Asked to shoot a wedding, now I have to buy a6000, some questions

[gary stepic]

I am in the process of selling all my Nikon gear, including the D800 (only couple of lenses left to sell). I bought the RX10 and figured I could use it for portraits and some events and it would do fine, and it has. I want to concentrate more travel blog photography and my goal is to keep things light and simple.

But buying gear is almost like an addiction, just can't seem to stop at one camera. The a6000 caught my attention because I can keep things light, not have to give up on my dream of being able to sell prints, and it would be a step up or two from from the RX10 for events and portraits. I figured with a mirrorless camera I would have to give up on the idea of shooting sports and expecting much. The focusing ability of the a6000 is what grabbed me the most. I am not going after business anymore but business continues to come at me.

So I had made up my mind I will wait to I sell all my gear, pay off my credit cards, and maybe a year from now buy the a6000 with the 16-70 Ziess. Well, my pastor just asked me to shoot his son's wedding so no I guess i am just going to have to order the a6000 now!

I do have a related question, how can I shoot a flash off of the camera. I have two Metz 52 AF-1s that work well and I think I can use one as a master and one as a slave. But in this case I wanted to get the flash off the camera to use on a bracket where I can rotate the camera and have the flash overhead. I have the Sony MMA adaptor but that needs to stay on the hot shoe with the flash on the adapter, I guess this is because the flashes made for Sony are made for some other type of shoe mount system. Is there some sort of adapter where I can use my Metz on a bracket?

Another unrelated question is anyone know of a small ball head that would work with the Arca plate system and maybe some tripod legs that would at least get the camera a few feet off the ground but could easily be carried on some sort of belt pack or maybe even be small enough to fit in a camera bag.

Gary

 

[gary stepic]

I think this should work with the a6000 and metz flash -

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/750440-REG/Vello_OCS_S1_5_TTL_Off_Camera_Flash_Cord.html

I get a little confused with the Sony system. This is what I use now for my Metz flash to work on the RX10 -

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/913654-REG/sony_adpmaa_multi_interface_shoe_adapter.html

So my guess is I put the off camera connection in the cold shoe of a flash bracket and the on camera connection on my Sony multi interface shoe adaptor which would go on the a6000.

This is the bracket I am looking at -

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/913654-REG/sony_adpmaa_multi_interface_shoe_adapter.html

using my Nikon system with a similar get up was much more expensive and off course much much heavier. My hands would sometimes cramp up after a long wedding shoot so it will be interesting to see how much easier using the above with an a6000 and 16-70 will be.

And it looks like this could be a nice little tripod for the a6000 -

http://www.mefoto.com/products/daytrip.aspx

It will fit in my bag and would be something I could always have with me. Finding an L plate would be next, maybe I can use the same one on my RX10 which works perfect.

Gary

--
http://www.garystepicphotography.com
http://www.garystepicenterprises.com

 

[CameraCarl]

For the ball head I'd get the Giottos MH1302-655. http://www.amazon.com/Giottos-MH130...1399245225&sr=8-11&keywords=giottos+ball+head

 

[Harbinder Marok]

Thanks for the info as I have an old Metz with an external battery pack in the attic.
--
Please find the link below to a selection of my photos on this site.

http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/6003691572

 

[Rob Sims]

I am in the process of selling all my Nikon gear, including the D800 (only couple of lenses left to sell). I bought the RX10 and figured I could use it for portraits and some events and it would do fine, and it has. I want to concentrate more travel blog photography and my goal is to keep things light and simple.

I think you'll be in good company with a sizable proportion of mirrorless camera users who have dumped heavy gear for this exact reason. I went from a Nikon D700 to a Sony NEX-6 at the start of last year and haven't looked back, except perhaps to wonder why I didn't do it earlier. I switched to an A7 at the end of last year.

But buying gear is almost like an addiction, just can't seem to stop at one camera.

GAS = Gear Acquisition syndrome, most of it experience it at some point, usually when we're moving from one system to another.

