 Jennifer Harden |
New Professional Start-Up Equipment I'm a new professional photographer who is trying to upgrade from my "prosumer" Canon Elan 7E camera with a Sigma 28-80 mm f/3.5-5.6 lens and Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 lens to truly professional equipment. I'm primarily going to be shooting event (weddings, family reunions, birthdays, holidays, etc.) and portrait photography. I've been disappointed in my current gear in low light situations and this has posed significant problems shooting weddings. I'm looking at purchasing: * Canon EOS 30D for $999.95 from Adorama * Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM autofocus telephoto gray market zoom lens for $1584.95 from Adorama * Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 lens for $379 * Kenko 2x teleconverter for $214.95 I'm also planning to get circular polarizer, soft focus and UV filters, a monopod, EX speedlite flash, 2 gig memory card and a hood. I already have a 1 gig memory card, a tripod, 5 foot step ladder, and a good Tamrac bag. Opinions on the equipment I've picked - good or bad? Anything major I've not thought about? I'm currently putting together my portfolio and am planning to put 40 8x10 pictures divided into 3 categories - wedding, family photos, and children's portraits so it will be about 15 wedding photos, 13 family portraits and 12 kids portraits. Thoughts on this idea? Any other advice you can give? I've already shot 3 weddings, 3 family portrait sessions and countless kids pics all for free so I've decided it's time to start getting paid! Any ideas and/or comments will be greatly appreciated. Oh, and yes, I will make sure everyone signs a contract and I'm going to form an LLC too.
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Jon Close |
The 30D (like most DSLRs) has a sensor that is smaller than the 35mm film frame. As such, the 30D requires shorter focal length lenses to give the same angle of view than does the Elan 7. On the telephoto side that's good - 200mm telephoto will give greater reach on the 30D than 300mm does on the Elan 7. You may want to consider a good 1.4x teleconverter rather than the 2x. 1.4x might be long enough for your purposes and it has less light loss and image degradation than does a 2x. On the other hand, 28mm is not a wide-angle lens on the 30D. It gives the "normal" view, equivalent to 45mm on the Elan 7. Thus, the 28-75 f/2.8 is not necessarily a good choice for wide/normal zoom on the 30D. Better would be one of EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM, Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 XR Di II, Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 EX DC Macro, or Tokina 16-50 f/2.8 DX. I'm not a fan of UV filters as protection, especially with digital cameras where they can add more reflections/flare. I just use the hood for protection, and only resort to UV filters when faced with blowing sand, sea salt spray etc. Get high quality multicoated filters to minimize the flare potential.
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Debby A. Tabb |
As far as spending on cards, I would buy more 1 Gig cards then go with larger cards. I use several cards during a wedding, other then just one. I just believe that I'd rather carry more cards, then trust that nothing will happen to that ONE card. If it malfunctions,gets damaged in any way, your wedding is or can be lost. But just my opinion, Debby Tabb
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Jennifer Harden |
Debby - good point and one of which I hadn't thought - thanks! Jon - I considered getting a wide angle which would help getting closer to large wedding parties but was concerned about shooting with it of just the bride as I didn't want it to make the nose, forehead, etc. to all appear larger. Is this not really an issue? Shoud I get two lenses, one wide angle and one regular for the under 50mm shots? Also, I've read some unflattering reviews on the Tamrac lens I was considering. Lots of reports of slow AF and the 2.8 not being accurate for the entire focal length. Anyone here have experience with that lens? I was looking at the Canon 24-70 USM IS 2.8 but it's another $1100 vs the $400 so I need to be sure that the extra $700 is really worth it. Jon - I'll definitely check out the lenses you recommended but am a little concerned about having a gap between 50mm and 70mm that I can't shoot. Do you think this really isn't a big deal? Thanks again for any and all suggestions!
