sharonbg

Hello, I am new on this site. My name is Sharon...
I am taking pictures at an informal wedding reception this week-end and am using my NIKON D70.
an old camera, but I really love it and feel comfortable with it.
I recently bought a Sony mirrorless camera but not confident how to use yet..
anyhow, I am looking for opinions on what lens is best for these pictures.
I have an 18-70;
28-105; 70-300.
I am thinking the 70-300 but ???
thanks in advance for your assistance and support...

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Sharon, Welcome to the forum. Use the camera you know the D70. Th lens I would use is the 18-70 and I would bring the 28-105 as a back up. Remember extra charged battery for your camera, spare cards and extra batteries for your flash. Have fun. Keep the Sony home.

awesome14 Loc: UK

What's your light situation? Flash? Outdoors? For weddings a fast lens is nice. I myself would prefer the 28-105, because I can move around less. If you're using flash, I would want a f/4 lens or faster. If I could only use one focal length for a wedding, it would be 85mm. The 70-300 is probably a bit long, unless you're accustomed to using it in this application. I know photogs who use 300mm at ceremonies, to stay out of the way.

If using flash, you want the highest iso that gives satifactory results. My goto people-event lens, if I'm not quite sure what I might need, is a 24-128mm. I can usually get everything with just that lens.

lmTrying Loc: WV Northern Panhandle

Went to my neighbor's backyard wedding two years ago. Nothing but cell phones. Got out my DSLR and the 18-55 zoom lens. Since then I purchased a 24-105 zoom that I would probably use. I'd suggest your 28-105. It was voluntary on my part, and fun, and I'll probably never do it again. Good luck.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Welcome to our forum!

If you won't be using a flash, then a faster lens would be better than a slower one. With the 70-300mm, you would have to be fairly far away from your subjects. The 18-70mm should be a reasonable choice.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

The 70-300 is all wrong for a reception. You are in tight places and need a lens that will allow you to shoot groups and individuals, I would think either the 18-70 (my choice) or the 28-105. But what do I know,I have only taken over 500 weddings.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

The 18-70.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I believe the 18-70 will do a good job IF there is enough light. Using a flash helps considerably but you have to know how to use it.
If the reception is for a wedding as you have said and the images are for the couple you could be getting into murky water. With all due respect, wedding photography should be left to a professional UNLESS you are doing this for fun and they approve it.

BebuLamar

I am thinking the 18-70. I don't think I would even use the 70-300 for a wedding reception.

aellman Loc: Boston MA

Low Budget Dave

The "18" end of the 18-70 will let you get group shots without having to stand too far back. The "70" end will let you get head-and-shoulders (or tighter) portraits. 70-300 is too long for indoors, unless you are in the very back of a large church.

Pay close attention to light levels. If you are shooting on "auto", the D70 will try to slow your shutter speed down to 1/60 in low light, which is too slow for hand-held. (A 1/60 picture will come out a little blurry even for people with steady hands.) Instead, try Shutter priority, and set your shutter for 1/120 (or so) for people standing still, and 1/180 for people who are moving a bit. This might push your ISO up around 1600 on that lens, but don't worry, it will still look better than a blurry picture at low ISO.

People complain about ISO 800 on the D70, but in my experience, at 800 you will get noise in the shadows, but as long as you keep the subject well-lit, you are fine.

If your ISO is getting up past 1600, then you need a flash. (The D70 has some color noise past ISO 1600, and your pictures will look "splotchy".) The best bet is to keep an external strobe flash on the camera that you can angle up toward the ceiling, (and take pictures closer than 3 meters.) It is better to have a big flash and not need it than to need a bigger flash and not have it.

Most of the new Sony cameras are better in low light than the D70, but not so much better that it is worth using a camera you aren't comfortable with. The D70 has fantastic color and huge pixels, so even their grain pattern looks great.

The only warning is to remember that the D70 is a 6 MP camera, so you don't have much room to crop. Frame each shot as well as you can before you take the picture. You can always back up and take a second shot, but don't take photos that you plan to crop.

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

18-70 and 24-105. You’ll likely use the 18-70 most if not all the time.

wingclui44 Loc: CT USA

18-70, It's enough with your DX D70. it can cover from group to portrait shooting. Lat year, during the weeding of my daughter, I and my friend sharing the duty as her photographer with my Df, I used only the Nikon 35-70mm f2.8 AF-D for the whole event, and we handled it nicely,

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

You're right that the 70-300 is to long and I agree that if you were shooting one focal length 85 mm is good, but that's if you're shooting FF. Shooting a crop sensor the 18-70 which gives an effective focal length of 27-105 should work well.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

I second the motion.