Need Advice for Wedding Camera Package

Hi, just wondering if you can help us out with some advice...

What do you think would be the ideal Canon wedding camera package, if you had around US4000 - 5000 to spend? It's for my sister, who is making the transition to digital wedding photography.

Do you think she should go for the Mark II and some cheaper lenses? Or should she go for the 10D/Digital Rebel and spend the money on better quality lenses and equipment etc.

She usually shoots a good combination of low-light indoor shots and wider shots of the Harbour Bridge with the couple in the foreground etc. She often blows the pictures up to greater than A3 size.

Any advice would be really appreciated, especially if you've had experience shooting weddings.

Thanks heaps.

I made the transition to digital a little over a year ago and love the 10D for wedding work. My opnion would be 2 10D bodies, 2 550EX flashes, a 17-40 and 24-70 L series lenses. You need the backup and it is nice to pickup a second camera with the lens already mounted. Good glass is a must. The MkII is an excellent camera but I find for wedding work, it is heavy and the extra 2MP doesn't add that much to the image. The Digital Rebel is fine as a backup but why limit your shooting.

bootman said:

Hi, just wondering if you can help us out with some advice...

What do you think would be the ideal Canon wedding camera package,
if you had around US4000 - 5000 to spend? It's for my sister, who
is making the transition to digital wedding photography.

Do you think she should go for the Mark II and some cheaper lenses?
Or should she go for the 10D/Digital Rebel and spend the money on
better quality lenses and equipment etc.

She usually shoots a good combination of low-light indoor shots and
wider shots of the Harbour Bridge with the couple in the foreground
etc. She often blows the pictures up to greater than A3 size.

Any advice would be really appreciated, especially if you've had
experience shooting weddings.

Thanks heaps.

Click to expand...

Thanks alot Ben,

Just wondering - do you know what's the largest you can blow up an image shot on a 10D to, with the resolution still comparable to film?

Ben Strasser said:

bootman said:

Hi, just wondering if you can help us out with some advice...

What do you think would be the ideal Canon wedding camera package,
if you had around US4000 - 5000 to spend? It's for my sister, who
is making the transition to digital wedding photography.

Do you think she should go for the Mark II and some cheaper lenses?
Or should she go for the 10D/Digital Rebel and spend the money on
better quality lenses and equipment etc.

She usually shoots a good combination of low-light indoor shots and
wider shots of the Harbour Bridge with the couple in the foreground
etc. She often blows the pictures up to greater than A3 size.

Any advice would be really appreciated, especially if you've had
experience shooting weddings.

Thanks heaps.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

The markII is really nice and secure because it can store the images on 2 cards at the same time, but on the other hand you wont need more speed than the 10d has and with its 6mpixels i have no problems to blow pictures up to 75x50 cm.

Beside using 2 10D would be a better idea than 1 mark2, if something happens, u got a backup.
And you dont need to switch lenses. (No sensor cleaning)

As a lens i use the 17-40 f4 Canon.. i tried the sigma lenses but they didn´t worked for my cam (2x 17-35 1x 15-30 they all where unsharp at the sides) and a tamaron 28-300 (not a excellent one, but a good deal)

There is a new sigma 18-125mm but it seems i always have bad luck with the sigma lenses. I had the chance to try one, but it couldnt get a straight line in the pictures. Funny thing it was no barrel distortion but the horizontal line i took a picture of went up and down the whole way...
But i will try another one.. maybe it works

Hi.
My little opinion.
I used 3 D10 bodies,in many weddings.
I'm happy with this cameras.
I made with my Epson 7600, enlargments about 50x75 cm.
Now i have ,from a week,a 1D MKII,too.
It's a great camera.
Your sister can buy, 2 bodies D10,a 17/40L- and 70/200 L 2,8 or f4.
2 flashes 550,and can effort many situations.
I only suggest her, to try,try, and try,before a weddings job.
Especially with flashes.
I use camera and flash full manual.
For me,and say for me,is the best combination with flash.
Sorry for my English.
Best regards.
Alessandro
http://www.pbase.com/gommalacca/weddings_in_capri

will be (very likely) 8mp like the 1D mkII, so you're likely to be able to enlarge as much, using "not-too-high" ISOs. Because of course, at high ISOs, for enlargements, the 1D is likely to remain the king.

I've shot my last 2 weddings with a 10D + D60. The 10D getting the most use, and I'm quite satisfied. AF is up to the job (even more with a Speedlite attached), even if I found it struggling a bit in a few situations. But I'm mostly glad of the rig I have.

