Is $2500 enough to start our wedding business?

As the OP has not responded and has very intermitant comms, and speaks in a manner very similar to our dear Troll - Shabang, (swop Pentax for Leica), I would personally suggest this thread has run its course.

Jacques Cornell said:

ampimagedotcom said:

.. why would you not want to use something like the 1Ds Mark III anymore to shoot a wedding?

Click to expand...

Let me dispel a potential misunderstanding. I could still do my event work with the cameras I started out with - a pair of Canon 10Ds.

Click to expand...

I started out using a Canon A-1…


(With my new Canon A-1 camera, which I bought secondhand in New York a few days before, in the bathroom of my room in Taub Hall at the University of Houston during the Fall of 1980)

.. which I would have used to take pictures at events, but I never used it to shoot someone's wedding - for that I would have used the Mamiya RB67 Pro-S in the 80s or the Bronica SQ-Ai in the 90s, and then after buying the Canon 1Ds in 2003 I would have mainly used that, along with the Hasselblad…


(Behind my Hasselblad 503CW)

.. which I still use as my main workhorse to this very day.

Jacques Cornell said:

.. My goal was to lampoon Shabang's efforts to hornswoggle gullible prospects by using a red dot as a Good Housekeeping seal of worthiness. I'm simply saying - tongue in cheek - that a big impressive-looking but ancient and behind-the-times "pro" DSLR could be even more effective if one's goal is to impress rather than deliver.

Click to expand...

I got the whole 'red dot' thing - but what I’m simply saying - in all seriousness - is that I reckon either of those 2 cameras that you mentioned - or even the slightly older 1Ds Mark lll - would not only look the part but it would also help one deliver... when it comes to producing images of someones wedding that they would be happy to pay for.

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

ampimagedotcom said:

Jacques Cornell said:

ampimagedotcom said:

.. why would you not want to use something like the 1Ds Mark III anymore to shoot a wedding?

Click to expand...

Let me dispel a potential misunderstanding. I could still do my event work with the cameras I started out with - a pair of Canon 10Ds.

Click to expand...

I started out using a Canon A-1…

Click to expand...

Yashica FX-3 in 1984.

ampimagedotcom said:

(With my new Canon A-1 camera, which I bought secondhand in New York a few days before, in the bathroom of my room in Taub Hall at the University of Houston during the Fall of 1980)

.. which I would have used to take pictures at events, but I never used it to shoot someone's wedding - for that I would have used the Mamiya RB67 Pro-S in the 80s or the Bronica SQ-Ai in the 90s

Click to expand...

Pentax 67 in 1997

ampimagedotcom said:

, and then after buying the Canon 1Ds in 2003

Click to expand...

Same here

ampimagedotcom said:

I would have mainly used that, along with the Hasselblad…


(Behind my Hasselblad 503CW)

.. which I still use as my main workhorse to this very day.

ampimagedotcom said:

.. My goal was to lampoon Shabang's efforts to hornswoggle gullible prospects by using a red dot as a Good Housekeeping seal of worthiness. I'm simply saying - tongue in cheek - that a big impressive-looking but ancient and behind-the-times "pro" DSLR could be even more effective if one's goal is to impress rather than deliver.

Click to expand...

I got the whole 'red dot' thing - but what I’m simply saying - in all seriousness - is that I reckon either of those 2 cameras that you mentioned - or even the slightly older 1Ds Mark lll - would not only look the part but it would also help one deliver... when it comes to producing images of someones wedding that they would be happy to pay for.

Click to expand...

Absolutely. Like I said, I know a successful editorial & portrait shooter who's still using his 1DsIII to great effect.

ampimagedotcom said:

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

Click to expand...

I agree that the 1DsIII remains a capable camera today. Micro Four Thirds Panasonic GX9 is just as good, and in some ways better. Which is why I was able to do all my professional as well as personal work with MFT from 2014 to 2020 and still could today. I chose to "upgrade" to Sony FE mainly for non-essential reasons.

--
Event professional for 20+ years, travel & landscape enthusiast for 30+, stills-only.

Nikon S3 (which I owned) in the summer of 1060, and a Crown Grafic and a 120 folding Voightlander Bessa, both owned by the photographer I worked for.

