# Is the 45mm TS-E good for wedding photography?



## RONPERU (Feb 15, 2013)

Im working on wedding photography, and it's time to buy a new lens. any ideas ? and thinking of the 45mm TS.


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## neuroanatomist (Feb 15, 2013)

For creative shots from a tripod, it's ok (although it's arguably the worst of the TS-E lenses), it's perhaps not the best walk-around-and-shoot lens...


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## TrumpetPower! (Feb 15, 2013)

Granted, I'm not a wedding photographer, but, of all the lenses I can think of to use at a wedding, the TS-E 45 would possibly be the very last of them.

Well, okay. I'd probably reach for it before the MP-E 65, or the 1200 f/5.6....

Cheers,

b&


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## Drizzt321 (Feb 16, 2013)

TrumpetPower! said:


> Granted, I'm not a wedding photographer, but, of all the lenses I can think of to use at a wedding, the TS-E 45 would possibly be the very last of them.
> 
> Well, okay. I'd probably reach for it before the MP-E 65, or the 1200 f/5.6....
> 
> ...



Actually, the 1200 f/5.6 would probably useful if they said they didn't actually want to see you during the ceremony. Literally. And it was held outdoors where you could have some clear line of sight.


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## brad goda (Feb 16, 2013)

Possibly the 45TSE would be a very creative lens for weddings...
Try renting or borrowing one... and test it hard and extensively... most critical is doing angled focus tilt on portraits... nailing the focus is tricky... just slight movement and you are way off..
but when you nail it.. its beautiful... but mind where the tilted focus travels besides the intended spot... you might pick up foreground or background items in focus that you would never expect if new using focus other than parallel to sensor... most times just used subtly is enough.
Ive brought all my TS lenses to wedding and if any mostly used the 90 TSE and even 90 TSE with 1.4III... = 126mm TSE... close focus and interesting focus... Ive heard new 90TSE may be in works for release... Ive had my 90 & 45 since 94' I think its about time for update...


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Feb 16, 2013)

What were you thinking of using it for? It is a manual focus lens, so it will need to be still scenes, preferrably on a tripod.
Unless you has some particular special shot in mind that needed a tilt or a shift, most any other lens might be preferable.


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## brad goda (Feb 16, 2013)

what PBD just said is totally true about time usage and successfully producing a tilt focus image for a wedding... 
and low and behold I just got that 8-15 for the few accent shots which is great bang for the bucks...
fun lens...


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## pwp (Feb 16, 2013)

RONPERU said:


> Im working on wedding photography, and it's time to buy a new lens. any ideas ? and thinking of the 45mm TS.



I'm 100% with TrumpetPower. This would be one of the last lenses a wedding shooter should be looking at. 

Weddings are fast moving dynamic environments and unless you are one of the rare geniuses with an uncanny skill using manual focus to follow action, forget it. Without seeing a list of your current lenses it's hard to make recommendations. If you must have this focal length for a particular creative reason, you'd be a lot better off with the notably competent Shorty McForty, the 40mm f/2.8 pancake which is surprisingly sharp even wide open.

-PW


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## SteenerMe (Feb 16, 2013)

What?! Why?! Id hold out for the macro, tilt shift, fisheye f1.2 lens comming out soon. Then youd have a very useful wedding lens...


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## agierke (Feb 16, 2013)

> This would be one of the last lenses a wedding shooter should be looking at



i disagree. my cousin is a wedding photographer and the 45 TS is one of her favorite lenses to use. you can dig through her site for examples:

http://emmafreemanphotography.com/

i dont own the 45 TS but i have taken the 24 TS out on weddings for different creative looks. its not the easiest thing to use handheld but it can be done.

if you have a creative vision involving the 45 TS i would say go for it. scratch that itch. it could definitely give a look that would set you apart from a great deal of other wedding shooters.


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## Zlatko (Feb 16, 2013)

RONPERU said:


> Im working on wedding photography, and it's time to buy a new lens. any ideas ? and thinking of the 45mm TS.


All lenses are good for wedding photography. Which one do you most need or want? The 45mm TS-E can certainly be used well and creatively. Give it a try. However, a photo of the bride & groom facing the camera and having _terribly_ blurry feet because of the the tilt of the TS-E has become another wedding photo cliche. That photo always seems to say, "portrait of the bride & groom with strangely blurry feet because the photographer used a trick lens".


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## Canon 14-24 (Feb 16, 2013)

Good for engagement sessions or that small window where you can take the bride and groom away before/after the ceremony for some shots as there is time to compose/tilt/shift the shot while at the actual ceremony/reception you may not have the luxury of time for the "in-the-moment" shots to compose and tilt/shift your images.


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## funkboy (Feb 16, 2013)

privatebydesign said:


> I once shot the ceremony with a 300 f2.8 from outside the church, the minister wouldn't allow any photography indoors, but was amenable to leaving the doors open and me shooting from the graveyard!



Awesome.


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## jrista (Feb 18, 2013)

If you are really looking for a tilt/shift lens for wedding photography, you should probably at least look at the TS-E 24mm f/3.5 L, in addition to the TS-E 45mm. I've seen a number of photographs from very good wedding photographers, and the majority seem to use the 24mm if they do creative focus. That said, the TS-E 45mm is the second most used lens for wedding photography that I know of. One of my favorite wedding photographers who uses T/S is Sean Flanigan, a wedding photog in Seattle, WA. His work is quite amazing (although for more than just using T/S, and is a great example of how to apply creative focus (most of which I believe is done with the 24mm given the wider field of view, although the 45mm may be in the mix at times as well):

http://seanflanigan.net/blog/page/6/

Another great T/S wedding photographer is Bobby Earle. He is quite skilled, and uses both the TS-E 24mm and TS-E 45mm lenses. I will point out that there are quite a number of similarities between Earle's and Flanigan's work...tilted, desaturated, grainy, often black and white with high contrast. Not sure if that is simply a strange coincidence, or if it is the consequence of using creative focus...maybe it has a concurrent narrowing of style while at the same time offering greater freedom. Anyway, these two photographers should be more than enough inspiration, regardless of whether you pick up the 24mm or 45mm. And, according to Earl, he really loves the 45mm for vertical wedding portraiture.

http://bobbyearle.com/blog/tilt-shift-lens-use-in-weddings/
http://bobbyearle.com/blog/tilt-shift-lens-tips-for-wedding-photography-part-2/

The real edge the 24mm has over the 45mm is a far newer optical design, and sharper optics than the much-vaunted EF 24mm prime. The 45mm is an older design, and still has some flaws. I can't say I've ever noticed that actually mean anything in the creative focus wedding photography I've seen (although again most seems to be with the 24mm), but it might be something to think about.


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