If your friend chooses the 10D, she'll be able to buy nice lenses and this is a better route, to me. I'd prefer a 10D+L glass to a 1D and cheapo coke bottles any day. Of course there's a middle, between L and cheapo... ("L cheapo"? LOL)

If she likes primes, she could go the Canon prime route (mixed with some good Sigmas). There are several very fine non-L lenses...

Guillaume
http://www.at-sight.com

If you owned a trucking company, would you buy a fleet of Ford F-150's?

If your sister is going to use the camera for a business, to take wedding pictures, to make money, why would she want a 10D?

I'd do it right, and get a 1DM2. The list of reasons is very long.

For starters, it is much more responsive, has less noise, better and faster focus, more MP, bigger sensor, and because it is heavier, handholding will be more stable....just a few reasons.

Oh, and 1 stop better dynamic range, and here's the biggy....it has two memory card slots so that you can write the images to BOTH cards at the same time.

Imagine if on the 90th exposure, your CF card in your 10D takes a crash, and you cannot recover the pics! The bride is going to have you in court faster then you can change your lens! Not to mention her mother coming at your with a champagne bottle! If one card fails, the other is there to save your bacon.

The 10D is an awesome camera, BUT IT IS NOT COMMERCIAL GRADE.

If your sis is going to run a business, get a commercial grade camera such as the 1DM2.

Why fool around? Keep the 10D as a back up.

How do I know? I have both, and love them both to bits!

Delaney

bootman said:

Hi, just wondering if you can help us out with some advice...

What do you think would be the ideal Canon wedding camera package,
if you had around US4000 - 5000 to spend? It's for my sister, who
is making the transition to digital wedding photography.

Do you think she should go for the Mark II and some cheaper lenses?
Or should she go for the 10D/Digital Rebel and spend the money on
better quality lenses and equipment etc.

She usually shoots a good combination of low-light indoor shots and
wider shots of the Harbour Bridge with the couple in the foreground
etc. She often blows the pictures up to greater than A3 size.

Any advice would be really appreciated, especially if you've had
experience shooting weddings.

Thanks heaps.

Click to expand...

for 4-5000$ you wont get a Mark2 and a D10 for backup (even without lenses)

What happens if you only get one mark2 and it crashes while the ceremony.. same problem if the CF card crashes on a 10D after the ceremony, u got no pics.

But it could happen with analog also, as you can read in the forum.

If you got the extra money the mark2 would be great (I would like to buy it myself)
But if you do Business with cams you should always have a spare part left.

Well thinking about it, your sis will surley have analog backup and a few lenses from the old cams or ?? You didn´t mentioned it. She can use the lenses too !! (if they are canon)

Besides, i dont know if its me or a 10D/digital problem, but especially in dark rooms you will get a high rate of unfokused pics even if it looks good at the moment (AF), and if you use a flash there is a higher possibility that the picture is overexposed.

So if you do digital try it first before shooting a weeding, and use the speed to make more pics (except you are a real pro), to be sure you get good once.

(Thinking of it i think 1of 5 or4 pictures of mine failed in low light conditions, front/back focus or under overexposed, doing it all with auto and Metz54-3 on E-TTL hss)

ReneW said:

for 4-5000$ you wont get a Mark2 and a D10 for backup (even without
lenses)

Click to expand...

My error...thought the poster already had one camera...apologies.

ReneW said:

What happens if you only get one mark2 and it crashes while the
ceremony.. same problem if the CF card crashes on a 10D after the
ceremony, u got no pics.

Click to expand...

You weren't listening....the 1DM2 has TWO CARD SLOTS, and they both get written to at same time. So you see, it's not the same.

ReneW said:

But it could happen with analog also, as you can read in the forum.
If you got the extra money the mark2 would be great (I would like
to buy it myself)
But if you do Business with cams you should always have a spare
part left.

Click to expand...

Yes, agreed, a back up is a necessity!

ReneW said:

Well thinking about it, your sis will surley have analog backup and
a few lenses from the old cams or ?? You didn´t mentioned it. She
can use the lenses too !! (if they are canon)

Besides, i dont know if its me or a 10D/digital problem, but
especially in dark rooms you will get a high rate of unfokused pics
even if it looks good at the moment (AF), and if you use a flash
there is a higher possibility that the picture is overexposed.
So if you do digital try it first before shooting a weeding, and
use the speed to make more pics (except you are a real pro), to be
sure you get good once.

Click to expand...

If your 10D has focus issues, Canon can fix them and make the 10D focus razor sharp. This is not an issue.

ReneW said:

(Thinking of it i think 1of 5 or4 pictures of mine failed in low
light conditions, front/back focus or under overexposed, doing it
all with auto and Metz54-3 on E-TTL hss)

Click to expand...

