Wedding with Leica

[fredus]

Ok, I need some advices from you fellow Leica User. I'll spend

September in my home country, France and I'll attend the wedding of

two of my dearest friends. I told them that my present to them would

be a nice photographic reportage of their wedding. There will be an

official photographer for formal portrait and such (I'm not crazy ! :-

) )

I'm begining to think about what kind of gear I'm going to need. I

currently own a M6 with VC 21 and VC 50 and I also own a Canon EOS

Elan 7e + 50mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.8. I also own a Contax g2 with 45mm

and 90mm but I'm thinking of selling it because I don't like the way

it operates and I feel no joy using it (but I do get good result with

it).

 

So I could go with my M6 and Elan 7e but I was thinking of leaving

the Elan 7e home and get a backup body for the M6 instead. A bessa T

for the VC 21 and I'll have the M6 with the VC 50. I think I'd like

to get something a little longer for portrait, like a VC 90 f/3.5 or

the Leica 90 f/2.8 but I can't make up my mind ...

 

Would you have some advices to give me ?

 

Thanks for your help !

 

Fred

[patrick_s2]

BTW - this post belongs on the wedding forum, but I'll try to answer anyways.

 

I shot a wedding last weekend with a canon elan 7/50 1.4, a contax G1/ 28mm Biogon, a Bessa R2/ 50mm nocton outfit for the candids. I used a hassy 501cm w.60mm & 150mm lenses for posed/formal shots.

 

The canon 50mm 1.4 + the bessa w/nocton were great for indoor available light. The contax was awesome for trailing the bride to the limo from the hotel room where she got ready.

 

All in all, it sounds to me like your overprepared with those three cameras for candid/photojournalism stuff.

 

Use neopan 1600 and delta 3200 a lot. Shoot available light.

 

You'll do fine. Good luck.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Patrick

Good luck.

[Jerry_]

To make life simple, the M6 with three lenses: 28mm, 50mm, and 90mm, should give you fine results, not too much weight to carry around, and provide quality candids for the wedding couple.

 

 

 

Travel safe!

[don_karon1]

I shot a couple of weddings and other ceremonies with my M6TTL. I found the 35mm f2.0 most useful as we were indoors and it would have been hard to get far enough away from the people to use a 90. Even the 50 was tight.

 

If you are going to shoot head and shoulders portraits and you know you will have enough room to step back from the people without running into a wall (say you will be outdoors or in a large church) then a 75 or 90 would be a good choice. I would go for the fast 75mm lens. You might be able to do without flash in many situations using a fast lens.

[jake_tauber]

Ditto on the Wedding Forum. Go there and ask Marc Williams, wedding & Leica photog extraodinaire...like the way I snuck in some French :>)

[c_d5]

Just a suggestion.

Your VC is not fast enough. Bring 3 camera.

 

-M6 with the VC21.

-Canon Elan with the 50, for the available light candid.

-Contax G2 with the 90.

 

Keep the lens on and don't change lens.

You'll be covered. Bon shooting.

[c_d5]

The next best thing would be.

Get the M6, Bessa T, and a Bessa L.

 

M6 with the 50.

Bessa L with the 21.

Bessa T with the 90.

[working camera]

Fred

 

If you can don?t mix up the camera bodies. If you want to shoot with Leica use Leica

exclusively. Try to find a back up M6 or preferably 2 (An MP or M7 should also work

well for you since you are an M6 user). Only use gear you are thoroughly familiar with

and that goes for film too.

 

I work with 3 of 4 M bodies, all loaded with the same film plus 28, 35, 50, and 90 mm

FLs for each body.

 

I use the 35 and 50 the most. The 28 (21 in your case) from up close (street style)

and large group shots Don?t get too close to fill the frame, stand back and crop later.

The 90 for headshots and tight small groups.

 

Good luck, C.

