Wedding photography with a D30 pros and cons.

Michael Kay63204 · Oct 12, 2001

I am trying to get into wedding photography and was thinking of using the following.

D30 with 550EX and 24-85 lens for candids

D30 with 50 1.8 lens and 2 or 3 ex flashes with umbrelas and an st-e2 transmitter.

what are the pros and cons of doing this.

bijan · Oct 12, 2001

Hi Michael

I have heard people using their D30 for weddings and they are very happy with the results. I myself can't wait to get my hands on the D30.
Are you going to be the only photographer for weddings?

The reason I ask is that with 2 or 3 flash setups, you need at least one assistant.

I did my first wedding last month and I was the only photographer. I learned that even if I had more than one flash setup, i couldn't have used it unless I had someone to help me. People move around alot and they wanna have fun. %90 of the time, people danced at the wedding and I couldn stop them and have them wait for a flash setup. I just used my 380EX on my camera.
The lenses that i took with me were;
19-35 Tokina,
28-80 sigma,
70-300 sigma,
50 mm, f1.8 canon.

The 28-80 sigma and 50mm f1.8 were the lenses that stayed on my camera %99 of the time.

Bijan

Michael Kay said:
I am trying to get into wedding photography and was thinking of
using the following.

D30 with 550EX and 24-85 lens for candids
D30 with 50 1.8 lens and 2 or 3 ex flashes with umbrelas and an
st-e2 transmitter.

what are the pros and cons of doing this.

Lee Rothman · Oct 12, 2001

I'll let you know a week or so from now. A week from Saturday I am doing a wedding for a good friend who's main photographer bailed on him. While I was certainly advised NOT to do it, I am going to anyway. I feel confident, with the equipment I have and the studying and practicing I have been doing both indoor and outdoors I will pull it off. I am using the following:

D30
Sigma 17-35 2.8-4 EX HSM
Canon 28-135IS USM
Canon 50mm 1.4
Sigma 70-300APO Macro Super
EX550 Flash with a Sto-Fen Diffusor
Battery Grip with 2 batteries
Kingston 256mb CF card
SimpleTech 96mb CF Card
Bogen/Manfrotto 3021PRO Tripod with 3D Magnesium head
Bogen/Manfrotto Monopod with 308PRO Ball head

Wish Me Luck!

Soren Coughlin-Glaser · Oct 12, 2001

Hi Michael, I use the D-30 as my primary wedding camera and I make my living shooting weddings ( I also no three other photographers in my area who use it as well), It gives me everything I need. Although for large group shots I still use MF film, but I wouldn't worry too much about that, just make sure your lighting is good, and shoot the big shots in RAW mode to be safe. If you are worried about resolution do some 3/4 (instead of full length) shots of every pose to zoom in.

Using digital you do have to worry more about exposure, than with film, It would be hard to help you with your technique, it just takes lots of practice. With good technique you should be able to get as good or better results with the D-30 than 35mm film.

Good luck and check those histograms as often as possible

Soren

Michael Kay said:
I am trying to get into wedding photography and was thinking of
using the following.

D30 with 550EX and 24-85 lens for candids
D30 with 50 1.8 lens and 2 or 3 ex flashes with umbrelas and an
st-e2 transmitter.

what are the pros and cons of doing this.

PatMunits · Oct 12, 2001

Lee Rothman said:
...I feel confident, with the equipment I have and the
studying and practicing I have been doing both indoor and outdoors
I will pull it off. I am using the following:
....
Kingston 256mb CF card
SimpleTech 96mb CF Card
....
Wish Me Luck!

Good Luck!

You might want to consider getting a 1GB Microdrive before next weekend, or at least take a laptop with you so you can move files from filled cards to a hard disk.

I was an unofficial secondary photographer last weekend at my friends wedding. I shot RAW because of the importance of the event, and consequently completely filled my 1GB Microdrive (350 photos), and more than half of my 340MB Microdrive. I wasn't doing any formal shots, only candids and semi-formal. I also wasn't very intrusive so I have perhaps missed some shots. Nonetheless, I'm quite convinced now that a single 340MB CompactFlash card/drive is not enough for a day-long event.

