Tips for wedding photography and SL2-S

[earleygallery]

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As it's clear that you are doing this as a favour for your friends and you say they understand you're not a pro photographer I would proceed - with caution!

Use the gear you're most familiar with. Even a small event will be stressful and you only get one chance at many shots so you need to be able to use whatever camera without any thought.

Speak to the couple in advance about the day - do they have any specific requests i.e. a photo of them with a particular guest etc. Explain to them what you are intending to do. Ideally visit the venue/s in advance of the day to consider where you will pose people, what the lighting is like, etc. If the weather is bad and you need to shoot everything inside will there be enough space etc.

Don't forget the post processing and how long that might take - as it's for friends I would just load all photos (apart from obvious duds) onto a memory stick and hand that to them, let them choose and order their own prints or photo book.

Good luck, but don't expect to enjoy the wedding day!

[JMPerona]

8 hours ago, earleygallery said:

Good luck, but don't expect to enjoy the wedding day!

If I’m being frank, I enjoy taking photos more than being at weddings

[Ledormity]

I recently took on a similar task for a friend's wedding, and I totally agree with the advice to use gear you’re comfortable with. It was a small event, but I still felt the pressure! I made sure to have a chat with the couple beforehand to ask about any special shots they wanted, and it helped keep me on track.

[Luke_Miller]

A followup to my previous post about using what you are comfortable with.

I was asked by my son to photograph his small informal wedding which took place over this past weekend.  It was held out of town at an unfamiliar venue.  My gut told me that I might need flash.  While my SL2 and SL2-S are my primary bodies, I have not shot an event with them using flash. Under the circumstances I was much more comfortable taking my Nikon Z8 and SB-5000 flash as I was confident in that combination .  As it turned out the ceremony was held in front of a large floor-to-ceiling window which backlighted the couple, so fill flash (to avoid blowing out the background) was needed with each shot. I was fully comfortable with my setup and all went well

Now my SL bodies and SF-58 flash would most likely worked just as well, but I did not know that going in and the event would have been much more stressful had I brought them.  Now I will make sure to work with them using camera mounted flash to gain the confidence I need going forward.

[Ledormity]

On 1/22/2025 at 3:55 PM, Ledormity said:

I recently took on a similar task for a friend's wedding, and I totally agree with the advice to use gear you’re comfortable with. It was a small event, but I still felt the pressure! I made sure to have a chat with the couple beforehand to ask about any special shots they wanted, and it helped keep me on track.

One thing I learned the hard way was about the groom's suits. I hadn’t realized how much detail went into getting the right shots of them and the groomsmen – the tuxedos looked fantastic, but they were a bit tricky to photograph because of the lighting in the venue. A quick look at the space beforehand really helped!

Edited February 11 by Ledormity

[Archiver]

@JMPerona How did the wedding go? What did you end up using? No shame in sticking with the Panasonic.

I've only shot about 10-12 weddings over the years, because I don't advertise myself for such, only for existing clients and family/friends who are familiar with my work. The last wedding I shot was last year with the Panasonic S5 + Pana 50/1.8, Leica M9 + Distagon 35, and Panasonic G9 + Olympus 45mm f1.2 and Pana Leica 9mm f1.7. Most shooting was with the S5 + 50, second was M9 + Distagon, and G9 + 45 handled extra reach and extra wide on rare occasion.

Due to my work with sports, I'm very familiar with how the S5's autofocus behaves, and I'm also very practiced with the M9 + Distagon, which made things easier. I would not have bought a new SL2S and ditched the S5 IIX right before the wedding, as this would leave little time to figure out if the SL2S was suitable to my style of shooting, or if I could learn to use it in mission critical situations at very short notice. It's tempting, but don't switch to new gear before an important event, you just won't have the confidence of reliably producing desired results.

In the OP's case, I would stick with the S5 II X with 24-70, M10 + 50 Lux, and Q2. The Panasonic would be the main camera, and the M10/Q2 for reportage/candid style work.

 

[Malabito]

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On 11/3/2024 at 8:08 PM, JMPerona said:

The situations is this one:

Im a hobby photographer doing mostly portrait and street photography. I have a Leica Q2 and a Leica M10. I have also a Lumix S5IIX that I use for my YouTube channel in my studio (talking head, studio filming and product photography). I pair the S5IIX with a Sigma 24-70 v2.

I friend of mine wanted me to be his wedding photographer. He knows that Im not a proffs but that I can take relatively good photos with my cameras. I said of course yes to that proposition because I have always wanted an opportunity to learn, and this is a wonderful one (that can cost my friends wedding memory)

The thing is Im in the middle of changing systems to Leica. I have the. opportunity to change the Lumix for a Leica SL2-S and pay a few buck more (not so many). If I wait too much then I will be paying more afterwards. 

My questions:

1) Should I get the SL2-S now or wait until the weedings done?

2) Will it be difficult to use the SL2-S on the wedding? I hav never taked pictures on a wedding and I heard that it doesn't have a reliable autofocus and that is bad for weddings).

3) Any tips to make this experience easier for me? I will be using the sigma 24-70 as my main lenses. 

 

thanks in advance for all the help.

Don't change your S5 II for the SL2S if you are planning to shoot weddings.

