50mm for closer, softer, and elegant shots
- 85mm for intimate portraits
Why Choosing the Right Lens Matters in Wedding Videography
Choosing the right lens for your wedding is indispensable since it determines how the video will turn out. The depth of the video or your wedding story crucially depends on the lens. Let’s learn the reasons in detail!
Capturing Emotions and Embracing the Moments
If you have opted for a large venue and stressing over capturing large group shots, the whole environment, and the atmosphere, wide-angle lenses should be your pick. Prime lenses focus on making the special moments stand out and capturing the emotions by beautifully blurring the backgrounds.
So, picking the right lens depending on your preferences or atmosphere can change the quality of your video. The right lens completes the purpose.
Keeping Up with The Atmosphere
Depending on your light setting, you should go for lenses with wide apertures to get beautiful shots even in low lighting. These lenses work on maintaining a shallow depth of field. Consequently, the bride and groom get the spotlight with a blurry background, making the video dreamy and filmy.
Bringing Flexibility and Creativity
Going with zoom lenses makes it easier to switch from wide to close rapidly while keeping the shots clear. Thus, you get to move frequently while shooting as well. For artistic, creative, and unique effects, you can choose fisheye lenses.
Ensuring Top-notch Quality
Getting a good lens certifies that the video will be sharp and professional enough without any color fading or distortion. The video will be smooth and dreamy. Therefore, balancing versatility and quality during dynamic events requires good lenses.
Highlighting Significant Moments
Macro and telephoto lenses make it super convenient to get close-ups and natural candid shots. This way you get to bring a unique touch to your video.
Tips for Choosing the Right Wedding Videography Lenses
If you’re new to this whole concept, there are some pro tips you need to learn for choosing the right videography lens. Here are the key ones:
Be Versatile Enough
Consider using lenses that can switch from wide to close-up shots rapidly. It is important to capture shots from different angles while moving frequently.
Aperture Consideration
Try to use lenses with wider apertures. It is significant to shoot weddings in dimmer lights easily and beautifully. The aperture of f/1.4-f/2.8 should be enough.
Stabilization
For getting smoother shots, it’s crucial to get stabilized lenses. Otherwise, you will need to use them with a gimbal or tripod.
Durability
The lens you pick should be very durable. Keep weather situations and potential in mind while judging the lens’s durability.
Bottom Line
The wedding videography lenses selection according to wedding videography may be the deciding factor for the quality of your footage. At the end of the day, it all boils down to the selected lens and it’s compatible with your shooting style, what moments you want to focus on, and what you want the footage to look like.
As wedding videography goes, correctly applying every lens to its needed moment enhances the storytelling and helps create a vision of an epic motion picture.