Best camera body

Hi I was wondering what is the best camera body to shoot a wedding with? Budget

is 8K and remember this is a body question not lens or flash. Any brand.

Thank you for your time.

v/r

buffdr

Silly question - there is no one best body. What really matters most is the skill of the photographer.

<p><i>"remember this is a body question not lens or flash</i></p>

<p>If you blow 8K for a body without thinking about the lens or flash you're in for a real disappointment. Also, what equipment do you have now, and how much photographic experience do you have?

Currently I shot with 2 30D bodies and my lens are 24-105, 70-200 2.8 IS and 10-22 EF-s. 4 years shooting weddings...skills are great just wanted to know the best body and what else is everyone using. By the way I have 580 flash with some non-L primes too.

Personal opinion: 1DsII, 1DIII, 5D, in that order.

I'm currently a Canon shooter. Personal Opinion: no price consideration?: 1DsMKII (but wait

for the 21 meg 1DsMKIII due in a couple of months) and say goodbye to your $8,000.

 

Starting from scratch? the new full frame Nikon D3. Best spec's I've seen for a DSLR wedding

camera yet ... if it does what they say it does ... at a price point below the Canon 1DsMKII or

MKIII.

Get another 580 flash. They do fail from time to time.

 

Ideal setup for me would be two 5D's, one with 24-70, one with 70-200.

 

Later,

 

Paulsky

Well do you need a backup camera too? So based on $8000, the new Canon 1ds mk3 looks really fantastic. I put my order in already for one. If you need 2 great cameras for $8000 this becomes a fairly easy decision. Buy 2, 5D Canons and you will have some money left over. Two of any other model will put you over budget. At over 12 megapixels and full frame the 5d's are a really good deal and seem to be holding their trade in value pretty well. There are also very few complaints on these cameras, such as dying on the job.

Thanks a bunch for all the answers, I think I will go after the 1DsII and I will keep one of my 30D's as a backup. Mr Paul, I do have a backup 430 flash just didn't want to state all of my junk here :)

I guess I need to read about the Nikon D3, I hope it shoots better than the D200. I just shot a big crowd and I copied both images side by side, my 30D outperformed it! Cleaner, better color too! We stood side by side and shot the same group from the same angle at the same time.

V/R

Buffdr

I just went to the Nikon web site and they are now using the CMOS sensor in there newest D3 DSLR? Is Canon making them for Nikon now?

From the site "Nikon's original FX-format CMOS image sensor with 36.0 (H) x 23.9 (V) mm image size; 12.1 effective megapixels"

The Nikon D3 is already garnering rave reviews from those that have used it. The High ISO

weakness compared to Canon has evidently been well addressed.

 

Above all the other interesting features of the D3 is the fact that you can load two CF cards at

once to optionally select to ... shoot to both cards at once ... as a second card once one is

full ... or to shoot RAW to one and Jpgs to the other. Nice.

 

Canon has some real competition now.

Yeah, seriously, the $8,000 budget puts no limit on you; you can have the 20MP Canon

EOS 1Ds Mark III. But since money is still money, seriously consider the 5D. VERY clean

low-light shooting. And full frame. A pro needs two bodies anyway; you can have both

within your budget.

 

You may miss the very wide angle possibilities going with the 1D Mk II with the 1.3 crop

sensor. And what do you really need that frame rate for?

 

Any way you choose, there is no shortage of great cameras out there for you to choose

from.

 

Best of luck!

Buffdr, Canon is NOT making the CMOS for Nikon. Reports state that Sony came out with it and Nikon has the rights to this sensor for at least 6 months. The new Nikon has some really fine features but it is still a shade over 12 megapixels. The 5D has that and its a 2 or 3 year old camera. The 1Ds mk3 is almost double that. Who knows! I still ordered the 1ds mk3 and I'm looking forward to shooting with it.

 

You have 2 months or so to decide before any camera will be at the stores so read a lot and see what the field tests really show. Weddings for the most part are coming to an end for the year. We only have about 20 left, but hopefully we will pick up some last minute ones.

I've ordered the 1DsMK3 also Bob. But both you and I know that we need 21 meg for

weddings like another hole in our heads ... LOL.

 

Anyone using the 5D knows full frame, 12 meg is more than enough. Nikon went for a

balance between size of photosites verses ultimate resolution. Bigger photosites provide

nicer tonal gradations ... and they have incorporated new processing technologies the 5D

doesn't offer.

