Recommended Equipment for Shooting Weddings and Portraits at The Phoblographer

Recommended Equipment for Shooting Weddings and Portraits

With WPPI coming up soon in Las Vegas, we’re getting ready for some exciting times before it gets warmer and everyone wants their wedding photos done. Even if you’re a portrait/headshot photographer it’s going to be an exciting time as the slow season finally starts drifting away. If you’re interested in upgrading your gear or want to get into the industry, here are some items to take a look at.

Cameras

If you’re a Nikon shooter, then the D3s, D3x and D700 are the best choices for you. If you come from the Canon side of things, go for the 1Ds Mark III, 1D Mk IV or my favorite the Canon 5D Mk II. All of these cameras are full frame (with the exception of the 1D, which has a large APS-H sensor) and will really help you make the most of your lenses and whatever available light there is. The autofocus on them works well for these types of events as well. The last thing you want is to not be able to trust your camera’s capabilities at a wedding. You’ll need too shoot in low-light as well as brightly lit scenarios.

The versatility provided by these cameras will make them your constant companions. Besides weddings though, they’re all very good for portraits as well. For these, you’ll probably want to lean more towards the cameras with the higher megapixel count and resolution.

Lenses

The Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 and Nikon 70-200mm F2.8 ED VR II are going to be essential for you. I also know that the wide zoom 12-24mm F4 is also used quite a bit. If you’re a Canon shooter, the Wedding Documentary blog has your essential list. I use the 24-105mm F4L IS, 50mm F1.8, 85mm F1.8, and the 80-200mm F2.8 L.

If you’re also the videographer, you may want to check out my list on recommended lenses.

Flashes

Nikonians use the SB-900 typically. I use the Canon Speedlite 430 EX II, but most people use the 580 EX II. I also use the Gary Fong Lightsphere.

If you shoot weddings, what do you use?

Written by Chris Gampat

February 26th, 2010 at 9:26 am

Posted in Photography

Tagged with best, camera, equipment, gear, lenses, Photography, portaits, shooting, weddings, WPPI

Phil

Hi there,

I always thought that the Canon 1D was not full frame but had a crop factor of 1.3 or have I got this wrong ?

Cheers

Phil.

http://thephoblographer.wordpress.com Chris Gampat

Oops! You’re right! I messed up. Funny too, because I’ve got a piece schedule on how the 1.3x crop factor works for weddings.

Thanks for the catch!

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I.L Photoframe

I currently use a 60d body with a Tokina 11-16 f2.8, 35L and a 135L. I recently sold the Tokina since i decided to upgrade to a full frame 5dmkii. it’s the best camera canon makes for weddings. Later on, I’ll decide which wide angle to get, but for now 35L and a 135L should be enough for my wedding style photography.

Anonymous

That’s the same combo a good friend of mine uses. I prefer the 85mm f1.8 instead of the 135mm.

Thanks for sharing!

Chris Gampat,
Editor in Chief
The Phoblographer

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http://www.facebook.com/jameson.north Jameson North

I use a D200/D300 combo (might upgrade to D7000 or D300 replacement and nix the D200) and a 50mm 1.8, 70-210 f4, a cheap 18-70mm DX lens for portraits and as a macro lens (it focuses to less than a foot at 70mm, so it works quite well) Luckily most of my weddings have been pretty well lit, but I did one over the summer at ISO 3200 and f/4. If I have to break out flash, it’s either studio strobes aimed at the ceiling of the chapel for big bounce flash, or a few speedlights (I use SB-700′s)

I occasionally get a couple who wants everything shot retro, so I buy about 10 rolls of ISO 800 or ISO 1600 Fuji color 135 and use my old minolta system. This system works with my studio strobes and my old vivitar 283 very well. Combine this with a 50mm 1.7 and a 135mm 2.8 and I get great results even with 30 year old equipment.

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