BAK

Jacques Cornell said:

I agree that the 1DsIII remains a capable camera today. Micro Four Thirds Panasonic GX9 is just as good, and in some ways better. Which is why I was able to do all my professional as well as personal work with MFT from 2014 to 2020 and still could today.

Click to expand...

You said "in 2014 I started a 5-year period of living and traveling abroad, and I wanted a lightweight kit.” - so did you shoot any wedding during that time with the Panasonic GX9 - which was reviewed here on DPReview in August 2018?

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

ampimagedotcom said:

Jacques Cornell said:

I agree that the 1DsIII remains a capable camera today. Micro Four Thirds Panasonic GX9 is just as good, and in some ways better. Which is why I was able to do all my professional as well as personal work with MFT from 2014 to 2020 and still could today.

Click to expand...

You said "in 2014 I started a 5-year period of living and traveling abroad, and I wanted a lightweight kit.” - so did you shoot any wedding during that time with the Panasonic GX9 - which was reviewed here on DPReview in August 2018?

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

Click to expand...

I shot these two weddings while living in Tajikistan with a GX1 and G3, then a GX7 and G6. These are jobs that just fell into my lap via social circles, so I was woefully underequipped with just two kit zooms and this flash. I hired an assistant to wield his 420EX, with optical slave, on a stick. I also did corporate work with an expanded MFT kit while abroad and after I returned to life in New York City, when I upgraded to a GX9 and two GX8s.

dilnoza & abdugaffor

Jabbar & Nigina's wedding

After shooting Canon EOS 1-series for almost 10 years, exploring hilly/mountainous landscapes on foot with two itty-bitty bodies, an itty-bitty 28-90 EFL and a 90-400 EFL the size of a soda can was tremendously liberating. Previously, I'd often leave my 1-series at home when going for photo walks and take my LX3/LX5/LX7 compacts instead. This was much more fun, and I have - and have sold - some nice 24" prints from those little compacts.

Did you know a Canadian named Towhey?

BAk

BAK said:

Did you know a Canadian named Towhey?

BAk

Click to expand...

Nope.

Jacques Cornell said:

I shot these two weddings while living in Tajikistan with a GX1 and G3, then a GX7 and G6. These are jobs that just fell into my lap via social circles, so I was woefully underequipped with just two kit zooms and this flash. I hired an assistant to wield his 420EX, with optical slave, on a stick. I also did corporate work with an expanded MFT kit while abroad and after I returned to life in New York City, when I upgraded to a GX9 and two GX8s.

dilnoza & abdugaffor

Jabbar & Nigina's wedding

After shooting Canon EOS 1-series for almost 10 years, exploring hilly/mountainous landscapes on foot with two itty-bitty bodies, an itty-bitty 28-90 EFL and a 90-400 EFL the size of a soda can was tremendously liberating. Previously, I'd often leave my 1-series at home when going for photo walks and take my LX3/LX5/LX7 compacts instead. This was much more fun, and I have - and have sold - some nice 24" prints from those little compacts.

Click to expand...

Wow! - you sure have gone through a lot of cameras in the past 20 something years - because if I have got this right you're talking about the Canon 1D, plus the Canon 1Ds, 1Ds MkII & 1Ds MkIII for the first 10 years (2003 to 2013), the Panasonic GX1, G3, G6, GX7, GX8, and GX9 for the next 6 years (2014 to 2020), and then the Sony a7RII, a7III, a7RIII, a7IV and a7RV over the last 4 years (2021 to 2025).

Plus at least 5 or 6 Panasonic LX compacts too!!

I’m impressed - because like I said before, I’ve pretty much used the same two for the past 20 years, i.e. the Canon 1Ds (which I bought in 2003) and the Hasselblad system (which I bought in 2002) along with the P25 back (which I bought in 2004 and only sold last year after ‘accidentally' buying a P45+ back on eBay).

Although I did buy a little Sony a6000 back in 2017 to replace the 1Ds, when I wanted to take pictures like this...


(Pit stop)

.. to help me tell a story on my Blog about what I did or saw that day.

