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06/16/2008 05:13:13 PM · #1 |
Well, I bit the bullet and decided to pay up and order a couple of lenses to use at an upcoming wedding (June 28th.) I already have the 17-55 2.8 IS, and will be renting the 70-200 2.8 IS as well as the 10-22 for some fun. I will have the 40d, plus a back up 20d...plus I have two second shooters with me shooting Canon as well.
It's a little pricier than I wanted (what isn't?), but I figured my first real wedding wasn't the time to be cheap. It may cut into my immediate profits, but the long term investment in my portfolio building will be worth it. Plus...obviously the better the photos, the higher the order - so perhaps won't be much of a bite in the profits now anyway.
Do those three sound like a good combo to you experienced wedding pros? |
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06/16/2008 05:23:09 PM · #2 |
Hey :)
Good luck with your weddings :) yes it does cut into profits but it will be the best investment you make in my opinion. May be a good idea to have 2 flashes if you can. Another good thing is lots of batteries both for flashes and for cameras.
I think the lenses you chose look fine, but maybe consider something like the 85 1.8 it is such an awesome lens for the money. I had the tokina 12-24 and sold it, I guess it depends on your shooting style whether you will use a wide angle alot. There would be lenses I would chose over that, but like I said it depends on your style.
Good luck :D |
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06/16/2008 05:40:54 PM · #3 |
Oh...I also have the little 50 1.8. Other "stuff" includes 5 good batteries (2 of them new) 10GB of memory, a 5-in-1 reflector, lightsphere and off camera flash bracket, will have lots of AA batteries for the flashes, my laptop to dump cards if it comes to that, and a slew of other misc. things I "might" need.
Not sure if I'll be using the bracket or not. I've been working on using the lightsphere and also bouncing the flash and getting some good results. Doing some practice stuff at the church itself tomorrow and that will help me decide.
Message edited by author 2008-06-16 17:44:49. |
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06/16/2008 05:47:48 PM · #4 |
Man - all those cool lenses. Now I am feeling all jealous I didnt get chosen. ;)
Funny thing is that we are shooting a wedding the same day now. Aimees sister is getting married in NY and we are headed there to be her photographers. But we wont have the cool toys you will. Have a blast at the wedding. I am sure you will knock their socks off. We look forward to seeing the results. |
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06/16/2008 05:49:44 PM · #5 |
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06/16/2008 05:54:45 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by timfythetoo:
Man - all those cool lenses. Now I am feeling all jealous I didnt get chosen. ;)
Funny thing is that we are shooting a wedding the same day now. Aimees sister is getting married in NY and we are headed there to be her photographers. But we wont have the cool toys you will. Have a blast at the wedding. I am sure you will knock their socks off. We look forward to seeing the results. |
I'm glad that worked out well! I look forward to seeing your shots too. I am confidently nervous :) |
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06/16/2008 05:57:04 PM · #7 |
| Put a little sticker with the words "Check ISO" on the camera. |
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06/16/2008 06:10:17 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by faidoi:
Put a little sticker with the words "Check ISO" on the camera. |
I should have a sticker with "Check card in camera" on the one at work, done that twice now and realised half way through the shoot.
After the first time i set the cam to not take photos without a card in it, second time it had been for a service and obviously factory reset without me knowing it, so my thoughts were "It is taking photos, there must be a card in it"...
Last time i assume anything to do with a card in a camera...
And yes - as for the lenses, i dont think you could do much better... you might consider that you have the "backup" already loaded with a lens and round your neck... easier than changing lenses in a hurry ;)
Message edited by author 2008-06-16 18:11:22. |
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06/16/2008 07:17:41 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by jpochard:
10GB of memory |
What type of memory? Makes a big difference. I heartily recommend the Sandisk Extreme III series or better. These perform well, have good temperature ratings.
Also, be careful if you're shooting RAW. It can be easily to fill up a card. Make sure your card for the wedding is large enough to hold the whole ceremony. Or be mindful of shots remaining.
Don't use Lithium batteries in your 580 EX flash (if you have one). I found that they get super-hot and fail. Read a few other reports of similar events.
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06/16/2008 10:50:14 PM · #10 |
You should double your memory.
Since you are running the 40D, You may want to look into purchasing 4-5 2gb cards. Lexar is probably the most reliable (in my experience) as well as Sandisk in a close 2nd. You want to go for the fastest write speeds (somewhere between 250-300x).
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06/16/2008 10:51:07 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by inshaala:
Originally posted by faidoi:
Put a little sticker with the words "Check ISO" on the camera. |
I should have a sticker with "Check card in camera" on the one at work, done that twice now and realised half way through the shoot.
