Pentax Weddings - who's doin'em?

[ksignorini]

So? Who's shooting weddings with Pentax gear?

What do you use?

Kent!

[Morbo]

My cousin got married last month, and while I wasn't the hired photog - I brought along my camera to catch everything that I could - I always wanted to shoot at a wedding.
And I must say that I saw the proofs from the professional photographer, and a majority of mine we as good, if not better, than hers. But that's just like, my opinion, man.

I shot everything with a K100D Super w/ Tamron 28-75mm. Built in flash used.
My choice favorites:Tim & Ally's Wedding - a set on Flickr
Complete set (180 pics): Tim & Ally's Wedding - a set on Flickr

[little laker]

I shoot the odd wedding, with my K100D as backup.
It's never missed a beat

[Truax_photo]

I have shot weddings with an *ist d, and more recently a K10D, Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 Xr Di, Pentax 500 FTZ flash (Needs to be replaced for my use), Battery grip, Flash bracket, diffuser.....I am in the process of either upgrading to a K20D or *gulp* switching to *Again gulp* canon..still in decision mode.

[navcom]

I've shot a couple weddings with Pentax gear. I don't make a living with weddings but I was the "hired gun". The only issue I had was with a non-Pentax flash during one of the them. It was the flash's fault, not the camera's. The camera did fine.

[ll_coffee_lP]

I've done them...although I don't like doing them that much. Way too much stress....but the money's decent.

c[_]

There's a couple photos on the current page of my blog (address in my signature) that I did last summer.

[Wheatfield]

Originally Posted by ksignorini

So? Who's shooting weddings with Pentax gear?

What do you use?

Kent!

Well...
This might be a bit long, most of my shooting career has been weddings.
I started shooting weddings in 1973 with an Olympus OM-1. I chose it because the guy who was mentoring me used OM-1s. They are a very nice camera, and the Zuiko lenses couldn't be beat. He also used Leica SLRs, but he liked the oly's better for weddings.
He used Mamiya 645 for medium format portraiture.
Anyway, within a couple of years I bought a Nikon F2s and used it happily for many years, and then an F3.
Around about 1986, I bought a Pentax 6x7, which became my wedding medium format camera, amoung other things. By this time, I was shooting commercially, and also wanted the big camera for landscape/studio/art photography.
Not long afterwards, the large format bug hit, but that isn't germane.
In, I believe, 1988, I decided i didn't like where Nikon was going. They were releasing bigger cameras, I felt the F4 was a pig, and I never really liked the F3, so I looked around at other systems. A friend told me that I should really be looking at the LX, and I shortly thereafter got rid of my Nikon gear and bought an LX, a K1000, and a few lenses.
So, I started shooting weddings with all Pentax gear 20 years ago.
Oddly enough, the friend who steered me towards Pentax wen on to use Nikon film gear (I bought a bunch of his Pentax lenses for a very good price), and then when DSLR cameras took of, he sold his Nikon stuff and has been shooting various iterations of Canon Rebels for several years now.

[Frogroast]

I shoot weddings with my k10d, lately using the 16-50/50-135 DA* lens combo, and it has served me well so far.

And I love shooting em... I have 3 weddings to do in 4 week's time so I know the voyeur in me is demanding satisfaction!

[pentaxdude]

You have everything you need if you dont mind changing lens frequently.I prefer a zoom lens in the 18-125mm range.With a lens in this range you will rarely miss a shot while having to change lens or camera.My other favorite lens is the 28-75 mm 2.8 tamron for shooting formals.My cameras I use are the k10 and k20 with 540 flash.It would be nice if Pentax would put out a 20 -100mm 2.8* . This would make the perfect lens for weddings.

[bigben91682]

I just shot my first wedding with Pentax, and was pretty happy with the results. My only complaint is the typical pentax complaint - slow AF in low light. But it wasn't that big of a deal, and I got by just fine. The gear was:

K20D & BG2 with DA*50-135 and AF540 on a stroboframe quickflip with Pentax cords
K10D with DA 16-45 and AF360

I also used the DA30 and DA50 but mostly for detail shots, and some of the ambient only shots.

Here is a gallery of the keepers: ben martin photography

[DanLoc78]

I'm about to shoot my first in October. I have a K10D, 540FGZ flash with Omnibounce diffuser, and while I have an FA 50 f/1.4 and the kit lenses, i was going to rent the DA* 16-50 and 50-135 to use in place of the kit lenses. I feel the shots will probably look and feel a little more special with the higher quality lenses, and the wider aperture won't hurt either.

