15 experience summary of wedding photographic equipment

Lead: If you want to do a good job, sharpen your knife first. Wedding photography has its particularity, strong mobility and high shooting intensity, which is a test for photographers and equipment. This chapter summarizes some problems about wedding photography equipment, which can provide reference for wedding photographers, so that photographers can take fewer detours in equipment and put more energy into shooting.

15 experience summary of wedding photographic equipment; Common equipment for wedding photographers.

As a wedding photographer, if you already have the necessary photographic equipment such as SLR camera, lens and flash, you can start wedding shooting. You don't need special equipment to take wedding photos with a SLR camera. The key is to master the skills and methods of shooting high-definition video. For photographers who don't have shooting equipment or need to update equipment, the first thing to do is to choose equipment. According to past experience, whether the SLR camera with good performance and the matching lens and flash are selected correctly will play a multiplier role for photographers' shooting work.

? Selection of main camera and standby camera

At present, there are many kinds and models of SLR cameras on the market to choose from. However, judging from the cameras that some wedding photographers have always owned, Nikon and Canon are the main brands. Nikon has D800, D600, D300s, D7 100D, 5200 and so on. Canon has 5D Mark II /III, 7D, 60D, 650D and so on. That is to say, from high-end to low-end. In camera selection, factors such as purchase budget and shooting price are mainly considered. When choosing a backup machine, it is recommended not to choose cameras of the same model and mass production, so as to avoid the same failure of two cameras at the same time, especially for new cameras that have just entered the market. It is impossible to guarantee that 100% is trouble-free without periodic inspection.

? Necessary lens for wedding photography

The most commonly used lens for wedding photography is a zoom lens with wide angle to medium focal length, such as 24-70mm, 17-55mm, etc. Because the zoom lens with this focal length is very convenient to capture at the wedding scene, and it can be retracted, and the zoom lens with medium telephoto, such as 70-200mm, is often used, such as shooting at a certain distance, and the telephoto length will play a role. For zoom lens, it is best to choose a lens with fixed aperture, because when the lens is zoomed, the aperture of the lens with non-fixed aperture will change, which is not conducive to the photographer's shooting. In addition, factors such as aperture, imaging quality, deformation and focusing speed should also be considered when choosing a lens.

How to choose a wide-angle lens

A good wide-angle lens should not be sloppy in terms of image quality and operability. When choosing a wide-angle lens, sharpness, dispersion, dark angle and distortion should all be considered. The biggest problem in choosing a wide-angle lens is lens distortion, and many good-looking video images will be greatly reduced because of object deformation. The high-end wide-angle lens is well controlled in these aspects. Therefore, high-end wide-angle lenses should be given priority, and price is a secondary factor.

The difference between the original lens and the sub-factory lens

There are great differences, including imaging effect, workmanship, durability and so on. The original lens also has certain advantages in focusing speed. However, the deputy factory is more cost-effective than the original lens. If you value the price input and have to buy a new lens, you can consider a deputy factory. If you can't accept the color and imaging deviation, you should at least buy a second-hand original lens, or even a new one. The more high-end lens, the more obvious. Especially 50MM fixed focus, 85MM fixed focus, 24-70, 70-200, 16-35, etc.

18-55 and 18- 105 have little difference. Imagine, if the lens workmanship and imaging of the deputy factory are not much different from those of the original factory, can the original factory still sell it?

The function of fixed focus lens in wedding photography and the advantages of large aperture lens in wedding photography.

When choosing wedding lenses, large aperture lenses should be given priority. The lighting at the wedding scene is more complicated, and the large aperture lens has inherent advantages in dealing with this situation. In addition, when shooting close-ups with shallow depth of field, the illusory background presented by the large aperture lens is beautiful, and the fixed-focus lens generally adopts large aperture, so you can also consider choosing 2-3 fixed-focus lenses for standby. Recommended fixed-focus lenses: lenses with focal lengths of 35 mm, 50 mm and 85mm, and lenses with an aperture of f/ 1.4 or f/ 1.2.

? Do you have any suggestions for tripods or monopods?

90% photographers' answer to this question is that it is basically useless to take wedding photos with a tripod unless you also use a SLR camera to take videos. For the latter, I suggest choosing a solid tripod, which has a certain bearing capacity and can play a stable role. This is the basic requirement. In addition, the tripod should not rise too high, especially the central axis, and any factors that cause shaking should be avoided. In the choice of pan/tilt, spherical pan/tilt is not recommended, because it may not be suitable for lens movement. On the other hand, when shooting video, the camera needs to add some accessories, which adds a lot of weight. Using spherical pan/tilt often leads to displacement. Speaking of which, you may think of the tripod of the camera. The advantage of this tripod is absolute stability, but its disadvantages are also obvious. It is heavy, inconvenient to carry, and expensive. It is not recommended.