Bob Klein · Oct 12, 2001

Michael Kay said:
I am trying to get into wedding photography and was thinking of
using the following.

D30 with 550EX and 24-85 lens for candids
D30 with 50 1.8 lens and 2 or 3 ex flashes with umbrelas and an
st-e2 transmitter.

what are the pros and cons of doing this.

I would advise an external battery for each of your stobes mounted remotely and bounced into umbrellas. You are going to find this setup eats up a lot of power over a long shoot. Be sure all the AA batteries in to remote strobes are new and fresh. Once they are away from you it is hard to monitor their performance. Flashes might be going off, but are they all going off?

Bryan29453 · Oct 12, 2001

Hi Lee,

Glad to see you have been practicing - bit too late learning on the big day as you have already noticed.

You appear to be well kitted out, however a friend with spare D30 would help - just in case the unmentionable happens, or have you got a film back-up.

I have only covered one wedding. I was there aa guest, as both parties worked for me. The photographer, a professional of good standing, tripped over and broke his 6 x 7 Mamiya RBZ (I think that was the model - it is while) just prior to the ceremony.

His (backup) Bronica just refused to operate and as his studio was within 30 minutes total around time off he went - and yes - you guessed it crashed.

As all around was collapsing I got out my trusty OM2, dried the tears of bride and mother and away I went. Experience - well I remembered a bit about my own wedding 23 years earlier!

Results were good, considering and I was the most popular friend of both families. I think the wedding couple parted company even before I had received all cash in from friends and relatives. However that is another story.

By the way - that was also my last wedding where I was put under a bit of pressure.

You are prepared so have a great day. Yes I willingly wish you luck but I don't think you will need it. And don't forget take a friend. My wife (also a guest) prepared bride, dress, bridesmaids, dresses etc - I just pressed the button. Well that's what she says so it must be right.

Enjoy

Bryan

Lee Rothman said:
I'll let you know a week or so from now. A week from Saturday I am
doing a wedding for a good friend who's main photographer bailed on
him. While I was certainly advised NOT to do it, I am going to
anyway. I feel confident, with the equipment I have and the
studying and practicing I have been doing both indoor and outdoors
I will pull it off. I am using the following:

D30
Sigma 17-35 2.8-4 EX HSM
Canon 28-135IS USM
Canon 50mm 1.4
Sigma 70-300APO Macro Super
EX550 Flash with a Sto-Fen Diffusor
Battery Grip with 2 batteries
Kingston 256mb CF card
SimpleTech 96mb CF Card
Bogen/Manfrotto 3021PRO Tripod with 3D Magnesium head
Bogen/Manfrotto Monopod with 308PRO Ball head

Wish Me Luck!

DonLand · Oct 12, 2001

Hate to tell you this but I think you are a little under-equipped (equipment-wise). I would think you should shoot about 700 images for a wedding, and shoot on RAW. You need more batteries as well as CF cards (3 gigs worth), plus a laptop to keep downloading the images to. You should keep the CF cards full until you can backup onto CD-Roms. You should also have a b/u camera (film based if you only have one D30) with enough film to shoot the wedding. You may also want an assistant with a dedicated 550EX. At minimum you should have a b/u 550EX.

Hope I did not scare you off.

Best,

Don

Lee Rothman said:
Lee Rothman wrote:
I'll let you know a week or so from now. A week from Saturday I am
doing a wedding for a good friend who's main photographer bailed on
him. While I was certainly advised NOT to do it, I am going to
anyway. I feel confident, with the equipment I have and the
studying and practicing I have been doing both indoor and outdoors
I will pull it off. I am using the following:

D30
Sigma 17-35 2.8-4 EX HSM
Canon 28-135IS USM
Canon 50mm 1.4
Sigma 70-300APO Macro Super
EX550 Flash with a Sto-Fen Diffusor
Battery Grip with 2 batteries
Kingston 256mb CF card
SimpleTech 96mb CF Card
Bogen/Manfrotto 3021PRO Tripod with 3D Magnesium head
Bogen/Manfrotto Monopod with 308PRO Ball head

Wish Me Luck!

