EOS 5D3 - shooting first wedding on Saturday

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kennephoto said:
I have a wedding coming up in 1 month and I have been going round and round in my head about 5d3 and 5d2. I dont have either camera yet but I sure want one of the two. I see a lot of you have been saying not to be fearless with ISO on 5d3 but what about 5d2? Is the 5d3 a ISO beast compared to 5d2? Basically can you be a bit fearless with 5d2 still?

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Canon_EOS_5D_Mark_III/high_ISO_noise.shtml

I found this ISO comparison between 5D2 and 5D3 compelling. It is side-by-side shots of a church interior, and not test patterns or whatnot, so you may find it illuminating. (photography pun intended)
 
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kennephoto said:
I have a wedding coming up in 1 month and I have been going round and round in my head about 5d3 and 5d2. I dont have either camera yet but I sure want one of the two. I see a lot of you have been saying not to be fearless with ISO on 5d3 but what about 5d2? Is the 5d3 a ISO beast compared to 5d2? Basically can you be a bit fearless with 5d2 still?

The two cameras are very similar with noise, but the reason you want to be a little more careful with the 5d2 is color fidelity and dynamic range. The 5d2 goes purple and the files become harder to work with, while the 5d3 holds up pretty well.
 
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MarkB said:
I wouldn't recommend using auto ISO with flash

Original poster : Watch out for that!. The 5D3 defaults to locking the iso at 400-1600 when flash is engaged.
I was going to mention the 400 ISO in auto-ISO the moment you stick a flash on top of the camera.

What do you mean by "The 5D3 defaults to locking the iso at 400-1600"? My experience has been that it locks at ISO 400 - it does not go up to 1600. Am I missing something on my end?
 
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kennephoto said:
I have a wedding coming up in 1 month and I have been going round and round in my head about 5d3 and 5d2. I dont have either camera yet but I sure want one of the two. I see a lot of you have been saying not to be fearless with ISO on 5d3 but what about 5d2? Is the 5d3 a ISO beast compared to 5d2? Basically can you be a bit fearless with 5d2 still?


Up to 3200. 6400 is usable if you take some care with exposure and processing. 12800 is useless.

On the Mk III, 12800 is a walk in the park. 16000 looks good. 25800 is usable. 51600 works in a pinch, if you understand what to expect and don't mind taking some time in Lightroom to coax the best out of what you've got.

I'd consider the Mk III to be 2-3 stops better on the high end. I'm someone who's been shooting in the dark for a very long time; the capabilities of the Mk III are nothing short of astonishing. The Mk II is better than film ever was, mind you. But the Mk III is in a whole other league.
 
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Tcapp said:
The two cameras are very similar with noise, but the reason you want to be a little more careful with the 5d2 is color fidelity and dynamic range. The 5d2 goes purple and the files become harder to work with, while the 5d3 holds up pretty well.

The larger issue is pattern noise. It starts to show up at 6400 on the Mk II, and it's dominant at 12800. It's pretty much unfixable at that point, short of heavy duty NR software. That's where I get my "speed limit" from. Noise doesn't bother me, as long as it's random or appears so. If it looks like film, or can be made to look like film, I'm fine with it.

Others will have a lower tolerance. I suspect most of them never shot high speed photographic film like I have. ;)
 
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Anyone shooting a wedding for the first time should really have some experience behind them first, owning some gear doesn't really qualify you to do a good service to a couple. Most of the advise here is not going to help. Go out there and shoot some events. Learn what works. Even better, shoot with a professional and learn firsthand how to approach things. It's funny how many posts like this end up on various forum sites. What you need to shoot a wedding isn't gear, it's skill and knowing how your gear works in various situations, and even more - what are you capturing - what many call the best day of their life. If you don't know how to do it, should you?

I shot my first wedding with my wife for free, because the couple didn't have a budget for photography. We did a good job considering we were new to weddings, but we were also far out of our depth. You really need to be a second shooter to get some experience.
 
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benherman said:
Anyone shooting a wedding for the first time should really have some experience behind them first, owning some gear doesn't really qualify you to do a good service to a couple. Most of the advise here is not going to help. Go out there and shoot some events. Learn what works. Even better, shoot with a professional and learn firsthand how to approach things. It's funny how many posts like this end up on various forum sites. What you need to shoot a wedding isn't gear, it's skill and knowing how your gear works in various situations, and even more - what are you capturing - what many call the best day of their life. If you don't know how to do it, should you?

I shot my first wedding with my wife for free, because the couple didn't have a budget for photography. We did a good job considering we were new to weddings, but we were also far out of our depth. You really need to be a second shooter to get some experience.

What better experience than actually shooting a wedding. Sure anyone can grab a camera and take a picture but good photos come from someone thats creative with a camera. My first wedding I shot was for my girlfriends best friend, I really had no clue what to expect the day of the wedding and every single wedding is different. So I took my camera and the lenses I had and gave it my best! Everyone loved the photos that I got and sure it was a small wedding and I felt very under geared but I did it and the photos turned out great in everyones eyes. Thats all that counts as far as I am concerned. Also the bride was almost considering not having a photographer because of money so I offered because who wouldnt want pictures of that day! I would love to tag along with a wedding photographer I think that would be one heck of a trip! Make sure batteries are charged and memory cards arent full!
 