Best combination: tripod+camera hydraulic head

This group is familiar to many friends who shoot birds. However, there are not many hydraulic ptz suitable for photography and video shooting. At present, Manfutu's 70 1 series products are popular, which can be used on tripods or monopods. The price is not high, and it is very convenient to take videos or photos.

Choose a flash suitable for the follow-up of the wedding

Flash must be of high quality, because more than 80% of wedding photos are taken by flash. Flash index is an important index, the higher the better. For example, if the flash index is 24, ISO 100, and the distance is 3 meters, the aperture should be set to F8, which seems to be sufficient for normal use, but the flash with higher index uses light technology such as reflected light to reduce projection, and the picture effect is more ideal. In this case, the flash with an index above 36 is more practical; Secondly, flash is highly automated. If the degree of automation is not high, the exposure should be adjusted manually, and the time is not allowed. Although the original flash is expensive, it works well with the camera of the same brand, which improves the photographer's work efficiency and is worth buying.

Flash also needs to be equipped with other accessories.

Some high-end flashlights are equipped with soft lenses, color films and other accessories. We can also provide flash lamps (or micro reflective umbrellas) with soft lenses and spare battery packs. If you want to use off-board flashing or multi-flashing lights, you need to buy a wireless trigger and receiver to use together. As for the lamp holder, you can buy more as appropriate.

Select the appropriate memory card.

I believe many photographers know that high-speed and large-capacity memory cards are even more powerful for wedding photography, and even more essential for photos in RAW format. SD/SDHC card has a speed standard, that is, 4/6/ 10, which corresponds to 4MB/s, 6MB/s and 100 MB/s respectively. Therefore, only memory cards with more than 6 types can meet the demand, and the capacity should be above 16GB. The CF card should be a memory card with a speed of over 400X and a capacity of over 16G. In short, a fast and large-capacity memory card is our first choice.

Avoid using fake memory cards.

At present, there are two kinds of counterfeit memory cards on the market. First, the speed is low before and then high. For example, a Class 4 card is used as a Class 6 card. Because the reading and writing speed of Class 4 cards of many big brands can work stably above 6MB/s, unscrupulous vendors sell Class 4 cards at the price of Class 6. Second, the quality is shoddy, and this card will be invalid after several uses. If you buy this card, it is likely that the photos you have worked so hard to take will be ruined. Therefore, you should know more about buying memory cards in advance and buy them in those reputable stores.

Take care of your photographic equipment.

The wedding shooting scene is generally chaotic, the photographer is highly focused when shooting, and the loss of equipment is inevitable. To take good care of the equipment, the photographer had better make a list of the equipment in advance, so as to be aware of it. When leaving a shooting point, check whether the equipment is complete according to the list; If the photographer is fighting alone, be vigilant and don't let strangers take care of the equipment for you; Special weather, but also do a good job of dustproof and waterproof measures.

Setting of exposure mode

There must have been a lot of photos taken on the wedding day. It is generally recommended to shoot with RAW+JPEG. After all, many situations on site are unpredictable, and the post-production adjustment of RAW files is more flexible. The exposure method varies from person to person. I am usually used to setting a file, which can be quickly switched when the light source changes, and sometimes I use M or P file. When shooting close-ups or close-ups, keep the aperture at f/4 (blurred background), and use f/8 at other times, which can provide greater depth of field and ensure different positions. Layer? Everyone knows that. When shooting indoors, be careful not to set the shutter speed too low when holding the camera. As a guide, the minimum shutter speed should be the reciprocal of the lens. For example, if you use a 50mm lens, you should avoid using a shutter speed lower than 1/50s. Generally, the ISO setting of sensitivity should not exceed 1600, and the noise will become more and more obvious.

What checks should be made on the equipment before shooting?

The difference between a professional photographer and an amateur photographer lies in the details of the work. How much you do before shooting determines whether the actual shooting is smooth or not. It is best to make a list of equipment in advance: first, when sorting out the equipment, be sure to check whether the camera works normally again, check the camera settings, and test it if it is a new machine to master the performance of the new machine; Second, check whether the camera battery is fully charged and whether the memory card capacity is sufficient. There is no harm in preparing an extra battery and memory card. Don't forget to bring the battery charger. Third, it is best to prepare more batteries for the flash, ensure that the flash is fully charged at any time, and call back quickly to avoid being caught off guard by some unexpected situations.