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Shooting weddings with Leica S2???

haring

Member
Do you know anybody who shoots weddings with a Leica S2? I would be interested to see how MF Leica copes with weddings... :)
 
I would LOVE to!

My biggest question would be "why?"

I've printed 30x40 with a 10MP camera and it looks just fine in my eyes, but in my client's eyes it looks "AWESOME".

I wonder if clients would appreciate the differences between MF digital or 35mm digital. I'm thinking not.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Absolutely! The S2 may be overkill financially, but not creatively.

I now will be shooting a fair amount of my wedding work with a S2P and (currently) three lenses ... 35mm, 70mm, and 180mm.

I've used a Medium Format Digital camera at weddings for years. The S2 is especially suited for this because of the 35mm DSLR type form factor.

Why? Because every house-wife and her unemployed brother is shooting weddings today with the ubiquitous, all dancing Canikon ... so I took the IQ up and went after the higher end clients and/or those with an eye for quality.

Does it show, do they notice? Yes. Not in the technical jargon we use. They say things like ... "I've never seen anything so clear," ... Oh my! Look at the detail in my dress." ... "It looks like actually being there." etc. etc. etc.

What MFD does for the photographer is provide much better dynamic range and tonal gradations, almost unlimited options for cropping, far more latitude for image manipulation with less destructive bye-products, far more detail due to the huge sensor/resolution and no AA filter, and incredible visual impact even when printed at 8' X 10" let alone 30" X 40".

It doesn't make anyone a better photographer ... it makes for better looking end results ... especially helpful when showing samples to prospects on dual 30" screens, or large album samples. I sometimes use MFD as a selling tool, by mentioning that I use commercial level digital cameras like those used by many fashion photographers ... after all, weddings are in part a fashion show.

-Marc
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
There are obviously at least 2 sorts of customers for wedding shoots. One who value the better IQ from MFD the second who will never notice this and hence also will not pay.

I only can tell from what I see in Austria and many photographers is, that the second group are the vast majority here. Thus in general a D300s or today maybe a D7000 with APSC size sensors are already more than enough to satisfy 90-95% of customer needs. So great for those who have other clients of group one, who are also willing to pay more!

Point here is, I think for shooting mainly weddings any MFD kit is simply not necessary in many parts of the world. I rather would say that for other additional work you need then to have MFD, which solves the equation for shooting a camera like a S2. But for weddings alone - sorry I do not buy that!
 

fotografz

Well-known member
There are obviously at least 2 sorts of customers for wedding shoots. One who value the better IQ from MFD the second who will never notice this and hence also will not pay.

I only can tell from what I see in Austria and many photographers is, that the second group are the vast majority here. Thus in general a D300s or today maybe a D7000 with APSC size sensors are already more than enough to satisfy 90-95% of customer needs. So great for those who have other clients of group one, who are also willing to pay more!

Point here is, I think for shooting mainly weddings any MFD kit is simply not necessary in many parts of the world. I rather would say that for other additional work you need then to have MFD, which solves the equation for shooting a camera like a S2. But for weddings alone - sorry I do not buy that!
I agree with that 100% ... but whether an MFD/S2 is appropriate for a majority of weddings, or wether it is used for other work (yes), wasn't the question. The question was can the S2 cope with weddings ... and the answer is a qualified yes.

I use MFD for other work, but now also use it for weddings, because wedding photography has fast become a sharply divided market ... almost a visual commodity where price is the main differentiator, verses a more discerning market where price is not the top priority.

As to any MFD coping with weddings, that will depend on the style of the photographer ... or the mix of types of photography.

For diehard journalism style candid approaches, MFD is not the best tool, although I'd argue the S2 is perhaps more suited since it is just a DSLR with a sensor on steroids ... so I will try it that way (backed up by a Sony A900). Candid work is where the vast majority of "photography as commodity" has happened, because most of the newly minted wedding photographers are not skilled or talented at fashion/portraiture, or lighting.

For the wedding photographer that shoots more of a hybrid style of candids and fashion/portraiture, a MFD makes a visible difference, and is a way to differentiate the end result. The more that the "commodity group" gravitates to the lowest common denominator because they can't tell the difference, or don't care, the more that the discerning client is susceptible to appeals more suitable to their tastes ... nothing new there.

One thing I can say as fact ... someone paying me a premium to shoot a wedding verses a price shopper ... there is little difference in the amount of work required. In fact, the commodity buyer usually is more demanding and more difficult to work with. Plus, not many people order display prints of candid shots ... a vast majority of auxiliary display print orders are of the fashion/portraiture type ... and the better crafted they are the more they are ordered.

-Marc
 
Marc is just evil. EVIL!

But I agree with everything he's said.

Its too bad my budget is a year out or I would have swallowed up his H4D.

That being said, I'm contemplating renting one for some of my high end bookings. You have to shoot it, before you earn it.
 
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