G1 X for Weddings ? Is it good enough ? Maybe as a 2nd shooter ?

Is the new G1X good enough to do weddings with ?

You mean commercial shooting or private? It is good enough but if I had to cover a wedding for money, I'd be more comfortable with a DSLR. But because it has good low light capability and is silent, it might be a good second camera in places where you as photographer want "to merge with the background" and not be noticed too much, like in the church.

mcslsk said:

You mean commercial shooting or private? It is good enough but if I had to cover a wedding for money, I'd be more comfortable with a DSLR. But because it has good low light capability and is silent, it might be a good second camera in places where you as photographer want "to merge with the background" and not be noticed too much, like in the church.

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I feel the same way... the G1X would take fantastic indoor shots, especially where the subjects are fairly stationary such as in the church. You'd capture some amazing shots indoors like that. But wedding photographers who do it professionally really need two cameras, usually both are DSLRs.

Even with an external flash, there's a 1 or 2 second delay between shots and that might mean a problem. There's also a more limited battery life on the G1X compared to the double battery setups on many of the extended battery grips on DSLRs.

It think that when Canon marketed the G1X as a backup camera for those who use DSLRs, they might have been thinking of Treckers, Photojournalists, Casual Photographers and those who need to carry a spare camera to get the job done in the event of a loss of equipment (ie, lost luggage and dropped lenses). They all need pro-looking pictures. But I don't think they meant wedding photographers because although you should always have a backup unit, there's a specific need to be consistent and reliable and to meed expectations. If you are being paid a tidy sum to produce wedding photographs and they see you touting a camera so small that they might as well have asked Uncle Dave to cover their wedding, you might find them looking for excuses not to pay or, at the very least, they might have low expectations because you're not using what they believe to be 'pro-gear'.

If you had a second person covering the wedding with the G1X, the pictures would compliment anything your DSLR captures.

But if you're covering a friends wedding with a G1X, you'll at least have the potential to produce some of the very best photographs at the event. And without an annoying flash to capture the shots.

--
Regards,

Marco Nero.
http://www.pbase.com/nero_design

Group shots etc... (scenics for travel as well) are often better served with a camera that has 24mm wide angle capability ......28mm is not always enough..
You can back up just so far...
24mm provides significantly more wide angle coverage...

You see more and more cameras with 24mm capability for good reason.

You can crop for more tele reach within reason ...

You cannot add wide angle coverage that isn't there...

Image quality, yes absolutely but then we are at the point where almost all larger sensored cameras would have good enough images.

Everything else and overall absolutely no way.

I'm not going to respond directly to jimr's argument since it is a copy and paste of some standard nonsense rather than a useful discussion of the subject at hand. 28mm is plenty wide unless you're shooting in a broom closet.

Now a good reason for not using the G1 X as a primary wedding camera is speed. Not just AF speed but shot-to-shot speed and continuous shooting speed. Weddings move fast, things happen very suddenly, and if you don't have a fast camera you WILL miss something.....and the bride will hate you forever no matter how many awesome shots you go. Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but depending on the bride it may also be a gross understatement. Also, it would be nice to have a real flash (preferably mounted on a bracket) for the formal shots (definitely indoor, possibly for fill flash if outdoor) whether you use a G1 X or a DSLR.

The G1 X is a point and shoot, and therefore it is not surprising that it has a little less dynamic range than a DSLR. Most of the time this isn't really much of an issue, but if you're shooting a bride wearing a snow white wedding dress, you need every bit of dynamic range you can get. You also need to know how to meter her and the dress correctly....and shoot in RAW.....expose to the right, don't blow any highlights, and take care of the shadows and detail recovery later. Be sure to check the histogram and if you see a single blown highlight in the dress try again. One thing there is absolutely no adjusting for is recovering all that fine detail in the lace. If you wanted get elaborate, put that bad boy on high speed continuous and do a three shot bracket.

Marco said what I was going to say. Shot wedds for 18 yrs.

