Wedding and event pros, full Frame only?

Hi guys. I have two rebel bodies, and I am starting to naturally do some events around town, for the first time, I actually got paid. I have an insurance settlement coming in a couple months, (death of my mother last year), and I will maybe have enough to buy a 5D II refurbished or used, maybe new even if they are still being sold.

I have a 100mm F2 that will work with a full FF, and I have a 28mm 1.8 on the way that will work for wide group shots, and I have an ef-s 60mm macro that I would be able to sell as they are loved lenses and i would be able to buy a mid range FF lens as well for portraits of two and three people,and use the 100mm F2 for single portraits. In other words, I am starting to gravitate toward portraiture and wedding/event photography.

So, would you say that my obvious step should be to go full frame like the %D II? Would you pros be able to do your thing and have no worries or problems with say, a 60D or 7D?

The point is, I am a musician for a living as well and I will also continue to do that, but i am a single father of two kids, so life is tough and money is short. So, when i get this settlement I will basically have ONE SHOT to either get a 60dor 7Dor get maybe a refurb 5D II.

So if you knew you were definitely going to do what I am beginning to do, you had one shot to upgrade your camera to get started in portraits wedding/event, would you consider FF as an absolute must, or could you happily get by using a crop like the 7d or 60d and feel comfortable making money with it?

Also, one more question, how much do you estimate a refurb or new 5D Ii would cost? How much will they be new in a couple months from now if they will still be sold new?

I also have four flashes and umbrellas and reflector as well so i will do a large variety of poeple picture work. No sports or fast action stuff, so that's not a consideration.

Sorry for the long way of asking, Pro people/portraits/weddi​ngs/events, FF a must or can get by just fine with 60D or 7D?

You can get buy with a crop. I started shooting weddings with a 7D. With that being said, once I got the 1DsII (full frame), the 7D stayed in the bag, and now that I have the 5D3, the 7D was sold, and the 1DsII stays in the bag.

Here's what I didn't like about the 7D;
For portraits, I felt it didn't handle skin tones well at all... This is especially true once you switch to one of the popular full frame cameras.

The RAW files don't have nearly the latitude in post processing as my 1Ds or 5D3.

The images always needed more "work" to get them to look how you want them.

The 7D requires superb glass to get good images out of it.

These are all applicable to me, so YMMV. If someone asked me if I'd go back to a crop body, the answer would be a most definite no.

Many pro wedding photographers still choose the 7d over the 5d mkII for its quick accurate focus. You can't afford to miss focus on someone's special day. That being said the files aren't as clean as the ones from the mkII. The question is whether the client will ever know the difference. My bet is that they won't. I did several wedding with my 7d and it was a true solid performer.

You can get away with a crop body. Half of the reason for using full frame is so that certain lenses perform as they were designed to. On a full frame the 24-70 (or 24-105) is a very versatile event lens, as is the 70-200 (whichever incarnation you have). On a crop body they are less useful, the 24 isnt that wide anymore, and 70 is a bit long for your zoom to work in some rooms on a crop. So if you want to use the best event lenses, and use them as intended full frame has some advantages. That said, on a lot of wedding or event shots IQ isnt super critical so you can get away with any lens that works for you.

gonzogolf wrote in post #14511591
That said, on a lot of wedding or event shots IQ isnt super critical so you can get away with any lens that works for you.

That statement is relative to the individual, of course.

Stamp wrote in post #14511632
That statement is relative to the individual, of course.

I understand that. But what I should have explained is that table shots at a reception or grip and grins at a convention hall arent that taxing on a lens. I use L lenses because I want that IQ, but for certain purposes it doesnt make a huge difference.

The 7D, 60D, T3i, and T2i basically have the same sensor. With a static subject in good light, they should all produce a pretty similar image. The biggest differences will be in autofocus and capability for moving subjects, low light, etc. Moving to a 7D for portraits will likely not make a huge difference.

Moving to full frame will generally allow you to get smaller DOF for portraits. It will generally also get you better low light, just because it has a larger frame to collect light.

My wedding photographer used a 5D (classic) with wide prime lenses (which are not necessarily expensive) for most shots and a 30D with 70-200 for telephoto shots. I would try to do something similar, with a full frame for wide shots and portraits and a crop for telephoto shots so you can switch. I would also seriously consider whether I need a 5DII or if the ISO capability, autofocus, and MP of a 5D (classic) or 1Ds would suffice. Ditto for the crop, do you need a 7D or 60D, or would a 30D, 40D, 50D, T2i, or T3i suffice?

There was a time when Full Frame 35mm was unacceptable for professional use at wedding.

We all carried around Medium Format cameras and 35mm was relegated to taking snappies.

Some will say you can get by, and you can but when 35mm film became acceptable for use by pros at weddings and such, you never say any of them shooting with APS film.

I see nothing wrong at this point in time with using a crop body for weddings, after all you are producing a digital file that can be manipulated to hell and back in post. I mean they have computer software to do everything for you, one to process portraits, another creates digital 'bokeh'. It's getting to the point where the difference between a pro and an amateur will be computer proficiency.

Do the best YOU can do with what YOU have, and when it stops working for you, then look to upgrade.

Crops are fine, as are full frames. We shot this wedding with a D3100 (an excellent crop camera) and a D700 (an excellent full frame camera).

I can tell the FF shots from the DX shots because I know which camera I used, but no normal client would. Now we both use full frame cameras, but they just make things easier for us. If we had to, we could do everything with a pair of entry level DSLRs.

Blah Blah Blah, another topic about 7D's (crop) and Mark II's & III's (Full Frame)... For crying out loud people, just go out there and test them out. Youtube it, google it...anythang! Everything, & everyone has there own likes and dislike. Best thing to do is to test them out on your own. Yes pick up details and opinions along the way. But dig up your own reason why you made the purchase in your new love life.
Let this person breath people, it's obvious some of us feel different of every product but for some of us it works the way we like.

Now everybody: Put your hands together and say, Cowabunga!

DreamMaker23 wrote in post #14512090
Now everybody: Put your hands together and say, Cowabunga!

Cowabunga!

Lenses play a bigger part in the quality of your photos than you think, If it was me I would look at a decent 5Dc and spend the rest on really fast lenses. I consider lenses as a long term investment and bodies as depreciating asset. Your control of your lighting, composition, and overall quality of your finished product will also determine how far you go in the wedding industry, which is a very hard way to make money.

Medium format Digital is really gaining in popularity (again though before it was film), and I suspect in 10 years 35mm digital will once again be considered good for snap-shots. time will tell........ It's all price motivated and if medium format digital goes down in price I guarantee that's what photograhers will flock to when it comes to weddings and portraits.

TheFarmer wrote in post #14512392
Cowabunga!

Haha, thats EPIC dude! Thanks

FerozeK wrote in post #14512441
Lenses play a bigger part in the quality of your photos than you think, If it was me I would look at a decent 5Dc and spend the rest on really fast lenses. I consider lenses as a long term investment and bodies as depreciating asset. Your control of your lighting, composition, and overall quality of your finished product will also determine how far you go in the wedding industry, which is a very hard way to make money.

davidc502 wrote in post #14512582
Medium format Digital is really gaining in popularity (again though before it was film), and I suspect in 10 years 35mm digital will once again be considered good for snap-shots. time will tell........ It's all price motivated and if medium format digital goes down in price I guarantee that's what photograhers will flock to when it comes to weddings and portraits.

Wassup, no Cowabunga?!

Edit: I kid, i kid...just sparking things up around here..