Why you should take your camera to family Weddings

[dr croubie]

I think I might forward this thread onto a friend of mine see if I can borrow his 5D3 for a wedding in 2 weeks. (hey, he won't be using it at the time, he's the Groom).

I'm not sure what to think about the photog though. Sure, it's an amateur mistake to not have enough cards/space, and anyone should have done better, but maybe that's the first time he's done it in 20 years? (i'm sure even Ansell Adams went on a 2-day hike once and then went, "oh crap, i've forgotten the plates!").
Still, the more photographers the better, as long as they don't all step on each other...

[Kernuak]

Inexcusable!!! I shot a wedding last weekend. Just before the ceremony, my 5D3 was reporting I still had 160 frames of open capacity on my 8GB card.

Professional event photographers still shoot with 8Gb cards? Phew! That's not a lot of shots on a 5D3 unless you are a JPEG shooter.
I'm still frequently surprised how fast a 32Gb card fills on the 5D3.

-PW

I think a lot of professionals think in terms of a card becoming corrupt and less to lose on a smaller capacity card. There are also some that think larger capacity cards are less reliable. There was probably a time when that may have been true, but I think it is less so now. Many pros aren't all that tech savvy though, they just want to shoot with tools that do the job.

[cps_user]

I shoot weddings on 2 5d3, each with a 64gb sd for raw and 32 cf cards for raw too. I usually only have to switch one card during the whole day. And I always look out for the right moment to do so.

congrats on your daughter by the way!

[celliottuk]

You really have a duff photographer. Anyone who relies on a 8Gb card should be able to change it  more quickly than a Navy SEAL re-assembles his assault rifle after a beach landing. If he ain't that quick, then he should use bigger cards, or change them(Whether they need it or not) before each and every major "Chapter" in the wedding "Story"
The fact that you were there to pick up the pieces is great for your daughter, but doesn't absolve him of his responsibility to document these unique family moments. I would copy all these comments to him and ask for a huge discount, he hasn't got a leg to stand on

[LightCrafterPhotography]

I got the shots of her coming down the aisle, which he missed completely. Said his card filled up

Good thing you had your cameras. It's not acceptable for any professional photographer to miss a shot due to lack of memory space. It's preventable and in the photographer's control. For an 8-10 hour event, a single 64 gig card is sufficient 99.9% of the time. Shooting with 5D2 or 5D3, the card has enough space for approximately 2300 full size raw files. If the shoot rate is 100 images per hour, the card will not even be filled 50% capacity. Plus, a good pro photographer carries extra cards too for added security and freedom of shooting. But then also, if the photographer was shooting  in raw, he could have switched to jpegs as soon as he realized he did not have enough memory space, and should have been able to cover those last crucial shots which he obviously missed.

[Northstar]

There is no excuse for the pro but we all make mistakes so how about improvising by quickly deleting a couple RAW shots and then switching to jpeg medium?

This would take 10 seconds and free up space for plenty of jpegs.

Anyway, I'm glad you saved the day!

[pwp]

I think a lot of professionals think in terms of a card becoming corrupt and less to lose on a smaller capacity card. There are also some that think larger capacity cards are less reliable. There was probably a time when that may have been true, but I think it is less so now. Many pros aren't all that tech savvy though, they just want to shoot with tools that do the job.

Let's do a quick timeline here on this subject. Early this century when we were all shooting with 256Mb or 512Mb CF cards, the new HUGE 1Gb cards started shipping. Cautious photographers said, " Oh no...we'll stick with the smaller cards and spread the risk. You can't put all your eggs in one basket". Exactly the same conversation happened on forums when 2Gb, 4Gb, 8Gb etc CF cards started shipping.

Ten years ago I got caught with a too small card on my first job with the 1Ds, a massive 11.4 Mp camera. I've never been caught short again; glad to have a pocket full of fast high quality 32Gb cards. And in 12 years shooting digital, touch wood, I've never had a card failure. All my CF cards get retired after 18 months maximum. They are always top-end Sandisk or Lexar. They're never dropped, and always formatted in camera. They get a deep full format in the computer 2-3 times a year. This all may be complete overkill, but face it, the reliability runs are on the board. Against the possibility of messing up a job or even losing a client, CF cards are cheap.

In this day and age, it's inexcusable for any professional shooter to run short of space at the wrong moment. Part of your professionalism is to anticipate, and up to a point, predict the (near) future.

OP, I'm glad you brought your camera to the wedding. And you got the shot!

