Weddings through a Leica By Bailey Wang

119 Comments

1. Hey, Hey, wise decision and nice photos…but that thing of “portuguese / hispanic” doesn’t work: we are just neighbours, they have better toffees, we have better coffee…we call them “hermanos” but we also say that “…from Spain neither good wind nor good marriage!!!” Imagine calling the English “frenchies” just because they are neighbours…!
   I just came back from my hollydays …in Spain…and only carried a M typ 240 MP with a few lenses and only shoot B&W…and it was a fabulous experience!!!
   Keep working and enjoying your Leica life!

   • Thanks mate

2. Bailey, nice pics and write up. Your article makes me feel better about my own choices. Now if you don’t mind my asking, what straps are those?

   Thanks!
   Steve.

   • thanks mate i got them from etsy https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/159284708/leather-half-case-for-leica-m240

3. Hi,

   great piece, very useful. I have been considering tackling weddings fully manual, albeit with a Sony A7s, and this gives confidence to approach it. Liked all the images, but particularly the last one and the one of the dancing couple with the guests in the background. Would be interested in seeing your follow up piece on the gear you use.

   cheers
   Al

   • thanks mate, some technical babble and follow ups forth coming! Assume Steve can fit me in

4. Thanks for that. Nexto is a great idea for onsite backup.

5. these are excellent! I always wanted to shoot a wedding on a Leica 🙂 well done!

   • give it ago! if it works for you, its an awesome ride

6. Very nice work. I’ll bet your calendar is full!

   • thanks Peter, it keeps me out of trouble. I’ve been blessed to have 2015 wedding seasons mostly booked, winter is down time for us, good opportunity for R&R and I do internal workshop for my team

7. I was totally impressed with all the photos, think you have done a great job. I particularly liked the one with the couple dancing and the lights in the background. You certainly have an eye for a good photo. Do you feel that the Leica R lenses are good on the M240 with the leica adapter and do you use the EVF with them? Thanks Alan

   • thanks Alan

     At the reception, I exclusively use the 90mm, 35mm and 50mm. Prior to getting the 35 ‘lux it was the Zeiss 35mm and prior to the SLR Magic it was the 50mm 1.4 R. These two were a very sound combination for the reception, with the use of venue lighting and my dedolights.

     The R lenses work perfectly fine with the M240 with the adapter and EVF, which is required because it’s not coupled (i think thats the term?) for the M mount, so the rangefinder won’t be able to focus.

     • Thanks Bailey I did not know tyhe rangefinder did not work with R lenses so thats info for me when I get M240 in October. Alan

       • yeah I made that idiotic mistake when I bought my M9, stuck on the M adapter and R lens, and she aint working! It doesnt take an EVF so no way for it to function (that I know of) with R lenses. Same goes with the M240, unless you use the Live View function

8. There aren’t many wedding photographers that shoot with Leica M. Most of them choose to do so because they want to stay unnoticed during the wedding. For me, that was one of the reasons to switch from a DLSR to the M-system. But, like you say, the intuitive approach of the M is a massive improvement compared to a DSLR. Personally, I’m not a big fan of the more staged images. I prefer a more documentary style , but I do like the esthetic qualities of your pictures: nice work!

   • Thanks mate, still fine tuning the balance of documentary and of direction

9. Great photographs Bailey!

   • Thanks Brett

10. Great post and wonderful images…I had not thought of using a 180mm Elmarit R – which version do you have and what did you use for a converter to your M? Thanks!

    • Thanks mate, yeah the 180 is a fab lens and I’m use the Leica R-M adapter. Though i do have a Novoflex aswell

11. where is the party?
    you told us that they can party. ; )

    this is their day and they share it with their relatives and friends.
    (pictures of sunset and intimate moments can be taken at any time)

    a second shooter with a canon and a 16-35 or a 35mm 1.4 + flashlight?
    who is photographing the party while the couple is dancing alone in front of of the photographer in an empty room?
    I am sure a second shooter doesn*t ask for a fortune.

    greetings michael

    • I had earmarked quite a broader range of photographs to share, and yes some of those are group and motion, but I’d assumed that sending over much more photographs would either bore everyone or end up being a self advertisement of my work, which is not the intention of this write up.

