wedding question

[blueweed]

hi! will be just playing a backup photographer as requested by a friend for her wedding. It will be daytime but indoor ballroom at conrad hotel. Was wondering if my 30d with 24-105 f4 lens WITHOUT external flash is good enough. I was hoping of not using my internal flash and just shoot in program mode.

Other lens I have
50mm f1.8
10-22mm
70-200mm f2.8
100-400mm

The wedding will just be 13-15 tables, small event.

Your thoughts on alternative lens will be most helpful as well.

thanks.

 

[jdredd]

it might just be enough, with the IS. if of course you go to ISo800 + shouldnt be a problem i thnk

might want to try the 1.8 too. not that you coudlnt get just as good shutter speeds handholding with the 24-105, but the 50mm is so much lighter..

 

[TYM76]

I would recomment that if you do not want to use flash, go for the prime lens.

Otherwise, for indoor event, having a external flash is almost a must. First to capture motion, bumping up the ISO may not be enuf. Second, for proper fill in flash for people shots. Without flash, the people shots may look dull and bland in a low light environment, fill-in of shadows.
Third, with an external flash, it should help in the focusing in low light condition.

When shooting a wedding, you would be worrying about capturing important moments, shutter speed is more important, IS is secondary.

Well, if if it is outdoors mainly or area with lots of good lighting, i believe the 24-105 would be enuf. For the other lens, 10-22 gives too much distortion and not recommended for standard wedding and people shots. The 70-200 would be nice outdoors for the reach and portraiture shoots. 100-400mm, not as suitable as 70-200 bcos its large heavy, not a fast lens.
But i worry if 24mm is wide enuf on your 30D, i often have to go 17-20mm for the table shots. If just taking candid shots, 24-105 no prob.

I would strongly recommend a flash still, even in daylight, to do some degree of fill-ins

Since you are the backup fotog, just enjoy shooting the wedding, with some preparations. Oh, just one caution from experience, try not to get in the way of the main photog, give him space as he responsible for getting the "money" shots. While you can catch other activities happeneing ard the couple, eg the guests, friends etc

hope it helps

 

[jdredd]

yea. as you are back up photo, just have some fun.

i would definitely bring the 70-200, have some shots frmo a distance... gives an itneresting perspective.

 

[blueweed]

thanks for your quick replies. I'll just bring my 24-105 and 50mm which I can chug in my wife's purse.

thanks!

 

[JediForce4ever]

I would say bring the 10-22, 24-105.then pocket the 50.
You might find the 10-22 very useful.:thumbsup:
And with the 24-105, well....since you are just the backup, you can afford to be creative, or make mistakes.A good photo need not be tack sharp

 

[cosycatus]

it depends on the lighting at the ballroom.
WHAT we think as bright is usually not good enuff for the camera.

a f4 is not enuff usually without flash from the weddings i did at most ballrooms. U can on the IS, but even at iso800, the slow shutter speed is useless as subjects moves..

i recommend u get the 17-55 f2.8 IS if u really want to shoot easily and safetly without flash. Alternatively, just use the 50mm...which isn't easy too cos u need a shutter of 1/80 and your focus betta be accurate.

 

[Russ]

A bit hard without flash in my view.
Yes you have IS but IS only solves the problem of camera movement/ shake. If your subjects move e.g. couple walking in, the slow shutter speeds could cause blurring.

So, OK for group shots but not movement shots.

If you have to do without flash, then use ISO 800 and fast prime lenses like the 35/2 or 50/ 1.8.

It also depends on the lighting - some venues can be rather "dim"

 

[TYM76]

The 17-55mm 2.8 IS is not enuf for indoors esp ballroom for me. For ballroom shoots, a flash is a must. To me, IS only stop handshakes and is useless when taking what's happening during weddings. The 17-55 is very sharp though

 

[bry'an]

So, OK for group shots but not movement shots.

