Renting 5DIII for a wedding, would like advice

[D.Fordice]

Hey y'all!, I'm a long time lurker but first time poster.

I'm shooting an indoor wedding in December, and plan to rent a 5D mkIII to complement my 7D and a 40D.

Coming from a 7D is there anything major I should be aware of using the 5Diii? Tips and/or advice?

Lenses I own:
-the nifty fifty
-Canon 17-55 2.8 IS
-Kiron 105 2.8 Macro

Gear I plan to rent:
Tamron 24-70 2.8 VC
Canon 70-200 2.8L is II
Canon 5D mk III

Questions:
1. Will I need 60mb/s cards to shoot RAW with the 5Diii, or will 30mb/s suffice?
2. In your experience/opinion, how much speed/capacity do you need? (I'll have (3) 4GB 30mb/s cards, (1)8GB 30mb/s, and hopefully (3) shiny new 16GB 60mb/s cards (all SanDisk Extreme, Ultra, or Extreme III) Good? Should I pick up some more?
3. I have 2 chargers and should have at least (2) batteries per camera.

Thanks!

 

[Cptn Rigo]

Hey y'all!, I'm a long time lurker but first time poster.

I'm shooting an indoor wedding in December, and plan to rent a 5D mkIII to complement my 7D and a 40D.

Coming from a 7D is there anything major I should be aware of using the 5Diii? Tips and/or advice?

Lenses I own:
-the nifty fifty
-Canon 17-55 2.8 IS
-Kiron 105 2.8 Macro

Gear I plan to rent:
Tamron 24-70 2.8 VC
Canon 70-200 2.8L is II
Canon 5D mk III

Questions:
1. Will I need 60mb/s cards to shoot RAW with the 5Diii, or will 30mb/s suffice?
2. In your experience/opinion, how much speed/capacity do you need? (I'll have (3) 4GB 30mb/s cards, (1)8GB 30mb/s, and hopefully (3) shiny new 16GB 60mb/s cards (all SanDisk Extreme, Ultra, or Extreme III) Good? Should I pick up some more?
3. I have 2 chargers and should have at least (2) batteries per camera.

Thanks!

Best advice:
Be sure to have money to buy one after return it

 

[Cptn Rigo]

Ok... lets get serious

1) I use Lexar 300x (45 mb/s) and never had a problem

2) My 32 Gb Lexar 300x gives +- 750 shots, It depends of your shooting style speed (that 750 shoots are enough for me)

3) Always carry 2 batteries, its possible that you could make all the wedding with just one, but you never know... IS lens drain batteries

Good Luck!

 

[D.Fordice]

Best advice:
Be sure to have money to buy one after return it

Hahaha. I'm afraid you are right. There is no way I could afford a 5D mk. anything at this time, but someday!!!

Is that 750 full-sized RAW files?

Thanks for the tips! I think I'm going to use a bunch of 4, 8, and 16GB cards since I like to crack off a LOT of shots (so as not to miss the moment), and I don't like having all of my eggs in [a couple of baskets]. I think my wife and I shot over 2300 pictures at the last wedding we did.

 

[sb]

I wouldn't bother with renting zooms, I would go with these:

Canon 35mm 1.4
Canon 50mm 1.2
Canon 85mm 1.8 or 1.2

But that's just my preference because of quality of primes, low light, and extreme shallow DOF look. I only have 1 zoom lens in my bag and I almost never use it. I've also never needed anything longer than 85mm.

Main tip - I would try to rent Mk3 before your gig to get used to the AF system. I've been using Mk2 for 5 years now, and whenever I grab a 7D, I'm shocked by the amount of pictures that are OOF. Mk3 is closer to 7D (AF wise) so you may be ok if you're used to it, but it doesn't hurt to play around with it when there is nothing at stake.

You are good with cards, just don't spray in burst mode - try to make every shot be a conscious decision. I use single shot 95% of the time. I never shoot more than 40GB worth of files during the day.

Have fun with it!

 

[D.Fordice]

I wouldn't bother with renting zooms, I would go with these:

Canon 35mm 1.4
Canon 50mm 1.2
Canon 85mm 1.8 or 1.2

But that's just my preference because of quality of primes, low light, and extreme shallow DOF look. I only have 1 zoom lens in my bag and I almost never use it. I've also never needed anything longer than 85mm.

I think that is good advice. However, my fears are these:
1. The quarters will be somewhat tight, and I really want the flexibility of a zoom.
2. I'm not sure that I'm quite experienced enough to use only primes / change lenses a lot during the whole thing.