After the first time i set the cam to not take photos without a card in it, second time it had been for a service and obviously factory reset without me knowing it, so my thoughts were "It is taking photos, there must be a card in it"...
Last time i assume anything to do with a card in a camera...
And yes - as for the lenses, i dont think you could do much better... you might consider that you have the "backup" already loaded with a lens and round your neck... easier than changing lenses in a hurry ;) |
Why not set the camera not to click the shutter unless there is a card in there.
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06/16/2008 10:58:00 PM · #12 |
My camera is set to not take shots without a CF card in it. I also always keep a smaller size extra CF in my purse and in my car - it has saved me more than once from missing a good shot.
I have 8GB of Sandisk Extreme III and my other two 2GB cards are both Kingston. I'm not shooting raw, I'm shooting in jpg, so I should be okay.
I plan on having the 70-200 plus the 17-55 both on camera during the ceremony. Which do you think I will use more? I'd like to have the most used lens on the 40d and the extra on the back up 20d. |
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06/16/2008 11:01:56 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by jmlelii:
You should double your memory.
Since you are running the 40D, You may want to look into purchasing 4-5 2gb cards. Lexar is probably the most reliable (in my experience) as well as Sandisk in a close 2nd. You want to go for the fastest write speeds (somewhere between 250-300x). |
Hmm...I said I have 10GB, but I actually have 12GB (forgot one 2GB Kingston.) You say I should double my memory, but then say 4-5 2GB cards, which is 8-10 GB (within what I had already stated I had.) So why should I double that...I'm not understanding your math. I do want to make sure I have enough, so should I buy more? |
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06/16/2008 11:46:45 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by jpochard:
Originally posted by jmlelii:
You should double your memory.
Since you are running the 40D, You may want to look into purchasing 4-5 2gb cards. Lexar is probably the most reliable (in my experience) as well as Sandisk in a close 2nd. You want to go for the fastest write speeds (somewhere between 250-300x). |
Hmm...I said I have 10GB, but I actually have 12GB (forgot one 2GB Kingston.) You say I should double my memory, but then say 4-5 2GB cards, which is 8-10 GB (within what I had already stated I had.) So why should I double that...I'm not understanding your math. I do want to make sure I have enough, so should I buy more? |
Double your Memory. You say you have 10, so buy another 10. But you shouldn't be buying extremely large cards. If you put all your eggs into one basket, then you drop the basket, how many eggs do you have left?
The point is, Having a lot of memory is good. Having smaller cards is smart. If you have large capacity cards, and the card takes a crap, you just lost 4gb of photos. where as if you were shooting with smaller cards, you will only lose 2gb. Make sense? I know that it seems logical to go big so you don't have to switch cards, but you learn to switch cards and check to see how many shots you have left during downtimes.
I hope this helps!
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06/16/2008 11:47:27 PM · #15 |
Originally posted by jpochard:
I plan on having the 70-200 plus the 17-55 both on camera during the ceremony. Which do you think I will use more? I'd like to have the most used lens on the 40d and the extra on the back up 20d. |
It really depends on what your shooting style is.
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06/16/2008 11:51:23 PM · #16 |
| That's actually why I bought the 4GBs instead of one 8GB. I agree wholeheartedly... but I'm pretty comfortable with brand new name brand at that size. Thanks for the comments though. That's why I posted - to get other people's opinions. |
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06/17/2008 01:10:38 AM · #17 |
Originally posted by jpochard:
I plan on having the 70-200 plus the 17-55 both on camera during the ceremony. Which do you think I will use more? I'd like to have the most used lens on the 40d and the extra on the back up 20d. |
I'll support the 17-55 and 70-200 lenses mounted during the ceremony. be sure to plan out where you're going to be shooting from, and don't get out of place for the important stuff. Where you shoot the majority of the event from will determine which lens you use the most.(i.e. back of the aisle=70-200)
for the reception, the 10-22 is very fun especially for dancing. the 70-200 will be good for detail shots too.
Good luck! |
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06/17/2008 03:08:37 AM · #18 |
I like the 10-22 for the kiss at the big moment in front of the whole crowd (just slide around between the couple and the minister to get the crowd in the backround), nothing like having your front element four inces away from the happy couples' lips to remind everyone that you are there to document the action, in a subtle, non-obtrusive way.
