Which 5d/flash to get for a first wedding kit?

[elflord]

You didn't mention a sub-24mm lens - isn't that necessary from your experience for shots in small interiors?

My wedding was shot with photographers who had APS-C cameras with 16mm-35mm lenses, so they had nothing wider than 25mm equivalent.

For indoor shots, wouldn't you be worried about perspective distortion with a sub 24mm lens ?

Question/thought about gear: did you consider a battery grip ?

About focus and recompose: people often comment that this causes focus shift. I've tested this with a focus chart and the 135mm f/2 at minimum focus distance and I could still focus and recompose center to edge (I think in a real shooting scenario you'd get a reduced keeper rate if you did this, but in a real shooting scenario the thing you focus on usually isn't going to be positioned at the edge of the frame).

[Marsu42]

Question/thought about gear: did you consider a battery grip ?

Um, no, not at all because it doesn't result in higher fps like in the good ol' days and I don't have a problem shooting portrait without it if it's not for the whole day. Any reason you think I should get grips for 60d/5d or both? At least on the 60d, the battery lasts practically forever.

About focus and recompose: people often comment that this causes focus shift. I've tested this with a focus chart and the 135mm f/2 at minimum focus distance and I could still focus and recompose center to edge (I think in a real shooting scenario you'd get a reduced keeper rate if you did this, but in a real shooting scenario the thing you focus on usually isn't going to be positioned at the edge of the frame).

I thought about it and it's a large issue when shooting f2.8 1:1 macro with minimal dof, then it's either mf or using the af point where I want the focus placed. But for run & gun shots, my focus points won't be that much off center, and while af'ing af f2.8 I usually shoot at smaller aperture for safety (eyes in focus) and because I don't want the "minimal dof" style in all shots.

But the main issue: At least with my 60d switching the focus point takes a lot of time, so this will only be an a possibility if shooting minimal dof portraits with a fast prime. No doubt the af of the 5d3 would help here, but for me this doesn't justify double the price of the 5d2 just yet.

[elflord]

But the main issue: At least with my 60d switching the focus point takes a lot of time, so this will only be an a possibility if shooting minimal dof portraits with a fast prime. No doubt the af of the 5d3 would help here, but for me this doesn't justify double the price of the 5d2 just yet.

The 5DII has a custom function where you can select the AF point with the joystick thing (and it's not incremental -- one touch selects the AF point. You press it to select the center). The outer AF points don't work as well as the center one, so some people don't use them (but it is easy to select them quickly)

Anyway, at f/2.8 assuming normal portrait distances (not macro distances) you'll do fine with the center point.

Edit: I mentioned the grips because you will be shooting vertical a lot, and the extended battery life wouldn't hurt. But no I don't think you need to have them.

[RLPhoto]

So I've decided to get into the pro wedding business for real. I got to know a guy who - if my luck persists - will tell me the tricks of the local trade and coach me through my first contracts.

Until now, I shot purely for fun and learning, and now have a general idea where the shutter button is located. But in the future it'll business all over, at least that's the idea. And while it'll take a while to set me up, I'll have to get my new working gear now to become familiar with it, while keeping the cost-income relationship somewhat sane.

• Conditions: From what I'm hearing, the basic idea when starting out is to get the job done, capture the important moments, the atmosphere and to get shots of all guests and esp. the relatives, so everyone is happy. The clients I'll be acquiring when starting off won't be concerned with corner sharpness, complicated flash setups or life-size prints.
• My current gear: I've got the 60d as a backup body and the 100L for portraits, might be nice as a 160/2.8 on the crop body, too. I don't think the 70-300L is adequate for weddings, but from what I'm hearing, the local conditions don't necessarily call for a $2000+ 70-200 anyway. I'll have to get an uwa & some 24-70 lens and might ask about this in a separate thread - but with what body/flash?

BODY: I'll need a somewhat affordable high-iso ff body, so a 5d seems to make sense.

• 5d2. It's half the price of the successor, and if using focus/recompose people seem to have used this successfully for wedding occasions.
• 5d3. It's said to have higher iso performance, but looking at the raw samples I hardly can see an improvement? Is better awb, more fps (or quiet shutter), dual cards and the updated af system a noticeable improvement for weddings?

FLASH: For wedding run & gun, I guess I'll need one fast recycling flash with a battery pack, so my 430ex2 won't suffice. While shooting w/o flash might be preferable, as far as I understand it there's hardly any way around it.

• 580ex2. Isn't sold new anymore, and obsolete ir technology. Seems to have a bug when using hss extensively. But great if combined with 3rd party triggers, esp. since these can trigger dumb ttl flashes, too.
• 600rt. This is currently the must-have choice for the 5d3, but seems to be compatible with the 5d2 as well - and except the price there are no drawbacks (it can work with 3rd party triggers too)?

Get a reportage list from the couple. Get those first and then you'll be free to get creative. Generally, I shoot two body's with the 24L and the 50L. I will rotate the 135L in as nessesary. This allows me to get a unique look that my clients love. It's a simple straight forward setup for me and I like to work pretty close to people.

That's me, but a 24-70 + 70-200 may be a safer choice for you.

[briansquibb]

My 2 stock lens have been the 24-105 and the 70-200.

[Marsu42]

Get a reportage list from the couple. Get those first and then you'll be free to get creative. Generally, I shoot two body's with the 24L and the 50L. I will rotate the 135L in as nessesary. This allows me to get a unique look that my clients love. It's a simple straight forward setup for me and I like to work pretty close to people.

I've read you mentioning your setup a couple of times, and your coverage of most zoom lengths with primes on a ff and crop body seems clever. Where do you usually put your 24L and 50L (ff or crop), and how often do you switch during a wedding? And how do you manage with the 50L's focus shift, do you either shoot 100% open or f2.8+ do get around that?

It's a pity your site isn't ready yet, I looked a couple of times and would like to see what your "unique look" is.

[RLPhoto]

Get a reportage list from the couple. Get those first and then you'll be free to get creative. Generally, I shoot two body's with the 24L and the 50L. I will rotate the 135L in as nessesary. This allows me to get a unique look that my clients love. It's a simple straight forward setup for me and I like to work pretty close to people.

I've read you mentioning your setup a couple of times, and your coverage of most zoom lengths with primes on a ff and crop body seems clever. Where do you usually put your 24L and 50L (ff or crop), and how often do you switch during a wedding? And how do you manage with the 50L's focus shift, do you either shoot 100% open or f2.8+ do get around that?

It's a pity your site isn't ready yet, I looked a couple of times and would like to see what your "unique look" is.

Most of the time I use the 24mm on the 7D.(35mm FOV) and the 50mm on the 5Dc. If Im going to be stuck in the rear of the church, i'll rotate the 135mm onto the 7D (200mm FOV) and the 24mm on the 5Dc to get the wider perspective. It depends on the situation at hand but usually works great with a Dual BR strap.

As for the 50L focus shift, I've never seen it in my copy date 2010. I've been shooting fast primes since my minolta Maxxum AF 50mm 1.8. I've learned to deal with tiny DOF and get good results.

Lately, with the graduations happening in san antonio, I've been covering a couple of these for the family's with the exact same reportage style of small, fast primes and in-close work.

Sorry about the site, Its been a pain to work on while doing everything else on my plate besides photography.

[Marsu42]

Thanks everyone for your input, so I've settled for a 5d2 for the time being running magic lantern now and being half the price of the 5d3. If you like, please help me to find the right 24-70 lens in this thread:

http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=7479.0