Your camera is broken...get if fixed at Canon...I experienced same issues with my 10D....Canon fixed it and now it focuses very well

bootman said:

Hi, just wondering if you can help us out with some advice...

What do you think would be the ideal Canon wedding camera package,
if you had around US4000 - 5000 to spend? It's for my sister, who
is making the transition to digital wedding photography.

Do you think she should go for the Mark II and some cheaper lenses?
Or should she go for the 10D/Digital Rebel and spend the money on
better quality lenses and equipment etc.

Click to expand...

The better lenses pay off and can be used on future bodies.

Delaney Lovell said:

If you owned a trucking company, would you buy a fleet of Ford
F-150's?

If your sister is going to use the camera for a business, to take
wedding pictures, to make money, why would she want a 10D?

Click to expand...

the right thing the 1dmk2 and some good primes (L class) and a L class zooms

Delaney Lovell said:

ReneW said:

for 4-5000$ you wont get a Mark2 and a D10 for backup (even without
lenses)

Click to expand...

My error...thought the poster already had one camera...apologies.

Delaney Lovell said:

What happens if you only get one mark2 and it crashes while the
ceremony.. same problem if the CF card crashes on a 10D after the
ceremony, u got no pics.

Click to expand...

You weren't listening....the 1DM2 has TWO CARD SLOTS, and they both
get written to at same time. So you see, it's not the same.

Click to expand...

What if the body fails at shoot, no spare? A real pro uses at least 2 bodies and a pro quality lenses.

Too many flybynight wedding photogs. This is why its important to get references and ask pointed questions.

I never said a back up camera was not needed.

Actually I think a back up camera is manditory.

Delaney

photosniper said:

Delaney Lovell said:

ReneW said:

for 4-5000$ you wont get a Mark2 and a D10 for backup (even without
lenses)

Click to expand...

My error...thought the poster already had one camera...apologies.

photosniper said:

What happens if you only get one mark2 and it crashes while the
ceremony.. same problem if the CF card crashes on a 10D after the
ceremony, u got no pics.

Click to expand...

You weren't listening....the 1DM2 has TWO CARD SLOTS, and they both
get written to at same time. So you see, it's not the same.

Click to expand...

What if the body fails at shoot, no spare? A real pro uses at least
2 bodies and a pro quality lenses.

Too many flybynight wedding photogs. This is why its important to
get references and ask pointed questions.

Click to expand...

Well, you're in the 10D forum, so you're likely to get plenty of 10D responses. In fact, I am a wedding photographer and that is the model that I use. For a typical wedding, I shoot with two 10D bodies and a Rebel body. It's great to have three cameras close by at all times. I own an original Canon 1D, but don't use it for weddings for several reasons: first, the 10D is easily up to the task of weddings... responsive, good AF, good low light, plenty of resolution, fantastic color. Second, I combine all of the files and arrange them chronologically, so it's nice not to have to wonder which files came from which camera and need what kind of processing. Third, man is the 1D big and heavy! Fourth, using all the same models means sharing the same batteries and chargers.

There's no doubt that the 1dMKII is a FINE machine. Frankly, I'd love to have a couple of them to shoot weddings. BUT... at five grand a pop, that's not going to happen. I bought all three of these bodies for a grand LESS than what ONE MKII costs. At the end of the day, I have to ask which of those two options will allow me to do my job more effectively. The answer, for me at least, was the 10D set.

There has been some concern by one poster who claims the 10D is not "commercial grade". Unless he's using his camera body for a basketball between the cake cutting and bouquet toss, I have no idea where he gets that idea, as it relates to weddings. Weddings are not generally so tough on hardware so as to warrant spending FIVE TIMES as much on the body.

As far a resolution goes, it's worth nothing that the native resolution for the 10D is almost 8x12 @ 300ppi. That many pixels even allows for some cropping without appreciable image degradation. Consider that the vast majority of wedding images never see larger than a 4x6 or 5x7 print, and you'll quickly see that 6MP is really well suited for weddings. (In this respect, a 1Ds would probably be largely unsuitable for weddings... who needs 12MP files of caking cutting filling up your cards in twice the time?)

Even as the spector of a 10D replacement looms, I find myself tempted to invest in another 10D so as to insure I have matching equipment for some time to come. I wouldn't have done it with either the D30 or D60, fine cameras as they are, because their slow and difficult AF simply kept them from being the ideal wedding camera. But the 10D satisfies me plenty, and I will continue using them for weddings for a long time to come.

