What Canon Lens is Best for Wedding Photography?
Wedding photographer? Check!
Canon shooter? Check!
We have been taking pictures since we were young. We started photographing weddings just a few years ago. Through all of these personal and professional photo experiences, we’ve always used Canon gear. Our commitment to the brand really came into its own when we began investing in higher end photography equipment to use on shoots. Simply put, as wedding photographers we didn’t want to be limited in any way by our gear. We also wanted to be able to produce great quality images.
More than likely, you are in the same position.
You might be on a budget too – and we know this really well as we slowly bought new camera equipment over the course of a few years. In a nutshell, as we started our wedding photography business, all of the bookings we made led to us reinvesting our earnings right back into our small business.
In this post, we will help you see the best Canon lenses for wedding photography. These are all lenses we use and trust to get us through each wedding, and provide consistency in our image quality so we can continue to have new and repeat clients in the future!
Note: your choice of lens will impact your images significantly, but your choice of camera body will also play a role. In our discussion of these lenses and example pictures, we use the Canon 5D Mark IV body. Just wanted to make this clear!
Our Canon Lens Selections – Summary
Before we dive into breaking down all of our favorite Canon lenses for wedding photography, we wanted to provide for your convenience a simple list of these. In the following sections, we will discussing each of these in greater detail, but you can click through these links to read about them directly on Amazon if you so choose.
- Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM Lens
- Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM Lens
- Canon EF 16–35mm f/2.8L III USM Lens
- Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II Telephoto Zoom Lens
- Canon EF 85mm f1.2L II USM Lens
- Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L is USM Macro Lens
The 6 Best Canon Lenses for Wedding Photography
All of our recommended Canon lenses are created for professionals. While there are alternatives available, we do not recommend them for those of you who want to be serious wedding photographers. Treat these lenses as investments into your wedding photography business, and you will find they provide you with the ability to create beautiful pictures with more ease due to better low light performance, better flexibility, and great compression.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM Lens
The Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 lens is great for shooting in just about any environment during the wedding day. We use it for couple’s portraits, getting ready shots, ceremonies, family formals, reception dancing…it’s pretty endless.
The great thing about the 50mm focal length is that it is most comparable to the human eye – so it tends to give a very human perspective in the photographs. This is ideal for photographers who want to have a documentary and lifestyle approach to capturing weddings.
In addition, this particular 50mm lens is able to drop to f/1.2. This is a wide aperture that allows the camera to get more light in (without raising the ISO). It also blurs out the background when shooting portraits in a really great way, creating really beautiful images.
Example images:
Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM Lens
One of the last lenses we bought during our “investment phase” as it’s come to be referred to in our house – the Canon EF 35mm f/1.4 lens is excellent for portraits that need just a little more space. For close to 2 years, we would go between a 24mm prime lens and the 50mm lens mentioned above. While 24mm is great in it’s own right – it is tough to use for wedding photography outside of a few niche photos. Most of these being landscape oriented photography.
The reason why this 35mm lens is so valuable to us as wedding photographers is because it gives some breathing room. It makes shooting portraits in a tight hotel room much easier. It also allows us to capture some of the environment in our shots when we want this – without entirely losing our bride & groom in the shot.
Example images:
Canon EF 16–35mm f/2.8L III USM Lens
For weddings that require wide shots, such as those taken in a large cathedral, the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 lens is a must have. You could theoretically supplement the need for the previous 35mm f/1.4 prime lens – however we like both of these for different reasons.
The 16-35mm lens offers sweeping views of a scene. In some environments, it really helps set the stage and provides a cinematic look to the images. What has surprised us most is how we use it in other more unorthodox shooting situations – such as during reception dancing. In that sort of setting, we can get close to the action, yet still capture a whole lot going on. While you can expect some distortion at the widest focal length, it works in environments like this as it helps to convey a sense of movement.