I suppose I could have my 7D be my flexibility option with the 17-55 2.8 IS, and then use the 5Diii with a couple of amazing primes for those glory shots.

 

[keithfullermusic]

I would strongly recommend against it.

First, let me say I have a 5D3, and I love it. It's the most amazing thing I've ever used. With that said, it takes a while to get used to how it operates. There are a few different focusing systems, all very useful if you know when. Also, it takes a while to get used to knowing what ISOs you're comfortable with. Then there is the general layout and getting used to where the buttons are.

If you're using this for a wedding, take it out for at least two days beforehand and try out all the settings and all the different ISOs. This is especially true since you're coming from a crop sensor to a FF - all your lenses will look different.

 

[D.Fordice]

I would strongly recommend against it.

Against renting a 5Diii, or against using primes?

I could rent "the holy trinity of primes" for less than two good 2.8 zooms, but I think I might do something in-between. I have the 17-55 2.8 for my 7D, and I could rent the 70-200 2.8L IS ii and an awesome prime or two.

 

[darrellrhodesmiller]

i've had a 7D for 3 yrs, have been renting a 5d mkIII for events since it came out.. be prepared to not want to send it back when you're done..

it handles much like the 7D .. but has just enough changes in the button placement to frustrate you. Try to get it a few days early to get used to it. the "Q" key is now by the scroll wheel on the back. not hard .. its actually a better placement.. but takes some getting used to.. reviewing photos is a little different too. you use the top dial to zoom into the images for review.

as for performance... 7D.. i never really liked the noise above ISO 1600-2000.. 5D mk III iso 2000 is nothing.. 3200 is perfectly usable.. 6400 is very good too.

as for lenses.. use lenses you're comfortable with.. you're switching cameras.. so use lenses you know how to use.. you wont have the crop factor zoom you're used to.. so you're going to lose a little reach with the 5d mk III.

focusing is pretty much just like the 7D but with more focus points to choose from. same modes, just more points. High speed shooting is about the same as the 7D. 5D has a "silent shooting mode" its really nice.. slows down the shooting (the fps) but its significantly quieter than normal shooting mode.

other than that your'e going to be really impressed.

 

[gbchriste]

I just shot a wedding with my 5DIII, 70-200 2.8L and a rented 24-70 2.8L. That combination was perfect. Shots in the church a f2.8 and ISO6400. A little noisy at full size but with Light Room noise reduction and typical viewing/printing size, you can't even see it. Color rendition to make your eyes water.

Definitely get it a few days ahead of time and take it for a spin. Especially get familiar with the AF system. I was never a fan of AIServo mode on my 40D or 5DII so I was little nervous to try it here. But some practice ahead of time convinced me that I could count on it. AIServo for all the moving shots like the processional and recession were spot on.

I had six 8GB CF cards that I shot full size RAW to, giving me 260 images per card. I also put a 32GB SD card in the second slot and captured full size JPGs to that card as a safety backup, and also to give me a way to quickly look at and rate the images when I got home without having to import raw files to Light Room.

Handheld at ISO6400, f2.8, 1/250 shutter speed, with 24-70 2.8L

 

[Cptn Rigo]

Is that 750 full-sized RAW files?

Yup, Full size raw file

 

[sb]

1. The quarters will be somewhat tight, and I really want the flexibility of a zoom.

35mm on Mk3 is like 24mm on 7D - wide enough for most tight quarters, and for the remaining 1% of situations you have your Canon 17-55 2.8 IS.

2. I'm not sure that I'm quite experienced enough to use only primes / change lenses a lot during the whole thing.

Fair enough. You have to be comfortable.

 

[Zlatko]

Questions:
1. Will I need 60mb/s cards to shoot RAW with the 5Diii, or will 30mb/s suffice?
2. In your experience/opinion, how much speed/capacity do you need? (I'll have (3) 4GB 30mb/s cards, (1)8GB 30mb/s, and hopefully (3) shiny new 16GB 60mb/s cards (all SanDisk Extreme, Ultra, or Extreme III) Good? Should I pick up some more?
3. I have 2 chargers and should have at least (2) batteries per camera.

There is no clear way to advise you on these things because no one knows how much you will shoot (how many hours, how many guests, how many portraits, how fast you shoot, etc.). Some photographers shoot a lot; others not so much. For a wedding, it's best to have plenty of everything (batteries, memory cards, etc.). What you're describing may be more than enough, or it may be just enough, or it may be not enough, depending on the circumstances.

Also, one tip on the 5D3: it can shoot to two cards at once, one CF and one SD. It's a good idea to shoot Raw to one card and hi-res jpeg (or Raw again) to the other. This way you have an instant backup.

