What is your equipment?

What do you shoot with? Nikon? Canon? What model?

 

What are the three lenses that you shoot with the most?

 

What flash units, if any, do you have?

 

What's the one thing you'd never be without on a shoot/wedding?

Minolta film 7 and 800si

Minolta 5400hs flashes (2)

Minolta 35-70 F4

Minolta 28-135 F4/4.5

Tokina 20-35 F4

 

Never be without 2 bodies and 2 strobes.

Taking a survey or trying to find out what works for people?<br> <br>

 

- Nikon, D200, D70, D70s <br>

- 50mm 1.8, 17-35mm 2.8, 28-70mm 2.8 and 70-200mm 2.8, I'll switch it up for outdoor weddings, and pack 8 lenses for all weddings.<br>

-SB800 (2 of them) and a SB600 (don't use much)<br>

-One thing I'd never be without on a shoot/wedding- my camera...but I'd never be with just ONE thing...cameras (plural) lenses, flashes, brackets, lightspheres, monopod, tripod, water, sync cords, batteries, batteries, batteries, memory cards, harddrive, blower, lens cloth, water, belt, business cards, light meter, addresses, maps, cell phone, water. <br><br>

 

This gets asked a lot and everyone always says pretty much the same thing.

I could list my equipment, but chances are that most of the stuff on my list will show up in someone else's post sooner or later :-) It's basically just some of the standard nice pricey Canon stuff, but it could just as well be Nikon.

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The equipment you use is important, but it's much more valuable that you know how to use what you have and that you know the fundamentals of light and exposure and composition. The thing is that to do wedding photography at a high-level you need certain gear to provide the client with some variety and images that they "expect" to see. Of course you also need backup gear. <p>

Fast lenses are useful as well as cool to have also.

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I'd love to have the opportunity to shoot an entire wedding with any reliable 35mm full-frame body and a 35mm f 1/4 lens using just available light. Pure Photo-J style.

oh yeah...

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>>> What's the one thing you'd never be without on a shoot/wedding?

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Experience.

Nice way to back that one in, Rob....

 

Experience really is key for when you show up at the venue and are confronted with:

 

* Walls of glass

 

* Walls and ceiling all in dark 'bavarian' wood

 

* An officiant who says 'no flash' and stay out of the aisles

 

* Name your poison.

 

The ability to roll with it and make lemonade from lemons (and negotiate on the fly if necessary) is key.

 

Of course a close second for 'experience' is to scout your venue in advance and ask questions in a forum like this one if you don't know how to deal with a curveball...

Two D200 bodies, two SWEET zooms, either 17-55 and 28-70 (sometimes both), 50 and 135 primes, two SB800's.

 

Last question is a toughie. Talk to me in a month after I have used the 5D extensively. Those files could totally transform the way I shoot.

 

Right now I would say my bracketed D200/17-55/SB800 combo. You could shoot 98% of the entire wedding with this setup.

A couple of M Leica bodies, sometimes three, 85mm f/2 Nikkor in Leica mount, 35mm f/2 Summicron, 21mm f/3.4 Super Angulon, a pair of Vivitar 2500 flash units plus a Vivitar 283, Stofen diffuser, extra cords and batteries,flash synchronizer, Leitz table-top tripod with ball head, usually a Gitzo Studex full size tripod with head, lots of batteries, Weston Master V light meter with Invercone for incident readings, lens tissue, zip-lock bags for exposed film, fresh film, a couple of pens and a notebook, a roll of masking tape and a fine point Sharpie marker, disposeable cigarette lighter, folding umbrella, aspirin, facial tissues...and lately I've been taking my Bessa L body with a 15mm lens everyplace I go;-)

Nikon D2X and D200

 

17-55 f2.8 DX,

70-200 f2.8 AFS VR,

85 f1.4 AFD

 

SB-800 (2), SB-600 (1)

 

My brain.

 

Paul

two canon 20D.

 

top lenses: 17-55 IS, 85mm 1.8, 10-22mm. then 70-200, then 85mm 1.2.

 

I have four 580EX's and two alien bee 1600's.

 

>What's the one thing you'd never be without on a shoot/wedding?