[al_kaplan1]

If you get a back up body you need something that's really a back up! Get a Bessa R2. 21, 50 and 90 should cover you for glass. A 35/2 is my favorite all around lens, 90 for tight portraits or distance shots of the ceremony. If you can aim OK try holding the camera arm's length over your head with a 21 for some interesting dancing shots. Go with Tri-X. Rate it normal (400) if you have enough light, otherwise try 1200 and develop it in Diafine. Just remember to shoot ALL your film at the same speed. It sure beats trying to remember which rolls get souped in which developer!

[ray .]

Al, that's what sharpies are for!

[al_kaplan1]

Ray, there's an old saying "If anything can go wrong it will"! That kind of goes along with KISS, which stands for "Keep It Simple, Stupid"! The less variables the better.

[________1]

I think we've discerned you definitely need to buy some more gear. Two or three more M6/7 bodies and an F2.0 35mm ASPH should do it. Oh hell, make it a Summilux!

[patricks]

Fred, ask the question over at the wedding forum and Marc W. will be of great help.

 

I think having a AF system would be nice, so the Elan w/ the 85/1.8 should complement the M6 very nicely. The alternative would be to get a M7 - the AE is very handy. Lastly, don't waste money on a Leica 90/2.8 - track down a mint copy of the Konica Hexanon 90/2.8 for under $300 and be there!

 

Sell the Contax set-up if you don't like it, but sell it now while it is still worth something.

 

Cheers,

[patricks]

Fred, i swung by your site and you have a very nice eye/talent. I'm sure you will make some wonderful exposure regardless of which equipment you bring. lot to be said for only bringing the M6 w/ the VC 50/1.5... Adding a 35/2 ASPH when selling that G2-combo would be a dream.

[jason]

i beleive in total simplicity.the less the better.The M6 with the 50mm and maybe add,(as money seems no problem!)a VC 35mm lens.The 21mm is way too wide and like all ultra wides has distortion.i know a whole lot of you out there are in disagreement! i have shot many weddings...say hundreds.i asked clients about certain images and on the whole the majority HATED the distortion of even 28mm lenses.Keep to 35,mainly 50mm and a few 85mm for close ups.So take the Canon and its 2 lenses.i think you need a flash!!! i use a Vivitar 2500 as it shows ready symbol in M6 viewfinder.Its great for fill only a lil less powerful than my Vivitar 285 which cannot be used on M6 due to its age and very high voltage.It also uses only 2 batteries.The Canon flashes are great.Keep to one film speed!! OK the Canon not matter(DX) but the M6 could cause a "forget what is inside" problem,if too may kinds of film used.Do not get under the feet of the Pro.So keep to personal family shots and look for intimate moments.The M6 will be king.Remember you are a guest...enjoy the wedding and the party.Be part of the celebration and your photos will be special.Take at least two or three times as much film as you planned.Spare batteries for everything.Oh! The best weddings i ever covered were with my Leicas,two bodies and 3 lenses and small flash.If you cannot get black and white c-41 film have your color negs printed as black and white,very good on new Fuji printers at the labs..Bon chance!

[cabophoto]

Fred,

 

you should definitely read Frank van Riper?s essay on available light wedding photography at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/essays/vanRiper/040205.htm. Also, visiting Jeff Ascough?s website at www.jeffascough.com is a must.

 

Carsten

 

http://www.cabophoto.com/

[al_kaplan1]

Forget auto focus cameras! If you go over the the wedding forum you'll see endless discussions about how to get them to actually work when photographing people walking towards you up the aisle. The consensus? Manual focus! Even auto exposure flash can be a pain because one shot may be reading mostly white dress, the next mostly black tuxedo.

[skeeter]

lots of good advice here. i would only add that if you will have enough light to shoot at 400 asa, use kodak bw400cn or ilford 400xp2 (both chromogenic b&w films). they offer excellent fine grain structure, have adequate exposure lattitude, and offer the convenience of c41 processing. once processed you can make all the enlargements you want and then provide the remainder of the prints in the 4x6 format for the lucky couple to pick and choose from.

[charles_stobbs3]

Ditch the black & white. Color only. It is a wedding, not a funeral.

[hugh_t]

When I read the post title I really thought one of the wankers actually married his MP!!!