      My secondary photographers shoot prime aswell, with a 70-200mm in their kit aswell. None of which have jumped over to Leica

      thanks for the comments!

12. Gaah!!! Can I hire you to shoot my wedding?

    These shots are unbelievable. The second last image is my favorite.

    And YES, a wedding photographer should slow down, and capture the moments with the best glass available. These images are such a nice departure from all of the hordes of DSLR wedding photographers with f/2.8 zooms and flashes.

    • Thanks Mike

      Prime’s the way to go!

    • Re shoot your wedding, hit me up if you are interested

13. Very impressive work. Yes, the camera and lenses contribute to the quality of the images, but YOU are an artist!

    • thanks Fran

14. excellent photograps!

    • thanks mate

15. reminds me of frames from a Vittorio Storaro movie…
    excellent job.

    • thanks mate that’s quite a big leap, but thanking you!

16. Lovely use of light (and shade).

    • Sensitive the two closeups of bride.

      Gone With The Wind epic feel to the first.

      • thanks mate, just got the 75 ‘lux so gunning to see what it’ll allow me to deliver on this weekend

17. Amazing!!!!!

    I Shot my last Wedding 30% Leica M9 und 50 Summilux and 70% Fuji XT1. I am considering using only Leica. The Dance Shots are Extremly difficult with Leica.

    • Thanks Kayar

      The M9 is like using the 5DMK1 in comparison to the MK3 with it’s lower resolution LCD, takes some time to get used to it, but is a treat. Had to get rid of it to fund the second M240 body.

      What part of the dance shots are you finding hard to capture? The bridal waltz or general guests? Shooting at 1/125 F2.0 and flash at 1/32 is a good sweet spot for me, at times I’d shoot at 1/100 F4.0 and flash at 1/16. Then again, I have my Dedolight to light up the dance floor so the first exposure is the one that gets me a clean subject light with the right balance of ambiance and shadows

18. Loved your images and your story
    🙂

    • thanks Danny

19. Very very nice work
    Well done!

    • thanks Ronald

20. Great images, wonderful compositions. And tasteful PP.

    • thanks mate, the whole buzz of over HDRing things is a hit in Australia eek!

21. Thank you very much for sharing these photos with us. Reading this article was a pleasure.

    These are absolutely amazing photographs. Every single one is excellent (though I don’t always agree with your interpretation of the ‘negative’, so to speak). I’ve done a couple of weddings myself. Almost all the wedding photos I’ve seen from other people do not inspire me (and they confirm that my chosen approach is valid). But your photos make me a bit nervous because they really are superb!

    One could say that no matter what camera you used, your photos would always be great. While this is a compliment to your talent, that is not the point. The point is that the Leicas made your job easier and probably more enjoyable. You are right: it isn’t about technical details, but about allowing you to function as efficiently as possible. Cameras are made for photographers, aren’t they?

    I am surprised that nobody has yet written that “You could have done those with an RX100/D4/MyFavouriteCamera/AnythingExceptLeica.” 😉

    Dan mentioned the single memory card slot. I personally don’t see that as a deal-breaker. However, it is a feature that I would like to have. With one exception, no camera that I have used had two card slots. The worst thing that can happen is not for a memory card to fail, but for a camera to fail. And that’s why one always has two cameras at weddings.

    I am also impressed with your choice of lenses. The set is a little quirky but that is what I like about it.

    Also, the M240 is much better than the M9 at handling challenging light. And the shutter is not as noisy. Overall it’s a superior camera for professional work. The M9/M-E would be fine, too, but if you’re being paid to do work, you may as well spend the extra money. For personal work the M9 would, of course, be great.

    Shooting film would be fantastic, but I think we are all spoiled by the luxury of memory cards. They let us shoot hundreds of frames without reloading. That’s a good thing, but at the same time, I just love film. I’d like to know when you do shoot film and I’d love to see the results.