Is a flash bracket 100% necessary or a 'nice to have'? I also just got an 8GB memory card so i don't have to be changing on the fly during the wedding. Although...shooting RAW + jpeg for 5 hours....I might need another.

I would assume the battery on full charge will last the entire day? I'm considering buying a replacement and/or the battery grip, but not sure that's necessary.

any suggestions would be great.

[Peter Zack]

Add me to the list.

Kit is somewhat large but it offers another way to charge an additional fee and it's easy to sell the idea. You know the question, make sure you get shots of all the important people. So my idea was a portable portrait studio. I set up a camera on a tripod with a pair of umbrellas with AF360's and wireless triggers. So now all the important people and families can get thier portaits done.

So the kit is:
K10D
*istD
2 x AF360's
2 X AF400T's with quantum batteries
1 x AF540 on Pentax grip and bracket with TR3
Tamron 28-75 f2.8
Sigma 70-200 f2.8
Sigma 28 f1.8
Pentax FA50mm f1.4
Flashwaves Wireless trigger (1) and recievers (3)
Flash stands and umbrellas
24 GB worth of cards between the 2 cameras.
Smartdisk 40GB hard drive (portable)

Some of this never leaves the car trunk. It's spares just in case (extra flashes and cards) . Last thing you need is a failure when you can't afford it.

Dan, I never use the flash directly on camera. It's on a flash stand when even possible but on the braket when I need to move fast. Bounced and diffused to reduce the harsher light.

Take backups especially batteries!! 4 AA's will not make it in big rooms.

[bigben91682]

Originally Posted by DanLoc78

I'm about to shoot my first in October. I have a K10D, 540FGZ flash with Omnibounce diffuser, and while I have an FA 50 f/1.4 and the kit lenses, i was going to rent the DA* 16-50 and 50-135 to use in place of the kit lenses. I feel the shots will probably look and feel a little more special with the higher quality lenses, and the wider aperture won't hurt either.

Is a flash bracket 100% necessary or a 'nice to have'? I also just got an 8GB memory card so i don't have to be changing on the fly during the wedding. Although...shooting RAW + jpeg for 5 hours....I might need another.

I would assume the battery on full charge will last the entire day? I'm considering buying a replacement and/or the battery grip, but not sure that's necessary.

any suggestions would be great.

Dan, I think it would be a wise choice to rent the DA*s, not only will you appreciate the outstanding IQ, but they are both fast lenses at f2.8, which you will probably appreciate (even more than the IQ) in a dark church/reception hall.

As far as extra batteries go, you may not need them, but it doesn't hurt to have them. Try explaining to the bride your done for the night cause your batteries went kaput! :^)

The flash bracket is definitely a nice thing to have especially once you get inside, but you need to consider what cord your are going to run from K10D to the flash.

As far as memory goes, I shot 10GB worth in 6 hours (shooting all RAW), so I again, back-up is a must with event photography. If you are renting lenses, I would actually consider renting a second body. You really need backup everything for events like this.

I'm sending you a PM if you want a second shooter.

[Frogroast]

I definitely agree extra batteries and extra cards are a must - not safe to risk putting a whole event in one card (unless it's a 20 minute shotgun affair .

I have 3x2GB cards and 1x4GB card and I'm grabbing a couple more before this weekend's event. I figure that way I should be able to shoot 600-800 photos without worrying about deleting cards.

Bigben, I'm right there with you - my last gig I shot 8 gigs of RAW files.

Basically I try to shoot until a "natural" break comes and I see I'm within range of filling up the card. If the card gets full and I miss a shot because I was swapping out a card, there's no going back. If I get to have my wife at the event (she's the business manager/scheduling coordinator/graphic artist), I will hand off cards to her to backup and preview photos as I go. Otherwise, I backup during breaks.

And unless you have a specific reason for shooting RAW+jpeg, I would nix the jpg and shoot all RAW.

[little laker]

Originally Posted by DanLoc78

I also just got an 8GB memory card so i don't have to be changing on the fly during the wedding. Although...shooting RAW + jpeg for 5 hours....I might need another.

any suggestions would be great.

I'm another one whom doesn't trust memory cards enough to shoot a full wedding on one.
If it caps out your in BIG trouble. Where having 2, and shooting 1/2 the wedding on one and switching is assurance that you'll get at least a few keepers.

Personally I don't believe in buying more than a 2 gig card for that reason.