Well, to justify my spending habits my wife has asked me to actually make
some money with my cameras. Since, stock sales have been down lately, I've
taken on wedding photography. It's been a few years since I've done a
wedding and a lot has changed in that time (I've gained 30 pounds, for
instance).
This weekend I did my first wedding in five years. I used only Olympus
equipment as I am currently sans-medium format. (next camera purchase will
be a 'blad.).
I used primarily two cameras: OM-2s with Vivitar flash (OTF control) and
IS-3 with G40 flash. I had an L-bracket made up out of steel that allowed
me to mount the flash to the side of the camera so the flash is directly
above the lens for vertical shots. This worked out great as I used the
OM-2S for all verticals and the IS-3 for all horizontals. To minimise my
risk to errors, (mine, processor's, cameras'), I shot almost everything
with both cameras. That meant about 350 pictures total!
After extensive testing, I settled on Fuji's new professional 400 film.
The grain structure is decent, colors accurate, and skin tones are awesome.
I know many wedding pros are shoot Agfa or even Kodak Gold 100, but the
Fuji film was the most predictable of all and worked best in mixed lighting
conditions.
I kept the OM-2S in auto mode, and used the Tokina ATX 35-70/2.8 lens set
at F8 and F5.6. This kept the wedding from appearing as though it was done
in a cave. The flash's zoom head was kept at 28mm to keep coverage wide and
provide enough bounced light to fill in the shadows. I was allowed to use
flash during the ceremony so I did. Although, there were some pictures
that were available light using Fuji 800.
The IS-3 turned out to be a life-saver for me during the end of the wedding
when the wedding party came back down the aisle. I pre-focused the OM-2S
on a spot in the aisle and fired as they reached it, then I grabbed the
IS-3 and fired. It focused instantly and fired immediately. I could see a
red spot on them for a split second and that was it.
All equipment worked flawlessly and my test rolls during the rehearsal
turned out great. I did get some red eye as the church was pretty dark,
but I hope the quantity of pictures I took meant that at least the second
picture in a pair turned out ok. I didn't use the auto-s position on the
IS-3 as my battery in the camera was almost toast.
Speaking of batteries: The death toll was the batteries in the OM-2S,
IS-3, and 16 AA batteries.
To all those who spoke highly of the auto-focus in the IS-3. You are
absolutely right. It is fast and accurate.
Ken Norton
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