Brian Mottershead · Oct 12, 2001

Lee, you might be a little light on the Compact Flash. Also, I think I might take 2 more batteries. In theory, your 2 should be enough, but if you are doing much reviewing with the LCD, you will run them down faster, and it could get tight. You should probably be prepared to take up to 1000 frames. People report taking a lot more frames when using digital. It's one of the advantages!

Lee Rothman said:
I'll let you know a week or so from now. A week from Saturday I am
doing a wedding for a good friend who's main photographer bailed on
him. While I was certainly advised NOT to do it, I am going to
anyway. I feel confident, with the equipment I have and the
studying and practicing I have been doing both indoor and outdoors
I will pull it off. I am using the following:

D30
Sigma 17-35 2.8-4 EX HSM
Canon 28-135IS USM
Canon 50mm 1.4
Sigma 70-300APO Macro Super
EX550 Flash with a Sto-Fen Diffusor
Battery Grip with 2 batteries
Kingston 256mb CF card
SimpleTech 96mb CF Card
Bogen/Manfrotto 3021PRO Tripod with 3D Magnesium head
Bogen/Manfrotto Monopod with 308PRO Ball head

Wish Me Luck!

Lee Rothman · Oct 12, 2001

I'll just unload the shots on my Toshiba Portege' (3lb 1 inch think little guy) aand keep shooting, as I have no trust or liking for the MD's anyway.

PatMunits said:
Lee Rothman said:

...I feel confident, with the equipment I have and the
studying and practicing I have been doing both indoor and outdoors
I will pull it off. I am using the following:
....
Kingston 256mb CF card
SimpleTech 96mb CF Card
....
Wish Me Luck!

Click to expand...

Good Luck!

You might want to consider getting a 1GB Microdrive before next
weekend, or at least take a laptop with you so you can move files
from filled cards to a hard disk.

I was an unofficial secondary photographer last weekend at my
friends wedding. I shot RAW because of the importance of the
event, and consequently completely filled my 1GB Microdrive (350
photos), and more than half of my 340MB Microdrive. I wasn't doing
any formal shots, only candids and semi-formal. I also wasn't very
intrusive so I have perhaps missed some shots. Nonetheless, I'm
quite convinced now that a single 340MB CompactFlash card/drive is
not enough for a day-long event.

Lee Rothman · Oct 12, 2001

Funny you would mention bringing some help along. He is flying my wife into the wedding, so that is nice (as I am on the road for business and was going to be in the area anyway). She is going to be my "grip person" and assist in being there with the other lenses and laptop should I need to change a lens on the fly or offload the pics to empty my CF card. No doubt will be indespensible.

Bryan said:
Glad to see you have been practicing - bit too late learning on the
big day as you have already noticed.

You appear to be well kitted out, however a friend with spare D30
would help - just in case the unmentionable happens, or have you
got a film back-up.

I have only covered one wedding. I was there aa guest, as both
parties worked for me. The photographer, a professional of good
standing, tripped over and broke his 6 x 7 Mamiya RBZ (I think that
was the model - it is while) just prior to the ceremony.

His (backup) Bronica just refused to operate and as his studio was
within 30 minutes total around time off he went - and yes - you
guessed it crashed.

As all around was collapsing I got out my trusty OM2, dried the
tears of bride and mother and away I went. Experience - well I
remembered a bit about my own wedding 23 years earlier!

Results were good, considering and I was the most popular friend of
both families. I think the wedding couple parted company even
before I had received all cash in from friends and relatives.
However that is another story.

By the way - that was also my last wedding where I was put under a
bit of pressure.

You are prepared so have a great day. Yes I willingly wish you luck
but I don't think you will need it. And don't forget take a friend.
My wife (also a guest) prepared bride, dress, bridesmaids, dresses
etc - I just pressed the button. Well that's what she says so it
must be right.

Enjoy

Bryan

Lee Rothman said:

I'll let you know a week or so from now. A week from Saturday I am
doing a wedding for a good friend who's main photographer bailed on
him. While I was certainly advised NOT to do it, I am going to
anyway. I feel confident, with the equipment I have and the
studying and practicing I have been doing both indoor and outdoors
I will pull it off. I am using the following:

D30
Sigma 17-35 2.8-4 EX HSM
Canon 28-135IS USM
Canon 50mm 1.4
Sigma 70-300APO Macro Super
EX550 Flash with a Sto-Fen Diffusor
Battery Grip with 2 batteries
Kingston 256mb CF card
SimpleTech 96mb CF Card
Bogen/Manfrotto 3021PRO Tripod with 3D Magnesium head
Bogen/Manfrotto Monopod with 308PRO Ball head

Wish Me Luck!

