[GateCityRadio]

Obviously, income is important, but it seems that clients who care more about the brand of your camera than the quality of your work may not be clients you'd like to work with at all.

Agreed. A client like that would be hell to deal with in any situation. Even if you had a canikon they'd find something else to complain about. Since its not a main source of income I wouldn't worry about losing a few customers, especially ones irrational enough to say no based on the brand of camera you use.

[Chaos_Realm]

Well I guess you need to look at it from a business perspective. I am assuming that your wife is short on work given the inability to pay off lenses. If those 5 jobs were "a sure thing" had you been using CaNikon and would have increased business profit substantially then it might be worth the swap. But it will cost a fairly substantial amount to make that move, at which point you need to ask what will be the ROI for making the move? if you are talking years then it may not make sense.

[RonHendriks1966]

Well if it is the bussiness of your wife, she has to decide.


The only thing that puzzles me is why are you talking about the brand of camera? that is of no interest and shouldn't be part of the job selections.

[derekkite]

As an IT contractor, I'm often implementing inferior systems to the ones I'd choose myself, but hey, that's what the people paying me want.

You can shoot Canikon on a Saturday, Pentax for yourself the rest of the week.

To the gentleman who was unhappy with the burst rate of a Canon FF for action, try the 1D rather than the 5D.

But they are buying the hardware, often to integrate into other systems, or to make sure you are replaceable by some other drone. This is an offer of service, the value is some photos.

I drill into the guys working for me that we don't sell our time, we sell a solution. Anyone can sell a box or some pieces of hardware, but we sell a solution to their problem, and our value added is our knowledge and experience. If someone insists that I drive a certain brand of service vehicle, they can durn well buy me one. Otherwise I don't want to deal with them. And remember that the folks who make the most money are the ones who tell their customers what they need, not the other way around.

It really is about being firm in your mind what you are selling. It isn't to stand there and click a button on a black box with some glass on the front. It is to produce something that captures the moment and preserves the memory. The technical details are part of the background package that you offer, they are important for you as the professional, but they aren't what you are selling.

[sholtzma]

Why can't you tell the clients that you use multiple systems? Bring a Canon p-and-s along for the ride, so that you are not lying. If you need to tape "Canon" over one camera body, do that. But I highly doubt that clients are going to be scrutinizing your cameras while you are shooting.

[Sagitta]

"...so you are a brand oriented person and of course, want the best of the best for your wedding.... right? Out of curiosity, what brand of kitchenware is you catherer using? Have you made sure your wedding cake will be prepared using the best (to you knowledge) beater and baked using the best brand of oven? How about the music for the reception... Dj stuff or live band? Could you tell me what brand of audio system or the brand of the musical instruments? How about who is celebrating the wedding: justice of peace, notary public or clergy? I presume you also checked their academic background.....

I can bet you my brand new K3 the if your wife answers this to such customer... she will be interrupted by the customer and most likely get the job.

You could bet that K-3 that the moment someone I was hiring for a job (any job) started to get snarky with me would be the moment they were no longer being hired by me.

I dealt with that with the caterer for our wedding, and I told myself it was no longer going to happen if I could help it in the future.

[ChristianRock]

If I ever did get into shooting weddings for added income, I know what I would want.

I'd have a couple of K-3 cameras. One with a 50-135mm for beautifully rendered portraits of stunning, prime-like quality with beautifully separated backgrounds.
And I'd have the other with a DA 20-40 Limited, for the way it renders beautifully yet with a delicate look that is as timeless as it is life-like and is almost 3D. I haven't been able to find these qualities in any other brands in the market other than perhaps Leica and Zeiss primes - and these would not be practical for a wedding because you need zooms to be ready for anything.

And if anyone questioned why I shoot Pentax, I would tell them those reasons, and show them a few pictures that demonstrate what I am talking about. I seriously doubt that anyone would still have questions about the equipment after they saw the reason for having it and the results that it gets. And if they did, well, I'd say "the equipment is part of the look that I am after, so if I can't use the stuff that gives me the quality and the flexibility that I want, then I am sorry but I can't take this job. I am sure you won't have any trouble finding someone whose pictures look just like everybody else's." and see what they would say.

Find out why you are passionate about Pentax and tell them. Don't say "I shoot.... *whispers* Pentax" like you're apologizing.

[DeadJohn]

Taping over the Pentax logo and telling customers it's a Canon is deceptive. Lying is a bad way to start a business transaction.

To the OP, maybe buy a Nikon or Canon plus lens that can be used for part of the wedding. Your wife can honestly tell customers who ask that she uses multiple systems, selecting different ones for different specific shots (some cameras are better at low light than others, for example).

Shooting 2 systems isn't ideal IMO. If brand issues go away you can shift back to Pentax, but if a significant number of customers continue insisting on CaNikon, either: a) live with 2 systems; b) sell your Pentax gear and buy more CaNikon; or c) give up the wedding photography business.

[Biro]

I want to pound my head against the wall after reading about the problems the OP's wife is having. It's like saying you won't hire a particular taxi driver to take you to the airport because the car isn't a Honda or Toyota - because Honda and Toyota are the most popular cars, you understand. We live in such a misinformed and fearful society. I understand the business case that some are discussing here. But if wedding photography wasn't a part of my core income, I would reserve to right to turn down the business. But not before asking the would-be client: "Oh, I didn't know you had extensive experience in professional photography. Tell me about it."

