wedding photography - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

09/25/2008 04:46:11 AM · #1

The power of the yellow pages has shown itself pretty clearly - my ad came out last week, and I've already been asked to do 2 weddings! With fear and trepidation I'm accepting them as they're both small events, but I need to know about what wedding photographers are using in terms of memory cards. I'm currently using Sandisk Extreme IV 4GB cards, and have two of them, however in RAW I only get 151 images per card. I'm worried that may be enough, so am about to buy at least one more.
My question is, are you all shooting in RAW for weddings, or are you shooting JPEGs? How many cards do you find you need on average, for a 3 hour shoot?

bjoern

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

09/25/2008 05:00:49 AM · #2

I haven't really shot a wedding, but had my camera with me on the wedding of a fellow photographer recently. I had about 250 shots, and the "real" wedding photographer - also a friend, nothing paid, had about 1500 shots. That was the from noon to midnight (church, reception, party) though, but considering this I would say, get at least 2 8GB cards or take a laptop with you to dump the content of the cards you have to be able to use them several times during the day.

Even if you don't need them, it's certainly better than having to tell the bride: Sorry, no space left on device.

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

09/25/2008 05:16:17 AM · #3

Personally I won't go over a 2GB card. Way too much to lose if a larger card is lost or damaged.
With a 3 hour wedding, 8GB should be more than enough (are you shooting RAW+jpeg? 151 seems pretty low for a 4GB card - that would make each shots about 26MB each).
I never shoot anything in jpeg anymore - not even sure where the setting is to switch to jpeg.

With a once in a lifetime kind of shoot, RAW is the ONLY way to go. It's nice to have the buffer of being able to go back to the moment of clicking the camera and making the exposure change a millisecond before the click. Being as a jpeg is already compressed, every adjustment after the click "hurts" the pixels. RAW adjustments before conversion don't. (within reason, like 1 full stop up & down, and saving one copy of each is nice to have for exposure blending/hdr/tone mapping).

As an example, this was a very informal wedding and was shot right at noon, which was a disaster for lighting.
but,
an hdr/exposure blend of the same shot converted at 3 different exposures (-1EV, 0EV, +1EV) makes a nice picture:

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

09/25/2008 05:52:29 AM · #4

I agree, 151 images does seem low - at one point it did give me more like 180, but for some reason this changed. I'm shooting with a D300 so if anyone knows why this might be I'd be keen to hear that too!

Bebe

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

09/25/2008 06:02:24 AM · #5

I think it depends on how much you tend to shoot. I went to a seminar this week where the speaker described two styles of photographers: hunters & farmers. The hunters look for amazing shots then take it when they find it; farmers shoot pretty much everything knowing that one of the shots will work.

Brad has much more experience than I do (I'm more of an aspiring wedding photographer than having arrived), but as a "farmer" I have to say that I don't a) hesitate to use a 8GB card, or b) show up with less than 12GB total.

I totally agree about only shooting RAW though!

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

09/25/2008 06:35:50 AM · #6

Originally posted by Bebe:

Brad has much more experience than I do

Let me count them.
1
2

That's it. I'mma just a newbie.

10-12GB is about right though to take storage wise, and maybe more if it's a long day.

.

Here's a chart that should let you know what you can get on a 2GB card:

The 14-bit NEF files being about 16.7MB translate to about 75 shots on a 2GB card,
so you are right there in numbers based on the chart.

Dirt_Diver

Nikon D3s

09/25/2008 07:19:55 AM · #7

I shot a wedding about 2-3 weeks ago now and I took over 800 images... David, DWTerry takes about a million with his markIII/video camera. Once he see's this thread I'm sure he will post a real number but seriously the way I look at it is the more you take the better your chances are of getting something really good. On the down side you have go threw them at some point.

When I did my wedding I brought, an 8GB card, a 4GB card and a 2GB card. I actually did some research on this before the date even came around and this was my result... If I take a 4GB card at some point I will have to swap cards and I didn't want it to be at the wrong time. If I buy a 16GB card and something goes wrong with the card I'm about some money... So I bought an 8GB. I figured that I could get a fair amount of pictures before I had to swap the cards.

I don't think I could have timed it any better. After the wedding, (during the rec.) I swapped the cards out and no one even noticed.

09/25/2008 07:21:04 AM · #8

Thanks everyone, I'll go and get a couple of 4GB cards as backup, and maybe a spare battery. Luckily I'm able to take my 16 year old to hold a reflector..
Fingers crossed I won't stuff up!

Prof_Fate

09/25/2008 11:20:30 AM · #9

I show up with 20 gb of cards. Mostly sandisk ultra 2 4gb cards but i've got some 2gb one some kingston 2gb cards. never had a problem with any card.

I shoot 900-1200 raw at a wedding using 2, sometimes 3 bodies. never ran out of memory. I have two card wallets - one I carry and one is in the bag.

I take 5 to 6 sets of rechargeable AAs for the flash and 4 duracells just in case. had a wedding or two where i've needed very batter I could get. most just 2 sets is enough, but you gotta be prepared.

