Originally posted by johnha I get a little uneasy when people talk about paid for work (especially weddings) but looking to use old, used gear on cost grounds. For this you should be using the most likely to be reliable gear (i.e.newer rather than older) with a backup (or two). If you charge for the job correctly, it shouldn't take long for even a new Z to pay for itself.
That said, the D is a fine MF DSLR if you've got the time to be patient for the image review to display. Current used costs make it very affordable - although I'd buy from a dealer with warranty or support. Probably the most important improvement in the Z is the increased response to both shooting and review - both sound important for weddings & events (perhaps less so for posed shots or portraits where you can control things better).
Perception plays a big part in marketing - when a bride's friend is looking for a photographer, they may remember the wedding guy with that 'big' camera Uncle Harry doesn't have more vividly.
Yeah, I would never use a 645D for a wedding. It’s very slow to shoot with and the focus is a real problem, you only get about 11 focus points, but they’re all crammed in the middle. So, you’ll need to focus and recompose, which will take the main thing you want in focus, to be slightly out of focus, unless you’re shooting at F8 or above. I’m finding out that for the same reason, eve portraits are hard to do on location(interiors) try to shoot at F8 in location, you’ll need a high ISO, something that highly affects image quality in CCD sensors.
Tight close ups are no problem, or even lest say medium close shot, but an environmental portrait will lose focus on the subject.
You need to treat the D like a film camera, you don’t know what you’re going to get, until you get home and look at the photos in a computer. The review is painfully slow, and you’ll need to underexposed, because for some reason, anything white or almost white, will get clip warnings when the rest is correctly exposed, it’s has a tiny latitude in the highlights, so, you’ll need to underexposed.
Having said that, it’s a great camera for personal work and family, travel photos. I haven’t used it in two years, and just took it out, because I bought a new lens, the FA 120 Macro, and have been shooting my daughter a lot. Around the house and outside. I want to use it for a portrait personal project I wat to do. But for 99% of the paying jobs, I’ll use my Sony A7RIII.
Some of those recent shots with the 645D.
I just noticed that I tend to frame with a lot of air above the subject, because of the focus points thing.
---------- Post added 08-24-20 at 11:56 PM ----------
Oh, forgot to mentioned that I have done paying jobs with the 645D, but only in the studio, where you can shoot at F8 without a problem.