Good advice, Mark. I shot an engagement party a few weeks ago and after considering the options and experimenting a bit, I worked almost exactly as you suggest. I did use autofocus part of the time, but after missing a few shots in the dark, I went full manual. The lighting was a mix of indoor tungsten, outdoor daylight, and outdoor halogen. RAW and AWB served me very well. I used the Sigma flash on p-ttl, direct outdoors, bounced off the ceiling indoors. I was a guest as well as the photographer, so I stuck to just one lens. The DA 16-45 proved quite satisfactory for the entire event. Paul
> On Sep 12, 2005, at 11:10 AM, Frank Knapik wrote: > > > ... PZ-1p, LX, MX,AF500FTZ,AF280,AF 50/1.4,Af28-105(pz),A24/2.8 and > > more. ... does anyone have any wedding experience using an *istD or > > DS with the above flashes and lenses. I do realize I will need a > > wider lens. Any digital specific zoom recommendations? ... > > I did some wedding work this past summer with the ist-D. > > Any of those flashes will work OK, but you really want to use one that > supports P-TTL for best results. The Pentax AF360-FGZ, or the new Pentax > AF540-FGZ or the Sigma EF500 DG Super. > > The pro I was working with did 99% of his shots with a 17-35 and an > 80-200/2.8 but I also found a 28-70/2.8 very useful. (BTW: The pro I > worked with had a Canon 1D and he found even its autofocus useless under > wedding conditions.) > > Your lighting will be hugely variable, both in level and color balance. > Mixed daylight, incandescent and fluorescent in a variety of blends. :) > This means you need to shoot RAW on automatic white balance and set the > proper color temperature during RAW conversion. Don't try to use custom > white balances for the different lighting conditions - you'll miss shots > while changing settings. > > Here's the formula: > Shoot RAW > Automatic white balance > Manual focus > Camera on manual exposure > Flash on P-TTL auto > > 17-35 zoom for group shots and "scene setting" wide shots > 28-70 zoom for portraits and small groups (sitting at tables at > reception) > 80-200 zoom for close-up portraits and shots of ceremony itself (use > tripod, slow shutter speed, fill flash) > > A 14-15mm is useful for party shots at reception. Put camera on monopod, > hold over crowd and trigger shutter with remote. > > > -- > Mark Roberts > Photography and writing > www.robertstech.com >
