camera

[wingspk]

There is a weddng in few months and I am looking to buy a camera that gives good results and has a strap so I can conveniently carry it without occupying hands. This could be a professional camera since I intend to take few courses and do some photography upon request for friends and family in their events. Please suggest.

Thank you

Nadia

[trulandphoto]

Based on what you describe, I'd suggest you investigate the full frame EOS 6D. It would be ideal for weddings and yet is not as expensive or complicated as the other current full frame options. A kit with the 24-105 f/4 (if that is available) should fit the bill nicely.

[ScottyP]

Hi, Nadia.

What is your budget? A 6d is a good choice for that kind of shooting, but it might be more than some people would expect, at about $2,600.00 with the 24-105mm kit lens. It is a "full frame" camera, as compared to the more modestly priced Rebel series, such as the T5i, which costs $900 with a kit lens, or the T3i which costs about $600 with a kit lens.

[ebiggs1]

You do not have any experience with a DSLR and this is your first entry into it? 

I will recommend the Canon T5i with the 18-55 IS STM kit lens. I started out with a Rebel series camera, to start my digital mode from film, many years ago and just sold the last one yesterday. You may find it is all the camera you will ever need and it could open a whole new world for you.

The best camera Canon makes is the 5D Mk III. That is without a ridiculously insane price associated with it.

The best buy in a pro level camera is the Canon 7D. It is going to be heavy especially compared to the T5i since the 7D has a magnesium body, more robust, and the T5i is plastic.

The 6D is Canon's version of an entry level Full Frame camera. It would make a nice comapnion to the T5i as the T5i is a 1.6 crop sensor body.

There are other Canon choices and all are worthy cameras but I think I will still recommend the Canon T5i with the

18-55 IS STM kit lens for you. (I am not sure if the T5i is avaiable without a STM lens but make sure it says STM.)

[TCampbell]

I'm trying to get a feel for whether this is a request for a camera body to be used for professional work vs. a camera body for personal work but for which the OP would like a high end camera.  There are a LOT of nuances to wedding and event photography (besides just the camera) and I would encourage shooters to develop their skills for a few years before deciding to plunge in at any professional level.

Weddings venues (churches, synagogues, temples, etc.) are typically not very well lit and flash photography is typically NOT permitted during the ceremony (but is permitted before and afterward).  Most cameras will really struggle at this.

This puts full frame bodies and low-focal-ratio lenses at the top of the list... but this is expensive gear.

A "basic" pro system might be:

A 5D III body with an EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM II and EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II and a couple of Speedlite 600EX-RT units would be great... but _very_ expensive (about $8500 for all that).

And a true pro would have back-up gear (running the price tag up even higher).

A less-expensive body that would handle the high ISO shooting needs with very low noise would be a 6D body, but you'd still want an f/2.8 lens... such as the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM II... and a speedlite.  So that's still about $4000-4500.) 

On the budget side, you could do an APS-C body such as the T5i or the new 70D.  There's not much point in using a 7D for weddings unless you also happen to want it to go shoot sports or action photos (most of the features that drive up the price tag on the 7D all for high-speed shooting performance, which isn't typically needed for wedding & event photography.  It's also a downgrade in terms of video use.)  I'd lean in favor of the 70D body if you're thinking you might want to get serious about photography because the body is physically "roughly" the same size, but the control layout on a 70D is more similar to the pro bodies with two dials instead of one.  That means that when you're shooting on manual it's easy to adjust both shutter and aperture simultaneously while looking through the viewfinder and without having to press any extra buttons.  The 70D has a much better focus system for stills and a VASTLY better focus system for video.

Anything you can do to get low focal ratio lenses will be a huge help when you're shooting in dark venues.  The EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM would be a good lens for that and costs less than $1000 (actually it's currently less than $900... vs the price for the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM II which is more than double the price tag.)  The ability to shot at high ISO with low noise on these APS-C bodies wont compete with what a 6D and 5D III body can do... those cameras are in a completely different league.

If you try to shoot a wedding with a kit lens (e.g. EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM or EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM you'll find the camera generally STRUGGLES with the low-light problem and the shots will show a lot of "noise" in them.  That might be ok if these are personal photos but they're definitely not acceptable for professional use if that's the direction you're leaning toward.)

It is fairly common to have churches with lighting during the ceremony where the exposure is ISO 6400, f/2.8, & 1/60th.  Such an exposure is not a big deal for a full-frame body.  But an APS-C body is going to show a lot of noise at ISO 6400... then take away the f/2.8 lens so you're stuck at f/5.6 and you've lost two stops... so now you're at ISO 6400, f/5.6, & 1/15th ... which is not only going to have a lot of noise and runs a high risk of being blurry due to camera movement.

[ebiggs1]

I agree with all Mr. Campbell has replied but I will add more more consideration. I shoot a few weddings as a retired person but years ago I did lots of them. Now I do more Senior photos and yearbook group shots than I used to. But the point is durability. 

One big factor in the professional series of Canon, or Brand N cameras, is the robust build.

The lighter, plastic bodies will just not stand up to day in and day out heavy use. In this realm, the camera is a tool to get a job done.

A 5D Mk III will take way more abuse and still come up with the shot much more reliably than a T5i will. A T5i is on the other hand all the camera most people or even advanced amateurs will even need.

I do disagree with the comment about the 7D as a wedding camera. I use it on every wedding I shoot. It is generally on a tripod at the back of the church with my 70-200mm f2.8 on it. I also use my 1D Mk III, whcih is also a crop camera. It gets most of the work. My 5D gets most of the group shots after the ceremony.

[TCampbell]

ebiggs1 says:  "I do disagree with the comment about the 7D as a wedding camera. I use it on every wedding I shoot."

Apologies... it was not my intention to imply that it was somehow inappropriate to use a 7D for weddings.  I had really just intended to point out that most of the features which differentiate the 7D are related to it's very performance when doing action photography.  E.g. it's 19 point auto-focus system, the dual Digic IV processors, the 8 frames per second continuous shooting speed, etc.