-PW

[pierceography]

I shoot weddings on 2 5d3, each with a 64gb sd for raw and 32 cf cards for raw too. I usually only have to switch one card during the whole day. And I always look out for the right moment to do so.

congrats on your daughter by the way!

How's your performance on the 64GB SD cards?  I recently forgot to take a CF card with me when I ran to the park for some dusk shots -- I wasn't worried, since I only planned on shooting for a half hour -- and had to use my 32GB SD backup card.  I found the performance really frustrating.  I knew the SD slot wasn't UHS, but trying to review shots after I took them was horrible; Some very obvious lag when pulling up images for immediate review.  I definitely won't be using the SD slot for serious shooting in the future... Only for after I've filled up my CF cards.  A real shame, there.

[tron]

I use three 32Gb Sandisk Extreme cards with my 5DMkII. I shoot only in Raw (max resolution) and each card holds more than 1000 pictures. One card is permanently on a Sandisk keychain it came with. That key chain is attached to my car keychain which is at my pocket. And ... I am an amateur! So this is not acceptable for a professional. Unless he found an excuse...

[Viggo]

Did she sprint down the isle for him not to have time to switch cards?? No excuses for that... I use my second slot as a pure backup.

Maybe cameras being used for sports and weddings should have a warning in the VF (with variable setting) when this and that many shots left?

[Nishi Drew]

"Oh my card filled up" may not be true though, he might have figured that statement sounds better as "it's a technical problem that could easily happen since I take so many shots!" But what the duck, my first wedding went better than that, I was inexperienced but did it for a next to nothing for a couple I knew, and even though I was worried my two 32GB cards might fill up, I was a little more worried that my single camera could fail. Not very wise that I had only one body, but I got all the important/required shots (it was a small venue anyway). Though, I did miss some nice dancing/candid moments due to my AF just not locking on and missing, now that's a technical problem that everyone can have trouble with.

And @ Viggo, a little warning might benefit some, but any photog who isn't just machine gunning away should be well aware of how many more shots they can take

[agierke]

absolutely inexcusable. i shoot weddings every weekend, sometimes multiple weddings in a single weekend. for that reason i carry with me (at all times) over 100gb of 8gb CF cards split between 2 cameras. i keep them in a soft card case (Tenba) that is attached to my belt for quick and easy access.

i typically log anywhere from 2500-3000 shots per wedding and am constantly checking the frame count of both my cameras and the cameras of the second shooter. i dont use anything larger than an 8gb card simply for the reason that i dont want to run the risk of a card getting lost or damaged and i lose too large a portion of the event. granted...any lost shots are a disaster but its about damage control. (another reason why having 2 shooters is so important).

[cayenne]

Inexcusable!!! I shot a wedding last weekend. Just before the ceremony, my 5D3 was reporting I still had 160 frames of open capacity on my 8GB card.

Professional event photographers still shoot with 8Gb cards? Phew! That's not a lot of shots on a 5D3 unless you are a JPEG shooter.
I'm still frequently surprised how fast a 32Gb card fills on the 5D3.

-PW

Thank kind of caught my eye too...I'm a complete noob, starting out with the 5D3 as my first DSLR...and from everything I read and studied before buying....well, let's put it this way, I've not bought anything less than 32GB....just wait till they go on sale, and pick up a couple here and there...both SD and CF.

I've been doing video too...so, I know how fast they can fill.....saving for 64GB ones....

I can understand if you have 8GB cards laying around from awhile back....waste not want not, but I'd think those would largely be relegated to just home use...not out on a job where you need capacity...?

C

[Canihaspicture]

To the original poster... So, are we going to see some of you're non pro wedding pics???..

 

[sb]

Inexcusable!!! I shot a wedding last weekend. Just before the ceremony, my 5D3 was reporting I still had 160 frames of open capacity on my 8GB card.

Professional event photographers still shoot with 8Gb cards? Phew! That's not a lot of shots on a 5D3 unless you are a JPEG shooter.
I'm still frequently surprised how fast a 32Gb card fills on the 5D3.

-PW

I think a lot of professionals think in terms of a card becoming corrupt and less to lose on a smaller capacity card.

That. I almost exclusively use only 8GB cards for that reason, but I also keep checking my shot count all the time. However whoever can't or doesn't want to keep monitoring space usage should by all means use larger cards. Either way people need to be obsessive compulsive when it comes to preparations because it's too easy to screw up.