With my 40D i rarely if ever need to change a battery (gone 2 weddings on one batt! Went 9 days - 5 days of fair coverage and 4 days in the studio - nearly 2000 images - on one battery)... but I have 3 in the 3 bodies and 2 backups.

Nusbaum

Fujifilm X-T1

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

09/25/2008 11:50:20 AM · #10

I've been using 4GB Sandisk 4GB cards and show up with a minimum of 4. I haven't filled more than 3 yet, but I want a minimum of one extra as a backup. I like the 4GB cards because each one can get backed up to a DVD which makes things quick and leaves less room for human error during the backup process.

Dirt_Diver

Nikon D3s

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

09/25/2008 01:05:59 PM · #11

Originally posted by Nusbaum:

That was also part of my thinking but then I came to the conclusion that I would have 2 or more dvd's so again the 8gb with a 9gb DVD-DL works as good as a 4gb with a 4.7gb dvd.

geoffb

09/25/2008 01:07:32 PM · #12

Originally posted by jettyimages:

The size of the file will depend on two things (assuming RAW): bit depth and compression.

Do you have your D300 set to 12 or 14 bit?

Are you shooting compressed, lossless compressed, or uncompressed?

Remember, the number quoted for shots remaining is not entirely accurate. After some shots, you may notice that the number does not decrease. Files with less colour and tonal detail will not decrease the count as quickly as those with vibrant colours and lots of contrast and detail.

I bring six 4 GB cards to a wedding with a D300 and a D200. I have come within about 100 shots of needing more memory (although I could have been more conservative shooting at the reception, if needed).

kevip6

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

09/25/2008 01:16:28 PM · #13

I always take five 4gb cards and four 1gb cards

I usually take between 800-1500 shots depending on the length of the coverage. I always shoot in RAW as well.

Sigma 70-200 /2.8 APO EX DG Macro HSM II

09/25/2008 05:49:11 PM · #14

Originally posted by geoffb:

Originally posted by jettyimages:
I agree, 151 images does seem low - at one point it did give me more like 180, but for some reason this changed. I'm shooting with a D300 so if anyone knows why this might be I'd be keen to hear that too!

The size of the file will depend on two things (assuming RAW): bit depth and compression.

Do you have your D300 set to 12 or 14 bit?

Are you shooting compressed, lossless compressed, or uncompressed?

Remember, the number quoted for shots remaining is not entirely accurate. After some shots, you may notice that the number does not decrease. Files with less colour and tonal detail will not decrease the count as quickly as those with vibrant colours and lots of contrast and detail.

I bring six 4 GB cards to a wedding with a D300 and a D200. I have come within about 100 shots of needing more memory (although I could have been more conservative shooting at the reception, if needed).

Hi Geoff
I'm shooting lossless compressed, 14 bit. There doesn't seem to be a difference between uncompressed and lossless compressed in terms of picture numbers, but I can get 223 if I shoot compressed - but fear I will lose too much info if I do.
To be honest, i have still not found a setting selection that I'm happy with on the D300. I've been messing around with standard/neutral/vivid, 12 bit vs 14 bit, all the HD settings, but still am not happy with my combinations.
Has anyone worked out which combination seems to work best, and in what situations, and why?

Eyesup

Nikon D300

09/25/2008 05:52:38 PM · #15

Originally posted by jettyimages:

Originally posted by geoffb:

Originally posted by jettyimages:
I agree, 151 images does seem low - at one point it did give me more like 180, but for some reason this changed. I'm shooting with a D300 so if anyone knows why this might be I'd be keen to hear that too!

The size of the file will depend on two things (assuming RAW): bit depth and compression.

Do you have your D300 set to 12 or 14 bit?

Are you shooting compressed, lossless compressed, or uncompressed?

Remember, the number quoted for shots remaining is not entirely accurate. After some shots, you may notice that the number does not decrease. Files with less colour and tonal detail will not decrease the count as quickly as those with vibrant colours and lots of contrast and detail.

I bring six 4 GB cards to a wedding with a D300 and a D200. I have come within about 100 shots of needing more memory (although I could have been more conservative shooting at the reception, if needed).

Hi Geoff
I'm shooting lossless compressed, 14 bit. There doesn't seem to be a difference between uncompressed and lossless compressed in terms of picture numbers, but I can get 223 if I shoot compressed - but fear I will lose too much info if I do.
To be honest, i have still not found a setting selection that I'm happy with on the D300. I've been messing around with standard/neutral/vivid, 12 bit vs 14 bit, all the HD settings, but still am not happy with my combinations.
Has anyone worked out which combination seems to work best, and in what situations, and why?

What is it that you're not happy with in your settings? what is it that you are looking for, and maybe we can help point you to the right direction with settings (or at least tell you f what youre looking for is possible)

ETA: BTW I generally bring Extreme iv 4gb cards...I rather switch often that risk loosing a whole weddingd orth of pictures on one cards... and this is why

Message edited by author 2008-09-25 17:54:34.