As much as I like my SL2S, the autofocus is a disaster in scenes of low light or low contrast; you will be extremely disappointed. Also, the face detection implementation leaves a lot to be desired when you have multiple faces in the frame, nor can you select an area of interest for face detection as with the Lumix, nor lock one face in the frame.

The S5 II has superior autofocus, and the image quality is quite good.

If you are planning to use manual lenses or don't care about the inferior autofocus, the SL2S is a great camera which provides me with amazing files. I love its files, but in difficult light conditions you will want to throw the camera away if you are relying on the afc.

[FlashGordonPhotography]

On 2/14/2025 at 6:48 AM, Malabito said:

Don't change your S5 II for the SL2S if you are planning to shoot weddings.

As much as I like my SL2S, the autofocus is a disaster in scenes of low light or low contrast; you will be extremely disappointed. Also, the face detection implementation leaves a lot to be desired when you have multiple faces in the frame, nor can you select an area of interest for face detection as with the Lumix, nor lock one face in the frame.

The S5 II has superior autofocus, and the image quality is quite good.

If you are planning to use manual lenses or don't care about the inferior autofocus, the SL2S is a great camera which provides me with amazing files. I love its files, but in difficult light conditions you will want to throw the camera away if you are relying on the afc.

It's a wedding, not the superbowl. The last thing you need is AFC. No one wants to hear your camera going whack whack whack at 5fps during a wedding ceremony.  AFS is more than sufficient for any wedding with single shot. And if you're using flash you can't use AFC.

Frame. Wait for the moment to arrive. Push the button once. Move on.

Sure if you're shooting video. But for stills, nope.

Gordon

[Photoworks]

10 hours ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

whack whack whack

🦆🦆🦆LOL

[Olaf_ZG]

I see duckfaces being offended as they want to be captured…

[Malabito]

13 hours ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

It's a wedding, not the superbowl. The last thing you need is AFC. No one wants to hear your camera going whack whack whack at 5fps during a wedding ceremony.  AFS is more than sufficient for any wedding with single shot. And if you're using flash you can't use AFC.

Frame. Wait for the moment to arrive. Push the button once. Move on.

Sure if you're shooting video. But for stills, nope.

Gordon

Even better, why not just used manual focus? Who needs autofocus...

 

[Biotar]

The SL2-S is indeed the best MF-camera.

[FlashGordonPhotography]

On 2/19/2025 at 8:32 AM, Malabito said:

Even better, why not just used manual focus? Who needs autofocus...

 

I didn't. For years. First before AF was a thing and then another 2 years with M9's, after a decade with Canon AF. When I did use AF my hit rate didn't increase nor did my focus accuracy. Just convenience. I was pretty handy with a rangefinder and a 500C at the time. Even when I did use autofocus I used manual focus cameras for some parts of a wedding. If you're in tune with a MF camera well enough you stop thinking about the act of focusing and just do it. Following a bride walk down the aisle with a 90mm Summicron wide open was a doddle for me. Couldn't do it now unless I put some hours in.

I retired from weddings a few years back. Shot my last one with a SL2, M10 and GFX100S. If I were to do one today a pair of M11's and an X2D would be my kit. Actually I'd like to shoot the whole thing on the X2D or the M11's.  I adored shooting weddings on M's. Somehow you become less visable with a small camera. I'd think a Q3 or XPro3 might get the same reaction. More fly on the wall than in your face.

Also I just liked shooting M's at weddings. I shot a bunch of AF systems. Canon, Fujifilm, Olympus, Sony and Leica. M's were my favourite and I think I did some of my best work with them. 

Also I'm not anti-tech or any of that bull. I have dozens of AF cameras. I'm enjoying my A1II and 28-70 f2 that's sitting on the desk next to me. I'm taking only AF cameras with me on my next three trips. Just saying that you don't *need* them. My A1's or R5ii's will never be my main cameras. They're specialist tools as far as I'm concerned..Technique trumps tech, everytime (astrophotography excluded) for me. Shoot what you want. I'd just rather shoot with something where I use my brain as mush as the gear.

Gordon

[BernardC]

11 hours ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

Following a bride walk down the aisle with a 90mm Summicron wide open was a doddle for me. Couldn't do it now unless I put some hours in.

It's like playing a musical instrument, you need to keep practicing if you want to stay sharp (pun intended). It's worth it in the end, if only because you won't have to spend your time arguing with a five cent processor about what part of your image should be in focus!

[Chuck Albertson]

Lay off the booze.

[BernardC]

15 hours ago, Chuck Albertson said:

Lay off the booze.

That's actually a great tip for wedding photographers. There's often a lot of alcohol flowing, and lots of people taking advantage of it, but you aren't there for that.

[FlashGordonPhotography]

On 2/27/2025 at 2:20 AM, BernardC said:

That's actually a great tip for wedding photographers. There's often a lot of alcohol flowing, and lots of people taking advantage of it, but you aren't there for that.

Depends on the client. We would often have a beer at the end of the night with the bride and groom. Congratulate them and all that. Some of our couples really tried to get us to go hard or stay on past finish time and party but we never did that. Here in Oz a single drink isn’t frowned upon. It’s almost expected by some couples. We worked almost exclusively on referrals and the like. Most of our couples saw us at several weddings so we had that relationship. We were usually seated at a guest table as well. Just the way it worked out based on how we chose to be seen by our clients.

But yes, there’s always that photographer walking the venue with a drink in one hand and a camera in the other. Absolutely not.

Gordon