Recommended Nikon Camera(s) for wedding photography

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Scott Hammond

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Hi all,

So I'm already looking to get into wedding photography, but I would like some recommendations on Nikon camera bodies to invest in. My heart is set on the D850 but it is simply too expensive for me at the moment.

I currently own a D7500, it has a cropped sensor but I have a 35mm prime 1.8, a 17-55mm Sigma 2.8 zoom lens and a 105mm 2.8 Sigma lens as part of my equipment, but I would also like some recommendations on lenses to buy to shoot weddings as I'm assuming the camera bodies that you will be recommending will be full frame?

I intend to use the D7500 as a back up in case my main camera fails. Any recommendations or information would be most helpful,

Many thanks,

Scott
 
I would also agree the D750 is still a good option. We have D750's and D850's but we don't use the D850's for weddings as the file sizes are too big and we don't need the extra resolution.

The D750 is also a bit lighter and on a long wedding day the weight saving helps make a difference.

It depends on your shooting style but for weddings my wife mostly uses a 35mm f/1.4 and an 85mm f/1.4. I mostly use a 20mm f/1.4 and a 50mm f/1.4. We could probably get away with just those for most things as it suits the way we work, although we also have the usual 24-70, 70-200 etc. Lens choice is going to come down to your own shooting style and your budget.

For me I wouldn't want to be using a camera like the D7500 for weddings as it only has the one card slot and I like the redundancy of having 2 cards. May not be an issue for you though if it's only to be used as a back up. If you plan on shooting using only prime lenses though you really need 2 cameras to use at the same time so that you can quickly shift between focal lengths which for me would rule out the D7500.

Really you can use whatever you want it doesn't really matter that much, pretty much all cameras these days are very capable.

As you have said you are just dipping your toe at the moment. I would suggest maybe getting rid of the D7500 and picking up 2 x D7200's or 2 x D7100's and seeing how you get on before you jump in with spending a lot of money until you find your feet.
 
The D750 is a great all rounder and a wedding camera for a lot of people. I’m not sure what the D850 would give you over the D750 for weddings as you don’t need the MP, and the file sizes that go with them. The FPS is only 0.5fps faster unless you are going to use the grip, and the D850 with grip and EL-EN18 battery is noticeably heavier than the D750 with grip, something to consider if you’re going to be lugging at least two (I would assume/hope) around all day. I’m not dissing the D850 here, I recently swapped from the D750 to D850 and I love it, but if I was doing weddings with two bodies I’m not sure which I’d choose. You can of course use one plus your D7500 but the difference in controls may lead to wrong settings and missed/ruined shots.

There’s a few general lens combos that people use, eg a 35mm f1.4/1.8 on one body and an 85mm f1.4/1.8 on the other. Some use a 24-70mm f2.8 and 70-200mm f2.8, but there’s no set rule and you could use a 24-70mm f2.8 and 85mm f1.8 for example. Whatever you’re comfortable using and will give you the results you want. (Those focal lengths are all FF, you’d have to adjust if using crop bodies).

There’s absolutely no reason you can’t use crop bodies for weddings, people have been doing so for years. Most modern Nikon crop bodies have very good noise handling, and don’t forget a lot of the time you’re only going to be printing up to A4 albums, and the rest will be viewed on phones and laptops which will be relatively small and so ‘hide’ noise.
 
So far you guys have been amazing when it comes to recommendations and there is no change here :)

Can I just ask one more question, if I have a D750 as my primary, what would you suggest I should buy as a secondary body?

Many thanks again

Scott
 
Scott Hammond said:
So far you guys have been amazing when it comes to recommendations and there is no change here :)

Can I just ask one more question, if I have a D750 as my primary, what would you suggest I should buy as a secondary body?

Many thanks again

Scott
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I would always recommend two of the same bodies that way you’re not going to get confused by settings. Might be worth looking at getting some low mileage used D750’s for around £900 each, or even new grey for circa £1100 if that’s not going against your ethics. Another reason why it’s not necessarily the best idea having two different systems (eg FF and crop) is that you get used to focal lengths, how to frame, where to stand etc. That’s no problem if you never swap the lenses over, or change to all FF in the future, but if you’re unlucky and a camera packs up and you end up having the one body for the day and swapping lenses it ‘could’ throw you off.

That being said I’m sure there’s some that do it and can adapt quite easily. If you go down the D750 then the closest crop body in terms of controls is the D7200. The Achilles Heel of the D7500 is it only having one card slot. I’d personally never do a paid shoot without a backup card.
 
I used two D7200 for a couple of years - super cameras

I then changed to two D750s and 35/85 primes and its been a game changer, I'm finally shooting how I like to shoot - and they weight less than the D7200s did with the zooms I had too = bonus

D850 is overkill, no-one needs that for a Wedding

I generally shoot my 35/85 combo, both the f1.8 versions, at f2.2/2.5 as, for me, anything less is too little DoF - so my advice would be to not waste money on the f1.4 versions, which are also heavier

As snerkler says though - get two of the same bodies as it makes life easier not having to think about settings

Dave
 
snerkler said:
I would always recommend two of the same bodies that way you’re not going to get confused by settings. Might be worth looking at getting some low mileage used D750’s for around £900 each, or even new grey for circa £1100 if that’s not going against your ethics. Another reason why it’s not necessarily the best idea having two different systems (eg FF and crop) is that you get used to focal lengths, how to frame, where to stand etc. That’s no problem if you never swap the lenses over, or change to all FF in the future, but if you’re unlucky and a camera packs up and you end up having the one body for the day and swapping lenses it ‘could’ throw you off.
That being said I’m sure there’s some that do it and can adapt quite easily. If you go down the D750 then the closest crop body in terms of controls is the D7200. The Achilles Heel of the D7500 is it only having one card slot. I’d personally never do a paid shoot without a backup card.
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:agree:

Never shot a wedding but totally agree about using the same body (or something with identical controls). For a reason unbeknownst to me now I shot an action contract a few months ago with the D500 and D7200, I know it's only fractions of a second but switching "muscle memory" between the two was noticeable. Not changing from a D500 on each shoulder ever again:confused:

GC
 
Been shooting dual (same camera) as far as I went for 2 cameras. The idea is that not only you don't have the worry about settings, you also have the same files, and if one fails, the back up is the same and thus same quality.
 