Anyway, thanks for the additional information - that should definitely give the OP something to think about - especially now that you have provided him with some wedding pictures to look at as well... which always helps i.m.o.

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

ampimagedotcom said:

Jacques Cornell said:

I shot these two weddings while living in Tajikistan with a GX1 and G3, then a GX7 and G6. These are jobs that just fell into my lap via social circles, so I was woefully underequipped with just two kit zooms and this flash. I hired an assistant to wield his 420EX, with optical slave, on a stick. I also did corporate work with an expanded MFT kit while abroad and after I returned to life in New York City, when I upgraded to a GX9 and two GX8s.

dilnoza & abdugaffor

Jabbar & Nigina's wedding

After shooting Canon EOS 1-series for almost 10 years, exploring hilly/mountainous landscapes on foot with two itty-bitty bodies, an itty-bitty 28-90 EFL and a 90-400 EFL the size of a soda can was tremendously liberating. Previously, I'd often leave my 1-series at home when going for photo walks and take my LX3/LX5/LX7 compacts instead. This was much more fun, and I have - and have sold - some nice 24" prints from those little compacts.

Click to expand...

Wow! - you sure have gone through a lot of cameras in the past 20 something years - because if I have got this right you're talking about the Canon 1D, plus the Canon 1Ds, 1Ds MkII & 1Ds MkIII for the first 10 years (2003 to 2013), the Panasonic GX1, G3, G6, GX7, GX8, and GX9 for the next 6 years (2014 to 2020), and then the Sony a7RII, a7III, a7RIII, a7IV and a7RV over the last 4 years (2021 to 2025).

Click to expand...

Ayuh. The feature and technology advances have made my event work a lot easier, more productive, and enjoyable. I rely much less on flash now, and I think my photos look a heckuva lot better.

ampimagedotcom said:

Plus at least 5 or 6 Panasonic LX compacts too!!

Click to expand...

Ayuh. The LX100 is a keeper - with a Godox TT350 in the hotshoe I can actually do paid work with it or take it as a backup in an ultralight situation - but the LX10 is going up for sale.

If this all seems extravagant, I often buy used, and my turnover cost after, say, 2-3 years is only about 30% of purchase price.

ampimagedotcom said:

I’m impressed - because like I said before, I’ve pretty much used the same two for the past 20 years, i.e. the Canon 1Ds (which I bought in 2003) and the Hasselblad system (which I bought in 2002) along with the P25 back (which I bought in 2004 and only sold last year after ‘accidentally' buying a P45+ back on eBay).

Although I did buy a little Sony a6000 back in 2017 to replace the 1Ds, when I wanted to take pictures like this...

Click to expand...

A modern iPhone covers this ground for me now.

ampimagedotcom said:

(Pit stop)

.. to help me tell a story on my Blog about what I did or saw that day.

Anyway, thanks for the additional information - that should definitely give the OP something to think about - especially now that you have provided him with some wedding pictures to look at as well... which always helps i.m.o.

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

Click to expand...

--
Event professional for 20+ years, travel & landscape enthusiast for 30+, stills-only.

Jacques Cornell said:

A modern iPhone covers this ground for me now.

Jacques Cornell said:

(Pit stop)

.. to help me tell a story on my Blog about what I did or saw that day.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Which is what I wrote about: When in Rome, do as the Romans do - as I basically took lots of pictures of people taking pictures with their iPhones that day.

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

Jacques Cornell said:

ampimagedotcom said:

Jacques Cornell said:

I shot these two weddings while living in Tajikistan with a GX1 and G3, then a GX7 and G6. These are jobs that just fell into my lap via social circles, so I was woefully underequipped with just two kit zooms and this flash. I hired an assistant to wield his 420EX, with optical slave, on a stick. I also did corporate work with an expanded MFT kit while abroad and after I returned to life in New York City, when I upgraded to a GX9 and two GX8s.

dilnoza & abdugaffor

Jabbar & Nigina's wedding

After shooting Canon EOS 1-series for almost 10 years, exploring hilly/mountainous landscapes on foot with two itty-bitty bodies, an itty-bitty 28-90 EFL and a 90-400 EFL the size of a soda can was tremendously liberating. Previously, I'd often leave my 1-series at home when going for photo walks and take my LX3/LX5/LX7 compacts instead. This was much more fun, and I have - and have sold - some nice 24" prints from those little compacts.

