What's in your bag?

[andyjonesphotography]

What equipment do you carry when shooting a wedding?

 

Make/Model of camera body, most used lenses and lighting equipment. Plus

anything else of interest.

 

Andy

[sean_flanigan]

D200

D200

Nikkor 12-24

Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 (most used lens)

Nikkor 50 1.4

Nikkor 85 1.4 (second most used lens, I think this lens deserves a full frame sensor BTW)

Nikkor 70-200 VR (I rarely touch this lens as of late)

 

52 in reflector

SB-600

SB-800

 

All this gear may be up for sale soon. I want a FF cam!

[timcorridan]

anything else of interest= alergy pills/asprin/ cigars/ silver and white safety pins/ a piece of white chalk/ a small leatherman.

[iskandar_azaman___kuala_lu]

I carry a lot of stuff in my Billingham 550. Just because it's big i felt i had to fill it up. Result is a sore shoulder after an event.

 

20d, elan7 backup, 28-135 IS backup, 100mm macro (rarely used), 24-70L,17-40L, 70-200IS L

 

580ex and 550ex flash, batteries, whibal which i rarely use since i actually prefer the yellow cast of tungsten lighting.

 

a couple of lightspheres

[lou korell]

Curious...why are you asking? Does it matter what others use? Find what works for you. Everyone carries different things.

 

Lou

[timcorridan]

a black fanny pack where the exposed film goes.

[wedding-photography-denver]

Why?

[al_kaplan1]

Less & less. Extra AA batteries, a couple of Vivitar 283's with one Stofen Omnibounce, spare cords, slave do-hicky, film, tiny flashlight. My cameras aren't in the bag. Usually 3 M2/M3 bodies, 21/3.4 Super Angulon, 35/2 Summicron, and 85/2 Nikkor on the bodies. Weston Master V light meter with incident dome. Sometimes I have the 15mm Heliar on my Bessa L body also.

[fotografz]

Sean, you have some seriously good work you're doing with those Nikons. I wonder what

you expect to gain from swapping over to Canon? Assuming the work on your site is done

with the gear listed, there's a kind of "look" I see from your work that is different than that

from a camera like the Canon 5D for example.

 

I know others will say it's the shooter not the gear, (totally true in terms of content and

use of lighting), but some sensor/lens combinations do produce a "look" IMO and your

work is a good example of that. In my experience, the only Canon that looks like that is

the 1DMKII which is a cropped frame camera ( the Canon camera that Jeff Ascough

selected to use in place of his Leica Ms).

 

Just curious.

 

In answer to the question: What's in your bag?

 

Depends on what the shooting conditions will be. For example: Bride requested a photo of

all 200+ people attending her wedding in one shot for a huge print = Hasselblad/Imacon

H2D/39 & wide lens. Couple wants B&W film used and candids shot= Canon EOS 1V or

Leica M and fast lenses ... with a Hasselblad 200 or 500 series camera for formals and

portraits using 50, 100 and 180 lenses. And so on.

 

Normally I carry a Canon 1DsMKII and 5D as back-up (rarely used), lenses: 24/1.4L,

35/1.4L, 85/1.2L, 135/2L are most used. The only zoom I use on ocassion is a

24-105/4L. A Leica M is usually somewhere in the mix.

 

Metz flash on the Hasselblad H camera. Canon 580EX flash on the Canons. Hasselblad

D-40 on 500 or 200 series cameras.

 

I have little loyality to any brand. If the upcoming Leica M8 digital performs I'll gladly

dump much of the Canon gear saving one camera and only a few key lenses for AF work.

[savagesax]

I like the new digital phones and throw away cameras. hmmmm wonder why my wedding business is in trouble! hehe

[marcello_p_rez___long_isl]

2 S2 pros, 17-55 mm, 50mm 1.8 , 120j w/ pocket wizard, 500watt Hensel for big receptions halls, Extra water and sandwiches.

 

Cheers.

[buckry]

2 Dimage A2's, Sigma 500 Super, Lightsphere, 20 memory cards, assortment of filters, cable release, 8 rechargeable AA batteries, 2 Li Ion batteries for cameras, wireless flash trigger, lens hood.

[paul_sokal___dallas__tx]

D2X, D200, 17-55, 70-200VR, 85 1.4, 60 2.8 MicroNikkor, 10.5 DX. sb600, sb800.

 

Sean. I agree with Marc. Your work is so beautiful, why would you want to move to the Dark Side? In fact your work is SO beautiful, I think I hate you. Great stuff!

 

Paul

[rtrace]

Marc,

 

Perhaps it's just Photoshop post-processing, and not the D200. Also the 1DMKII is CMOS - maybe you meant the CCD original 1D? That DID have a different look.

 

Bogdan

[think27]

3 Canon 1V's, 70-200 2.8 IS, 17-35 2.8L, 35-70 2.8L, 50 1.4L, 3 Tiffen #1 soft warm filters, 1 #2 Tiffen soft warm filter, 3 550 flashes, 60 AA batteries, hair spray, brush, hem tape, stain remover, tissues, needle and various color thread, scissors, tweezers, Halls, breath spray, asprin, lens cleaner, cotton balls, lighter, matches, saftey pins, Crazy Glue (fixed a few broken heels, small mirror, Demb diffusers, electrical tape and a few assorted white and black buttons and in the summer - a double ziplock bag with ice and a wash cloth.

