First Wedding - Advice

[casp3r]

I've been asked to the wedding of a friend. It's not for another year or so but I thought I'd get some early advice.

1 - Is the 400D a good enough camera to do a wedding with?
2 - What lens(es) would I need? I just have a twin lens kit so would I need a couple of decent primes or one good zoom lens?

I'm sure I'll have a load more questions but hopefully you could answer these for now.

Many thanks

[SuzyView]

Have you looked at this first?

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=255604

[SuzyView]

Welcome to the forum, BTW. I don't mean to be short with you, but the stickys really answer almost any question a new wedding photographer may have.

The 400D is a great camera and with a bit of skill and practice, be just fine. As for lenses, the kit lens will not be good enough, even if you are a pro, just because there are so many better choices. If you have a year to really work on it, I would consider saving for a 17-55 IS. You may get away with a 28-105 II with a flash. I shot my first wedding with a 10D and 28-135 and a 220 flash. My best friend asked me to shoot it for her daughter. I told her I wasn't a pro and the pictures probably wouldn't be great. She said she saw my work and she had faith in me. We all have to start somewhere, but since that wedding 4 years ago, I have spent more than $10000 on gear to really do it right. Please tell your client-friend your limitations because a wedding is one day in a whole lifetime, hopefully. :)

[casp3r]

Many thanks for that. Sorry I didn't read the sticky but will make a point of it :)

I told her I wasn't a pro and the pictures probably wouldn't be great. She said she saw my work and she had faith in me.
Same thing - she saw some photos I had taken at an evening wedding reception that I was attending and said she had faith in me :) Hopefully not famous last works.

[SuzyView]

The key is PRACTICE! You won't regret any time you put into perfecting the settings and I really stress, if you can afford better lenses, go for it. My first 3 weddings were my excuse to upgrade to the 20D. After that I got my first L lenses and it hasn't stopped. I'm saving for the 300 2.8 IS, which is really a commitment. I shoot weddings with the 5D/24-70/580EX on bracket, and the 20D/85 1.8/no flash. And when I am indoors, at the reception if I don't want to get in the face of the key players, I use the 70-200 2.8 IS on my 5D. If you are serious about doing wedding photography, I highly recommend you get the best tools you can afford. My skills are limited, but my gear is great (okay, I'm not that bad).