I thought I would put together a blog post on my current camera gear that I bring to wedding days as my current setup has changed quite a lot recently with the move to mirrorless. At the end of last year I invested in the new Nikon Z6 ii mirrorless camera which I was waiting to be released for ages and it was WORTH the wait for sure. I previously shot on 2 D750s and these are great, awesome cameras and my main reason for moving to mirrorless was the autofocus – particularly face and eye detect features. The autofocus on my D750s just wasn’t great and with my Sigma Art lenses I was having a lot of back focusing issues, even after they’d been calibrated.

I really believe mirrorless cameras are going to be the way forward! They are smaller, more compact, what you see through the viewfinder is what the final image will be (no more ‘chimping’ to check settings!). The focusing systems are also incredible with the ability to detect eyes and faces, which is IDEAL for weddings and will help make sure I never miss a moment.

As for lenses, I shoot mostly primes on a wedding day, 35mm, 50mm and 85mm and this covers pretty much all the bases I generally need. Then during the ceremony I’ll reach for my 70-200mm 2.8 to get those close-ups (without being close up!) I’m mostly natural light during a wedding day, but might set up my flash for the reception to get some dancing photos!

My gear on a wedding day

In a nutshell

• Nikon Z6 ii x2

• Sigma ART 35mm 1.4 lens

• Nikkor Z 50mm 1.8 S lens

• Sigma ART 85mm 1.4 lens

• 70-200mm 2.8

• Batteries x4

• Dual camera harness

• SD cards in hard case

• Godox V1 flash

• Nikon SB-700 flash

• Godox X-Pro Trigger

• Godox X1R N Trigger

• Camera battery charger

• Portable power bank

• Tog LDN Big Tog Bag

• Peak Design Field Pouch

   

Nikon Z6 ii

I shoot with 2 of these bad boys, typically with my 35mm on one and my 85mm on the other. Before moving to the mirrorless system I was worried about all my Nikon F-Mount lenses not working with Z series, however with the ftz adapter, all my old lenses work seamlessly and perform better than they ever did on my DSLR.

The Z6 ii is PERFECT for weddings as it has 2 card slots, (one XQD and one SD). This is a great back up system and protects you if, heaven forbid, the camera gods decide to corrupt one of your cards. This has NEVER happened to me, but I’ve just heard so many horror stories that I couldn’t risk shooting someones wedding on only one card.

The face/eye detect on these is next level and has a variety of different ways you can use these depending on your shooting style/what you’re shooting. My in-focus rate on shoots is so much higher than my D750s, it’s actually hard to take an out of focus image on these cameras.

These cameras can also be charged whilst you’re shooting, so if I ever ran out of battery, I could plug my portable charger directly into the camera and charge on the go.

 

Sigma ART 35mm 1.4 lens

This lens is absolutely gorgeous and I tend to keep this on one of my cameras at any point in the day. It’s fairly wide so great for capturing lots of detail, and it’s great for larger group shots too. It’s also perfect in case anyone comes up to you asking for a photo, you know it’ll be wide enough to capture the whole group, but still creates a nice creamy bokeh in the background. I also have a macro filter I attach to this lens to get close ups of any rings/details! (not featured in the above image, but they are just cheap macro filters from eBay!)

 

Nikkor Z 50mm 1.8 S lens

A great all rounder. Absolutely love this lens and it’s versatility, with nice soft bokeh and crisp sharp focus. I typically use this on couple shoots or styled shoots as it’s the perfect all rounder portrait lens.

 

Sigma ART 85mm 1.4 lens

The newest addition to the lens family and I LOVE it. It creates SUCH dreamy yummy bokeh, it’s perfect for portrait sessions or capturing close up candid shots of guests without them knowing you’re there. Also at f/1.4 it’s very fast and ideal for a ceremony/reception that might be on the darker side. I’d so much rather shoot wide open, higher ISO and capture the beautiful atmosphere going on than shoot with a flash and potentially detract from all the beautiful ambient lighting the couple have chosen for a reason!

70-200mm 2.8 Sigma lens

This lens is a BEAST. Seriously, it weighs like 2kg, it sure is heavy having it on your shoulders for a long time! But oh my. It’s worth the hand cramp. The results are so so beautiful. The long focal length is perfect for ceremonies, you can really capture gorgeous close-ups and reactions of the bride and groom as they see each other for the first time, and you could be standing really far away. It feels so intimate yet, it’s not. Also being at f/2.8, it can handle low light situations pretty well, again perfect for darker Church weddings.

 

Flashes – Godox V1 Flash and Nikon SB-700 flash

I have 2 of these which usually only comes out during the reception. I avoid using flash during the day where possible as natural light is SO much more my style, and it’s more flattering. Also flash can be pretty distracting if you’re using it the whole day – I’d rather not blind the guests! Flash IS super useful on the other hand during the nighttime where it can be used in a really clever and strategic way. If I’m shooting off camera flash, I’ll have this set up on a stand generally looking upwards towards the ceiling or a wall (to reflect it back down, so kind of behaving like a giant window). I use this with the Godox trigger and receivers.