REVIEWS | WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY WITH THE SONY FE 20mm F1.8
In this blog post, I discuss using the stunning Sony FE 20mm F1.8 lens on a wedding day.
In February 2020 Sony announced the Sony FE 20mm f1.8 G Lens, at the time Sony already had the Sony FE 24mm F1.4 G Master Lens, but at the time, nothing wider as a prime lens.
Zeiss had the well-received Zeiss 18mm Batis, but being an F2.8 lens and with a lot of distortion and purple fringing, it wasn’t an option for me.
I banged in my pre-order for the Sony FE 20mm f1.8 G Lens via Wex.
A few days after it arrived, the UK was plunged into lockdown and with all weddings banned, it wouldn't be until July 2020 that I was able to use the lens at a wedding. But since that July 2020 wedding, the lens has been with me at every wedding.
So far I have delivered over 7k images from the combo of the Sony FE 20mm f1.8 G Lens and the Sony A9ii, it was incredible at the first wedding and it's still incredible.
The Sony FE 20mm f1.8 G Lens, along with the Sony FE 50mm f1.2 G Master Lens and the Sony FE 35mm f1.4 G Master Lens have become my go too wedding photography lens set-up.
CAN YOU REALLY USE A 20mm LENS ON A WEDDING DAY?
If you were to Google ‘most popular wedding lens combination’, I would imagine that the 20mm focal length will not appear on many lists. It's not a standard wedding lens and for most photographers who want a wide lens for use at weddings, the widest most will go is 24mm.
On a wedding day, I shoot with 3 cameras, I have one Sony A1 paired with the Sony 35GM, another Sony A1 paired with the 50mm GM and an A9ii paired with the Sony 20mm (shown in the images at the top of this blog post)
The 35 and the 50 are my main go-to lenses for most of the day, but the 20mm is 100% my favourite lens to use on a wedding day.
Looking at the last 10 weddings of my 2021 season, 20% of my delivered images are from the Sony FE 20mm, around 100 images per wedding.
WHY A 20mm LENS ON A WEDDING DAY?
The 20mm focal length gives an image such impact, you have to get close, and because it's so wide, you REALLY have to fill the frame this gives an image such a unique feel and used well, you can take images of normal things and make them feel epic!
SONY 20 mm F1.8 Lens Handling Overview
HOW I USE A 20mm LENS ON A WEDDING DAY
As mentioned above, the Sony FE 20mm f1.8 G Lens is never off my Sony A9ii, It sits in my hip bag which means I can easily grab it when the need arises.
For me, there are zero times on a wedding day where using the 20mm is off-limits; it's perfect for getting ready shots through to the partying at the end of the night.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The 20mm focal length isn't for everybody, I mean that from a photographer's point of view but also from a client's point of view.
I've had 20mm images in my portfolio since the first wedding with this lens in July 2020, so clients can see what to expect.
But, the 20mm isn't for every client; all 20mm lenses have distortion, some worse than others; the Sony FE 20mm f1.8 is one of the best 20mm lenses out there for distortion, but you still have to be very careful where you place things within the frame; too close to the edge and things can get really stretched or worse, can make things look a lot bigger than they actually are.
As you can see from the images below, I try to keep the important things as close to the centre as possible.
Obviously, there are times when the framing means that things are a the edge, and these images will have distortion, but I'd rather the distortion than not have the image.
Right, let's take a look at some images!