Hello LYNers! This is my first post so don't bomb me if i'm at the wrong place. I'm a wedding photographer whose using d90 for 3 years.. till earlier last week.. the shutter failed. Guess it's time to upgrade. I'm thinking of going fullframe. So the bottom are my picks:


The new D610 or D800 or jumpship to Canon [5D MK3].

Preferably a body with a good AF system.. certain traditional wedding requires good AF to capture performance.. Low light performance is a ++ Megapixel isn't too much of a matter.. I usually print photobooks sizes with the largest is a banner size.

I currently own a 17-50mm F2.8, 55-300mm and also a 50mm F1.8. I don't mind switching systems.

since all ur lens are dx except 50mm

just sold everything
prepare at least 15k to invest on the FF with lens

its just same either canon/nikon

FF + 2470 would cover a lot for weeding, but as paid photog you also may have backup body/system.

All those are high megapixel... Better go for Nikon D3S..

I plan to repair the d90 shutterbox to be used as backup. for the main body, have anyone here have any experience with D800? the amazing sensor/reso looks future proof. is the myth about camera shake real?

You realize what are you talking?

The D800 with 36Mp require very stable hand, even with the VR ON, a slight shake the picture may look blur. So its best to place it on a the tripod or shoot at higher speed or shoot at lower Mp say 20Mp as lowest is 10Mp. The D800E is even more sensitive and image is very very sharp. The WB of D800 with D90 is different..the D800 will have the same WB as the D4. If megapixel is not your concern..12Mp is sufficient and since you have a D90..best get a D3S. I know is no longer in production, even a used unit is very good.

+1 being a paid photog, I think it will justify the investment, whether you jump ship or not thats up to you, better to shoot with what you're comfortable with

+1 another good point, you'll never know when your gear may fail you, might as well get another lens to pair with the backup so that you could use different lens at the same time without having to switch between focal lengths

Not really familiar with Nikon systems but IMHO getting new is better in TS's condition as he needs a reliable camera to shoot for clients, 2nd hand is good and all but I don't think taking any risk is worth it if you're shooting for a living

Yes, there are risk in buying 2nd hand stuff . If not in favour, the D610 should be best bet or the Nikon D4.

sounds a tad tedious.. d800's prolly gonna go out of the list





i'm used to nikon's menu/setting layout so i shld stick..

yes.. the worst thing tht could happen is equipment failure.. i'll look into the d610 + 24-70mm combo since the D4 is rly out of my budget.. prolly getting a 85mm f1.8 with the extra money.. thanks for the recommendation guys

And a 16-35mm F4... its a fantastic wide angle lens. Happy hunting for your new body!!!

I still don't understand why people want to use uwa for wedding? When other may would choose 70-200 for the compression characteristic, even for group photo just simply step back or rearrange or pick other location. That is part of the job of paid photog, you help them to compose nicely. No matter what the reason why want to distort the face of the people in the corner? Its big no for me after all its paid job. The FF with fast glass that plenty of details everywhere.

Something called creative angles...

Dunno..Im not a wedding photographer. I find the lens is good and have flexibility from 16 till 34 at constant F4..it is all the way sharp. Its not just the equipment...its how the photographer works with the equipment.

like seriously????? its almost end of the year leh dude...

Nobody is stopping you...go ahead with your selection and enjoy it

end of the year, beginning of the year, doesn't matter anyway... it's not that the time of the year dictates when u can or cannot take photos, right? even a 10 year old camera is able to produce high quality shots if you know its limitations.

24mm is quite wide for actual day wedding , unless u have some special shoot request from ur client , else a tele would be nice because can blur out those background unnecessary object or people around.

if me, will go for 5dmk3 =)

LOL. you guys actually shoot wedding before or not?

I put it this way, wedding day photography is like close quarters combat. a lot of the conditions require the photographer to be very near to the couple, and even the crowd.

the UWA and standard zoom lens (24-70 equiv) is the best range.

if given a choice to have 2 bodies and what lens to use, I'll use a UWA and 24-70 f2.8.

wide FOV is definitely more helpful than narrow FOV in actual day photos.

actually hor, what matrix123 said is correct.

I wouldn't give D800 / D800E a lot if I were to do wedding photography. D3 / D3S / D4 would be the better choice.

the D800 / D800E's high megapixel isn't necessary, and it's working at 4 frames per second on burst mode.

D3S might be a 12MP but a 12MP on Nikon's FF is plenty good for wedding photos, and 9 frames per second helps heaps, not to forget the focusing accuracy of it.

setting to lower MP on a D800 is such a waste, after all people buy that camera for the MP.

furthermore, if it's blur at 36MP, it's still blur on 20MP. Only difference is the pixel peeper is given the illusion that it is less blur due to less details captured.

In the end 36MP or 20MP, resize to 2MP it still looks the same.

then why not the d700? a lot cheaper than the d3s, same sensor and technology (i think so? not a nikon user here so i could be wrong). A lot lighter and can achieve 7fps with grip attached.

you can read up about D700 vs D3S comparison. D700 is not a bad choice but there's more than just same sensor and cost and 7fps stuff. the D3S is more superior for noise control, metering and other stuff thought

I do shoot wedding but not as paid job ..more like train myself in different genre of photography, so far four weddings. 2470 and 135 would my pick.

Again, the price difference is quite huge. And if all TS wanted is FF sensor, then the D700 would do just fine.

the earlier discussion was D800 vs D3S only, hence my reply was confined to those 2 mentioned. No reason to bring the D700 into the discussion as Matrix123 was clearly talking about bodies of the same price point vs functionality.

as to the D700 ......... why would you buy a D700 that was released in 2008 for RM 4k - 5k when you can get a D610 for under RM 6k and with a whole bunch of spanking new features (half a decade of technological advancement)?

Doesn't this bring back the topic, NO NEED FOR HUGE MEGAPIXEL?

the d700 is only 12mp, same to the d3s. the d3s isn't a new camera too.

in giving opinion, we provide various options for TS to consider.

If one were to spend about RM 8k - 10k range for a body, then a used D3S would be more practical than a D800E. the 12MP FX sensor still works fine but the way the D3S handles would be very different from the D800E. you don't need 36MP for wedding shoots but burst speed is helpful no matter what.

however if one were to spend on RM 4k - 6k range, then a D610 would be a better choice than the D700. Bear in mind that not only is the D700 old, you need a grip to boost the FPS and that's an additional cost (a hassle to find too) while the D610 gives you a good 6fps without needing a grip, bundles of improved tech over the D700 and give you more megapixels as a similar price point.

Sure, TS may not be looking for MP but if the larger MP comes with the better package, then that's just an advantage. There's the medium image size setting at approx 13.5MP.