[GibbyTheMole]

But I get home and my wife is livid(she is a wedding photographer). She states that she was turned down for another wedding because the customers didnt like the fact that she shot with Pentax.

I wouldn't want to shoot a wedding for those people anyway, because they are morons, and morons cause problems. I think she should keep shooting with Pentax, because it's a good idiot filter.

[normhead]

Around my house that would be simple. Wifey dear, you're running a business. Buy the gear you want for your business with the proceeds from your business and write the cost off against your income. The money you pay in rentals is written off immediately. The money for gear purchased is depreciated over a given time period. A tax time nightmare.

If in fact she'd have had 5 jobs in the last year, she should pay for it pretty quickly. But, what if the clients just didn't like her pictures, and assumed that the reason they didn't like them was because they were shot on a Pentax? It's quite possible that if she'd been shooting Canon, they would have had another reason.

If those people want Canon or Nikon... she should just say, I'll rent Canon or Nikon gear for the shoot and bump the price accordingly. Give them two prices, one with Canon/Nikon gear, one with Pentax gear. People who make these kinds of decisions, usually look for the politest way to say "no" , short of saying, "we just don't like your pictures." Or "We like your pictures but we like the other guy's more, and he's shooting Canon/Nikon". Without further discussion it's hard to tell what they are saying.... and it sounds like to date, your wife hasn't engaged in those further discussion. Next time tell her to say... "I'll rent Canon gear for the wedding... so do we have a deal?"

The other thing that bothers me... back in the day when I was open to doing weddings, I wouldn't shoot a wedding for less than a minimum $1000 in my pocket. If she can't pay for her gear, after shooting 4 or 5 weddings, she's not charging enough. And that's why she's getting clients who have to evaluate her, on what camera she uses.

They want cheap, but they also want a photographer who uses the absolute best (in their mind) equipment. You can't make money catering to cheap people, unless you're as big as Walmart.

My wife and I have discussed this issue many times. I get my 645z when I get a contract that pays for it. Not until. In reality, I have enough in the bank that if I got a contract that would pay half of it I'd probably get it. Especially if there was a chance there might be more work coming. But in reality, my K-3 does technically what I need for anything I've done so far. Heck, so did my K-5.

[csa]

Strange; I was very much into photography when I got married; but we didn't hire the photographer because of the equipment he used; rather because of his reputation as a great photographer. The brand never entered into the conversation; because all I cared about was the "magic" he would create with whatever he used. We were not disappointed!

[j2photos]

I agree, this has never been a brand loyalty thing for me. I like the way my camera feels in my hands, and I'm very pleased with the results I capture with it. In my opinion if the camera was not performing then it would be a non issue. But frankly the k-3 has never let me down.

[TaoMaas]

Wifey dear, you're running a business. Buy the gear you want for your business with the proceeds from your business and write the cost off against your income.

I was wondering when someone would say this. If the brand of gear is a serious problem, then you just switch. It shouldn't be a big deal. But this whole thing seems kinda "iffy" to me. 99% of the public doesn't know a fraction about cameras that most folks on this board know, so I'm finding it hard to believe that couples would have such strict standards. If it were me, for the time being, I think that how I answered questions about my gear would depend upon what was asked. If someone asked, "What brand of camera do you use?"...then I would tell them I use a Pentax. However, if they asked, "What kind of camera do you use?"...I'd baffle 'em with BS. I'd say something like, "I'm glad you asked. We use an APS-C camera with a 16.3 megapixel CMOS sensor that has a top shutter speed of 1/8000th of a second, can shoot as fast as 7 frames per second, and is usable in dim light up to an ISO of 12,000. We shoot exclusively in RAW format, but will provide low-resolution JPEG images as your proofs." If that's not enough, you can talk about the range of your zoom, how many elements it has...in how may groups...the number of low-dispersion elements in it...widest aperture, crop-factor, etc... Before long, they'll be saying, "Okay, okay...just shut up about it! I'm sure it's fine."

[aleonx3]

She has told me when she meets with a client sometimes they ask. Whenever they ask she just tells them. I have always told her to dodge the question and tell them it doesnt matter what she shoots with.

You need to walk away from such clients because even if you convince them to go with your wife as the wedding photog, they may still find excuses later to bite you later because they are skeptical about the equipment you used. There are many potential customers waiting for you who can appreciate the quality of the photos and work that your wife can provide them.

A friend of mine who did the same thing when his daughter got married years ago.... he insisted on finding a photographer who shoots Canikon full frame. Well, to make the long story short, he did get some decent shots outdoor but not so much on many of the other activities during the occasion (especially on shots that require flash such as Tea-ceremony and after dinner dance). He ended up asking me for the shots I took (as I was one of the guests), and in return I ask him to see if I can look at the photos the wedding photog took. As I would have expected, not very good at all (of course, that is my standard). My advice for the OP, there are many out there who appreciate great photos and not worrying too much on what equipment is being used.