Click to expand...

Lee Rothman · Oct 12, 2001

I have ONLY a few words for you Don.....LIGHTEN UP!!!!!! LOL. Even the groom (my friend and former neighbor) insisted I NOT get uptight about the whole thing. His own words were "it would be nice if you showed up with an instamatic!). I am doing my best to exceed his expectations. I have NO intention of going out to the level you suggest. First of all I am certainly NOT involved in any way with film for at least 5 years now. So that is HISTORY! I even rather doubt I will exceed several hundred shots frankly. I am not going to just shoot wildly at everything that moves. LOL. I am going to experiement and have good time. NOT get uptight (as I have already been told by the groom). SO just calm down here and take a chill pill. ROFL

Don L said:
Hope I did not scare you off.

Best,

Don

DonLand said:

Lee Rothman wrote:
I'll let you know a week or so from now. A week from Saturday I am
doing a wedding for a good friend who's main photographer bailed on
him. While I was certainly advised NOT to do it, I am going to
anyway. I feel confident, with the equipment I have and the
studying and practicing I have been doing both indoor and outdoors
I will pull it off. I am using the following:

D30
Sigma 17-35 2.8-4 EX HSM
Canon 28-135IS USM
Canon 50mm 1.4
Sigma 70-300APO Macro Super
EX550 Flash with a Sto-Fen Diffusor
Battery Grip with 2 batteries
Kingston 256mb CF card
SimpleTech 96mb CF Card
Bogen/Manfrotto 3021PRO Tripod with 3D Magnesium head
Bogen/Manfrotto Monopod with 308PRO Ball head

Wish Me Luck!

Click to expand...

Lorin · Oct 12, 2001

I shoot weddings for a living, own a D30, love it and for now leave it behind for my wedding work. If I was shooting alongside someone else I'd probably use nothing else but the D30. There is just much more to shooting weddings than the equiptment one uses. You've got to learn first how to work with people, candids, posing individuals, groups, all the must do shots. You need to learn how to work with available light on location. I suggest working alongside a pro for a while. If you own a D30, great! you can shoot and learn from your mistakes. After 30 or 40 weddings you won't be asking questions about what kind of equiptment you need. You wouldn't be wrong in having the basic D30, and a 550EX flash to start. But don't buy anything else until you see how a real pro works. It's rare that I use an unbrella on location these days, by the way. There are much easier ways to acheive the same effect. good luck, Lorin

DonLand · Oct 13, 2001

Otay panky, my mistake. I thought you were doing it as a paid pro gig. Since your doing it as a friend of the groom just have a blast. Since you can d/l your cf, your all set.

BTW, my wife always tells me to lighten up (actually and figuratively) too. I always pack back ups for my back ups.

Anyway, have fun and let us know how it works out.

Best,

Don

Lee Rothman said:
Don L said:

Hope I did not scare you off.

Best,

Don

Lee Rothman said:

Lee Rothman wrote:
I'll let you know a week or so from now. A week from Saturday I am
doing a wedding for a good friend who's main photographer bailed on
him. While I was certainly advised NOT to do it, I am going to
anyway. I feel confident, with the equipment I have and the
studying and practicing I have been doing both indoor and outdoors
I will pull it off. I am using the following:

D30
Sigma 17-35 2.8-4 EX HSM
Canon 28-135IS USM
Canon 50mm 1.4
Sigma 70-300APO Macro Super
EX550 Flash with a Sto-Fen Diffusor
Battery Grip with 2 batteries
Kingston 256mb CF card
SimpleTech 96mb CF Card
Bogen/Manfrotto 3021PRO Tripod with 3D Magnesium head
Bogen/Manfrotto Monopod with 308PRO Ball head

Wish Me Luck!

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

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Wedding photography with a D30 pros and cons.

Michael Kay63204

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bijan

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