What gear do I shoot with?
As a wedding photographer who has been shooting for just under a decade, I have a few simple objectives for my gear.
Be light! If I had to carry 50lbs of gear every wedding, I wouldn’t last very long.
Maintain my style. I love shallow apertures and closer shots for an “in the action feel” or to be more environmental with wider shots.
Avoid single points of failure in case of gear failure or situational issue.
So, this is what I’m using at this point:
Canon R
Sigma EF 50mm f/1.4
Canon RF 35mm f/1.8
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8
Canon 600EX-RT
Picked up earlier this year, so far, I’m loving the Canon R. It’s much lighter than my 5D III. Autofocus is fast and sharp. Low light is great. The wireless transfer is a new feature to me, and I have gotten so much use out of it professionally and personally. The twist out screen paired with the focusing of the mirrorless cameras has also been fantastic. I can shoot from the hip or high above my head to get some different perspectives, and it’s as reliable as it would be looking through the viewfinder. In the old days, I would use the focus assist light to tell where my focus point is, and it was largely unreliable, but it was good for a few fun shots. There’s a couple cons with this camera though. I need 3 batteries to get through an average wedding rather than 1. This camera doesn’t have two card slots for redundancy. Something that is vitally important to a wedding photographer.
The Sigma 50mm is my workhorse. It has the shallow depth of field that I love. That also makes it great for low light. It’s a great focal length for documentary style and environmental portraits. I typically will shoot 60% of a wedding with this one lens.
I used to use the Sigma 24mm f/1.4, but unfortunately, it didn’t work with the RF mount adapter. So, I had to get a wide angle prime from Canon. So far, it gets the job done. It may not be as sharp as the 24 was, and I’m losing 2/3 of a stop with the aperture, but at its price point, it’s pretty amazing. Paired with the R, autofocus is fast. The f/1.8 still looks great, works well in low light, and is amazing for getting the personality out of some reception dancing. On that point, the tiny 35mm is unobtrusive, and is great for not attracting attention.
This is my Canon 70-200mm. It’s my least used lens and my heaviest, but there are some times where you just can’t get close to the ceremony. Church weddings are a primary example of that. There are other times where you just want a little more compression to close the gap between details that are far apart. This lens is sharp, durable, and has lasted me forever.
The 600EX-RT is the successor to the 580EX II that I used for years. It’s just as reliable and more powerful. I mainly use this as a bounced light source. So, I haven’t used the RT features of this flash, but it’s consistent and reliable. The only con that I’ve had so far is that the tension on the wheel is a little tough. So, at the end of a long wedding that had a lot of variations on flash power requirements, it can wear your thumb out a little bit.
I also have a bit of backup gear that stays put away unless I need it. Backup camera body, backup flash, and a strobe that I use when I do work for particular companies and need to shoot in a different style.
So, what changes would I make to my gear?
I would like to trade out my 70-200 for a longer prime like a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L. I would lose a little bit of versatility of compression, but I think the space and weight saved would be well worth it. I would also gain the ability to take fantastic macro shots. However, with how little I use this lens, it's not a huge priority.
I am planning on getting the R6 before the end of the year. That will add the much needed two card slots for redundancy. However, with the hotshoe issues that everyone has been talking about, I'm holding off as long as I can.
I would also love for Sigma to come out with a 24mm for RF mount. I miss that little extra bit of distortion and personality that I would get from my reception images.