My Favourite Gear to Shoot With
I remembered when I was starting out in photography and wanted to know the wedding photography gear all my favourite photographers used! There is so much gear out there so it can be really overwhelming knowing where to start. First off, Nikon and Canon are very similar, it’s just comes down to whatever you get used to!
Ultimately, photography has very little to do with the gear and SO much to do with how it’s used!
Personally, I use Nikon because I started off with it and I love the tones and lowlight capabilities of it. I’m a real tech nerd so I can’t wait to share it all with you!
My Gear
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Camera Bodies: 2 Nikon D750’s. I love these LIKE CRAZY! I prefer to shoot with two of the same camera because it saves me hours of editing. Even two different camera models from the same brand have very different colour toning. (the newer D780 is likely replacing it) Never buy a kit lens! my recommendations are below!
Lenses: Sigma Art f1.4 in 24mm, 35mm and 50mm and a Sigma 105 which is a macro lens. I’d say 90% of my work is shot on the 35mm, it is my absolute favourite! I love my 24mm for wide scenic shots and tight getting ready locations and my 50mm for classic portraits. My 105 macro I use for ring shots and close ups during ceremonies. (Note: these are all full frame bodies and lenses, so if you’re shooting on a crop sensor camera, the visual you’ll get from each lens is cropped in by about 1.5x. So a 50mm lens will look like an 80mm for example.)
Flashes: 2 Nikon SB5000’s. These guys are super powerful and what I use during every nighttime reception or indoors when it’s very dark! If you’re shooting a wedding, make sure you have at least one flash and tons of batteries on you!
Rechargeable Batteries: Eneloop Pro rechargeable batteries! These are a must. I ordered about 2 dozen of these after shooting a wedding reception and my flash batteries all died! (don’t worry, I found extras but it was a good push to get a better system!) This way, I make sure they’re all charged before a wedding and I bring an extra charger with in case I do go through them all.
SD Cards: Sandisk Extreme Pro 300mb/s 64GB for a super fast card, Lexar Professional 250mb/s 64BG for a cheaper, fast option & Lexar Professional 95mb/s 64GB for an affordable, slightly slower option. (If your card is too slow, it’ll buffer as it transfers images to the card and you may have to wait in between shots occasionally. If that’s ok with your line of work, they’re a great affordable option so you can have tons of them!) I love 64GB cards because they’re big enough to hold a full session on and small enough that my wedding images are held on multiple different cards for extra safety.
Camera Harness: Rose Anvil Bandit. If you’re shooting with two cameras, a harness will save your back! Plus you can still use your hands when you need them and have your cameras hang by your side! I highly recommend this one because there aren’t any moving parts to snag your clothes or hair. I often get questions and compliments from wedding guests about it at dinner!
Camera Bags: Tenba DNA15 Messenger Bag for wedding days, it packs all my gear in and is easily accessible throughout the day! My favourite hiking/travel bag is the WANDRD PRVKE 31L which is the best backpack for travel, hands down!
Crop Sensor Options:
I totally understand that this gear takes a while to save up for, so one of my biggest recommendations is to look for a used full frame camera! No one will ever know the difference and your work will flourish from the pro level camera! I will also link my favourite Crop Sensor options if you’re just starting out and want a solid option! Whatever you do, don’t buy the kit lens, it’s useless. Buy the body on it’s own and purchase a 35mm or 50mm prime lens! They’re so cheap and they work SO good!
Nikon D7500: this is the newer version of my first camera (D7200) when I started out and it was amazing! Highly recommend and its only $1100 brand new.
Nikon 35mm: As these are crop sensor cameras and lenses, the 35mm will look like a 50mm, which is an amazing portrait lens!
Canon 80D: This is the Canon equivalent to the Nikon D7200 and will be an excellent starting camera if you prefer Canon!
Canon 50mm: Canon does not make a 35mm for crop sensors, so this 50mm will look more like an 85mm. You’ll just have to back up more to get the same look as a full frame 50mm would have.
I know this is so much information, so feel free to reach out to me over Instagram if you have more questions! I love talking about gear and I’d be happy to help you choose something that’ll fit what your business or hobby needs!
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