Best Nikon DSLR Camera for wedding photography?

jhonmartinvish

Im thinking about starting my own business and looking to upgrade my Nikon DSLR, Anybody know the best Nikon camera for wedding photography??

Thanks

Qarik

best? take your pic..D800, D4. There sure is heck of a lot more then the camera though to "start your own" wedding photogrpahy business.

Zerodog

If you don't know the answer to this you might want to consider a few things first.

Matthew Saville

Zerodog wrote: »

If you don't know the answer to this you might want to consider a few things first.

+1. Are you seriously asking this question, or just casually? Or just trolling?

I could answer your question quite simply by saying that the best bang for your buck as an aspiring wedding pro would be TWO used D700's, which you can find for around $1500 if you're a hawk. Yes, TWO cameras instead of for example a single D800. Because weddings demand serious backup, if you plan on getting paid to do this.

So, that's the easy answer. But in my honest opinion I think that if you're even in a position to ask such a general question, you have a lot of learning to do about photography and the latest gear before you should be considering yourself qualified to shoot professionally. Unless there are special circumstances that I don't know about, such as having 20-30 years of prior experience shooting weddings on film or something.

Other than that, the best possible course of action that I can recommend is to put hundreds of hours of practice between you and such a goal. You need to know your gear like the back of your hand, know what to do with backup systems when things go wrong, and so on and so forth...

Good luck!
=Matt=

Dreadnote

iPhone?

an-iphone-and-instagram-only-wedding

EphTwoEight

Yeah, I dont think that guy is coming back.

ziggy53

To the original poster, choosing a camera for any specific purpose can be a very personal endeavor.

I suggest becoming a "second shooter" for another photographer until you see what it takes to shoot weddings. It's a tremendous undertaking and a lot more work and stress than most folks think, and certainly worth your investment in some time for learning the business.

After a season of shooting for someone else you will probably discover that you need more than a single camera body to be safe, and quite a number of great lenses and flashes and flash modifiers, just to get started on your own and to be competitive and competent.

It will take a few years in order to develop a personal style for shooting and about the same amount to develop a method and style for processing the images that you shot.

I know one photographer who is using:

1 - Nikon D4 body
2 - Nikon D3 bodies
2 - Nikon D7000 bodies (partly for video)

He's one of the better Chicago photographers and does lovely work, but I'm sure it didn't come easily or quickly to him.

Matthew Saville

ziggy53 wrote: »

To the original poster, choosing a camera for any specific purpose can be a very personal endeavor.

I suggest becoming a "second shooter" for another photographer until you see what it takes to shoot weddings. It's a tremendous undertaking and a lot more work and stress than most folks think, and certainly worth your investment in some time for learning the business.

After a season of shooting for someone else you will probably discover that you need more than a single camera body to be safe, and quite a number of great lenses and flashes and flash modifiers, just to get started on your own and to be competitive and competent.

It will take a few years in order to develop a personal style for shooting and about the same amount to develop a method and style for processing the images that you shot.

I know one photographer who is using:

1 - Nikon D4 body
2 - Nikon D3 bodies
2 - Nikon D7000 bodies (partly for video)

He's one of the better Chicago photographers and does lovely work, but I'm sure it didn't come easily or quickly to him.

In the spirit of good discussion, even though I fear the OP isn't coming back, I'll mention a thought I had:

Often times, people read advice like this and think "Jeez, that's way too much work! My friends are already asking me to shoot their wedding, why don't I just jump right in? It's not that hard!" ...OR... "There's no way anyone in my area will just randomly let me second shoot for them; I've been trying to find 2nd shooting opportunities for months now and nobody is willing!"

...So, in response to those thoughts I would simplify Ziggy's original comment to this:

It doesn't matter that much where you get your experience, but the bottom line is that you really do need TONS of experience before you can "just dive in". You might not be able to find 2nd shooting work in your area if you're just barely starting out and don't know how to shoot a weding at all, HOWEVER if you simply work hard at mastering your camera in general, and understanding light, understanding people, etc. ...then you will go a very long way towards becoming worthy of assisting others, AND worthy of booking your own work.

Yeah, you can certainly just dive in, and you might avoid a total disaster, but I just encourage people not to take that risk. It's not the end of the world, but it's the responsible thing to do...

=Matt=

David_S85

jhonmartinvish wrote: »

Im thinking about starting my own business and looking to upgrade my Nikon DSLR, Anybody know the best Nikon camera for wedding photography??

Thanks

Funny thing is, the link I removed from your 1st post was to a wedding photography business that has been operating for a bunch of years already, but you want to buy your first camera?

Folks, nothing to see here.