Purchasing DSLR for Wedding Photography

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dancook

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Dan
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Starting from scratch except that I have a Leica Q + 28mm 1.7

I'm thinking of complimenting it with a Nikon 750 and 85mm 1.4g and a couple of additional batteries.

I'm making some changes to my lifestyle, so that's about as much as I'm going to be able to afford until I make some money from photography.

I have a Wistros AD360 Flash.

That should be enough to get me started on the low end?
 
Dan if money is tight then why not go for the 85mm f1.8G - 95+% of the 1.4 at a third of the cost ... and with the excellent low light/high iso performance of the D750 you really won't miss the two thirds of a stop. It's also pretty decent wide open too.
 
D610 and 85mm 1.8 should be fine, I would have thought.
 
Well well well... The worm that turned...

:D

As above mate. The 85mm f1.8g is fabulous and matches well to the D750. Great IQ, nice bokeh and weighs next to nothing in comparison to the 1.4g. It's also £269 at DR which is crazy value. The difference in price between the two could either offer you money in your pocket or enough cash to buy another lens should you feel the need.
 
I'd love the 85mm F1.4. But, the 85mm F1.8 is a great lens and for the same price as the 85mm F1.4 you could get the 35mm F1.8 to go with it.
 
Well D750 is £1000, and 85mm 1.4g about £929

I always used Canon 5dm3 and 85mm 1.2 II USM - and often shot wide open - so I'm thinking I will want to go for the 1.4 - i have considered the 1.8 though..hmm

The D750 is such a good spec, low light AF, ISO control etc..
 
minnnt said:
Well well well... The worm that turned...
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I just feel I need to do something purposeful with my life :) and well I already have the photography skill there...so might as well make a decent go of it.
 
dancook said:
Well D750 is £1000, and 85mm 1.4g about £929

I always used Canon 5dm3 and 85mm 1.2 II USM - and often shot wide open - so I'm thinking I will want to go for the 1.4 - i have considered the 1.8 though..hmm

The D750 is such a good spec, low light AF, ISO control etc..
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You'll probably end up shooting a lot more around F2.8 - F4 for the majority of weddings though, just not a high enough hit rate at F1.4 - F1.8 to use it often.
 
The Canon 6d with the 24-105L and a set of primes (35 f/2, 50 f/1.8, 85 f/1.8) is my preferred combo.
 
dancook said:
Starting from scratch except that I have a Leica Q + 28mm 1.7

I'm thinking of complimenting it with a Nikon 750 and 85mm 1.4g and a couple of additional batteries.

I'm making some changes to my lifestyle, so that's about as much as I'm going to be able to afford until I make some money from photography.

I have a Wistros AD360 Flash.

That should be enough to get me started on the low end?
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What are you going to do if the D750 dies mid wedding? Not sure I would want to rely on the Leica and 1 lens to cover a full wedding.

If you only have the budget for 1 X full frame body I would suggest forgetting about that and getting 2 X crop instead for now. Plenty of wedding photographers still shoot crop have seen quite a few using Nikon D7000's, D7100's etc. And you can always upgrade later on too 2 X D750's or whatever your preference is.
 
f/2.8 said:
What are you going to do if the D750 dies mid wedding? Not sure I would want to rely on the Leica and 1 lens to cover a full wedding.

If you only have the budget for 1 X full frame body I would suggest forgetting about that and getting 2 X crop instead for now. Plenty of wedding photographers still shoot crop have seen quite a few using Nikon D7000's, D7100's etc. And you can always upgrade later on too 2 X D750's or whatever your preference is.
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I might actually start by bringing along a second shooter who would like the experience, so extra back up if required.

Also I love wide angle, documentary style, lots of context, close to the subject shots :) so relying on the Leica Q wouldn't be all that bad - in fact I almost feel like the 85mm d750 is the backup ;)

I have about 6-10 weddings i'm second shooting next year, so this combo will definitely be great for that. That will help pay for a second D750 - well my primary income will too. But i'm going to be saving £1000 a month from now on for my future, so i'll have less disposable income.
 
You can always buy a used cropped body for around £200 as a fairly decent backup for the interim?
 
Bit late to the party here Dan but knowing your shooting style I'm not sure how you're going to feel dropping from the 85mm f1.2 (Canon) to the 85mm f1.8? Time will tell I guess The 85mm f1.8 is a great lens though, and I believe is as sharp wide open as the 85mm f1.4 stopped down to f1.8, but I know how you love your shallow DOF. The f1.8 is the sensible option though ;) It's actually on my short list, if I can ever save any money :rolleyes:
 
snerkler said:
Bit late to the party here Dan but knowing your shooting style I'm not sure how you're going to feel dropping from the 85mm f1.2 (Canon) to the 85mm f1.8? Time will tell I guess The 85mm f1.8 is a great lens though, and I believe is as sharp wide open as the 85mm f1.4 stopped down to f1.8, but I know how you love your shallow DOF. The f1.8 is the sensible option though ;) It's actually on my short list, if I can ever save any money :rolleyes:
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I looked at my last wedding, I did have a bunch of shots at 1.2 - but I did take a bunch at f2 as well. I think I could shoot 1.8 / 2

I think on a budget it will be a good compromise :)
 
dancook said:
I looked at my last wedding, I did have a bunch of shots at 1.2 - but I did take a bunch at f2 as well. I think I could shoot 1.8 / 2

I think on a budget it will be a good compromise :)
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TBH, I think it's an exceptional lens, especially for the price.
 
