How should I spend my cash?

[thundermonkey]

Doing weddings and I have a 60D with a 50mm 1.4 and kit 18-135 which is useless basically. Friend shoots with 60D/T3i.

Currently looking to get a 5D3 and a Tamron 24-70. The low light capabilities seem to be worth it for me. I could very well get away with a T2i...if all my shooting was out in the sun, but instead I have a lot of lighting situations where I cannot control it at all. Using footage that is totally usable past 1600 ISO seems almost too good to be true. So, should I get a 5D3 with the Tamron, or go for a lighting Kit? I am leaning towards to the 5D because of the lack of control in the lighting, and in my unscientific opinion, the footage from full frame cameras looks way way better than what my 60D can do.

Doing weddings, should I have 2 bodies anyway or chill knowing who I shoot with has the cam? Input welcome!

[RLPhoto]

Doing weddings and I have a 60D with a 50mm 1.4 and kit 18-135 which is useless basically. Friend shoots with 60D/T3i.

Currently looking to get a 5D3 and a Tamron 24-70. The low light capabilities seem to be worth it for me. I could very well get away with a T2i...if all my shooting was out in the sun, but instead I have a lot of lighting situations where I cannot control it at all. Using footage that is totally usable past 1600 ISO seems almost too good to be true. So, should I get a 5D3 with the Tamron, or go for a lighting Kit? I am leaning towards to the 5D because of the lack of control in the lighting, and in my unscientific opinion, the footage from full frame cameras looks way way better than what my 60D can do.

Doing weddings, should I have 2 bodies anyway or chill knowing who I shoot with has the cam? Input welcome!

Yes the Video on the 5D3 is much improved over the previous generation of camera.

[Axilrod]

Lighting can make a huge difference, and even if you do end up getting a 5DIII it's something you should still consider.  Lighting will help your situation for sure, but you still won't get that full frame look you're talking about.  I'd go for the 5DIII or even a 5DII, it will feel like a huge jump either way. 

[thundermonkey]

Just got back from a wedding. Honestly, with the way weddings go for me, nothing goes according to plan and I feel as though if I were to light it would be in vain as things happen by the seat of your pants, and so you just have to shoot and may not have time to adjust lighting.

Case in point, they just randomly decide to cut cake and go to dancing without letting us know when. We were set up for something else. I was making sure audio was okay, but in a case like that you just have to start shooting. So having the low light ability in camera helps me a lot more.

Of course I could just be justifying it to myself.

Overall, I do not disagree with you but I just think I really do need to devour low light as best as possible.

[syder]

Maybe 5dm3 with a set of 35/50/85/125 primes... High ISO + fast prime = lowlight win.

And with the 60d as a second body you can cover 2/3 of wide/standard/tele at any one time. Although if you find you struggle with organisational factors, maybe the versatility of the zoom would suit you better

[thundermonkey]

Yes, I honestly think a Tamorn 24-70 would suit me best, even for speeches, while I know a Prime is ideal, people do not stand still! They get up walk around, etc. while giving speeches. Also I find the 2-2.8 aperture to be a sweet spot. When shooting people partying, in the dark, with a video light on it is hard to nail focus at 1.4.

[Axilrod]

If you get a 5DIII you should be able to get away with ISO3200 no problem, with a 60D/7D I won't go over 800 for professional work.

[thundermonkey]

1250 with my 1.4 lens is fine I think. A bit of noise reduction and the fact that I usually go down to DVD helps a lot.

[Videoshooter]

I'm also about to upgrade my wedding kit as I am shooting more for myself lately, not just freelancing/as 2nd shooter for other people.

Currently I have 550D & 60D, Tamron 17-50mm 2.8, Nikon 80-200mm 2.8, & Canon 50mm 1.4.

Here's the kit I am thinking about upgrading to. Looking at used prices on eBay and at B &H I think it should cost me about $2500 all up, after selling the old stuff, to make these upgrades. Going to the mkIII would make the total closer to $4500-5000 which is way over my budget right now.

Canon 5dmkII
Canon 60D
Canon 70-200m 2.8
Canon 17-55mm 2.8 IS
Canon 50mm 1.4
Canon 28mm 1.8
Canon 85mm 1.8

What does everyone think of this kit? Any glaring holes in there? The big benefits I'm looking forward to are using the 28mm 1.8 on the 5dmkII in place of the 17-50mm 2.8 @17mm on the 60D for dancing, group shots, etc at the reception, putting the 85mm 1.8 on the 60D for speeches as a static shot (rather than the Nikon 80-200mm) so that I can use the 70-200mm to shoot CU's of the bridal table and crowd reactions, and the IS on the 17-55 2.8 (Which is the main reason I'd pick it over a 24-70mm).

It'll also be nice to have lenses that all focus is the same direction!

[thundermonkey]

I think a 24-70 might make more sense on whoever is giving speeches because there's a chance they will get up and move from where they are at. You're looking to get all the lenses used?

[Videoshooter]

Hi Thundermonkey.

I've never shot speeches on anything as wide as a 24-70, normally I use my 80-200 and that is perfect. The way I like to work is to have one camera on the speaker on a tripod, while I roam around getting CU's and reaction shots of the crowd with a monopod. I go back to the main camera between each speech to re-frame (for height differences) and to wait and see if they are going to be a 'roamer'. Once I'm moving around I still keep an eye on the speaker and if they look like they're going to move, I'll quickly run back to adjust the main camera. Sometimes (depending on if I have an extra shooter/more than 2 cameras with me) I'll also have a static medium shot of the bride & groom at their table which makes for a perfect back-up angle.

I think I'll probably get the 28mm & 85mm new as there don't seem to be many used ones floating around in Australia. The 70-200 and 17-55 I will probably buy used, but if I get good prices on the stuff I'm selling I might get those brand new as well.