Hello all,

I've just developed an interest in photography recently and have decided its time to invest in a good quality SLR. However, with so many different cameras on the market I'm having a tough time deciding what camera would best suit my needs. The camera will be mostly used for shooting weddings and large events.

I've narrowed down the brands to either Nikon or Canon, can anyone give any suggestions or guidance to the new guy?

 

I don't think you could go wrong with either as a brand. However, there are many different models of body and lens and other accessories to consider. As a beginner, get a lower cost body and invest in glass. Glass lasts forever if you take care of it. You can upgrade the bodies as you develop your skill.

Shooting weddings and events will require some pretty nice gear. What is your budget for everything to get you started?

Aaron

 

Im looking at 1500-2000 to start. If it's an absolute must, I could double that budget but I'd feel most comfortable starting with that.

Thanks for the advice on lenses... which ones are a "must have" when starting out? I was thinking of a 50mm and a wide angle lens to start with?

What would you consider to be a lower cost body? I was looking at a D80 from Nikon.

 

Don't know a whole lot about Nikon. On the Canon side, the Rebels are your entry level bodies and the lenses with the L designation are your better built lenses. Primes are great, and you can't go wrong with the 50mm as its a great lens for the money on either the Canon or the Nikon side, but if you are doing events you will want the flexibility of a nice zoom. I have the 24-70mm f2.8L and find that range to just about perfect for most jobs. Wide open the lens will allow for some low light shooting and will yield a shallow depth of field to make your subjects pop off of the background. You might also want a telephoto to get some distance in between you and the guests for the candids.

To be honest, I've only done a TON of reading. Hopefully someone with actual experience will chime in as well.

 

for the money, have you considered a pentax?
the k10d adds IS to all the lenses you'll use (granted it has less support than nikon or canon) but you can use pretty much any lens made for a pentax.
the rebates a pretty good right now. you'd be able to get a body, battery grip or flash, decent glass for under 1K.

 

Try not to buy the KIT slr. It comes with a really low quality lens. The quality is equivalent to a point-and-shoot digital cameras.

Even knowing you'll be shooting for weddings and big events, It still needs to be narrowed down.

Weddings: Will you be taking the couple's pictures like a professional? (watch for F-stops. Lower the numbers, f/1.8 = more bokeh, for portraits) Backdrops, proper lighting, studio-ish props...

or just a friend to take side pictures while they hire a professional to deal with the headache. Will you be approaching the front, and taking the pictures? Or will you be at the way back, out of the guest's view. If your faraway, the lighting is going to become an obsticle. (Zoom Zoom Zoom! careful with Zooms... Tripod, or stabalizing lens maybe required... farther you are, blurs gonna kill your shot when you compensate the lighting with your shutters opened.)

For big events: What type of lighting? External Flash is a must for indoors events. The flash that comes with the SLR, is as powerful as a disposable camera... maybe a tad bit better. =) Fast focusing lens will definately help. Static lens with no zoom, are great responses, but you'll need room to maneuver your body...

I think one of the most important feature for a camera is the time you turn on your camera to the time you take your first picture. You may miss a "kodak moment" if the camera boots slow. Also, getting a high quality memory card is benificial, to reduce the speed to turn the camera on. A low quality card will eat up the boot time.

Well, I hope this helps a bit... there's so much to cover... there's good websites to read about cameras. www.dpreview.com

Happy hunting for your first SLR! Let me know how it goes!

 

Thanks for the detailed response!

Ultimately i would love to be able to churn out some professional looking photographs. I'm a long time photoshopper and have recently been PSing a lot of wedding pictures for some friends who were not happy with their "professional" photographers work. They ended up showing the results of my PS work to some friends and now I've been asked to photograph several weddings. Unfortunately, my experience with cameras is very limited (point and shoots) so I'm trying learn as quickly as I can.

Weddings: Yes, I will be approaching the front with tripod and all.

Events: Mostly medium lit to well lit buildings. Is the flash on the SLR really that poor? I've read that a lot of people actually try to stay away from flashes as much as possible and use other means to get a nice exposure (shutter speed, aperture, film speed).

Thank you for the warning of crappy memory cards as I had no idea it would effect the boot time.

Any other comments of suggestions?

 

If you can start with $2500, a 30D, a Tamron 17-50, Sigma 10-20 and one lens of your choice will be a great place to start. If you want to start full frame, then $2500 for the 5D, and $700 for the 17-40. My personal opinion, if I can go back and start over, I would have gotten the 5D.

 

As to what type or brand camera is best.

The best brand is the one the feels MOST comfortable in YOUR hands.

 

Lighting is very important, especially to avoid shadow effects around the eyes and nose. You can adjust the flash to your likings also. PS is a great way to enhance features and brush up on some flaws. Remember underexposure can be worked with more then over exposure.

For professional shots, look into the f-stop. It really has nice effects to have the face clear, and the background blurred. Reflectors are also good to soften the lighting.

I'm not sure how Nikon's performs, but I personally own a canon. Not to mention, the lowest model canon =). The lens make a world of a difference. I think e3opian is right on the spot. Invest more towards the lens rather then the body. There's so many techniques to take pictures, that by the time you get pretty good at capturing photos, you can then upgrade the body.