# Would you shoot a wedding with a D90?



## gl600 (Dec 16, 2009)

A friend of mine is starting a photography business and he has asked me to come on board as a wedding photographer. Before I accept I want to try out being a second string wedding photographer. Do you think i could pull it off with a D90? and would you shoot a wedding with a D90 as the primary photographer?


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## gsgary (Dec 16, 2009)

More important is what lenses do you have ?


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## gl600 (Dec 16, 2009)

At the very least I'll have the Sigma 18-50 f2.8 and a 70-200 f2.8 (each on their own body).


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## gsgary (Dec 16, 2009)

It's worth a shot then


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## Plato (Dec 16, 2009)

gsgary said:


> It's worth a shot then


 
Sure, it's "worth a shot."  There's nothing to lose except the client's memories of possibly the most important day in their lives.


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## Shelly1204 (Dec 16, 2009)

Plato said:


> gsgary said:
> 
> 
> > It's worth a shot then
> ...



:lmao:


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## gsgary (Dec 16, 2009)

Plato said:


> gsgary said:
> 
> 
> > It's worth a shot then
> ...



It was the worst day in my life


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## PhotoXopher (Dec 16, 2009)

D90 is capable, are you?


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## IgsEMT (Dec 16, 2009)

d90 is MORE then capable for shooting a wedding. Few things you have to keep in mind though besides lenses (which are probably equally important to the body), d90 lacks PC jack. I'll take a leap of faith here and will assume that you'll use strobe lights and hooking them up you can do either through camera body or flash (sb800, sb900). Alternatively, there are hotshoe adapters that allow you to plug in the pc cord in as well as attach the flash unit.
good luck


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## inTempus (Dec 16, 2009)

gl600 said:


> and would you shoot a wedding with a D90 as the primary photographer?


There's absolutely no way in this world I would use a D90.

But that's just me.  Only because I don't own one.  

Can the D90 do a good or even great job at the event?  Of course, it's an outstanding body.  Will you be able to blame your gear should you fail to produce the goods?  Nope.  

Get a Speedlite (and learn how to use it before hand) if you don't already have one.


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## NateWagner (Dec 16, 2009)

wow, this reminds me of a rather long thread from not too long ago (something about hiring a pro with a d40). 

Anyway, the D90 itself is a fine camera to shoot a wedding with. 

As far as actually shooting a wedding though, the key is typically to having plenty of backups (so at least one additional body) and then extra lenses. Ideally if using zooms you would have all 2.8's along with backups enough to cover the wedding if one lens goes down. 

Similarly if you will need a flash, it would be best to have at least 2, such that if one goes down you aren't screwed.


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## IgsEMT (Dec 16, 2009)

> wow, this reminds me of a rather long thread from not too long ago (something about hiring a pro with a d40).


Nate,
One of these days, wedding photographer will use cell phones at work


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## gl600 (Dec 16, 2009)

IgsEMT said:


> dI'll take a leap of faith here and will assume that you'll use strobe lights and hooking them up you can do either through camera body or flash (sb800, sb900). Alternatively, there are hotshoe adapters that allow you to plug in the pc cord in as well as attach the flash unit.
> good luck



I anticipate that lighting will be the thing that I have to learn most about. I have watched plenty of photographers at weddings so i think that I have the general idea down, although it is purely theory right now and no practice. Lighting on the other hand I do not understand on, what I would consider, a satisfactory level.
My experience is limited to my Sb-600 on my D60 and the same Speedlight off camera using cactus v4.


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## SpeedTrap (Dec 16, 2009)

No, I would not shoot a wedding with 1, but I would do it with 2.

Backup equipment is going to be very important here, you could have the best camera in the world, but if it breaks down and you do not have a spare you are done....


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## DScience (Dec 16, 2009)

I shot a wedding with my D90.

Like many have said, it's the glass and then the person behind the camera that makes the most difference. The D90 is plenty of a camera to shoot a wedding. Is it the ideal camera? No.


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## Eco (Dec 16, 2009)

IgsEMT said:


> > wow, this reminds me of a rather long thread from not too long ago (something about hiring a pro with a d40).
> 
> 
> Nate,
> One of these days, wedding photographer will use cell phones at work



An Iphone and a flashlight for a flash works like a charm.  I'm sure someone on Craigslist is shooting weddings with one.  

On topic I shot an outdoor wedding with a D90 and everything turned out fine.


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## Derrel (Dec 16, 2009)

Man, I shot weddings using Nikon FE-2's and FM's and Bronicas...all manual focus gear, using Vivitar and Sunpak flashes and Speedotron Brown Line studio lights for the formals...camera gear so old that its design and manufacture pre-dates some of the users on this forum. Film rolls were 24-shot for the 35mm, and 12-shot rolls for the Bro 6x6...the theory back then was that shorter rolls were less likely to invite disaster if something happened to a particular roll during the development,proofing,or enlargement phases.

The D90's a modern autofocus d-slr, capable of shooting rapid-fire, autofocused shots on a memory card or two,each of which can hold 500 frames, with no chance of the lab ruining the negatives, or sending the negatives off to a customer in Florida,etc.

The D90 is a capable camera. A pair of D90's and a pair of flashes and two or three decent lenses is plenty. Compared to a 1980's 35mm SLR or 1980's medium format SLR, the D90 is a dream camera.


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## PhotoXopher (Dec 16, 2009)

I think that sums it up pretty well, we're spoiled these days and lose track of it with all the technology updates happening at lightening speed.


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## gl600 (Dec 16, 2009)

@Derrel: Thanks for the perspective... you really do make the modern technology sound like a dream.


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## IgsEMT (Dec 16, 2009)

> I anticipate that lighting will be the thing that I have to learn most about. I have watched plenty of photographers at weddings so i think that I have the general idea down, although it is purely theory right now and no practice. Lighting on the other hand I do not understand on, what I would consider, a satisfactory level.
> My experience is limited to my Sb-600 on my D60 and the same Speedlight off camera using cactus v4.


I come from an _old school_ of photography where thinking was/is lighting is the key while camera is just a box with glass on it. As you read from everyone: Glass&photographer followed by body (importance) but all of that will mean nothing if you don't have a light source to illuminate your subjects. 
You never know when these things (Northeast Blackout of 2003 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) occur, thus must be ready. By the way, that evening a friend of mine shot a job and successfully completed a wedding. The band continued playing acoustic style. 




> @Derrel: Thanks for the perspective... you really do make the modern technology sound like a dream.


That's b/c IF you ever used some of the lovely gear he mentioned it is a dream. I told my wife the other day that rather then looking into a new lens or FF body, I'm going to buy f100 or square bronica. I really miss film in my mouth


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