Marco Nero said:

mcslsk said:

You mean commercial shooting or private? It is good enough but if I had to cover a wedding for money, I'd be more comfortable with a DSLR. But because it has good low light capability and is silent, it might be a good second camera in places where you as photographer want "to merge with the background" and not be noticed too much, like in the church.

Click to expand...

I feel the same way... the G1X would take fantastic indoor shots, especially where the subjects are fairly stationary such as in the church. You'd capture some amazing shots indoors like that. But wedding photographers who do it professionally really need two cameras, usually both are DSLRs.

Even with an external flash, there's a 1 or 2 second delay between shots and that might mean a problem. There's also a more limited battery life on the G1X compared to the double battery setups on many of the extended battery grips on DSLRs.

It think that when Canon marketed the G1X as a backup camera for those who use DSLRs, they might have been thinking of Treckers, Photojournalists, Casual Photographers and those who need to carry a spare camera to get the job done in the event of a loss of equipment (ie, lost luggage and dropped lenses). They all need pro-looking pictures. But I don't think they meant wedding photographers because although you should always have a backup unit, there's a specific need to be consistent and reliable and to meed expectations. If you are being paid a tidy sum to produce wedding photographs and they see you touting a camera so small that they might as well have asked Uncle Dave to cover their wedding, you might find them looking for excuses not to pay or, at the very least, they might have low expectations because you're not using what they believe to be 'pro-gear'.

If you had a second person covering the wedding with the G1X, the pictures would compliment anything your DSLR captures.

But if you're covering a friends wedding with a G1X, you'll at least have the potential to produce some of the very best photographs at the event. And without an annoying flash to capture the shots.

--
Regards,

Marco Nero.
http://www.pbase.com/nero_design

Click to expand...

As a retired wedd photog, I plan to take the G1X to my daughters wedd, not as a main shooter--I'm not it. But for a few shots w quality. It's got the iso and quality, but for rapid demands of wedds as a hired guy, nope.

I don't want to be encumbered w an slr/lens when I'm there, but a small sensor cam..has so little IQ. So...thats it.

No point and shoot is good enough to shoot weddings with. Of course if its for fun sure, but if it was my wedding I would want something more reliable. Before digital took off wedding were shot with 645 or 6X6 medium format cameras 90% of the time. 35 mm Slr unless it was a pro model maybe. I think part of it was just image and looking professional.

I am not saying its not capable but when it comes to needing focal lengths (various) under poor light or you can use a flash you need what a DSLR system has.

Lots can be done but again I would not make it the main camera "workhorse"

Chuck_237 said:

Is the new G1X good enough to do weddings with ?

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Many argue that clients don't care what gear a photographer uses to get a shot, and to some extent that is true. Few brides are really looking to see if there is a red band around a "L" lens for example.

However, at the same time, I think a good number of clients could take pause if they see someone show up to and event they are getting paid $1500 or more to shoot with what looks like a point and shoot camera. How professional can one look with what looks like a point and shoot, even if it does have a larger sensor ?

It would be like if the wedding DJ showed up with just their smartphone as the music source.

Does that mean a really talented photog couldn't produce great images with one ?

No of course not, I've honestly seen some impressive wedding images with point and shoots, though at the same time, there would be situations where a higher end DSLR would have a real advantage, lens selection and speed being one of them.

I used to carry a G10 with me when I shot wedding just for its macro abilities. Why but a $600 macro lens to take ring on pillow closeups, when I already had a compact that could focus close and had a DoF advantage due to its small sensor.

There certainly are uses for a compact camera at a wedding.

I wouldn't want to show up as the hired photographer with a compact though, no matter how capable.

I wouldn't want to try to get hired by pro shooter as a paid second shooter with just a compact either.

If I was just going as a guest and wanted to grab some shots I would have no doubts taking the Gx1, in fact, it would be my choice over taking a big DSLR

I think going as a guest and taking a big DSLR (even if your a photog for a living otherwise and have tens of thousands of gear) is as silly as the paid shooter showing up with just a compact

--
http://www.millsartphotography.com

I'd pay twice the current price for a G1X with the kind of response you find in a 7D with an EVF like Sony's OLED.