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dancook said:
I just feel I need to do something purposeful with my life :) and well I already have the photography skill there...so might as well make a decent go of it.
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If you really want to do that... I gave up a good career to do charity work but instead soon became a full time carer.

Next to my new life computers, product approvals and risk assessments and even photography all seem a little... meaningless really.
 
PaulButler said:
Dan if money is tight then why not go for the 85mm f1.8G - 95+% of the 1.4 at a third of the cost ... and with the excellent low light/high iso performance of the D750 you really won't miss the two thirds of a stop. It's also pretty decent wide open too.
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Agreed, I'd go for the 1.8 over the 1.4 for weddings anyway. Its so much cheaper and lighter and 1.4 at weddings is for the very brave
 
odd jim said:
The Canon 6d with the 24-105L and a set of primes (35 f/2, 50 f/1.8, 85 f/1.8) is my preferred combo.
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I couldn't agree more. I don't shoot weddings but if you had a 5DIII you're used to the layouts etc. 6D with a general lens 24-70mm or even an old 28-70 f2.8. 50mm f/1.4 + 85mm f/1.8
 
UaeExile said:
Fwiw the D750 blows the 6D out of the water.

Regards
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No it doesn't, it's slightly better on paper, but it doesn't "blow it out the water".

Putting fanboyism aside, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a final photo shot with a 6d or d750, Canon 5d3, Nikon d810 etc etc, they're all great.

FWIW I shot a wedding on Saturday with a 6d at 10,000 ISO at times indoors with p*** poor lighting and they are sharp and clean. Do we need anymore than this from a camera, really???
 
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odd jim said:
No it doesn't, it's slightly better on paper, but it doesn't "blow it out the water".
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Ok ok, in the spirit of christmas I was dangling a carrot to see if anyone would bite, BUT I was only half joking and I have owned both.

Better image quality, significantly more dynamic range, more fps, longer battery life, lower noise at higher ISO.... Dual card slot!

IMO it's a much better camera, especially for weddings like the OP is talking about.
 
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UaeExile said:
Ok ok, in the spirit of christmas I was dangling a carrot to see if anyone would bite, BUT I was only half joking.

Better image quality, significantly more dynamic range, more fps, longer battery life, lower noise at higher ISO.... Dual card slot!

IMO it's a much better camera, especially for weddings like the OP is talking about.
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Yes it has the edge, but for me only because of the duel card slot :) Seriously, these days you could pick any FF body and it'll do more than we need in terms of performance and we really are at the point now where the final output in indistinguishable between bodies. And the DR difference isn't significant - ignore DXO figures, they're WAY off! (they say my RX100 has more DR than a 6d, I can tell you now, its far, far lower than the 6d!)
 
odd jim said:
Yes it has the edge, but for me only because of the duel card slot :) Seriously, these days you could pick any FF body and it'll do more than we need in terms of performance and we really are at the point now where the final output in indistinguishable between bodies. And the DR difference isn't significant - ignore DXO figures, they're WAY off! (they say my RX100 has more DR than a 6d, I can tell you now, its far, far lower than the 6d!)
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Let's be honest though as a pro shooting weddings you really should be taking every step possible to protect your work as best you can. If that means choosing a body that allows greater protection then so be it. As for DR, sorry but you're wrong. I'm not going off DXO figures, I'm going off real world shooting where I've shot in the same dark and dingy venues and compared the files - the difference really is significant. Plenty of comparisons online between the D750 and 5D Mkiii if you're interested.

That's not to say the 6D is a bad camera and of course you're right, most FF bodies these days are more than enough... But that doesn't mean some aren't significantly better.
 
UaeExile said:
Let's be honest though as a pro shooting weddings you really should be taking every step possible to protect your work as best you can. If that means choosing a body that allows greater protection then so be it. As for DR, sorry but you're wrong. I'm not going off DXO figures, I'm going off real world shooting where I've shot in the same dark and dingy venues and compared the files - the difference really is significant. Plenty of comparisons online between the D750 and 5D Mkiii if you're interested.

That's not to say the 6D is a bad camera and of course you're right, most FF bodies these days are more than enough... But that doesn't mean some aren't significantly better.
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But this is my point - as I said I used a 6d as a main camera for a wedding on Saturday and at times had to shoot indoors at 10,000 iso with no flash (my decision). The files were clear, clean and as detailed as you would expect from much lower ISOs and I was able to pull pretty much all the detail from the scene shadows. If one camera (be it d750 / 810, Sony FF etc, I won't include any more Canon bodies as the 6d has the edge Canon wise IMO) can pull more detail from the shadows, I'm not sure where this detail is coming from :)

Its discussions like these that tell me how spoilt we are (technically)!
 
UaeExile said:
Ok ok, in the spirit of christmas I was dangling a carrot to see if anyone would bite, BUT I was only half joking and I have owned both.

Better image quality, significantly more dynamic range, more fps, longer battery life, lower noise at higher ISO.... Dual card slot!

IMO it's a much better camera, especially for weddings like the OP is talking about.
Click to expand...

Forgot autofocus :exit:
 
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