 

The difference that the Nikon makes is that it is a Pro spec camera aimed at sports

shooters and Journalists. Built like a brick $*%+ house, it's weather sealed, and shoots to 2

cards for image security. It's positioned against the Canon 1DMK3 in spec and price, but

allows use of full frame or DX framing so the Nikon DX lenses work on it also ... which are

automatically detected when a DX lens is mounted. It also has the highest resolution LCD

screen in the world.

 

If it delivers on the spec's, it's a Canon Killer IMO, and I'm a Canon shooter.

The Fujifilm S5 Pro is great for weddings. I has clean images and more dynamic range than any other DSLR available. That means that you can get proper exposure for both the black tux and the white dress in the same shot, rather than exposing for the dress and having everything else too dark or exposing for everything else and having the dress blown out. It is slow though, so for action shots it's not so great.

Nikon D3 (if it proves to be what they say). Even the D300 looks great..

Also a Canon shooter for reference.

I would go with either a Mark class body or the new Nikon D class body.

 

Dual card slots, weather sealing, and reliable autofocus are something I always wished for.

 

A pair of used Mark2n bodies, used would be ideal.

I don't see how you can justify buying a $5000+ camera body unless you're a very busy, full-time wedding photographer. Camera bodies are disposable, in my opinion. I'd have to shoot an awful lot of weddings to pay for a body like that! Does it really offer that much more than a $1500 body? What do you get for that extra $3500? Will the client be able to tell the difference?

 

The truth is that the bodies don't matter. Here's what's important: low noise at high ISO. And pretty much all new cameras have that amply covered nowadays. Burst speed is important if that's how you tend to shoot, but even a $1500 D300 fires off 8 frames per second (with the grip) - who needs more than that for a *wedding*?

 

Honestly, spend your money on lenses, backups of everything, and good flashes. Pocket the rest as profit. Heck, with good lenses, you could shoot weddings with a pair of used D80's and nobody would know the difference. You'd make a huge profit.

Nikon D3

<p>

Read the following review: <a href=http://nikonblog.wordpress.com/2007/09/01/show-report-ifa-berlin-first-look-at-d3-and-d300/>Nikon In Berlin</a>

Any, as long as it takes dual memory cards.

 

It's the best way of avoiding the loss of 500 specific images of an important part of a

wedding from due to a bad 4 gig card, that I know of. Be delighted to hear how someone

else does that.

 

Gary

WOW I must be very lucky! I shoot about 15 weddings a year and I also shoot lots of aircraft stuff. As a matter of fact, I have got about 70K shots on my first 30D body and 48K on my newer one! All of these shots have been thru 3, 2 gig sandisks and I have not lost one image or a cf card. Heck currently I'm in Guam on an assignment and I have shot 11K pix in 2 months! Still no problems, from either my camera, cF card or my lens'. As far as some shooters thinking they can shoot a wedding with a lower grade DSLR with simply good glass, I say your half right. But I need some speed for the action and candid shots. Just my style of shooting. But thanks for all the inputs, with the current Nikon selection, minus the new ones, I have seen them side by side with my Canon and I will stay put rather than jump to Nikon.

V/R

Buffdr

Buffdr, I just spent about 45 minutes reading everything I could find about the D3. Good choice! The price looks decent too. Looks like Nikon has accepted to challenge Canon. Finally! Gotta love the sound of 10 frames a second! Wow!

opps, Just re-read your post, that you are staying with Canon! Also a wise choice. It's getting pretty hard now to figure out what to buy!

If there's really no need, I wonder why the Pro spec DSLRs even bothered to put dual card

slots in their cameras? The new Nikon D3 does now also, and so does the new Mamiya MF

digital back. Why do it if there's no need?

 

Could it be because good luck can become bad luck in a heart beat?

 

 

On the issue of affordability of a higher end body. I completely agree that you can do most

of this work with lesser spec bodies. But if you can afford the initial price of admission, are

a "careful" shopper, practice good accounting/tax depreciation, etc, and sell at the right

time, the net cost can be less than you think.

 

I subscribe to an accounting formula: Cost, less tax depreciation, less resale value, divided

by amount of weddings shot = cost per wedding.

 

My first 1Ds cost me about $28. per wedding. The 5D recently sold was roughly $25. per

wedding. The 1DsMKII I just sold cost me $33. per wedding to use. For an additional $8.

per wedding, I'll take the 1DsMKII any day of the week ... if for no other reason that I can

shoot critical images to a second card. At $8. per wedding it was cheap insurance.