Wedding Gear Must Haves

by hillary lacy

In the Beginning

My gear list has grown quite a bit over the last couple years. Like 99% of Canon photographers, I started on a Canon Rebel. This camera was under $500 (now it’s under $400) and was a great start into the DSLR world and learn my settings. It also came with a lens so I didn’t have to go buy one, which was awesome! 

Main Wedding Gear

Soon after, I upgraded to a Canon 70D, which is also a crop frame camera, but I have had many friends buy a Canon 6D, which is a full-frame camera. I think both are a really good middle tier option, but I have found that the Canon 70D is better for video than the Canon 6D.

I shot my first wedding on that Canon 70D, and it is still used today as my backup camera. It’s been really great and although it doesn’t function as well in low light as my main camera now, I use it for many other shots. 

My main camera is a Canon 5D Mark III. This camera is quite pricey, but made a huge difference for me in my professional wedding photos. I love it and can’t imagine a wedding without it now. 

I have multiple memory cards. Make sure if you are buying a memory card to use a brand that you trust or has good reviews (I like Sandisk), because sometimes a card can go bad in the middle of you using it and you could lose your photos. This is especially important for weddings. 

You will want a flash if you are shooting weddings, but I use it for almost all indoor photography. Flash can be really scary to new photographers because it’s hard to figure out, but once I learned mine I LOVED it and don’t know what I would do without it. This is the flash I use, it’s important to get a good flash to make sure it’s always firing and not missing certain shots. Don’t forget to bring backup batteries, LOTS of them!

My Favorite Lenses for Weddings

Canon 35mm f/1.4 – Worth the money. It’s fast, has sharp focus and gorgeous bokeh (blurred background). 

Canon 50mm f/1.2 – Okay okay, this is not the lens I have yet. I actually bought the Canon 50mm f/1.8 because it was so affordable, and has been working great. This is actually my primary lens for wedding photography, but I do hope to upgrade to the f/1.2 in the near future.

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 – I LOVE this lens. It’s pricey, but it’s amazing for those close up shots during ceremonies. Weddings are SO important and you don’t want to be walking down the aisle to get a closer shot when your couple is getting married, This has great focus and although it’s heavy, it’s a must have for me for the ceremony shots so I can stay in the back and unseen by guests.