 

Thank god I don't carry that bag... My husband does. whew.

[kim long- cincinnati, ohio]

Bodies: D200 & D70

 

I use an Op/Tech reporter strap and so far this works fine for me- I know a concern with this is the cameras banging together, but I haven't had any trouble with that. It's working well for me so far, anyway. I keep what I need "at hand" in my waist bag.

 

Lenses: 70-200 2.8 VR (indoor services and candids), 85 mm 1.4 (used frequently for portraits and candids), 50 mm 1.4 (used mostly in detail shots, though it's certainly multi-purpose), 17-55 2.8 (usually on one of my bodies for most of the day- very multi-purpose for me), 70-300 4-5.6 (my 'daylight-outdoors-only' lens- the extra reach is great for outdoor ceremonies and reception candids, and the bokeh is actually pretty nice)

 

Other equipment: SB800, lightsphere, reflector, many extra batteries (for both cameras and flash), battery chargers, 10GB of flash cards, and my tripod & step ladder I keep in the trunk of my vehicle and get out if and when necessary.

 

Backup: D70, SB600

 

Non-photography "gear": extra pair of contact lenses, glasses, mini first-aid kit, ibuprofen, Shout wipes or Tide-to-go pen, mini sewing kit, and my trusty Burt's Bees tinted lip balm. What? That's important to me, people! Keeps them from getting chapped, is minty fresh, and the color lasts and lasts. :-D

[sean_flanigan]

Mark, thank you. Your work is great. Man I would love to shoot weddings with a Leica M. I have an M6 that I hardly ever touch, clients just don't want to pay for film these does.

 

What do I expect to gain by switching, not a whole lot (oh yes, most of the stuff on my site is with the D200, or a D2H, a few with the D2X.) My favorite lens on film was the Nikkor 85mm f/1.4, unreal DOF. Now on the 1.5 sensor Nikon has, the lens is too long and the shallow DOF is not what it once was. I sure would like some fast wide primes like the 35 1.4 and 24 1.4 that Canon offer. The only thing close Nikon had was the 28 1.4 that is now discontinued and was to long on a crop body. I just feel a bit limited in my selection of glass and Bodies. I really can't get used to the Canon system, I have rented a 5D a few times, it seems very cumbersome as far as layout. But in the end it is about image quality and I think Canon has that.

 

Regards,

 

Sean

[andyjonesphotography]

Thanks for spending time answering my question.

 

Why do I want to know? Well I always read the Nikon & Sports Photography forums where everyone talks about their equipment. The wedding guys talk about bouncing off walls, ceilings and how to deal with Bridezilla.

 

Thanks again guys

 

Andy

[StuartMoxham]

Sean you do beautiful work with the gear you use and I believe that you have have a great talent and you would produced great work if you changed to Canon I know the full frame Canons must be tempting but do you see the change to Canon would improve your work. I think there is something to be said for the Nikon glass and the Nikon CCD.

 

Marc what happpended to your Epson M range finder I remember also that you like it and you have the Leica DMR and you like that is the look a CCD thing or somthing else.

[fotografz]

Actually Sean, I understand the reasoning. It's the same reason I moved to Canon ... lots of

fast glass and the full frame maintains the DOF. But still ... if it ain't broke why fix it : -0

 

Yep Stuart, love that CCD look.

[errol young]

Any one use earplugs. I do.

I always seem to be around the largest speakers.

Errol

[Jim_Tardio]

Hang on a little longer, Sean. Nikon will have a full-frame someday. I used a 5D for several weekends, too, and just didn't like the layout either.

<p>

Try a 28/2 AIS on your D200...great DOF.

[fotografz]

Nah, get the 28/1.4 AF. It never came off my 1DX except to use the 85/1.4. KIller lens with

ASPH elements. Killer price also ... but not unlike the Canon fast L glass which ain't cheap.

 

We gotta keep Sean in the Nikon camp ... SOMEONE has to stop Canon from being the only

choice : -)

[Jim_Tardio]

No doubt the 28/1.4 is the king, but the the 28/2 is right up there. Check out <a href="http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_wide.html">Bjorn Rorslett's</a> comments on these two lenses. I got a great, like-new, sample off of ebay for $230.00. I've never used the 28/1.4 because I prefer smaller lenses. That's one of the things that makes the Leica's so great...their size. But that's a story for another thread.

<p>

I've been trying to get my hands on one of the new Zeiss 85/1.4s, but I can't find any here in LA to sample. I'm sure it's great, but I know the size will send me running for my 105/2.5.

<p>

That's another reason to stick with Nikon...so many great, old lenses available for a song. I know that you can mount them on a Canon, but they work like they should on the apropriate Nikon bodies.

[cjogo]

Well..I do not actually carry a bag around. A small bag with backup gear/film is placed in the reception room. I carry film in my pocket, a hand meter, Softar 1, a EOS 3 with a 28-70L 2.8 and a Quantum flash --That's mainly all I carry in my hands > No bag.