Sony a7s for Wedding Photography

tedolf said:

cberry said:

tedolf said:

cberry said:

f/2.8 lens would be fine but for crying out loud, don't shoot at f/2.8 unless you need to - especially the bride walking down the aisle!

It's nice to choreograph this, short stop at the end of the aisle, flower girls move forward to get the full dress frontal, procession moves on while you're in position when the veil is removed... sloooowly. The father of the bride is the best person to control this.

Click to expand...

???????

I have never seen that.

The church's wedding coordinator handles all that and nobody tells her what to do.

This has all been worked out and rehearsed before you get there and you are not going to change any of it.

Click to expand...

I shot my first a few months ago and looked at some wedding tips from pros.

One of them was to work with the coordinator and the bride. If there is a Must have shot, the coordinator needs to plan it in. The bride spoke to the coordinator, we exchanged a couple of very polite words and she was great about it.

tedolf said:

tedolf said:

Just ask what shots the bride really wants and rehearse them if it's critical to her!

Click to expand...

????

You don't have any input into the wedding ceremony at al.

Have you ever actually shot a formal church wedding?

tedolf said:

cb

Click to expand...

TEdolph

Click to expand...

The tip made sense to me. Awesome shots. Coordinator was pretty pleased as all the Bride's priority shots were taken care of but lesser shots, she had full control. Basically - it helped both of us as she also had my shots and even helped me out shuffling people around.

I'd certainly do it again - which is why I recommend it.

Click to expand...

My experience has been that the coordinator has a choreography already set in stone, virtually the same from wedding to wedding at her church and she doesn't want to hear anything from you. She will tell you when the bride will be available for the formal sitting, etc. and she isn't going to deviate from it at all.

Anyway that has been my experience.

tedolf said:

cb

Click to expand...

Tedolph

Click to expand...

simonchung said:

Thanks for all the responses. As some of you may have guessed, I'm not a pro or an event photographer. I used my Nikon NEX-7 mostly in Auto and Program Mode for family events and vacations. I mostly take photos and rarely videos.

I'm upgrading because I have two family weddings to go to and I thought that it would satisfy having some good wedding pics for my family who are too cheap/poor to hire a pro photographer. Plus then I'd have upgraded to a better camera to keep.

I can't afford pro equipment nor do I wish to own any gear I won't have future uses for. But I thought after many years with the NEX-7 it's time for an upgrade anyway.

Previously I had rented a Nikon D3s with a 28-70 f2.8 lens + a Sigma 50mm f1/8 for my cousin's wedding several years ago and was loving the low light quality as we partied on until 11pm, which is why I asked about the Sony a7s. At that time all I had used was a Nikon D40 entry level kit with an SB-400 flash.

Photos from the Nikon D3s and D40 here in case you're interested http://www.simonchung.net/2010-KreiserWeddingReception

This year I have two family weddings, so for the price of two separate weekend rentals of the Nikon pro gear, I could have $700 applied towards gear I can keep.

Thanks for all the advice on wedding photos. However much do enjoy low light photography, I think the Sony a7s AF would be too slow in my unskilled hands. Maybe the Sony a7ii with the Sonnar T*FE 35mm F2.8 prime + my existing crop factored E-mount Vario-Tessar T*16-70mm F4 ZA OSS would be sufficient.

Trying to figure out a $3000 camera/lens package that would work. Already sold my NEX-7 to put towards the upgrade, so no dual camera for the event. Please let me know if you have any additional advice.

Thanks,

Simon

Click to expand...