    • Thanks Karim on the compliments

      Absolutely agreed on irrespective of what camera system is used, as long as it works for the photographer. There’s one particular Sydney photographer that is on the Fuji X1T and he’s producing gorgeous images, and its not a full frame body. The old masters of film and the like can create stunning imagery as well.

      The point I wanted to share was using a Leica for wedding photography professionally is certainly viable, and it has made things that much more enjoyable, less obtrusive and more about capturing photographs rather than mucking around with a DSLR’s bulk and technological whiz bangs.

      At times I’d grab my second photographer’s 5DMK3 and though it produces some gorgeous color tones, the focusing system is such a pain, the size is a killer and much more in the way. So I’m happy where I am with the Leica system.

      That plus seeing as every man and his dog has jumped onto the bandwagon of DSLR, and in Sydney/Australia, weddings because its so much easier to kit up and use an AF system with the various auto modes, having a Leica gives me an odd, old-tech dinosaur attention.

22. Brilliant shots from Melbourne!

    • good spotting Ben, I LOVE Melbourne (in comparison to Sydney) it’s got so much more character

23. Some of these are really wonderful! I particularly like the landscapes, the couple in the white convertible, and the last one of the guy in the car. They stand out!

    But for those using Leica for indoor wedding shots, I must ask: Is this really the best gear for your customers’ needs? Or is this the gear that YOU enjoy using the most? Slower focusing, poorer low light ability, no fixed aperture zooms, slower flash sync, only 2 shooting modes… You’re going to miss or botch a lot of great shots that a 5DIII or D810 would capture effortlessly.

    I also dislike bulky DSLRs. But if I’m paying someone good money to shoot my wedding, I don’t want them making compromises just because they enjoy shooting a Leica. DSLRs are too heavy? Hit the gym! Some jobs require strength and stamina; event photography is one of them.

    Like I said, the outdoor shots are lovely. But indoors you’re going to be compromised, and that’s not fair to your paying customers.

    • thanks Michael for the compliments.

      Having kit that works well in low light helps, its why in my kit I have lenses that are faster than f2.8, yes the ISO isn’t particularly fantastic in comparison to the DSLR bodies, but given I shoot wide open, have artificial light and prefer ambiance than overly bright reception photographs, it works for my clients and me.

      After all, most wedding couples have spent quite a lot of money to decorate their reception and so the ambiance of the venue should be captured, and not over powered.

      2 shooting modes is really mute, how many more modes do you need?? Manual is permanently on and to me, should be the only setting a professional photographer should be using as opposed to the various AV, TV, P…etc Or that could be the OCD in me to want to be able to control light as precisely as I can imagine and visualise it.

      Focusing hasn’t been an issue, infact I have found the EVF and rangefinder has been MUCH faster than an auto focus. Sure in some situations it isn’t, but for the bulk of the time and for my work, it is more than enough. There’s too much trust and reliance in AF. Heck in comparison to my secondary photographer’s, there’s more misses than hit with the AF, and thats them using the 5DMK3, MK2 and D3s and D800.

      Having no zooms is a boon and, for me I don’t care because the only zoom lens I used in DSLR is a 70-200 2.8 VR2 bazooka. Everything else is a prime lens that is ideal for low light photography.

      With the flash, 1/125 is more than enough; I control the flash manually, and often only require a slight pop of light at 1/32 downwards. Coupling a prime lens with this, say shooting at f/1.8-2.0 ISO 300 and 1/32 creates a gorgeous amount of light.

      As for going to the gym, quite hard to given over time I’ve sustained a condition in the right shoulder called bursitis that hasn’t gone away; and this is due to the weight and posture of using DSLR cameras weekend-after-weekend for 6 years. Being in rehab with the physio has helped some. Having switched over to the Leica system has certainly helped the shoulder situation. Stamina is no issue, I shoot weddings that go in excess of 14 hours each weekend day, some going close to 20 hours (asian weddings) and even weekends that are back to back at 43 hours due to flying back from one city to another.