 

the notion that for 99% of photographers, gear is not the deciding factor for the quality of the work. canon or nikon does not make the photographer. it is the tool in your head that makes the image worthy or not.

Canon<P>

35mm Prime, 28-70 f/2.8, 70-200 f/2.8<P>

580's, 430's, Sigmas.<P>

 

A cooler full of water, gatorade, soda, and some snacks. It's a long day.

"What do you shoot with? Nikon? Canon? What model?"

 

Mamiya C330f

 

"What are the three lenses that you shoot with the most?"

 

55mm, 80mm, 180mm

 

"What flash units, if any, do you have?"

 

Metz 60 and too many others

 

"What's the one thing you'd never be without on a shoot/wedding?"

 

Film

I still use the throw away cameres.

For B&G portraits I use a D70 with a 50mm 1.8 or a Tamron 28-70 2.8 SB28. If that fails Nikon FM2 or 801 with Kodak Portra 160. Nothing Complex or overly expensive. Spare SB28 and a Metz CL45.

Alpa for most stuff. Sometimes use 8x10 Linhof for portraits. 11x14 Deardroff for

overviews. Oh, and the Polaroid 20x24 for at the altar shots. With lights.

Mamiya 645 ProTL and Portra Film

55 80 150 (all leaf shutter)

Lumedyne Signature 400ws & 200ws packs for battery and Calumet Elite for mains.

Patients

Nikon D2Xs & Nikon D200

 

12-24mm f/4

 

17-55mm f/2.8

 

70-200mm f/2.8

 

85mm f/1.4

 

SB-800 x 2

 

SanDisk Extreme IV 4GB CF cards

 

B+W UV/protection filters

 

Bogdan

2 Canon bodies 1- 1Ds and 1-1DMK2 28-70mm 2:8 70-200mm 2:8 20-35mm 2:8 8mm fish eye 3:5 28-105mm 3:5 15mm 2:8 120-300 2:8 3-580EX flashes 2- photogenics light heads w/ umbrellas 2- pelican 1650s to keep my stuff in pocket wizard slaves my Canon ST-E2 wireless speedlite transmitter a just rite camera bracket 2- Bogen tripods and one extra 10D as back up extra cords lots of batteries of all kinds 1- hand painted roll up background and a bag o light stands,light disc.

one thing I would never go to a wedding without is a confortable pair of shoes!!!!!

one assistant!

 

and my trademark white umbrellas (it either rains or it's full sun, they're handy either way)

Canon 5D and 20D bodies

17-40L, 24-70L, 70-200LIS, 100-400LIS, 50 1.4, 100 2.0 lenses

580EX, 550EX flashes, ST-E2 transmitter, CP-E3 battery packs for both flashes with plenty of spare AA's

Tripod, monopod

4-2gb, 6-1gb compactflash cards

 

Always bring an assistant

I used to carry all sorts of junk when I first started shooting events. All my primes, zooms, 2 flash units, a flash bouncer and diffuser, filters, a tripod, gray cards, two digital bodies, and a film camera and film cause you just never know.

 

know I try to keep things simple:

 

2 canon 20D's (one with a battery pack and grip)

 

canon 420EX

 

canon ST-E2 transmitter

 

sigma 12-24 mm 4.5-5.6

 

canon 24-70 mm 2.8

 

sigma 70-200 mm 2.8

 

oh and a small studio set-up that I keep in the car that I'll use for certain formals.

 

That's it.

Canon 20D - 17-85IS - 50 1.8 - sigma 70-300

580ex + 420ex + radio flash + tron s450

 

A 5D is comming + 24-105L

Canon 10D, Rebel G 35mm

 

28-80mm f/3.5, 55-200 f/4... canon 430EX flash, handful of 2 GB cards and film, batteries batteries batteries, manfrotto tripod

Nikon D200 (two of them)

SB-800 (pair)

Nikon 18-70 kit lens

Nikon 70-200 2.8 AF-s VR

Sigma 30mm 1.4 (yummie!)

 

A brain :)

You have read it all, OK I use Hasselblads for formals, Canon 20d & L lenses for candids, flashes are Metz & Canon, Stroboframe brackets, & attractive assistant !! (OK, its my wife,,)