MPB gear recommendations for wedding photography

No matter your location in the world, working as a wedding photographer can be lucrative—as long as you have successful branding, considerable skill and a workable business model. Whether you’re just starting out, or you already consider yourself a seasoned pro, the right kit will make your wedding day shoot perfect. Below, find out what kit we recommend for this unique blend of lifestyle, portrait and event photography.

When deciding on their next kit purchase, a wedding photographer should look out for these qualities:

• Focal length

• Silence

• Aperture (f-stop)

• Size

To ensure your preparedness for anything a day of wedding photography can throw at you, you’ll need to make sure that both wide and far focal lengths are in your kit bag. Even if you typically go for one look over the other, you might need to create imagery in a tight space, or you might underestimate the distance between the ceremony stage and the parameters of the crowd. For the sake of stealth, you want to make sure the lenses and camera bodies you use are quiet or have a silent mode. No one wants to hear a loud shutter staccato during the intimate “I do”s.

Lenses with a larger maximum aperture often produce the milkier bokeh and soft-focus backgrounds that wedding photographers cherish. Consider packing kit that can capture moments quickly and reliably. To save yourself some arm strain during the long workdays, definitely consider the size and weight of the equipment. A rule of thumb: mirrorless full-frame cameras are generally the lighter option, and prime lenses are great for portraiture.

Affordable options

The Nikon D800and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III are both superb for focus, functionality, and quality. As they were first released a few years ago now, they offer great value but still stand up effortlessly when it comes to results. The Canon EOS 6D Mark II is also a reliable, high-quality and more recently-released option that won’t break the bank and will help you create beautiful photographs.

If you’re looking for something smaller in build, while retaining high quality and megapixels, look to Sony and Fujifilm offerings. The Sony A7 II model is compact with phenomenal access to glass and image quality. Tiah Jones, photographer and senior marketing manager at MPB Brooklyn, uses it for her wedding gigs, along with lenses FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS for range and FE50mm f/1.8 for portraits. The Fujifilm X-series cameras have also made a name for themselves. Wedding photographers will enjoy the in-built film simulations, which offer a classic, vintage feel to JPEGs without having to edit RAWs. We’d recommend considering the Fujifilm X-T3 for your event needs, as it is small yet fully powered, speedy, and renders complimentary colours.

When it comes to lenses, it’s best to make sure your focal lengths vary enough for any amount of space you may encounter. Having a wide-angle prime, like a 20mm, 24mm, or 35mm f/1.4 from the Sigma ART line is a great idea to accompany your 50mm or 85mm f/1.8 lens, which is essential for portraiture.

If there will be a need for range, like shooting the dance floor or during the ceremony, you might have no time to switch lenses, Consider a variable lens with zoom—it will make life much easier. The 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD is a durable lens with the classic zoom ability, that also won’t break the bank. It produces a sharp image and once you get the hang of zooming with it, you won’t want to take it off your camera.

High-end options

If you’re looking to up your wedding photography game, and you already have the experience with using multiple lenses on wedding assignments, it might be time to add a macro or tilt-shift lens, or a medium format camera body.

A macro lens will really bring to life those ring and detail shots like never before. Consider a 100mm focal length like the 100mm f/2.8 L IS USM, the 90mm f/2.8 G OSS, or the Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro ART. With these gems, you’ll get all the detail imaginable and beautiful compression.

Feeling really artsy? Tilt-shift lenses lend themselves to dreamier narratives and are beautiful for wedding photography, especially full-body portraits in nature, and shooting beautiful gowns. What are tilt-shift lenses? They are fixed focal length lenses that have the ability to focus from front to back as well as side to side, to give layers of blur and distortion, and produce artful results, especially in wide-angle circumstances. The Nikon 45mm f/2.8D ED lens is a beautiful option, as well as the Canon 24mm f/3.5 L II.

Without a doubt, mirrorless full-frame cameras are the future of wedding photography. Their lightweight bodies, matched with the unbeatable image quality and megapixel ranges, as well as modern advancements like Wi-Fi, touchscreens, silent shutter and more, make them a no-brainer. The Canon EOS R5, featuring all the latest upgrades, is one of the latest industry standards in this regard. The Nikon Z9 is similar in that it broke frontiers with its release.

If you’re looking for the best image quality on the market, and are experienced enough to handle the heat, a medium format digital camera might be in your future. We’d recommend looking into the GFX series from Fujifilm—namely, the Fujifilm GFX 50S II, for its larger-than-life image file size, and professional-grade quality. Also, the Hasselblad X1D II 50C is an amazing option when it comes to best-in-class clarity, handling and style.

Don’t forget

Do you have enough SD card, perhaps a battery grip, and extra batteries, in your kit bag? Don’t forget to be thoroughly prepared on wedding days with extra accessories. You can never have too many! Well, maybe you can, but you should always have extra.

We hope you’re geared up for a wedding photography season coming up full of fun and beautiful memories, with kit upgrades that meet you there. What’s your favourite kit for wedding days? Let us know in the comments.

Thinking of upgrading? You can sell or tradewith MPB.