      So yes the move to Leica is primarily for me, but it also work for my clientele as they trust in what I photograph and so far the responses hasn’t been negative. Certainly the camera photographers choose MUST be enjoyable and a natural extension of our eye, otherwise if it weren’t an enjoyable experience and is cumbersome, then the photographing part becomes less natural and less about capturing, but more wielding the technical and physical peculiarities of the camera.

      • Thanks for the detailed reply! I really didn’t mean to come off as harsh as I did. The gym bit was half-joking… I personally need to spend more time in the gym 😉

        I can understand what you mean about the EVF in low light. I shoot my X100S with manual focus (focus peaking) in low light because it’s more accurate than relying on AF.

        I will say again that your photos definitely have pop and a wonderful distinction to them. They are great examples of why Leica glass has the reputation that it does.

        • no no not at all didn’t take any offence to your comments, peer feedback is always great to get! I dont know what I dont know right?

          I’ve somewhat over trying to fit the gym into my daily life, with a 21month daughter, another daughter coming along and weddings, not much time for myself! Except for the odd 10pm ride of the bike, but something seriously needs changing because my gut aint getting any smaller.

24. Great!!!

    • Thanks Ivo

25. A beautiful set of photos. I admire your determination to go all manual, including focus. Note that two of these photos say Nikon and Sony in the exif, so maybe not all were made with Leica?

    • hey mate, definitely shot through a Leica, dont know why it’d come up as Nikon because I haven’t touched a Nikon since last year and these were this year. As for the Sony either

26. I’ve been on a similar horizontal path as you, though with Nikon manual focus glass on the D610, DF and a pair of FE2. I’m not entirely 100% manual focus, but last weekend’s wedding was at 50% manual focus. …including a Leica Summicron-R 50 with a Nikon mount. 😀

    I agree. I love how it slows me down and let’s me get absorbed into the day’s activities rather than feeling like a machine gun shooting every little thing that happens – even though I know I’m going to axe it when I start sorting through the photos.

    Well done, mate. 🙂

    • thanks Craig

      This safety blanket of a DSLR I think has made us all either lazy or in less control of what we photograph and produce, though certainly it works for the photographers out there, to me it just doesn’t make any sense.

      You’re right about axing down the photographs. Prior to Leica, even with my shooting-for-the-wedding-album mindset, I’d personally shoot about 1600 photographs on the D3S, add that with my secondary photographer, AND assistant-in-training, it ends up being over 3500 photographs of duplicates, some scatter moments, missed focus, general crap. We’d cut it right down to anywhere from 1200-300. Waste of time after the wedding, and more importantly, it’s so draining on the wedding day to continue to shoot like that.

      Take the dive mate! You wouldn’t go back. Live the manual focus for a few weeks and it becomes so much easier

27. I really love these articles, but there is no excuse for the bad English. Steve Huff needs a copy editor.

    • Nahhh, been like this for 6+ years and do not plan to change it. Part of the charm of the site as is typos. Never hurt me in the past (quite the opposite), don’t think it will in the future. I had no issues reading and understating this at all, and the images speak for themselves.

      • my chinglish not so good

        • Crap!! Your chinglish is fine. It’s the Aussie that confuses folks.

28. very nice pictures… how do you cope with the random lock ups ?

    • thankfully there hasnt been all that many, but when it happens I pull out the battery and slap it back in, no fuss! having 2 bodies helps aswell

29. One of the best sets of wedding photos I’ve seen in a while! I’ve been to weddings and walked around quietly with an M9. One time I was even told to get a “better” camera by one of the guest cause it wasn’t a big DSLR lol. The only other issue with weddings that concerns me with weddings is the big group photos. How do you normally manage those on the M?

    • thanks Jason, this is how I do group shots http://www.weddingsoulstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/groupshot-stance.jpg

      I’ve had my share of comments regarding why am I not using a Canon or Nikon. hell I probably would’ve been one of those as well!

      With group sessions, I typically shoot f4 and upwards, even *gasp* f8 if the day is overly bright

    • You get a wide angle lens. Sharper, less distortion than any SLR lens.