[fredus]

Wow. Lots of great advice here !!

 

Someone said that it seems like I was in urge to buy new equipment. This is not the case. I only want to be ready for September and need to explore different possibility and this is why I asked this question. Money could be a problem. There is no way I'm going to buy a MP or a M7 at this point. I'm very very very happy with my M6 and don't need more functionality. I need something small though for a backup camera. I like the R2 suggestion even though I didn't read such good thing about it ... I need to read more.

 

I didn't know about the wedding forum ! I'm going there right now !!! But still would like this thread alive because, I happen to like people here :-)

 

Fred

[khiem_nguyen1]

You should bring some fuji reala 100 and kodak professional ultra color 100uc , use it with the leica lens , beleive me your picture will be look phenomenal. I had tried with my cousin wedding last week. And I did insults the wedding photographer unintentionly by showing the print result to the bride

[runkel]

I would think the Canon is an adequate backup for your M6. You are just doing this one wedding, after all, and I'm sure the chance of something happening to a well-maintained M6 during this one wedding does not exceed five percent. So you have a less-than-five-percent chance that you might need to revert to the less-than-ideal Canon to get the shots you need. If it were me, I would not see the need to buy a new camera in this situation. Also, the Canon 85mm is probably a fine portrait lens. I would probably not leave the Elan 7e at home, but bring it with the 85mm mounted for portraits and with the 50mm in the bag in the unlikely event that the Elan 7e is needed for backup duty. Have your M6 checked out and CLA'd if necessary before September. When I recently shot two friends' weddings, the main piece of gear I added was a flash bracket and I think it helped the results more than any new body or lens would have.

[bas1]

Fred,

 

You shoot be fine with the equipment you've got. I would bring the Elan and the 85mm as

a back-up and keep the canon 50mm in the back strictly for back-up porposes. The VC 50

should cover 75% of what you're going to be shooting. The 21 mm the rest of it and

perhaps just a couple of portraits on the Elan with the 85mm. Although I prefer to shoot

those with a 50 as well just so show a bit of background and context.

 

I shoot my weddings with a M7 and 50 summilux and an M2 with a 35cron. I have a 90mm

elmarit if I need more reach but that doesn't get more then half a dozen of shots.

 

I see no need to buy an extra camera as a back-up. You could always bring the G2 as an

extra back-up in case. It's not that bulky and it would give great results. I wouldn't work

the G2 at the same time as the M6 cause they are just to different.

 

Use your 21 for group and full length portraits. The distortion should be fine. Its a great

lens. Do keep to the 1 film advice, but bring a small flash so you don't have to fiddle with

ASA settings. I've made that mistake before in a attempt to do all natural light.

 

Enjoy

Bas

[david_carson]

I think you might have enough gear already for an avaible light wedding. Perhaps a 35mm

f/2 and maybe another body would be the most helpful at this point. Hopefully your vc

50mm is a f/1.5? If it is, you could shoot the whole wedding with one lens.

 

<p>I shot all these <a href="http://www.davidraycarson.com/photography/wedding/lu/

wedding_01.html">wedding photos</a> with a M6 with a 50 'lux and a Hexar af with it's

fixed 35mm f/2. One shot was done with a Canon 85mm f/1.8.

 

<p>So, if you want, sell the Contax stuff and either buy a Hexar, a Canon 35mm (1.4 or

2.0), or a Leica or Leica compatible body and a 35mm f/2. It's really nice to have two

bodies, however you do it. You can be much faster at the draw.

 

<p>One thing I read about is how the Elan 7 is poor at low-light focusing. I have a 1n,

and it focuses in as low of light as I can with my M6. It is fantastic, but LOUD. Since you

hae a Elan 7 already, what do you think of it? At least it's very quiet.

 

<p>For film, I shoot Kodak TCN400 and TMZ 3200 (at 1600) for b/w, and for color Fuji

NPH 400/NPZ 800 or Press 800 (haven't completely figured out my fav color 800).

 

<p>Best of luck,

<p>David Carson<div></div>