What Really Matters In Your Wedding Photographers Camera Bag
Digital vs. film
(What really matters? see below)
Here is a quick breakdown (and maybe more info than you were hoping for)
Digital vs. film should be a non-factor in your decision. Both have their positives and negatives. Digital has come a long way over the last several years. I would say at least 80% or higher of major magazine photographers shoot digital in their editorial work. That being said, what is the difference?
Film (35mm and medium format 120 / 220)
In this case, we will look at 35mm and 120 / 220 film. There are many other sizes of film. The general populations, when they say film are referring to 35mm film. It is the main size sold in Target, Wal-Mart, etc.
35mm is your standard film body camera (example: Nikon F series, Cannon). These cameras allow for interchangeable lenses and shooting flexibility much like a digital in that they are easy to move around. Film is more forgiving in terms of exposure than digital. The downside to film: if you have a certain speed of film (film speed below) in your camera, you cannot take it out to change film speed in the middle of that roll. Digital allows the user to change the speed of the film or ISO from frame to frame.
Medium format is rarely used by documentary wedding photographers and is usually the choice of the portrait photographer. Compared to 35mm, medium format uses 3~4 times as much film surface. This allows for better tonality (smoother gradations), finer detail, and less apparent grain. The downside is that medium format cameras are bigger, heavier; they are not great cameras to shoot candid images.
(Note on filmspeed: This is the main division between types of films (i.e. 100, 200, 400 etc). Speed is how fast a film can capture an image when exposed to a minimal amount of light. Slower film (the lower the number, the slower the film, 25 would be considered a slow film, 100 is also fairly slow) requires a lot of light to hit it to get an image. Slower film is great for making large enlargements from a small negative it has less grain and allows for more vivid colors. Faster films (200-800) need less light but you will see substantially more grain in an image as the film speed increases.
Digital equipment has improved dramatically in the last several years. I am a digital shooter who grew up using film and very much enjoy film and working in a darkroom. I use digital for two main reasons. 1.) It better fits my workflow 2.) It allows for more creativity. I take more risks when shooting digital than film because I can see if I got the image I wanted and if not, I can re-shoot it. I believe the biggest drawback to digital is that it cost more to shoot digitally. Camera bodies are significantly more expensive and it takes much more time to edit digital than film. With film, you drop it off to your pro lab and then get the images back when they are done. With digital, the photographer edits all the work. It increases time considerably per wedding, but the creative factor outweighs all others factors, for myself at least.
WHAT REALLY MATTERS in the camera bag?
The most important items in a camera bag are the lenses. I would much rather have a 1500.00 lens on a 50.00 camera body than a 200.00 lens on a 5000.00 camera body. Glass and the individual behind the camera are the most important factors to a great image. A pro lens allows for a much shallower depth of field. They also allow for greater flexibility in low light situations.
So if you have to ask about equipment, ask about lenses. What are the primary lenses the photographer shoots with. Which is his/her favorite lens and why. This will give you some insight into how the photographer will shoot your wedding.
Craig and Andy are lifestyle and wedding documentary photographers based out of Austin and Houston, Texas where they shoot for their studio, studio563.
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