On a serious note, one reason to have extra memory is because you will have limited times when you can swap cards withtout missing an important shot, so you may have to leave a fair bit of card space unwritten, if you aren't going to be trying to fumble in a new card when the ring slips on the finger (or the groom passes out) |
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06/17/2008 09:42:54 AM · #19 |
Originally posted by BrennanOB:
I like the 10-22 for the kiss at the big moment in front of the whole crowd (just slide around between the couple and the minister to get the crowd in the backround), nothing like having your front element four inces away from the happy couples' lips to remind everyone that you are there to document the action, in a subtle, non-obtrusive way.
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I assume you're being sarcastic? I think it would be a cool shot, but rather rude. Remember (not singling you out) that while you're there to cover their wedding, it's their wedding. And you're being watched by a couple of hundred people - potential referrals and future clients among them. Do something, anything, to insult any one of them and the B&G are sure to know - and believe me, doing what you're describing will most likely p-off someone in the church and very possibly hurt your future business.
Originally posted by BrennanOB:
On a serious note, one reason to have extra memory is because you will have limited times when you can swap cards withtout missing an important shot, so you may have to leave a fair bit of card space unwritten, if you aren't going to be trying to fumble in a new card when the ring slips on the finger (or the groom passes out) |
Murphy's Law always applies too - even if you had a 100Gb card someting would happen when you were on your last image! I think they should out the images remaining in the viewfinder! I shoot the prep and reception with 2Gb cards and the ceremony with 4Gb cards for the very reason stated. I shoot RAW with a 40D and arrive at a wedding with tons more memory than I can possibly use - and keep it split between my wallet and the bag (don't want to lose all your cards...it happens). Last wedding I used three 4Gb and a 2Gb card in my primary camera, a 4Gb in my second camera (back to shooting with 2 bodies for some of the day) and a 2Gb for my assistant during the ceremony. That left 2 more 2Gb cards in my wallet and 4 more in the backup/spare wallet. I don't think I filled the 19 Gb cards I used - i'm sure my ass't's card is less than 1/2 full. But it's certainly reassuring to know you can shoot all you want and never run out of memory. The worst feeling in the world is realize you're on your last card and got 2 hours to go!
BTW, a 40D will hold about 280 images on a 4Gb card, on average. The higher the ISO the fewer images. a 2Gb holds about half that many of course. A 30D will store almost twice as many RAW images in the same space! Smaller sensor and few bits to a file (12 vs 14).
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06/17/2008 09:59:41 AM · #20 |
Originally posted by jpochard:
I'm not shooting raw, I'm shooting in jpg, so I should be okay. |
I don't want to turn this into another RAW vs. jpeg debate, but I would be extremely uncomfortable shooting something as important as a wedding in any mode other than RAW.
I've only shot two weddings (one for friends, and one for my brother) so I am not an authority on weddings. But it would be really scary to not have the flexiblity to adjust white balance and exposure during post processing if I needed to. Of course, you should take the shot with the proper settings at the time you press the shutter, but white balance can change when going in and out of the church and even within different parts of the church (aisle vs. altar) and in the moment it might be an additional step that could be forgotten about or you might miss a shot making the adjustment. |
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06/17/2008 10:11:24 AM · #21 |
Hey Judy,
Just wanted to give you a heads up. I'm assuming that the 70-200 2.8 is similar to the Nikon one I just got a few months ago. Practice carrying it around for a few days before the shoot if you can - its HEAVY and if your not used to carrying it by the time the wedding comes around it can be really painful by the end of the full day.
I wore mine on a secondary camera about four days after I got it to a wedding, and OH MY HEAVENS did I have an irritation rub burn on my neck where the strap was biting in. I wasn't prepared for it and I was miserable by the end of the day. My biggest lens before then had been a 105mm and it was really light. The second shoot I used it with was two days later. I thought I would outsmart myself and carry it in my hand. That was only an hour shoot with a small child and my wrist was killing me by the end.
I'm used to it now (and have the extra muscle in my wrists I think) and its not bothering me as much. The last wedding was 12 hours and I was sore but not in agony by the end. If you don't have anything that heavy in your repertoire yet, you might want to carry it around for a day to acclimate to get an idea of your forearm strength before hand. I wish I had. LOL
Jenn |
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06/17/2008 11:07:52 AM · #22 |
There are some really good deals via SanDisk at B&H Photo. I am contemplating buying a number of 4gb-8gb cards and shooting RAW+JPG and using white balance bracketing.
I know a lot of people talk about putting all your eggs in one basket. But IMHO, a 4gb-8gb card on a 40D is not much different than a 10D/20D on a 2gb card. And if you're using RAW you reduce the eggs in each basket. And if you use bracketing, you reduce further the shots in each basket.
***
Also, DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT use any microdrives for the wedding. I've never had a compact flash card fail. But I had two microdrives fail with minimal use. Microdrives make Yugo's look reliable. |
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