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Set your shutter to silent mode. I usually set an upper limit on the ISO dependent upon the light. Have plenty of batteries for the flash and keep the flash on the camera. If the lighting is poor inside the reception see the organizer and see if their is a chance to raise the lighting. Don't be afraid of getting in the way of guests to get the shot as the bride won't thank you later. Absolutely check out the church and reception area and a place for shots of the couple. My last wedding with the help of the hotel we found a garden which was both empty and beautiful which made for some really nice shots of the couple. As its your first do a list of the important events during the wedding and reception and don't be conservative with the number of shots you take, you can always delete it but never retake. Take more than enough high speed memory cards. I hope thats enough to be getting on with.
 
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bdunbar79 said:
vitaminj08 said:
While 2nd shooting for some incredible photogs in my city, I learned that bouncing flash off of the ceiling can be nice, but bouncing behind and to the side of you will produce the most attractive light. Look for white/neutral colored objects to bounce off of. However, since this is your first wedding, it may just be easier to shoot the ceiling and not have to think twice about it. I wouldn't recommend using auto ISO with flash. As you probably know, it will alter how lit your background is, so decide early on what you want and keep your ISO there (like during the reception).

As for shooting mode, I would recommend using Manual. This is where attending the rehearsal dinner will come in handy. It enables you to really dial in your settings and view it larger on your computer later that night. Since it's indoors, the lighting won't change during the ceremony... Manual will make another thing that you won't have to worry about (until the location/lighting changes). Typically, I shoot in manual when there's consistent lighting, and when we're on the move, i change to Av with +2/3 or +1 stop EC.

For my 5D3, I changed the DoF button to One-Shot/Ai-Servo. It's super handy for weddings because if you ever need servo, just reach your ring finger forward and hold down the button, then your focus will track. One thing to keep in mind, servo seems to constantly bounce a little in front and a little behind the subject, so takes a lot of extra pics when in servo to ensure you've nailed focus.

Thank you. You must shoot to the right.

What do you mean by shooting to the right?
 
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1. Shoot raw
2.watch for expression
3. Yes ettl can under expose a bride shot by herself, but a bride and groom right next to each other will be fine. For just shooting bride dial just the flash up one stop, use spot meter and preflash off dress with back button, you will need to preflash every time you check picture. I have autoplay set to off and only chimp when I need too.
4. Do not use auto ISO, practice before hand with settings and ISO
5. A tripod is a must for formal pictures in church after ceremony.
6. Have an assistant to help you
 
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Scott_McPhee said:
So - I should shoot +1 stop over for all shots?
(And not blow the highlights!)

Most of them. Just watch your flash, fill flash, I usually set negative FEC on those, but still slightly overexpose for the ambient light. If you're not using flash, I'd shoot right, yes. Experiment before you go. You'll quickly see what we mean. Practice on white shirts.
 
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MarkB said:
I shot my first wedding a few weeks ago. Had a 5d3 which I used a 24-105L and the 70-200mm 2.8 ii time most of the time. 2nd camera was a 60D with the 10-22mm on it for group shots and 60 mm macro for detail shots. Also had a 50mm f1.4 for when I had to use ambient indoors. Usable shots on the 60d only went up to about iso 3200, noisy even then. Had a number of useful shots as high as 25600 ISo on the 5d3, but had to use Nik DFine to noise reduce most shots above 10000 iso.

The 580exii was in the shoe most of the time. I gelled with a 1/2 Cts because when I scouted the location it was a dark interior lit with only incadescents. The gel stayed on during out door shots. Added a nice warming when I dialed back with FEC. I would ditch the lightsphere and go with a Rogue lightbender. More versatile IMO. Great for bounce, flagging, and quick snoot.

I tried shooting mostly in manual, but dropped that quickly as there was just too much happening most of the time. Went back to manual for tricky shots, but mostly went Av with auto iso and used flash with FEC.

I learned the hard way to take a little more time chimping. Had some nasty tree branches in the background of many of my group shots. Had to spend a LOT of time in post getting rid of them. I was more focused on setting up the groups and dealing with dappled light near the edge of the shade.
MarkB, does the 5D Mark iii let you do auto iso when you're using a flash? That's one feature I'd love to have both my 5D mark ii and 50D immediately go to ISO 400 if they detect you have an external flash.
 
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cpsico said:
Scott_McPhee said:
So - I should shoot +1 stop over for all shots?
(And not blow the highlights!)
No only for the bride by herself, and only if you spot meter off the dress, if you shoot in only raw you will be able to correct any exposure issues



Your statement is correct.

It's not too easy fixing a gray dress in photoshop or LR. Better to get the color correct. I just meter for the scene, then dial in about +1.7EC. You can practice this beforehand on a white shirt. Auto ISO will get it gray. I'd rather fix overexposed background than a gray dress, which cpsico is getting at. I'd be careful not to blow the highlight on the face out of course, but if her face is brighter than her dress, then you're probably in the wrong lighting anyways.
 
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brianleighty said:
MarkB, does the 5D Mark iii let you do auto iso when you're using a flash? That's one feature I'd love to have both my 5D mark ii and 50D immediately go to ISO 400 if they detect you have an external flash.
My experience with AutoISO and my 580EXII's is the %d3 stays at 400 ISO when in AutoISO mode.
 
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