 

[keithfullermusic]

@D.Fordice

I would recommend against renting a camera that you've never used before for this wedding - especially one that is so different from your 7D. The last thing you want to be doing is worrying about settings and focus systems and wondering how the images will actually look once you put them on your computer.

My first week of using the 5D3 was a big learning experience. I found the ISO's I could use in different lightings in order to get good looking shots. I figured out which AF systems I wanted to go with during different situations.

For the first week I had it, I was getting held up thinking about settings. After a few months, it became second nature and I don't have to spend any extra time fiddling with buttons because I know what things will look like, and I know where the buttons are.

Also, the metering is a little different on the 5D3 than other Canons that I have used. I find that it tends to underexpose, and the histogram confirms this. If there is harsh contrast you will almost always have to bump up the exposure compensation nearly +1. It's like the 5D3 won't allow for ANY blown highlights when set to 0 - not even a single street light. This might not sound like a lot, but unless you're shooting in full manual all the time be ready for this.

Then there is the problem with lenses. I know people might yell at me about this, but the nifty 50 looked like garbage on FF in certain situations. If there is any harsh contrast you are going to get HORRIBLE chromatic aberration - and I do mean horrible (even when stopped down). It was beyond repair in LR. I loved my nifty-50 on crop, but I ended getting rid of it and got the 1.4 instead and it's like a different galaxy. My point is that at least one of your lenses will act very different because more of the glass is included in your picture. I used the 24-70 on it for a wedding I just did, and I made sure to spend about 3-4 days with it before bringing it on a gig - and I'm glad I did because I found some sweet spots after trying everything. I wouldn't have been able to do this if I just tried it for the first time that day.

I remember having a conversation with a friend after I had my camera for about a month, and what I literally talked about was how I would have been in deep dookie if I rented a 5D3 and used it for a wedding before spending a few weeks with it. I would have missed moments fooling with things, I would have had blurry or noisy shots because I wouldn't have been sure what ISO's would look good in certain lightings, and certain shots would come out like garbage because I would not have been taking into account how my lenses act on FF.

If you feel comfortable with a new camera, different layout, different focus systems, different capabilities, and literally something that makes your pictures look different (crop vs. FF) then by all means rent it - it's an incredible camera. But my honest suggestion would be to either use it for at least a few days and try it in just about every setting you can think of before the wedding or just stick with your already sweet 7D and just rent some more glass. I'm sure you will end up just renting it, and I'm also sure that you'll get some amazing shots - but you'd double the amazing shots if you used it for a week or two before taking it into battle.

 

[jalbfb]

I shot an indoor wedding and reception with my 5D3 using a 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 and my walk around 24-105 f/4. I used 3200 ISO inside and it worked out just fine. I did have my 580EXII mounted and used on all of the reception shots. With your faster lens you may not need that but I would think about having a flash just in case. I did go to both the church and the reception hall at the time of the day of the wedding and attended the church rehearsal the night before and took a whole bunch of shots at different settings and ISOs to get what I thought was best camera settings including the various people walking down the isle. I decided to shot in Av priority only because I was more worried about getting the shot than trying to manually set the exposure. Shooting in RAW, I knew I could play with the exposure if needed. I found that with the 24-105 that 70mm was best and I was able to pick out one of the pews (I put a piece of black tape on the pew at the floor level to mark it) where the light and ISO gave a good exposure (I had my wife walk down numerous times after the rehearsal was done as well) to start shooting the person wlaking down the aisle And used a stained glass window as my location marker as the where to stand. My advice on the 5D3, use A1 Servo and the 8 "box" focus point (press and hold the far right button on the top back of the camera and press down on the M-Fn button on the top of the camera repeatedly until you get this pattern) for the walks down and back up the isle. Alos i shot in "silent" continuous mode throughout the evening. After the walk downs, I shifted to the center square button for all other pictures. With the f/2.8 lenses that you have you may not need as much ISO. I'd probably put the 70-200 on the 7D which will give you a longer range and the wider angled lens (which ever you choose-maybe the 24-70 Tamron) on the 5D3. For portrait pix, the 70-200 on the 7D should be OK I would think.

I'd definitely plan on using a separate card for each "section" of the day, i.e., pre-ceremony, ceremony, reception. I had 3 CF cards, 16, 16 & 8GBs and a 16GB SD card (the 5D3 had two slots one for a CF and one for an SD). The 16 SD saved my bacon on the ceremony shots because I ran out of space on my CF card as the couple was walking away from the alter and the 5D3 auto shifted to the SD card..whew!!! An extra camera battery is a must. You probably have that already for your 7D, you may just have to suck it up for the 5D3. Good luck. I discovered a new-found respect for wedding photogs after doing my first wedding!