30. What a kit, and what marvellous images from it/with it! I particularly like your eye for the off-center portraits with “negative space”, though your centred shots are lovely, too! And whether you’re using buildings or nature, the onlooker is drawn into the scene in a deeply engaging way.

    • Thanks John, I’m a lover of negative space heck at times waay too much so I’ve had to catch myself from doing it constantly

31. like!

    • Thanks mate

32. Normally don’t post comments but these images are a joy to look! It makes the gear they were shot with irrelevant… even if you say you’re still learning the system, you sure know how to yield that all manual Leica! Love what you’re doing with it.
    Just had to share this 🙂

    • thanks Geoffrey, I’ve been getting comments from guests at the weddings asking me about why I’m not using a Canon or Nikon, even one groomsmen remarking “didn’t we pay you enough?”, with plenty of funny looks!

      So put that to bed that a rangefinder can’t be used to produce wedding photographs, and more so a manual system, it just means the photographer needs to time things, and be fast with the focusing. That and the EVF helps on the telephoto lenses!

33. Badass photography! Wedding shots with an attitude. I actually read the whole thing. I rarely do. Thank you for this inspirational insight!

    • thanks for putting up with the dribble and comments re photos. I cut down the dribble in half, took out specific lens feedback and image comparisons for each lens incase it becomes a bore

      • I actually read this on all the way through too, I would love a follo up with more about the lenses – this being a gear site and all. Great wedding shots BTW, something different in a sea of routine stuff.

        • Thanks Chris, I’ll get some more brain cells together to do some write up on the lenses and kit soon!

34. Really nice work! As well as using M3s and M-Es, I just picked up an M5. That camera is a serious sleeper in the Leica range and IMO is better than the M6. Better built (still used brass not zinc like the M6) and the built in spot meter would be more useful for wedding shots. The viewfinder also shows shutter speed used, unlike the M6.

    Best regards
    Huss

    • thanks Huss oooh thanks for the tip re M5! My impulse wouldve probably gotten the better of me with the M6 and I’d be kicking myself after the fact

      • Don’t get me wrong, the M6 is fab. But for your use the spot meter in the M5 may be better.

        • im going to do a shoutout to the local leica mob to see if anyone’ll lend me an M5 and M6 for a few hours to compare! thanks for the heads up Huss

        • “…the spot meter in the M5 may be better….”

          True if it still works properly. Experience tells me that this ‘sleeper”s swing-out light meter sensor is frequently a source of trouble.

35. It’s interesting to see a lot of telephoto images from M. They are certainly not as sharp as ones from DSLR nor mirrorless, but sharpness is not everything.

    • As my guys would say; Bailey doesn’t do sharp!

      I’m not too fussed with an unfocused image or it being out of sharpness, in fact I promote it because to me it’s given me that allowance to create a slightly more technically imperfect image, but has more hmm character?

36. Great writeup, and fantastic photos too !

    You capture a tonne of emotion in those pictures, and almost surreal fairytale like quality as well. Really good stuff.

    • Thanks Steve, one great thing about being a wedding photographer, wouldn’t have it any other way! We’ve got people that are in love and there’s heaps of loving on the day, so capture away

37. Great shots!
    Especially like the last pic

    • Thanks Elbert, personally I see things in those tones, in the darker shadows with more pinpoint lighting; but for the sake of being more acceptable to some of the masses, an adjustment had to be made on how I control the light and process.

38. Beautiful images ! -notice you use Leica -R lenses as well as -M obviously you must use the Evf -How do you find this ? I am delighted to see you have demonstrated that short telephoto lenses are also usable to good effect with the Leica M system.

    I occasionally use an ancient 135 Elmarit with goggles on my M8 and a 75 Summarit. None of the people I know who use Leicas are street photographers and typical set ups are 35mm and 90mm lenses with an M6 M8 or most popular the M9. Crons and Summarits plus a few Biogons make up the most popular lenses used -have never seen a Lux .

    See you are not overly impressed with the SF58 flash. I have one and it works well and is very powerful -does wonderful bounce with fill in. I use it on auto – I think it is really made to work with the new professional S system.
    I have heard that some wedding photographers are including a few film photos in the mix ….which cannot be bad.
    I hope you post more and keep us up to date ……

    Best Wishes

    • Hi mate,

      Thankyou for the comment on the photographs.