Click to expand...

Wow! - you sure have gone through a lot of cameras in the past 20 something years - because if I have got this right you're talking about the Canon 1D, plus the Canon 1Ds, 1Ds MkII & 1Ds MkIII for the first 10 years (2003 to 2013), the Panasonic GX1, G3, G6, GX7, GX8, and GX9 for the next 6 years (2014 to 2020), and then the Sony a7RII, a7III, a7RIII, a7IV and a7RV over the last 4 years (2021 to 2025).

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Oh, also the 1D MkII & MkIII. I paired a 1D with a 1Ds for each generation, much as I now pair an a7IV and a7RV for different effective focal lengths from primes. Before, it was using different sensor sizes. Now it's Crop Mode on the higher-rez sensor.

Jacques Cornell said:

Ayuh. The feature and technology advances have made my event work a lot easier, more productive, and enjoyable. I rely much less on flash now, and I think my photos look a heckuva lot better.

Jacques Cornell said:

Plus at least 5 or 6 Panasonic LX compacts too!!

Click to expand...

Ayuh. The LX100 is a keeper - with a Godox TT350 in the hotshoe I can actually do paid work with it or take it as a backup in an ultralight situation - but the LX10 is going up for sale.

If this all seems extravagant, I often buy used, and my turnover cost after, say, 2-3 years is only about 30% of purchase price.

Jacques Cornell said:

I’m impressed - because like I said before, I’ve pretty much used the same two for the past 20 years, i.e. the Canon 1Ds (which I bought in 2003) and the Hasselblad system (which I bought in 2002) along with the P25 back (which I bought in 2004 and only sold last year after ‘accidentally' buying a P45+ back on eBay).

Although I did buy a little Sony a6000 back in 2017 to replace the 1Ds, when I wanted to take pictures like this...

Click to expand...

A modern iPhone covers this ground for me now.

Jacques Cornell said:

(Pit stop)

.. to help me tell a story on my Blog about what I did or saw that day.

Anyway, thanks for the additional information - that should definitely give the OP something to think about - especially now that you have provided him with some wedding pictures to look at as well... which always helps i.m.o.

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
Event professional for 20+ years, travel & landscape enthusiast for 30+, stills-only.

Jacques Cornell said:

Jacques Cornell said:

Jacques Cornell said:

Wow! - you sure have gone through a lot of cameras in the past 20 something years - because if I have got this right you're talking about the Canon 1D, plus the Canon 1Ds, 1Ds MkII & 1Ds MkIII for the first 10 years (2003 to 2013), the Panasonic GX1, G3, G6, GX7, GX8, and GX9 for the next 6 years (2014 to 2020), and then the Sony a7RII, a7III, a7RIII, a7IV and a7RV over the last 4 years (2021 to 2025).

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Oh, also the 1D MkII & MkIII. I paired a 1D with a 1Ds for each generation, much as I now pair an a7IV and a7RV for different effective focal lengths from primes.

Jacques Cornell said:

If this all seems extravagant, I often buy used, and my turnover cost after, say, 2-3 years is only about 30% of purchase price.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Interesting - so where or who would normally buy from and sell to?
-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

ampimagedotcom said:

Jacques Cornell said:

Jacques Cornell said:

ampimagedotcom said:

Wow! - you sure have gone through a lot of cameras in the past 20 something years - because if I have got this right you're talking about the Canon 1D, plus the Canon 1Ds, 1Ds MkII & 1Ds MkIII for the first 10 years (2003 to 2013), the Panasonic GX1, G3, G6, GX7, GX8, and GX9 for the next 6 years (2014 to 2020), and then the Sony a7RII, a7III, a7RIII, a7IV and a7RV over the last 4 years (2021 to 2025).

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Oh, also the 1D MkII & MkIII. I paired a 1D with a 1Ds for each generation, much as I now pair an a7IV and a7RV for different effective focal lengths from primes.

ampimagedotcom said:

If this all seems extravagant, I often buy used, and my turnover cost after, say, 2-3 years is only about 30% of purchase price.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Interesting - so where or who would normally buy from and sell to?