Example images:
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II Telephoto Zoom Lens
The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 lens is one of the best for wedding photographers. It is really usable in just about any shooting scenario except for those in tight spaces. By wedding photographers, it is often preferred for shooting wedding ceremonies – and this makes a lot of sense. It’s actually the main situation where we always use the 70-200mm. The reason for this is because during a ceremony, while our goal as a photographer is to capture the event, we aim to do so quickly and without the need to be right up front and center.
The 70-200mm lens enables us to stay back, while also getting tight shots. The ability to zoom in and out allows us to change position during the ceremony, without returning to our camera bag to swap our lens. This is critical – especially during ceremonies that only last 15-30 minutes as we seem to be encountering more and more these days.
You can also use the 70-200mm lens for portraits as the long focal length provides excellent compression. More introverted photographers may also enjoy using this to capture candid shots during cocktail hour and the reception!
Example images:
Canon EF 85mm f1.2L II USM Lens
The Canon 85mm f/1.2 lens is one of the most beautiful portrait lenses out there. Honestly, it is jaw dropping and stunning. We do not think this should be the first Canon lens you purchase for wedding photography, but it definitely needs to be on your list if you want to get incredible portrait photographs.
The reason why this 85mm lens is so great is tied heavily to it’s wide aperture (f/1.2). We will frequently shoot a f/2, sometimes even dropping as low as f/1.2, when shooting portraits. By doing this, it creates a really incredible background blur that separates our subject from the background. The images produced really speak for themselves.
Example images:
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L is USM Macro Lens
Lastly, one of the most underrated parts of the day is shooting wedding details. Wedding rings, bouquets, borrowed-and-blue items, cufflinks…you name it. It’s all fun stuff to photograph for sure, and allows us some personal artistic exploration that we don’t really get at other parts of the day.
The Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens is a great choice for taking pictures of small objects. Because it’s optics are designed to work on a macro level – we can get really close and personal with the little affects the bride & groom have around on the big day.
We should warn you – once you get a macro lens like this, your eyes will be opened to an entirely new world of photography. Day 1 with this lens and we were outside in our backyard snapping photos of dandelions and bugs to our hearts delight. It’s crazy, but awe inspiring!
Example images:
The Best “Workhorse” Canon Lens for Wedding Photography
With our favorite Canon lenses already discussed in this article, we wanted to also draw attention to another Canon lens that is widely considered a staple for many wedding photographers. We don’t use this particular lens ourselves, but could see it being a valuable option – especially if you are a new wedding photographer on a more limited budget and wanting to get more bang for your buck.
The Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Standard Zoom Lens covers a wide range of focal lengths and can shoot at f/2.8 to still be suitable for great portraits. This lens will be suitable in just about any shooting environment during the day. From capturing wide exterior shots of a venue to tighter shots of the bride & groom exchanging their vows.
If We Had to Choose Just One Lens…
We’ll end this post talking about our personal favorite Canon lenses.
For those of you who don’t know, we are a husband & wife photography team. We photograph couples and wedding days as Hand and Arrow Photography. While our style of photography jives well together, we have our own personal preferences when it comes to the gear we are using. 🙂
Chris’ “Just One Lens” choice: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 lens
The 70-200mm focal length provides a lot of flexibility when shooting. While I do have a preference for prime lenses in general (with the Canon 85mm f/1.2 lens being my favorite lens), the 70-200mm is really high quality. When zoomed to 200mm and shot at f/2.8, I am able to really separate the subject from the background. This has created some of my favorite ceremony images to date because of this!
– Chris
Jes’ “Just One Lens” choice: Canon EF 35mm f/1.4 lens
The 35mm lens is the one I use the most throughout the wedding day. With only a few exceptions, I hardly take this one off my camera. It really is perfect for getting both wide and tight shots. When shooting bridal prep photos, it makes it easier to work with what is often tight and cramped spaces. For bride & groom portraits, it’s also great and manages to create nice and sharp images even when shot at a wide aperture. It really is an amazing lens!
– Jes