      Unfortunately Leica’s current crop of wide and telephoto lenses aren’t fast enough given the lighting conditions that I work in at weddings can be lacking at churches and receptions, so had to hook myself with some of the R lenses. That plus the wide 21mm 1.4 is too much to stomach for my (wife’s) wallet, was hoping to get some loving from Leica *hint hint* but they didn’t seem to be interested in getting me some gear! Pooo

      I’ve thought about giving the 135 ‘elm (;P) a whirl as well! It’s probably on the wish list somewhere down the track, the focal distance would be great with the portraiture session definitely. Though now having picked up the 75mm ‘lux I’m going to wait to see whether 135 elm’ would be worth adding to the mix. I was also very close to getting the 75 ‘cron but thought against it, speed baby.

      I originally had the Zeiss 35 and love the sharpness but it wasn’t fast enough for receptions, so silly me bought one before Zeiss’ announcement at Photokina, DOH!

      The SF58 flash does a wonderful job at giving me the light that I need for reception dance sessions, as well as doing some off camera flashing with the Pocketwizard MiniTT, it’s taken sometime to get used to the clunky interface and adjusting the correct powers VS what my previous Nikon D3s/SB900 combo gave me. Getting there!

      Most of the time I’m in Sydney Australia (family commitment has stopped international weddings for the last 2 years, though hoping to pick it right up again next year), and the weather is terrible during peak wedding season. It’s a scorcher! So having film around is probably for a laugh on the wedding day more than anything.

      Any wedding photographers here on the Leica film?

39. Priceless images with a camera that few can dream of possessing…what a treat ! Thanks !!

    • thankfully my work affords me pleasures of amassing toys!

      thanks for enjoying my photographs

40. ‘Elm-r is short of Elmar I assume? And by short I mean longer because you added an unnecessary apostrophe? Nice photographs, controversial grammatical choices. :-p

    • I’m going to guess it’s actually Elmarit R-Mount.

      • BINGO! I saved the JPG and closed off Photoshop before seeing that, couldn’t be buggered to change it. I figured everyone here would understand my chinglish

41. congrats- you are making that 240 sing, much to your eye’s credit….. nice work

    • Thanks mate

42. Love your shots and the tonality! How have you processed them? Lightroom? I really like what you did to those pictures.

    • Thanks mate, the B&W ones were converted with minimal adjustment to the black level, while the others were toned with some slight shadow colors. Most of my edits are with Lightroom (makes for much faster workflow!) With Photoshop used for mainly removing artefacts/randoms out of the picture

43. Great images. I like the b&w ones best. the last image looks like a classic. Nice work. No wonder your clients love the results. I think it is much more challenging to do this on a professionell level, i mean focussing manual only.

    • there’s definitely some misses with focusing manually, and definitely have missed moments, but I’ve trained myself to be very loose with the way I shoot, and the images delivered to my couples.

      I’m loving the out-of-body B&W and have been tempting some of my couples to exclusively just shoot in B&W! Hoping one will jump on board.

44. Amazing work! Congratulations, even more amazing considering the tools you use. Best wishes.

    • With the system, it’s shifting the work I’m producing and seeing. Thankyou for the comment

45. very impressive and artistic shots of wedding photography.

    • Thanks Nelson

46. Lovely pictures. My main concern about this system for commercial work is the single SD card. One prominent photographer and blogger suffered a card corruption on an M9. Do you use several cards during the course of the wedding to minimise risk? Many thanks.

    • The months I had the M9, there wasn’t any problems with the Lexar cards I used. I typically go through 1x 32GB card on each body. Though you’re freaking me out a tad! The M240 has some incidents that has given me a heart attack, but the body seemed to right itself; for instance on Monday’s pre wedding shoot session, one of the body’s shutter locked up, couldn’t see anything it was all black and locking at the leaf, it had a black panel over the shutter (?). After turning on and off afew times, looks good to go.