Best of luck

Michael

http://www.michaelphoto.net

bootman said:

Hi, just wondering if you can help us out with some advice...

What do you think would be the ideal Canon wedding camera package,
if you had around US4000 - 5000 to spend? It's for my sister, who
is making the transition to digital wedding photography.

Do you think she should go for the Mark II and some cheaper lenses?
Or should she go for the 10D/Digital Rebel and spend the money on
better quality lenses and equipment etc.

She usually shoots a good combination of low-light indoor shots and
wider shots of the Harbour Bridge with the couple in the foreground
etc. She often blows the pictures up to greater than A3 size.

Any advice would be really appreciated, especially if you've had
experience shooting weddings.

Thanks heaps.

Click to expand...

Delaney,

The 1DMkII is a great machine, but just the body alone would wipe out the user in question's budget... no lenses, memory, etc, much less a backup body. And, realistically, a 1DMKII is NOT mandatory to take very effective wedding photos. Thus far, my 10D bodies have not limited me any more than my 1D would for wedding photography. For sports, I ONLY pick up the 1D (not the MKII, but the original)... it's a Ferrari for sports photography. But few of us need a Ferrari at a wedding!

M

http://www.michaelphoto.net

Delaney Lovell said:

Actually I think a back up camera is manditory.

Delaney

photosniper said:

Delaney Lovell said:

ReneW said:

for 4-5000$ you wont get a Mark2 and a D10 for backup (even without
lenses)

Click to expand...

My error...thought the poster already had one camera...apologies.

Delaney Lovell said:

What happens if you only get one mark2 and it crashes while the
ceremony.. same problem if the CF card crashes on a 10D after the
ceremony, u got no pics.

Click to expand...

You weren't listening....the 1DM2 has TWO CARD SLOTS, and they both
get written to at same time. So you see, it's not the same.

Click to expand...

What if the body fails at shoot, no spare? A real pro uses at least
2 bodies and a pro quality lenses.

Too many flybynight wedding photogs. This is why its important to
get references and ask pointed questions.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I have two beautiful 24 x 36 inch prints (that's 24 x 36 inch) in my studio and they look impressive. Yes, I did interpolate up to a 158MB file at 300dpi which my lab required. I used Miranda's step interpolation (10% at a time) and there is no pixelation or grain look. Images were shot JPG fine. I have been shooting weddings with MF for the past 30 years and the quality of the 6.3MP 10D impresses me.

Try this, shoot an image with a nice fine grain negative film like Kodak Portra 160NC and have the negative scanned at 8MP. Shoot the same image with your 10D and compare the results in Photoshop. It is an eye opener. My wife shot a friend's wedding with film because I was tied up on another wedding. I had the negatives scanned thinking they would be close to digital. Well, I was wrong. Far too much contrast and grain with film. Now, 5x7 and 8x10 looked OK but not as good as digital.

bootman said:

Just wondering - do you know what's the largest you can blow up an
image shot on a 10D to, with the resolution still comparable to
film?

Ben Strasser said:

bootman said:

Hi, just wondering if you can help us out with some advice...

What do you think would be the ideal Canon wedding camera package,
if you had around US4000 - 5000 to spend? It's for my sister, who
is making the transition to digital wedding photography.

Do you think she should go for the Mark II and some cheaper lenses?
Or should she go for the 10D/Digital Rebel and spend the money on
better quality lenses and equipment etc.

She usually shoots a good combination of low-light indoor shots and
wider shots of the Harbour Bridge with the couple in the foreground
etc. She often blows the pictures up to greater than A3 size.

Any advice would be really appreciated, especially if you've had
experience shooting weddings.

Thanks heaps.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Thanks a billion - your suggestions have been great.

At this stage for this amount of money, it looks like the Canon 10D may be the better choice, or perhaps its replacement which hopefully will arrive soon!

Overall it's not up to MII but we figured it may be better to get top lenses and spares of everything, rather than perhaps have a Ferrari with secondhand Ford tyres.

But has anyone here used the Fuji S2 for weddings, or seen it been used? My sister has been speaking to a number of people who ALL seem to recommend the S2, primarily because of the skin tones and the very little post-processing you have to do after a wedding to get this spot on.

Let us know your thoughts on this one, if possible.

Delaney Lovell said:

Actually I think a back up camera is manditory.

Delaney

photosniper said:

Delaney Lovell said:

ReneW said:

for 4-5000$ you wont get a Mark2 and a D10 for backup (even without
lenses)

Click to expand...

My error...thought the poster already had one camera...apologies.

Delaney Lovell said:

What happens if you only get one mark2 and it crashes while the
ceremony.. same problem if the CF card crashes on a 10D after the
ceremony, u got no pics.

