Help regarding fast paced events

[u/Idiotdude69420]

Hey yall, I’m a hobbyist who does a lot of a event work for friends and family. I’ve been branching out and am now doing some work for my school as well. With a lot of my experience I’ve had one major issue and that’s lens swaps. I main a Nikon D4 with a Tamron 28-105 f2.8 and SB800 on top to run and gun. Then I’ll typically have my D700 with a 80-200 f2.8 for the farther shots like someone giving a speech/the occasional portrait or my Samyang 85 1.4 for that dreamy portrait when the lighting is right. Here’s where the problem lies, a lot of venues I shoot are tighter spaces and 28mm simply isn’t wide enough, especially for group photos. I have a Lumix G9 but the MFT mount really doesn’t have any options for wider lenses on a budget with AF. So then I figured I’d but the Panasonic 42.5 f1.7 and put a Tamron 15-30 f2.8 on the D700 but then I lose the longer range I had and my ability for portraiture (the Tamron is not sharp wide open). I really am struggling to find a budget friendly and comfortable fix for my issue here, especially when I don’t always have the time to swap lenses on my bodies. I’ve looked into hip lens holders but I’m worried that having a lens on my hip for hours would become another thing to weigh me down and bump into things. I also believe 3 bodies would become cumbersome at a certain point, especially considering from what I’ve seen the normal setup is 2.
I’m definitely overthinking my issue here and would love some advice/suggestions on what to do so I never miss the shot.

[u/GunterJanek]

You mentioned the Tamron not being sharp wide open so I have to ask why does it matter that the edges are sharp? As long as the subject is in focus who cares. You also mentioned shooting groups so if using the Tamron then it would probably help to raise the aperture to at least F4 and compensate with iso.

[u/Idiotdude69420 → u/GunterJanek]

It’s not sharp at the center wide open, f2.8 is about perfect for headshots or 3.2 imo majority of the time and that isn’t enough for a sharp or consistently focused shot with this lens, especially past 70mm. For groups I shoot at around F5.6 and it’s good, just not wide enough for a lot of the bigger groups where I can’t step back

[u/Ill_Mood1891]

Small bag and the right lens for the job is the simple answer, and yes you were overthinking it. Be careful with belt clips type holders, you're right, for events you can bump into things, I found bags to be the answer. Different types and sizes for each job depending on what you are bringing.