Do any of you wedding shooters use a grip with the 750’s?
I am thinking would a grip make it easier to shoot in portrait orientation?
 
Peter123 said:
Do any of you wedding shooters use a grip with the 750’s?
I am thinking would a grip make it easier to shoot in portrait orientation?
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No

And I don't think the 'benefit' of shooting in portrait orientation with a grip is really worth the added weight for the rest of the time either. In fact, holding the camera in portrait orientation clockwise is (if not more) sturdy anyway, as well as cheaper!

That said, I rarely shoot anything other than landscape orientation as it makes for better album sales, and if needed can just be cropped anyway - 24mp is overkill really as my first albums looked great quality from just 6mp then, so even a big crop of 24mp is always more than enough

Dave
 
Scott Hammond said:
So I'm already looking to get into wedding photography, but I would like some recommendations on Nikon camera bodies to invest in.
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I'm going to take a different line on this.

You already have a decent body, a couple of decent primes and a decent zoom. There are people out there photographing weddings - and being paid to photograph weddings - with less kit, or less capable kit, than that. So what's stopping you?
 
StewartR said:
I'm going to take a different line on this.

You already have a decent body, a couple of decent primes and a decent zoom. There are people out there photographing weddings - and being paid to photograph weddings - with less kit, or less capable kit, than that. So what's stopping you?
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I was guessing at 1 card paranoia ???

It didn't bother me when my first pro camera only had one card slot, but as soon as those with 2 came along I worried about it - weird eh :D

Paranoia aside - his kit is similar (or slightly better) to what I used for about 7 years before going FX

I was really only answering to the D750 suggestions, and if the OP does indeed want to change then these would still be my recommendation

Dave
 
Thank you all so much for your valuable opinions, its always awesome to get a group of opinions on the subject, it looks like I will be trading in the D7500 and clipping a '0' off the namesake.

Thanks again all :)
 
Scott Hammond said:
Thank you all so much for your valuable opinions, its always awesome to get a group of opinions on the subject, it looks like I will be trading in the D7500 and clipping a '0' off the namesake.

Thanks again all :)
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Having the 'right' camera gear does remove those worries from starting out, leaving you to focus (pun intended) on your photography and your sales & marketing

Good luck

Dave
 
i would also throw my hat into the d750 ring, in terms of bang for your buck it is an incredible camera body. Lens wise that is personal preference, some love primes (i haven't the bottle/experience at weddings to move away from zooms yet myself), some prefer a combination of zooms. Just make sure you have the range that suits your style and covers most eventualities.
 
DG Phototraining said:
I was guessing at 1 card paranoia ???
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With respect, Dave, I wasn't asking you and I wasn't asking you to guess. But it doesn't really matter as the OP has ducked the question.

In my view the OP is taking completely the wrong route. He seems to be worrying about what gear he needs - looking to justify the purchase of some new shiny shiny - and not viewing this as part of a much larger set of business decisions. What kind of market is he targeting? How can he attract customers? How much can his customers afford? How can he stand out from a crowded field? What training or experience does he need? Or even, if we have to talk about equipment: What lenses would make a difference in terms of the 'look' he creates? What about flash? Why can't he shoot weddings with his current gear?

But no, let's buy the shiny shiny and ignore the other stuff.
 
My two cents as a wedding photographer:

Use what you have, for now. Shoot alongside an established photographer as a second shooter and learn from them. You should get paid for this, but if you're serious about doing it right, be prepared to do the odd freebie. Don't informally second-shoot at weddings you've been invited to without the main photographer's permission - if you do, you could wreck their shots and p*** them off. If you can afford it, go to a wedding photography workshop or two. Do this and then when you go it alone and shoot your first wedding you'll be less likely to mess up a once in a lifetime event.

Shooting with what you have you'll quickly learn what you're missing (or not) and then be able to find a body that fulfils that... then buy two of them. Duel-carded bodies are essential in my opinion, but beyond that, anything goes. Find out what focal lengths you like to shoot weddings with and buy into that. I did this by shooting zooms at the start and then looking up the LR data to see what length I tended to shoot at. There is no 'right equipment' or 'best lens' for wedding photography in my experience - it's pretty subjective.
 
Do you realise how much work actually goes into wedding photography? it is not just a case of getting a booking and turning up to take photos. Without going into everything, others here can do it far better than me, but I did look into it myself and said no way. All I would say is you need a good business head on you and forget the "glamour" side of it.
 
What about D810 lots better than a D7200 but not as much overkill as a D850
 
Peter123 said:
Do any of you wedding shooters use a grip with the 750’s?
I am thinking would a grip make it easier to shoot in portrait orientation?
Click to expand...

DG Phototraining said:
And I don't think the 'benefit' of shooting in portrait orientation with a grip is really worth the added weight for the rest of the time either. In fact, holding the camera in portrait orientation clockwise is
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What he said, I really thought a grip would revolutionise shooting in portrait orientation, but honestly, I occasionally found myself using the camera shutter release with the grip fitted... :thinking:

I stuck with 6d’s (and the single card slot) rather than a slightly better but much heavier body. Carting a pair of them for 12 hours makes a big difference.
 
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