WB need to pay more attention when shooting natural light. i prefer bounce flash for group photos

 

[Xing]

I would say bring the 10-22, 24-105.then pocket the 50.
You might find the 10-22 very useful.:thumbsup:
And with the 24-105, well....since you are just the backup, you can afford to be creative, or make mistakes.A good photo need not be tack sharp

i echo this pt abt using 10-22mm, i've shot a no. of wedding since earlier this year using this lens, reason - I really need the wide angle, not necessary the widest but somewhere ard 14-16mm of the range, which is ard 20mm-24mm of FF range. using this lens you will be using it from the 22mm end first and go wider instead ;p it's definitely more versatile than a 24-105 on your 30mm, which is somewhere like 40mm - 160mm.

 

[Trigger Happy]

2.8 in a ballroom with built-in flash is definitely insufficient. your shutter speed won't be fast enough and you'll be struggling with AE lock until your nose bleeds even at 70mm because you'll have camera shake/ subject blur and if you use the built-in flash, you can cover group photos/ individuals/ couples but the BG will come out almost black. the flash fall-off is also just a couple of metres so this is really not an option. the 50mm 1.8 sounds like it might make it, but then you'd better be very fit. best of luck!

 

[CYRN]

You want wide apertures but need to take care of DOF.

 

[Deadpoet]

You really do not have any choices. Or, are you suggesting that you are going to go and buy a 24-70 2.8 or a 50 1.4 just to "play" back up photographer? I hope not, dumb decision if you do.

Your 30D can handle iso 1600 well. Will be a bit grainy, but very managable. Why not just take the 50 1.8 with you, shoot iso 1600, f2-2.8, speed should be somewhere between 1/15 to 1/60 for ambient light. Something different.

Btw, you really should not shadow the main photographer, that is not your job, and get out of the way.

 

[jsbn]

hi! will be just playing a backup photographer as requested by a friend for her wedding. It will be daytime but indoor ballroom at conrad hotel. Was wondering if my 30d with 24-105 f4 lens WITHOUT external flash is good enough. I was hoping of not using my internal flash and just shoot in program mode.

Other lens I have
50mm f1.8
10-22mm
70-200mm f2.8
100-400mm

The wedding will just be 13-15 tables, small event.

Your thoughts on alternative lens will be most helpful as well.

thanks.

Buy lenses JUST for the wedding? Bad choice.

Suggestion: 30D + 10-22 + ext flash

Nuff said.

 

[Trigger Happy]

thanks for your quick replies. I'll just bring my 24-105 and 50mm which I can chug in my wife's purse.

thanks!

you don't even have a camera bag?
thats fundamental to a) protecting your equipment b) having them with you at a moment's notice c) not making your all dolled-up and dressed-up wife play assistant to you following you all over the place.

invest in an external flash, and solve your problem. at some point you will find that its the best investment you've ever made, especially when you are in similiar settings or situations that require more light.

 

[TYM76]

Yo guys, give the TS a break.

Hi blueweed, I think your 24-105 IS is a very good lens and with a very suitable range for wedding. You will not be doing table shots so ultra-wide angle is not that critical. If you fully utilise your 24-105 to the fully, i am sure you really can get good pictures out of it.

Few wedding photographers can have the time to change so many lens here and there during the wedding, trust me, theres just too many things happening. Stick to just one or two.
Most pro uses 16-35/17-40 and/or 24-70/28-70, usually on a 1D/D2 cam usually, so more or less you are safe with your focal range for your purpose/ job, excellent range even.

Now IF ONLY you can get an ext flash, I think you more or less is set to attain take >90% of the shots with your 24-105.

Good luck!

 

[oracle0711]

If this is your first try on wedding (regardless if you are the main or backup photographer), please do not attempt the flashless stunt unless you have done it elsewhere before (such as during concerts). I don't think you want to disappoint your friend. Furthermore, if you do a good job, this may be a start to a whole new series of event in the near future ... you just never know.

However, back to the flashless attempt, your Canon 30D + 24-105 f/4 is good enough to do it. Pushing the ISO to 1600 (as suggested by DeadPoet), maybe stopping down a bit on your exposure metering, and shooting in Aperture Priority mode should give you sufficient shutter speed to capture the event. Just look out for your whitebalance which may be a bit yellowish/orangee without the flash (but shoot in raw should help to solve the problem later).

Last thing about not using flash - Remember that you are relying on every possible light that falls on your subject within the environment. So, if you are not using flash, you need to see how the available light affects your subject before you shoot.

Enjoy and good luck on the forthcoming event.