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Debby A. Tabb |
Jenn, I use Tamron Lens all the time, and really love them! I have the Nikon VR lens, but would hate for any really damage to come to them , due to replacement costs. So prefer my Tamron lens for most on site work. Here is a previous post that gives you idea of what I carry on site: **I find it best to work with my 200mm
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Suzanne Colson |
One of the things that stuck out to me was the Gray market zoom.... Below is the terms of the USA vs Gray market zoom. I have been tempted in the past, but often there was not a significant savings to take a chance. This is B&H's version of USA vs Grey market. I can imagine Adorama's is similar. The only thing I can say about the Canon 24-70 is the known back-focusing issues with this lens. If you do spend the $1100 I would make sure you get a good copy. I shyed away from this lens and bought a used 28-70mm f/2.8 for roughly $729 that I am quite happy with. Also note, that the current Canon 24-70 does not have Image Stabilization. I carry a Canon 17-40. Albeit the lense is only F/4.0, but I don't find I need the extra stop when I am shooting at this focal length. It is one of my best lenses in terms of image quality, contrast, etc. To fill in the gap you might be able to get away with one of the Canon primes, possibly the 50mm f/1.4. I pull this one out when the light is really low.
"In most cases the difference between a USA import and a Grey Market, or imported product, is the cost of the item and the terms of the item’s warranty coverage. The products themselves are otherwise identical in every way. Occasionally the manufacturer might change a product name of model number to differentiate between products targeted for US distribution and products targeted for distribution elsewhere. "As a rule, Grey Market items cost less than their USA counterparts. The warranty of Grey Market items are often, but not always, the same as their USA counterparts. Specific details of product warranties vary by product and manufacturer. If you should experience a problem with a product sold with a USA warranty, it can be sent to any of the manufacturer’s worldwide authorized service facilities for servicing. A "direct import" or grey market item would have to be returned to B&H Photo-Video if it required in-warranty attention. A resident of the USA may wish to make the buying decision based on price since the cost of shipping to a US service center or to B&H should be about equal. A non-USA resident should consider the cost of returning a product to B&H in New York for servicing as opposed to the cost of taking the product to a local warranty service center."
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Suzanne Colson |
By the way, check out Amazon on the 30D. I think they are a little less now. I have bought photo equipment from them and have been pleased. Also I believe Canon is set to release their 40D very shortly. Rumored to be end of the month. If you can wait that might drive the price of the 30D down some. Just a another thought.
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Irene Troy |
Hi Jennifer – since I mostly do nature, travel and environmental work, I cannot really speak to your choices of lenses; however, just so you are aware: the Canon 30D is considered a “pro-sumer” camera. This is not bad and no one is saying that you must purchase a so-labeled “pro” camera in order to produce pro level results. Frankly, all this class designation business can make you nuts! However, as Jon says, with the 30D you will be shooting with a smaller sensor and need to take that into account when selecting lenses. I switched to the Canon 5D and love the camera for many reasons, among them the full-size (35mm sized) sensor. However, the outlay for the 5D is significant and may be more than you need to spend when first starting out in the biz. I chose that camera because I needed the sturdiness of the pro level camera. On the gray market issue: I have purchased many gray market items, but ONLY from B&H. At this point, B&H is about the only company with whom I do business. I’ve been seriously disappointed by some of the other online/national companies, but never B&H. Their prices seem to be at or below the competition and, in my experience; their customer service is far superior. I did have a problem with a gray market lens that I purchased from B&H and when I asked for their help, they had me send the lens back and I had the replacement lens within 3 business days. From all that I have read here and elsewhere, I would not go gray market with any other company. That is not to say that Adorama will not deliver the same level of service. They well may be about the same, I just have not used them enough to tell. Irene
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Mark Feldstein |
Greetings Jen: It appears you're going about this equipment selection process somewhat backwards unless I missed something here. If I were you, I would first consider the size of the prints you intend to sell and THEN the format size and lenses. As a rule of thumb, the larger the format, the larger the sharpest print you can get and I think that's true of digital work as well, to some extent. Also, I've pretty much always used fixed focus lenses to shoot portraits and I do it without a tripod. I move around alot, closer and further away from the subject as necessary. I don't pick a vantage point and stand there zooming in and out. I've also found that less expensive zoom lenses don't perform nearly as well as their fixed focus counterparts at larger f-stops. And, as an aside to your initial question, most commercial photographers I know and have worked with have spent roughly $60,000 - 75,000 plus on pro-grade equipment, lighting, camera lenses for multiple purposes, bodies, stands, meters and other accessories to do the type of work you describe and to be prepared for most any other assignment. Just my opinion for what it may be worth to ya.
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