I have a wedding Saturday...

[OdiN1701]

10 Bridesmaids, 10 Groomsmen, Flower Girl, Ring Bearer, plus the B&G.

Horray for my 17-40L is all I gotta say.

[mizuno]

Oh my.

Good luck!

[PhotoJourno]

Amen !...

[daclozer]

You want ot borrow my 10-22?? Wow, thati s going to be a big spread. Good luck and post some for us to see.

[PIXI_666]

Geez Louise....good luck hahaha!

[OdiN1701]

You want ot borrow my 10-22?? Wow, thati s going to be a big spread. Good luck and post some for us to see.

Haha yeah that would be a nice lens to have.

It is outdoors, so I am not too restricted space wise.

[Maureen Souza]

Good luck, Andrew! I have the 16-35mm which I used for a wedding party of 16 last year. You are welcome to borrow it.....

[Ronald S. Jr.]

What he needs is that 5D full frame...;-) How's that going, Maureen? I'm fudging my way into one. I'll know tomorrow whether I get it or not.

Just remember, Andrew...you'll most likely be right at 17mm for a group shot, so remember to stop down plenty to get everyone reasonably sharp, and don't get too close that you make people fat!

Good luck!

[Maureen Souza]

What he needs is that 5D full frame...;-) How's that going, Maureen? I'm fudging my way into one. I'll know tomorrow whether I get it or not.

Just remember, Andrew...you'll most likely be right at 17mm for a group shot, so remember to stop down plenty to get everyone reasonably sharp, and don't get too close that you make people fat!

Good luck!

Well it has a bit of a learning curve, Ronald. So far I am a bit frustrated.... I thought the camera would read the flash (580) and adjust accordingly but it looks like I will have to use manual settings. When I set the aperture, my shutter speed is way too low and causes camera shake. But I am re-reading the manual..... and practicing!

[PhotoJourno]

;)Maybe the ongoing worldcup has me a little biased, but I would study Soccer Team photos, and then arrange all 24 people in the same manner. He he, one row standing in the back, middle row kneeling, and front row crouched, with someone in the middle holding the bouquet.:)

[Ronald S. Jr.]

Well it has a bit of a learning curve, Ronald. So far I am a bit frustrated.... I thought the camera would read the flash (580) and adjust accordingly but it looks like I will have to use manual settings. When I set the aperture, my shutter speed is way too low and causes camera shake. But I am re-reading the manual..... and practicing!

Whaaa?! The flash should act as fill in AV mode. It should be "automatic" (in a sense) in manual mode. What aperture/ISO were you using? Why would it set such a low shutter? Did you accidentally dial in some exposure compensation? Boy, Maureen...it doesn't sound good so far!

[OdiN1701]

Thanks for the offer Maureen, but I don't think that 1mm will make too much difference ;) And I'm used to my 17-40 and it's characteristics. I'll probably end up with it at around f/8 or so. I've got plenty of light to work with so that's no issue.

mjgravina - I'm thinking about having some people crouched or on one knee kinda thing.

Problem is I don't have a lot of time. The wedding is at 7:30PM. If I'm lucky, I'll have about 45 minutes of good enough light to focus with for the formals. I'm doing as much as possible beforehand, but the B&G don't want to see each other.

[OdiN1701]

Maureen - I would use manual settings all the time personally. I used to use Av from time to time but it wasn't as reliable as I liked. Now I pretty much set my aperture to what I want and then adjust shutter or ISO or dial in some more power outta the flash to get what I need.

My aperture is pretty much at f/4 thorugh the whole ceremony, or 2.8 on my 50mm.

I don't see why the 5D would handle the flash different than the 20D though. I want to get one of those 5D's myself.

[Maureen Souza]

Well, I am going to shoot RAW and I do use manual Mode quite a bit so I think I am just over-worrying with the new camera. I was like this when I got my 20D... I'll get used to it.
I like to shot f/8-10 outdoors in the bright sunlight with a big group of people and have had great success up to f/16. I have all fast lenses so they should do well with RAW conversion.

[OdiN1701]

Yeah I see your 135/2.0 there and wouldn't mind having one of those, nor that little 85/1.2 gem. ;)

Don't suppose you would mind me borrowing the 85? Just how slow does that thing focus anyway? Probably something I'd only use for posed shots.

[Maureen Souza]

You can borrow my 135 if you like. I know where I can hunt you down if I need to. :)

[OdiN1701]

I have a 100mm 2.8 macro I'll be using which should suffice really. I'll stick to what I'm most familiar with for the wedding. But I would like to check those lenses out, shoot a few test shots with em sometime.

Also if you ever have need or want to try them out, I have some PocketWizard stuff that I'm using to trigger my flashes remotely. I've had less than stellar results with slaving my 580's off of a main one, and the ST-E2 is limited as well.

I'm anxious to try some off camera fill flash stuff where I don't have to have a flash fired from the camera to trigger the remote.

[OdiN1701]

However...on second thought..I probably shouldn't touch that 85mm because I'd probably have to sell my soul and buy one. :D

[Maureen Souza]

It is my stellar lens.....too bad it is as heavy as a brick!

[OdiN1701]

Have you held a 24-70 before? I dunno if it would be heavier than that. The 70-200 2.8 IS isn't exactly light either.