The a6000 caught my attention because I can keep things light, not have to give up on my dream of being able to sell prints, and it would be a step up or two from from the RX10 for events and portraits. I figured with a mirrorless camera I would have to give up on the idea of shooting sports and expecting much. The focusing ability of the a6000 is what grabbed me the most. I am not going after business anymore but business continues to come at me.

So I had made up my mind I will wait to I sell all my gear, pay off my credit cards, and maybe a year from now buy the a6000 with the 16-70 Ziess. Well, my pastor just asked me to shoot his son's wedding so no I guess i am just going to have to order the a6000 now!

Can I make a suggestion, and you can obviously rebuff this: Why not stick with your D800 + RX10 for the wedding? I don't know what lenses you use, but there are obviously a much larger selection of good lenses available for it, you should be able to source one 2nd hand and then sell it on afterwards for a similar price.

I say this, because for a wedding (and I've shot a few), low light work and lots of bokeh types shot are the name of the game... both of which are better suited to the FF sensor on your D800. Also, the autofocus system on the Nikon will outperform the one on the A6000 in low light.

You also need zero learning curve to use it, which is key if you're about to start snapping a wedding where missing a shot can be quite painful ;-)

Gary

 

[gary stepic]

Thanks Rob for the reply, but the D800 is already sold. I am a little concerned about the reception as even when I used a Canon system, my 5DM2 was terrible locking focus in low light (the D800 was much better). I did play around with the RX10 and Metz flash in a utility room with the lights off and to my amazement it was able to focus. So maybe the RX10 would be better for the reception. Not as concerned about higher rez shots for a reception, for the group shots and portraits I think the a6000 will be much better. The increased depth of field can also be a plus of the RX10 because I can manually focus and would have more latitude if I am off a bit in figure my distance to the subject. Since it is my pastor I will have no trouble communicating with him and his wife and I can see if we have some control on how much lighting there will be during the reception.

The fact that I am going to buy the a6000 the thought of selling the RX10 crossed my mind, but I am so used to always having back ups plus for some type of vacations the RX10 will be better. At the end of the month we are going on a beach vacation to Panama City Beach and Destin and for this type of trip I think the RX10 will be better. We will be making a lot of trips to Colorado and this is another reason the larger sensor of the a6000 is appealing. Not a D800, but the largest print sizes I general use are 20x30 and from what I have read the a6000 should do fine if using a tripod and low iso. Plus I like the idea of being able to use an ultra wide on occasion. See, it is so easy to justify another camera!

Gary

 

[Rob Sims]

Thanks Rob for the reply, but the D800 is already sold.

Ah okay, the D800 is already gone - so that's not an option then. Shame. The last weddings I shot were with dual SLRs (a Nikon D700 with 24-70/2.8, and a D90 with 85/1.8).

I am a little concerned about the reception as even when I used a Canon system, my 5DM2 was terrible locking focus in low light (the D800 was much better).

Do you have a fast native lens you can use? I suspect the Zeiss 16-70/4.0 will force you to crank up the ISO and give you much more noise than you'd be used to with your full frame dSLRs.

If you have the funds, I'd definitely recommend picking up the FE 55/1.8 as it works as a beautiful short portrait and renders the bokeh very well. I use it interchangeably on my A7 (as a standard lens) and NEX-5N (as a short portrait). Obviously the cheaper option is the cropped 50/1.8 which also has the advantage of OSS (but that won't help with subject movement). These would be obvious choices for the reception and could also be used for the couple shoot.

You could keep the RX10 at hand for the wider 24mm shot at F2.8.

I did play around with the RX10 and Metz flash in a utility room with the lights off and to my amazement it was able to focus. So maybe the RX10 would be better for the reception. Not as concerned about higher rez shots for a reception, for the group shots and portraits I think the a6000 will be much better. The increased depth of field can also be a plus of the RX10 because I can manually focus and would have more latitude if I am off a bit in figure my distance to the subject. Since it is my pastor I will have no trouble communicating with him and his wife and I can see if we have some control on how much lighting there will be during the reception.

With enough light, it sounds as though the 16-70/4.0 would do the job just fine.

The fact that I am going to buy the a6000 the thought of selling the RX10 crossed my mind, but I am so used to always having back ups plus for some type of vacations the RX10 will be better.

