Advice on wedding photography and camera choice

[MrMonster]

Good morning!

I'm new to the whole photography malark but i've been interested in it for some time.

My sisters wedding is in July, we've agreed that instead of a photographer we're going to purchase a camera and people will take photos during the day with the camera to give the memories of the day a homely feel.

The first few questions I have are;

What type of camera would best suit weddings, mainly photographs of people and groups.

What of the above could I buy under £300 that will do the job?

Any accessories that i may need? Lenses, tripod, flashes etc

Basic beginner photographer info, any websites/articles that can teach me a thing or two in order to practice?

I own a Samsung point and shoot camera at present but in artificial lighting such as indoors the picture isn't the greatest, it's only 14mp too.

I appreciate all help given, sincerely.

I dont want our decision to do it alone hinder the opportunity for decent pictures and memories from the day

 

[gsgary]

Place one of these on every table, don't waste your money because £300 is not enough if nobody knows how to use a camera properly it won't do a better job than your Samsung
Welcome to ILFORD PHOTO
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[manaheim]

^ I've seen a lot of weddings do this and it works well enough... as long as you don't mind mostly amateurish results. Overexposures, bad angles, etc. You'll usually get at least a few really good ones and a couple dozen keeper.

I can't see getting a single camera and having it passed around like crazy. You're more likely going to wind up with one guy deciding he's a photographer and dominating the camera the entire time. (or it getting broken).

You COULD purchase several lower-end digital cameras. You'd have fewer of them but wouldn't have to deal witht he film nonsense. I also often wonder if there are disposable digital ones, but I'm too lazy to go look.

 

[gsgary]

^ I've seen a lot of weddings do this and it works well enough... as long as you don't mind mostly amateurish results. Overexposures, bad angles, etc. You'll usually get at least a few really good ones and a couple dozen keeper.

I can't see getting a single camera and having it passed around like crazy. You're more likely going to wind up with one guy deciding he's a photographer and dominating the camera the entire time. (or it getting broken).

You COULD purchase several lower-end digital cameras. You'd have fewer of them but wouldn't have to deal witht he film nonsense. I also often wonder if there are disposable digital ones, but I'm too lazy to go look.

What film nonsense? Didn't you look it's an XP2 disposable c41 development no problem to get developed in the UK

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[gsgary]

^ I've seen a lot of weddings do this and it works well enough... as long as you don't mind mostly amateurish results. Overexposures, bad angles, etc. You'll usually get at least a few really good ones and a couple dozen keeper.

I can't see getting a single camera and having it passed around like crazy. You're more likely going to wind up with one guy deciding he's a photographer and dominating the camera the entire time. (or it getting broken).

You COULD purchase several lower-end digital cameras. You'd have fewer of them but wouldn't have to deal witht he film nonsense. I also often wonder if there are disposable digital ones, but I'm too lazy to go look.

1 low end digital will cost £300

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[Overread16 4]

A good few wedding photographers use this as part of their package as well and basic film processing is not too hard to come by. I agree that if you want happy-snaps then a few disposables dotted around will be fine. Dno't forget that in this day and age people will have their own cameras too so a quick wedding facebook group can easily let you gather up a whole slew of shots from the day taken on phones/tablets/point and shoots along with the disposables you can put out.


I agree that a $300 camera isn't really the best approach; it will get picked up by one or two people at most and many might not even know how to use it. Disposables are dead simple - point and shoot and nothing else. Plus it doesn't matter if someone walks off with a cheap disposable - whilst if the $300 is damaged (because someone drank too much and spilt drink over it) lost or even stolen its a bigger hit to take.

 

[table1349]

Back in 2005 CVS pharmacy actually had a disposable digital camera for $9.99. It wasn't really disposable as much as you rented it took your pictures took it back they download the photos onto a disc and gave you that. CVS then wiped the memory and installed a new battery and put camera back out for rental/sale again. I am not aware of any such cameras like that now. Obviously it didn't work too well as CVS no longer does this.

Disposable Wedding Cameras - Confetti.co.uk Do check out the specs of the various cameras. They are loaded with various speeds of film.

 

[Designer]

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[table1349]

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[Braineack]

one wont be enough. You'll want at least a few...

 

[manaheim]

^ I've seen a lot of weddings do this and it works well enough... as long as you don't mind mostly amateurish results. Overexposures, bad angles, etc. You'll usually get at least a few really good ones and a couple dozen keeper.

I can't see getting a single camera and having it passed around like crazy. You're more likely going to wind up with one guy deciding he's a photographer and dominating the camera the entire time. (or it getting broken).

You COULD purchase several lower-end digital cameras. You'd have fewer of them but wouldn't have to deal witht he film nonsense. I also often wonder if there are disposable digital ones, but I'm too lazy to go look.

1 low end digital will cost £300

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I was more thinking something like this...

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Coolpix...=8-282&keywords=nikon+digital+point+and+shoot

You can get older model digital cameras for relatively cheap with a bit of digging. Heck, I bought a $40 new one for my daughter a while back.

 

[goodguy]

Your budget is extremely limiting, I will tell you what I would do.
I would recommend to get Nikon D3300 with its kit lens Nikon 18-55mm and to add to that a Yongluo flash of ebay which should be around 60$-80$
It might be a bit more then your quoted amount but a wedding is (hopefully) one time event and you want to get it right.
Nikon D3300 is an excellent camera, much more then its price would tell, I use it in weddings and love the results.
The nice thing is that its Nikon's most basic DSLR but it has an excellent sensor in it with excellent low light performance and good dynamic range.
Good luck

 

[gsgary]

Your budget is extremely limiting, I will tell you what I would do.
I would recommend to get Nikon D3300 with its kit lens Nikon 18-55mm and to add to that a Yongluo flash of ebay which should be around 60$-80$
It might be a bit more then your quoted amount but a wedding is (hopefully) one time event and you want to get it right.
Nikon D3300 is an excellent camera, much more then its price would tell, I use it in weddings and love the results.
The nice thing is that its Nikon's most basic DSLR but it has an excellent sensor in it with excellent low light performance and good dynamic range.
Good luck

And who is going to know how to use it ?

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[vintagesnaps]

I thought the same thing as Gary, there were those disposable film cameras that were decorated for weddings to be put out on the tables. That could be fun for a reception but I don't think I'd count on getting any decent pictures of a wedding ceremony.

I was thinking too, what about digital p&s cameras in used bargain condition? But then you've got to buy a bunch of media cards. And who's going to download all that mess of pictures and sort it all out? Maybe you have that worked out for someone to do.

The only thing I can think is if there's one person who at least knows how to use a camera well enough that person could be allowed to stand where he/she could get a few pictures of the ceremony. You might get some fun pictures with what you're planning to do but I wouldn't have hopes too high. There are reasons that wedding photographers charge what they do.

 

[jaomul]

I think you'd be better off paying someone 300 to do the job. You likely wont get a very established pro but an enthusiast who is interested will likely do better than a bunch of partying friends taking pictures of each others ass