No, I'm not a noobie whose taken on the task of shooting a wedding less than a week from today!
Shoot, no reason for me to be here... nothing for me to rag on.. oh wait, you're a Canon guy, right, Chis? I can latch on to that and piss off a few people with a little effort... LOL
Kidding aside, honestly, just like there is no one answer to the "what settings are good at a wedding" question, the "what equipment do I need" falls not too far away. It depends WHERE the wedding is taking place and who the clients are as well as the photographer's experience level.
Is it all outdoors in daylight? Almost anything goes.
Is it in a darker gloomy church? Fast lenses rule.
Is it a candle lit church ceremony? Good camera, fast glass and high ISO are the tricks to get this wedding done in the proper manner.
Lenses... well ALL of them should be capable of F/2.8 as a minimum, IMHO, that at least guarantees a certain level of lens quality (albeit not a lot, but still).
If you can find a few good sharp lenses that drop down to F/1.8 or F/1.4, that's even better. Focal lengths... ANYTHING goes! From fish-eye to ultra-wide angle all the way up to that 70-200. Again, depends on what you want to do.
I have near 6500 wedding pics from 4 events but becuase of my agreement with my mentor/man who uses me as a second, I cannot use any publicly, and I am OK with that. At the time, it was just for the experience anyways and I never had the intent of turning pro (still am not either).
Now, I am kinda glad that I have this experience... there are 2 weddings that are coming up in my own family in 2009 and I have been already asked to "do" both. I answered the same to both... sure, as long as I am the secondary photographer to a REAL professional, I have no issues helping out.
With one, though, I *may* reconsider, as it is going to be a very tiny and private affair (about 10-15 people in all) in a small church and the reception will be in their home, and it is a very young couple just starting out in life (22 and 24 years old). We'll see, I am sincerely undecided.
I am NOT a professional, but I am willing to bet that equipment for me would be the LEAST of my worries.
Bodies:
- Nikon D200
- Nikon D700
Lenses I would take with me (I have a few more, but some are not suited to weddings).
For the D700:
- Nikkor 85mm D AF F/1.4 prime
- Nikkor 50mm F/1.8 D prime
- Nikkor 70-200mm IF-ED VR F/2.8
- Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
- Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED (not bought yet but I will by this summer)
- Nikkor 16mm f/2.8G ED fisheye (not bought yet but I will by this summer)
For the D200:
- Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM Ultra Wide Angle
- Sigma 18-50mm F/2.8 EX DC HSM Macro
- Sigma 30mm EX DC F/1.4 HSM prime
- Sigma 105mm EX DG F/2.8 Macro prime
Lighting:
- 1 SB-800
- 4 SB-600s (I have 2 now, 2 more coming by end of March)
- A couple studio strobes if needed (I may have the Elinchrom D-Lite 4 package by then too)
- 6 lightstands/umbrellas (may not use them all, but they would be there)
Triggering would be handled by my modded Cactus V2s transmitters/receivers as they have been flawless for me so far.