 

[DanThePhotoMan]

Lot's of helpful advice thus far, but I'll add a little something extra.

As far as your memory cards go, I would be wary of using cards upwards of 8gb, unless you're using them in the second slot of the mk3. I shot a wedding this past weekend with my mk3 all in RAW and you'll average 270ish pictures per card. Now, that's not a lot, but say you get a 16gb card, take 540 shots, and then something happens and the card breaks (God forbid)? Not that it is very common, but random things happen to cards sometimes and they just don't work. I wouldn't want to risk it.

Here's my suggestion. I shoot with four 8gb SD cards, and have them attached to my belt in a small holding case. Before a card fills up, I can simply swap it out in 10 seconds or so. Now, those ten seconds may be crucial, so you really need to judge how many shots you have left. Wouldn't want to be caught with fifteen pictures left at the kiss haha.

And as far as the cards, I'm using the Sandisk Ultra and Extreme, both 30mb/s, and unless you plan on taking more than 14 or so RAW pictures on continuous shooting, they will definitely be fast enough to record what ever pictures you're taking. Just got two more from Best Buy the other day for $12.99 a piece. That sounds cheap, but I've been using two of the Extremes for over two years now and have never had a problem.

Also, take a flash. It doesn't matter how well lit the venue is, it is always helpful to have one just in case. I see a lot of people saying it's great to shoot at 6,400 ISO on the mk3, but from personal experience with mine, I wouldn't push it that high at a wedding unless I absolutely needed to. The less grain you can keep out of the picture, the less work you have to put in in post.

Hope that helps.

 

[dmills]

I hear you, and I've heard that argument before... But I think it's way easier to lose a memory card during a rush of a wedding than it is to lose pictures from a faulty memory card. ESPECIALLY in a camera that already has two memory card slots. If you're that worried, just get a 32gb Compact Flash card, and a 32gb SD card, set the camera to record raw to both cards, and not worry about it. Obviously, you'll want to put a 32gb CF and SD in your backup camera as well. Then, bring dinky 8gb backups for if your 32s are 90% full. Again, WAY easier to drop and lose a CF card than have it corrupted, especially with a backup SD card.

 

[keithfullermusic]

i shot a wedding a few weeks ago with the 5d3. the lighting was terrible and i pretty much lived at f/2.8, ISO 6,400-10,000 while using a flash - and the pics turned out fantastic.

of course i would have preferred ISO 100, but it wasn't a possibility. It's better to have slightly noisy shots that are properly exposed and sharp (no motion blur) than to have the opposite.

 

[RLPhoto]

Hey y'all!, I'm a long time lurker but first time poster.

I'm shooting an indoor wedding in December, and plan to rent a 5D mkIII to complement my 7D and a 40D.

Coming from a 7D is there anything major I should be aware of using the 5Diii? Tips and/or advice?

Lenses I own:
-the nifty fifty
-Canon 17-55 2.8 IS
-Kiron 105 2.8 Macro

Gear I plan to rent:
Tamron 24-70 2.8 VC
Canon 70-200 2.8L is II
Canon 5D mk III

Questions:
1. Will I need 60mb/s cards to shoot RAW with the 5Diii, or will 30mb/s suffice?
2. In your experience/opinion, how much speed/capacity do you need? (I'll have (3) 4GB 30mb/s cards, (1)8GB 30mb/s, and hopefully (3) shiny new 16GB 60mb/s cards (all SanDisk Extreme, Ultra, or Extreme III) Good? Should I pick up some more?
3. I have 2 chargers and should have at least (2) batteries per camera.

Thanks!

Scout the locations in advance. Its the most important thing you can do.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Best advice:
Be sure to have money to buy one after return it

Hahaha. I'm afraid you are right. There is no way I could afford a 5D mk. anything at this time, but someday!!!

Is that 750 full-sized RAW files?

Thanks for the tips! I think I'm going to use a bunch of 4, 8, and 16GB cards since I like to crack off a LOT of shots (so as not to miss the moment), and I don't like having all of my eggs in [a couple of baskets]. I think my wife and I shot over 2300 pictures at the last wedding we did.

2300 raw images at ~ 30MB/image = 69GB! Thats a lot.
Don't forget, the 5D MK III takes 2 cards, so you can put in a 64GB CF and a 64GB SDXC to have a backup copy. Or, just buy/rent a 64GB SDXC and use it for backups from your CF Cards.
Never trust a new camera / lens combination test it out!! You should do a AFMA on the lenses/body. Never trust a new camera / lens combination test it out!!