Probably you meant selling the RX10 after the wedding right? Because I'd be far too nervous shooting a wedding without a 2nd camera. What if your primary camera locks for whatever reason, or the memory card has kittens, or the battery goes flat at a key moment. Anyway, I'm sure you meant post-wedding!

At the end of the month we are going on a beach vacation to Panama City Beach and Destin and for this type of trip I think the RX10 will be better. We will be making a lot of trips to Colorado and this is another reason the larger sensor of the a6000 is appealing. Not a D800, but the largest print sizes I general use are 20x30 and from what I have read the a6000 should do fine if using a tripod and low iso. Plus I like the idea of being able to use an ultra wide on occasion. See, it is so easy to justify another camera!

Best of luck, and let us know how it goes!

Gary

 

[edwardaneal]

I have shot a wedding or two and at the time I shot primes and Nikon DSLR bodies. I have no doubt I could shoot a wedding with two NEX bodies and a 30mm and 60mm lens.

to me the biggest problem would be lighting - - the Nikon CLS is the best of the best, Sony has not even come close

so go ahead and shoot this wedding, but have at least two bodies with a lens mounted on each one, but don't just think that you can shoot a wedding because you have cameras - - if you don't have the lighting

it will suck and if you don't really know how to light it - - you are not ready to shoot weddings because lighting is more important than anything else - perfect lighting and a iPhone is better than the best camera and a moron who doesn't understand lighting

JMO

 

[fuego6]

Thanks Rob for the reply, but the D800 is already sold. I am a little concerned about the reception as even when I used a Canon system, my 5DM2 was terrible locking focus in low light (the D800 was much better). I did play around with the RX10 and Metz flash in a utility room with the lights off and to my amazement it was able to focus. So maybe the RX10 would be better for the reception. Not as concerned about higher rez shots for a reception, for the group shots and portraits I think the a6000 will be much better. The increased depth of field can also be a plus of the RX10 because I can manually focus and would have more latitude if I am off a bit in figure my distance to the subject. Since it is my pastor I will have no trouble communicating with him and his wife and I can see if we have some control on how much lighting there will be during the reception.

The fact that I am going to buy the a6000 the thought of selling the RX10 crossed my mind, but I am so used to always having back ups plus for some type of vacations the RX10 will be better. At the end of the month we are going on a beach vacation to Panama City Beach and Destin and for this type of trip I think the RX10 will be better. We will be making a lot of trips to Colorado and this is another reason the larger sensor of the a6000 is appealing. Not a D800, but the largest print sizes I general use are 20x30 and from what I have read the a6000 should do fine if using a tripod and low iso. Plus I like the idea of being able to use an ultra wide on occasion. See, it is so easy to justify another camera!

Gary

 

[Mel Snyder]

Thanks Rob for the reply, but the D800 is already sold. I am a little concerned about the reception as even when I used a Canon system, my 5DM2 was terrible locking focus in low light (the D800 was much better). I did play around with the RX10 and Metz flash in a utility room with the lights off and to my amazement it was able to focus. So maybe the RX10 would be better for the reception. Not as concerned about higher rez shots for a reception, for the group shots and portraits I think the a6000 will be much better. The increased depth of field can also be a plus of the RX10 because I can manually focus and would have more latitude if I am off a bit in figure my distance to the subject. Since it is my pastor I will have no trouble communicating with him and his wife and I can see if we have some control on how much lighting there will be during the reception.

The fact that I am going to buy the a6000 the thought of selling the RX10 crossed my mind, but I am so used to always having back ups plus for some type of vacations the RX10 will be better. At the end of the month we are going on a beach vacation to Panama City Beach and Destin and for this type of trip I think the RX10 will be better. We will be making a lot of trips to Colorado and this is another reason the larger sensor of the a6000 is appealing. Not a D800, but the largest print sizes I general use are 20x30 and from what I have read the a6000 should do fine if using a tripod and low iso. Plus I like the idea of being able to use an ultra wide on occasion. See, it is so easy to justify another camera!

Gary