Eduardo

I saw an afternoon tv show of a wedding couple suing the photographer because they did not like the photos.The photog was using a Rebel(this was about 2 years ago) and the Judge knew enough to chide the photographer for not using professional gear for a paid job.

The judge awarded back the money the photographer was paid plus extra.In addition,the photographers business was wiped out after the show ran.

Most wedding couples are demanding. I've done a few weddings and I charge in the $3500-5000 USD bracket.

You should also make sure you have very good retouching skills and know enough about design elements to do a wedding album that will be awesome.

If you are just looking to weddings for money on the side and don't really 'love it' it's going to show in your work and no one will be impressed.

eyedo

Eyedo,

I get what you're saying. How about the couple that is on a budget. They want a $500 wedding. Do they expect a Photographer to show up with 2 7'ds in his bag and a bag of "L" lenses for a $500 wedding or in this case, can a guy show up with his rebel outfit, do a good job and the couple should be pleased ?

Sure, if you tell them upfront. Most weddings I've done as a young man were covered with a Praktika B200 and Zeiss/Jena primes. The B200 was never a professional camera, the lenses were. There was no AF and no power drive, and no preview of an image either. How did we manage to take photos at all back in the 80ies?

millsart

I agree with you 100%. Last weekend I did a wedding for a friend, they were not even going to have any photos at all but I talked them into a few I used a 7D with 24-70 2.8 for the big shots but I did change over to a G1X after a while. I had already talked this over with the bride so no suprise.

When I loaded the pics into LR4 i had a bit of a surprise, the G1X did better over all with less PP then the 7D so go figure. At the wedding I also talked to some of the people about what they would think of using just the G1X and everyone said no problem. Was a very easy going group. BUT I could not bring myself to do that for the reasons you talked about.

Dave

Wow there are some crap 'professionals' around

Chuck_237 said:

Eyedo,

I get what you're saying. How about the couple that is on a budget. They want a $500 wedding. Do they expect a Photographer to show up with 2 7'ds in his bag and a bag of "L" lenses for a $500 wedding or in this case, can a guy show up with his rebel outfit, do a good job and the couple should be pleased ?

Click to expand...

I saw that show too. But tons of ppl cannot afford your prices. I'm not recomending the G1X as a wedd tool for paid gigs, but...for fill in. For a $1200. wedd photo job (where a house costs 250K in Canada)...the photog , charging less, using crop slrs ...will likely satisfy the bride. I know.

eyedo said:

I saw an afternoon tv show of a wedding couple suing the photographer because they did not like the photos.The photog was using a Rebel(this was about 2 years ago) and the Judge knew enough to chide the photographer for not using professional gear for a paid job.

The judge awarded back the money the photographer was paid plus extra.In addition,the photographers business was wiped out after the show ran.

Most wedding couples are demanding. I've done a few weddings and I charge in the $3500-5000 USD bracket.

You should also make sure you have very good retouching skills and know enough about design elements to do a wedding album that will be awesome.

If you are just looking to weddings for money on the side and don't really 'love it' it's going to show in your work and no one will be impressed.

eyedo

Click to expand...

Like photo gear many times you get what you pay for. If the client can only pay $500 and not $2,000 that is fine but don't give $2000 worth of service for $500, I would not do it. This is why. Weddings are fun and challenging and it has to be clear who is in charge in the wedding party and would only listen to the bride and groom or the family will have you all over the place taking pictures of things. I advise a list of must have pictures the couple should give the photographer.

Now if you are not doing any editing or printing and just giving the memory card that is your choice but thats how photographers make a living. You can put low quality scans so to say on a disc so they can't make prints and have to come to you, just like stamping proof all over a photo when film was used. You have to decide how much your time is worth.

I have done weddings for friends while they had a hired photographer and just gave them what I shot as a wedding gift for fun. No expectations there since I am not payed for that and I have a rule that always serves me well, never do business with family or friends.