equipment for wedding photography

[Light Guru]

Light Guru During those ten years I photographed maybe seven weddings with Canon EOS ELANTRA and Canon lenses( not fast) and not very much instruction. I now have Canon digital equipment and need to know just how and when to use what camera at what ISO,etc.

You'll need whatever ISO it takes to get the exposure you want with the combination of shutter speed and aperature you were planning on using. You'll want to use your longer lenses for farther away shots and your closer lenses for closer shots. If you have a flash, you will want to use that when it is needed.

Yup all things the OP should know if he really has 10 years of experience shooting weddings.

 

[TCampbell]

Light Guru During those ten years I photographed maybe seven weddings with Canon EOS ELANTRA and Canon lenses( not fast) and not very much instruction. I now have Canon digital equipment and need to know just how and when to use what camera at what ISO,etc.

Specifically... which Canon digital camera? It makes a difference in what other gear works best with it. You'll _need_ TWO cameras.

You mentioned Elantra, but you're probably thinking of the EOS Elan (Elantra is the name of a car... made by Hyundai).

If you're wondering if there's a difference in a lens designed for "film" vs. "digital" -- no. Canon EOS "EF" lenses work on all Canon EOS bodies... film or digital.

Entry-level digital bodies have APS-C crop-frame size sensors. A full-frame digital sensor is a sensor which is the same size as a frame of 35mm film negative. Canon's higher end bodies have full-frame sensors. The 6D is the "entry" level of full-frame. The 5D III is a high-end field camera. The 1D X is the flag-ship body (and some think of this as a high-end sports action body and/or studio body.) Everything else (currently marketed) has an APS-C size sensor (a full-frame sensor is about 50-60% larger than an APS-C sensor.)

Full-frame sensors naturally have better ability to shoot at high ISO with low noise. Some entry bodies really struggle with that ... so much that they're really not appropriate for weddings because they'd struggle through a ceremony in a dimly lit church where flash isn't permitted during the ceremony -- which is pretty much EVERY church.)

That means... that low focal ratio lenses are KING. I wouldn't dream of shooting a wedding with lenses that could not provide a constant f/2.8 focal ratio OR FASTER. E.g. the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM II... the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II... those are common bread-n-butter lenses. If I had a crop-frame body then I might swap the 24-70mm f/2.8 for the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM. A fast prime would be nice. I'm partial to my EF 135mm f/2L USM, but I have a full-frame body. On a crop-body I might go for the 85mm f/1.8... perhaps even consider the 50mm f/1.4 (skip the 50mm f/1.8). These lenses will not be cheap.

At the reception (especially after dinner when they dim the lights and start the dancing) you'll want a couple of DECENT speedlites. I'm partial to the new 600EX-RT's. One on camera... and a second on a hand-held mono-pod held by the side-lighter and you can use a shoot-through umbrella or a collapsible soft-box for portraiture sessions. Get external battery packs and rechargeable Sanyo Eneloop batteries.

I must confess that I have a _very_ confused look on my face when I actually saw you asking about ISO. ISO is ISO. It doesn't matter if it's film or digital. The only difference is that on digital you can change the ISO on a shot-by-shot basis, whereas in a film camera you're stuck with the ISO for the whole roll of film. The camera should be capable of shooting at ISO 6400 with _very_ little noise. I've done tests with DSLRs using ISO 3200 in a dim church, natural light, using an f/2.8 lens and it's _very_ challenging. You'll have to do your level best not to move (shutter speeds might be 1/30th). That's risky -- don't expect every shot to turn out. At ISO 6400 you can at least bump up the shutter to 1/60th -- still slow, but do-able for a steady hand.

 

[KmH]

Duplicate thread - Closed.