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

Click to expand...

New - Adorama and B&H

Used - eBay and DPR

When I can, I buy refurbs with warranty on eBay. Saved $1000 on my a7RV this way. Haven't had a dud yet, although one numbskull shipped the a7IV and unmounted kit zoom loose in a box with no packing material. Amazingly, no real harm done. Good job, UPS!

--
Event professional for 20+ years, travel & landscape enthusiast for 30+, stills-only.
http://jacquescornell.photography
http://happening.photos

Jacques Cornell said:

ampimagedotcom said:

Jacques Cornell said:

Jacques Cornell said:

If this all seems extravagant, I often buy used, and my turnover cost after, say, 2-3 years is only about 30% of purchase price.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Interesting - so where or who would normally buy from and sell to?

Click to expand...

New - Adorama and B&H

Used - eBay and DPR

When I can, I buy refurbs with warranty on eBay. Saved $1000 on my a7RV this way. Haven't had a dud yet, although one numbskull shipped the a7IV and unmounted kit zoom loose in a box with no packing material. Amazingly, no real harm done. Good job, UPS!

Click to expand...

I see you could buy a New one for £2278.45 today - which would completely blow the OP’s budget here - but still, that’s a pretty good deal for anyone who is in the market for a Sony a7RV here in the UK.

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

ampimagedotcom said:

Jacques Cornell said:

ampimagedotcom said:

Jacques Cornell said:

Jacques Cornell said:

If this all seems extravagant, I often buy used, and my turnover cost after, say, 2-3 years is only about 30% of purchase price.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Interesting - so where or who would normally buy from and sell to?

Click to expand...

New - Adorama and B&H

Used - eBay and DPR

When I can, I buy refurbs with warranty on eBay. Saved $1000 on my a7RV this way. Haven't had a dud yet, although one numbskull shipped the a7IV and unmounted kit zoom loose in a box with no packing material. Amazingly, no real harm done. Good job, UPS!

Click to expand...

I see you could buy a New one for £2278.45 today - which would completely blow the OP’s budget here - but still, that’s a pretty good deal for anyone who is in the market for a Sony a7RV here in the UK.

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

Click to expand...

I don't need another one, and they're retailing here in the U.S. for $3400. Besides, my next camera will probably be a used a1, just for those few venues where banding is an unavoidable issue.

Jacques Cornell said:

.. my next camera will probably be a used a1...

Click to expand...

Still have my A-1, which now sits on display in front of some of the pictures I took with it...



.. back in the early 80s when I was at college.

Didn't actually use it that much after I bought the Canon F-1N L.A... but that's another story for another day.

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

I tought you meant a Sony A1

ampimagedotcom said:

Jacques Cornell said:

.. my next camera will probably be a used a1...

Click to expand...

Still have my A-1, which now sits on display in front of some of the pictures I took with it...



.. back in the early 80s when I was at college.

Didn't actually use it that much after I bought the Canon F-1N L.A... but that's another story for another day.

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

Click to expand...

ROUSSEL_Photographer said:

I tought [sic] you meant a Sony A1

Click to expand...

They built the DeLorean in the early 80s, just outside Belfast in the north of Ireland, where I’m from.

But at that time I was in Houston; otherwise, I may have been able to show you a Sony a1 sitting there in front of this picture that I took in the Fall of 80...


(Sting - lead vocals, bass guitar & primary songwriter - of the British rock band The Police)

.. when The Police played at the Music Hall - or when my Dad came over to see me in 81, and I got all the guys on the team to sign this for him…


(My Dad with with Coach Phill Hansel and the University of Houston mens swimming team)

.. which naturally brings back great memories now.

But I would have also needed Doc Brown's help to have been able to pull that off ;-)

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

ampimagedotcom said:

They built the DeLorean in the early 80s, just outside Belfast in the north of Ireland, where I’m from.

But at that time I was in Houston;

Click to expand...

Sorry for going OT, but as much as I've found your sample photos impressive and your contributions interesting, I've got to ask: how did a guy from Belfast find himself at the University of Houston?