ideas on mix system wedding photography outfit

I was wondering if what you guys here think of a covering a wedding with mix systems. I shoot a canon 5d2, while my partner shoots a nikon d800 with a d7000 as a back up.

We are just starting to do weddings and the last time we did a wedding, I borrowed a friends 60D as a backup. I actually used both my 5d2 and 60d during the ceremony.

now my problems are:
1.) will the difference in color profile/cast (nikon greenish, canon orangey/warm) or DR be difficult to handle? we would of course want to have a homogenous output.

2.) My partner is not willing to switch to canon. I am thinking of purchasing a 5d3 as a new main body, but after carefully calculating stuff, I figured that if I sold all my canon lenses, plus the cost for a new 5d3, I can get nikors 70-200, 24-70, 16-35, 50, 2- sb900, d800 & D600, which is what I more or less need to cover weddings. I am thinking of switching to nikon for ease in post process to produce similar color/DR/contrast between me and my partner.

I used to shoot nikon (d80) before switching to canon (5d2), I really dont mind changing systems, as I find that a camera is a camera and the 5d3 or d800 will be more than enough for what i need.

so are the difference in colors/DR/contrast acceptable or easy to fix in PP or should i just go nikon?

thanks in advance, I have been racking my brain on this dilema.

If you are noticing that much difference between the images it seems to me that one or both of you need to adjust your setup. Are you shooting raw or jpg?

gonzo,

were are shooting raw. the last wedding I covered by myself since my partner was part of the wedding, he did fire some shots which I tried to process. The d800 did produce a more greenish picture, as well as greater DR (which i tried to dial down to match mine, since I only used a handful of his pictures)

the way I do it is pretty time consuming i think.

anyway out of this dilema?

There can be lots of issues here, starting with white balance. What are the DR issues? Do you mean contrast instead, I cant imagine having dynamic range being a bad thing.

Maybe its contrast. I mean the black are very black in the d800 while not as much so in my 5dm2 so is this contrast and not dr?

So if for example i shoot raw on both the nikon and canon, all things being equal (wb, iso, subject, lighting, apperture and shutter speed) i will get identical images or close to identical for it matter?

Thanks gonzo

Drewlim wrote in post #15597865
Maybe its contrast. I mean the black are very black in the d800 while not as much so in my 5dm2 so is this contrast and not dr?

So if for example i shoot raw on both the nikon and canon, all things being equal (wb, iso, subject, lighting, apperture and shutter speed) i will get identical images or close to identical for it matter?

Thanks gonzo

Shooting raw doesnt mean that when you open up the software you are seeing raw. The raw files have to be interpreted to be viewed so its important to make sure that the preview image you are seeing are roughly the same. Most software packages open up the raw files to the default as shot, or at least a rough approximation of such. So if your picture style was set to portrait those settings are applied to the preview image when you open up your raw editor. Those things can include contrast, sharpness, saturation etc. So it might be worth spending some time coming up with default picture style settings for each camera that gives you a similar baseline to start editing from. I will concede that each camera may still have its own subtle difference in tone and capture, but I cant imagine is so huge that it cant be managed. Also close attention should be paid to WB and gelling your flashes the same way to make sure that the flash/ambient color mix match between the two cameras.

Firstly, what software do you use? And did you load the camera profiles prior to editing? It make a difference.

But despite this, I still had problems making my mixed Nikon/Canon setup look the same. I wouldn't say one way better than the other, they were just DIFFERENT. My Nikon had strange tints to it that I could never fully balance out, whereas my Canon could achieve very neutral colour easily. It's not apparent if you use just one camera or system, but once you have two pictures side by side from the same event in the same location, you notice the diff. Also, I didn't like the more smeared look of the Nikon noise reduction algorithms. Canon was more chroma noisy overall but Nikon looked more smeared. It will never look totally alike, but honestly, the minor differences between the two didn't get anybody's feathers ruffled; it wasn't a big deal. I definitely wouldn't change systems just because your second shooter refuses to. Sounds like he's calling the shots! You'll probably go through numerous second shooters, so what are you going to do? Sell everything each time you have a new second shooter? It's not practical. Either hire people who use similar gear to you, or just live with it.

recently, i purchased the colormunki with the intention to calibrate my monitor and printer.
it came with a colourcard. then i read more about the card. it can calibrate the raw files colours of different camera systems to look identical. cant recall the name of the card. but simple goggle will help.
worth a look
cheers,
Scott

Even 2 different canon cameras give different looks unfortunately

I use 5D3 and 5Dc and I can tell instantly the difference in PP

The thing that I like about shooting with people using the same brand is there is automatic backup and even more redundancy in gear. Being able to switch out lenses with each other is great.

picturecrazy wrote in post #15598737
Firstly, what software do you use? And did you load the camera profiles prior to editing? It make a difference.

I definitely wouldn't change systems just because your second shooter refuses to. Sounds like he's calling the shots! You'll probably go through numerous second shooters, so what are you going to do? Sell everything each time you have a new second shooter? It's not practical. Either hire people who use similar gear to you, or just live with it.

We use lr4. And load the cam profiles prior to editing (this is the way to do it right?). The photog using the nikon is a partner and not a second shooter. So hopefully we grow this business together. I agree that if he was only a second shooter than i would not be changing systems.

Thanks

Yup. There is a difference even between 2 canons. I used the 60d with my 5d on my last wedding and could tell the difference between the 2. Although i didnt try to match them before PP as i only borrowed the camera from a friend.

Good point on the gear redundancy when using same brands. I will also try the color chart thing.

Thanks

IT's a "colorchecker" maybe ? A plastic cardbox that you can open and you get 2 sides with colored squares. You make a picture, turn it to png and feed it into its software.
It will put the colors right in Camera RAw or whatever you work with.. Well, it should.

monstertruckess wrote in post #15601451
IT's a "colorchecker" maybe ? A plastic cardbox that you can open and you get 2 sides with colored squares. You make a picture, turn it to png and feed it into its software.
It will put the colors right in Camera RAw or whatever you work with.. Well, it should.

I have the X-Rite Color Checker thingy and I've never turned it to png and fed it into its software. Sounds intriguing. Mostly I just use it to make sure my color balance is decent if I'm shooting in mixed lighting conditions that no amount of flash-gelling will help.
Also, oddly enough, I began my wedding career as a 2nd shooter for an established pro. He was a Nikon guy but, after seeing images from the first wedding I ever shot with him (from an old 10D!), he converted his entire setup to Canon.

If you look for a difference you'll probably find one. However both sets of files will be fine, and the customer is unlikely to notice as each camera will have different angles.

I used to shoot Canon, now shoot Nikon, and I have an assistant who shoots Canon. I just call and process his images separately, they look fine. However where possible I have him use my cameras.