Click to expand...

You weren't listening....the 1DM2 has TWO CARD SLOTS, and they both
get written to at same time. So you see, it's not the same.

Click to expand...

What if the body fails at shoot, no spare? A real pro uses at least
2 bodies and a pro quality lenses.

Too many flybynight wedding photogs. This is why its important to
get references and ask pointed questions.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I dont know Fuji, but the Fuji S3 has been anounced and should arrive in q4 of this year.

It got a large and a small type of sensor pixel, so it will show more detail in highlight areas.

Its an old trick, reinvented by them They could have increased the bits also so not to count from 0-255 but 0-4048 per color and then recalculate it to 0-255. (I actually had to type a little prog at the Universtity to make such a thing)

But if it works, hopefully it will improve picture quality extremly. No highlights on heads anymore, you will actually see the sky and not only white background

a good wedding camera. I shot about 60 weddings since I bought my first 10D in May of last year and bought a second 10D body in September. I have no problem with the image quality and actually feel it is better than the MF I have used for 30 years. As far ar "commercial grade", I have no idea what the poster was talking about. 500-600 images per wedding times 60 weddings is far more shutter clicks than I ever did with film equipment. It's metal, it's tough, it produces excellent images, so what more can you ask for in a commercial operation. I don't need to record a 10 hour event at 8fps, if I did I would get a digicam (video). If the shutter goes at 50,000, well $200 is not a bad price for a replacement. I am with you, the 1DMkII may be an excellent camera but not worth the price for my commercial operation.

Michael Thomas Mitchell said:

There's no doubt that the 1dMKII is a FINE machine. Frankly, I'd
love to have a couple of them to shoot weddings. BUT... at five
grand a pop, that's not going to happen. I bought all three of
these bodies for a grand LESS than what ONE MKII costs. At the end
of the day, I have to ask which of those two options will allow me
to do my job more effectively. The answer, for me at least, was the
10D set.

There has been some concern by one poster who claims the 10D is not
"commercial grade". Unless he's using his camera body for a
basketball between the cake cutting and bouquet toss, I have no
idea where he gets that idea, as it relates to weddings. Weddings
are not generally so tough on hardware so as to warrant spending
FIVE TIMES as much on the body.

As far a resolution goes, it's worth nothing that the native
resolution for the 10D is almost 8x12 @ 300ppi. That many pixels
even allows for some cropping without appreciable image
degradation. Consider that the vast majority of wedding images
never see larger than a 4x6 or 5x7 print, and you'll quickly see
that 6MP is really well suited for weddings. (In this respect, a
1Ds would probably be largely unsuitable for weddings... who needs
12MP files of caking cutting filling up your cards in twice the
time?)

Even as the spector of a 10D replacement looms, I find myself
tempted to invest in another 10D so as to insure I have matching
equipment for some time to come. I wouldn't have done it with
either the D30 or D60, fine cameras as they are, because their slow
and difficult AF simply kept them from being the ideal wedding
camera. But the 10D satisfies me plenty, and I will continue using
them for weddings for a long time to come.

Best of luck

Michael

http://www.michaelphoto.net

bootman said:

Hi, just wondering if you can help us out with some advice...

What do you think would be the ideal Canon wedding camera package,
if you had around US4000 - 5000 to spend? It's for my sister, who
is making the transition to digital wedding photography.

Do you think she should go for the Mark II and some cheaper lenses?
Or should she go for the 10D/Digital Rebel and spend the money on
better quality lenses and equipment etc.

She usually shoots a good combination of low-light indoor shots and
wider shots of the Harbour Bridge with the couple in the foreground
etc. She often blows the pictures up to greater than A3 size.

Any advice would be really appreciated, especially if you've had
experience shooting weddings.

Thanks heaps.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Film cameras: Mamiya RZ67, Canon 1n, Fuji 6x9, Mamiya 645afd
Bought in that order starting late 80's.

Advice: Keep working with film. Do one wedding.... buy 550ex flash...

Buy one 10D with good glass.... 85mm f1.2L (a fine portrait lens) Start offering
digital cd and prints. Use digital for guests and pre-ceremony work as well as
engagement pictures.

Do second wedding...

Buy another 10D body...... maybe add a 100-400mm is lens... (big wedding)

Do third wedding....

Add a wide angle lens of your choice.

Do more weddings.... add a ReallyRightStuff flash bracket
and a carbon fiber 1325 tripod with a video head (for fluid movements).

Extra weddings..... Get the Next generation Mark II or if you zoom through
a few fast weddings get one by next season.....

Sound good?