      I’m tempted to send it Leica for a check, be interested to know if anyone has gotten this!

      • This a common problem with electronics.You give commands and commands but the cache and memory fills up. You should empty memory. Don’t send your camera to Leica Call them and i’m sure they will have a solution or what to do exactly.

        Theo vervloet
        theo_vervloet@me.comBrelgium
        Amateur photographer.

        I overheard at the Photokina in öln a conversation between a photographer and a serviceman about the same problem you mentioned.

    • I wonder what we did in the film days?

      • We took risks. And Polaroid backs. And that was understood by clients. If you suffer a card failure this will lose you the client and land you a lawsuit oftentimes. There is a reason many of the more expensive slrs have dual card slots and I don’t think it has much to do with obsessional neuroticisism

      • I’ll tell you what we did: We totally f***ed up some jobs (I did it twice), due to accidents in the lab, totally wrong exposure etc, which is a horrible, embarrassing experience. From a professional point it is a godsend that the film days with all those technical risks are over!

        Trust me, if photography has to pay your bills, you eagerly want two card slots.

        • even with the Canon and Nikon systems I’ve used in the past, never made use of the secondary slot! I do carry a Nexto SSD drive that sucks the photos out for me at parts of the day as an onsite backup

        • The film days are over? 🙂 I shot weddings for 20 years on film and never lost a job, but I have lost digital files! So I don’t think the risks are greater with film, and you cannot beat film for the colour and look. I still shoot it, as do many photographers…it ain’t dead! 🙂

          • you do shoot weddings on film today as your main job or just for fun? If it’s your main job, than I learned something new.

            From all professional photographers I know personally, not a single one uses film nowadays. So, even if my statement may not apply to exactly 100% of all pro photographers, I still think the film days are over.

            PS: There are human beings who use vinyl records because they think it sounds better (audiophiles) or it is just cool (DJ’s) or for whatever reason. But that doesn’t change the fact that the vinyl days are over. 😉

          • Talking to a number of industry contacts of mine (German, Swiss, Austrian, Swedish, Japanese), the conclusion is that film is making it’s way back into the business – not to the full mainstream, but far enough that manufacturers of gear and materials have their books full and expand production… at Photokina some manufacturer’s representatives stated that they cannot meet the market demand as there is not enough production capacity any more, and new production lines are acquired and brought into operation.

            I do admit that I found this surprising… but if one hears such statements from different people representing competing companies, one starts to wonder. Rising prices in the second hand gear market are noticeable as well – specifically for high quality medium format gear.

            Here in NL I see some wedding photographers take a ‘hybrid’ approach, using both media.

            For sure this is but ‘niche’ but it seems to be a growing one.

          • PS: For critical tasks I am with Uli – a digital workflow is safer, as you notice problems on assignment in time to remedy them – whereas I almost botched a wedding series in the 1990ies because the lab used managed to destroy several of the medium format films in processing… luckily I had shot some back-ups with a Leica M4p.

          • I’m heading out to Australia in December with a Leica M kit and Film. My digital stuff is staying at home. So it sure is surprising to me that you THINK film days are over. I also live in Japan which has some of the most advanced tech in the world and there are probably more people here shooting film than anywhere else in the world, and in the large music stores in Tokyo Vinyl LP’s (of some of the latest albums, not oldies) are making a comeback.I myself was surprised to see that, but it’s true.Digital music is compressed and does not have the dynamic range or tonality of an analog recording.But you need to have good ears to hear the difference. If your eyes are good you can see differences in film and digital images. Sunsets still look terrible with halo effects around the sun on almost all the digital photographs i’ve seen. Film beats it hands down because the image goes straight through the lens and onto the film with no processing in between. And a good meal cooked by mom still tastes better than something from the microwave!

    • I haven’t lost a card in an M, but I’ve had horrible luck with Riadata cards in my 5D (classic). I always got the images back via Image Rescue… but they died one at a time on a trek in Nepal. I slowly started to lose cards in the rotation. But for a wedding, I suppose you could always quarantine the card until image rescue and keep shooting with a new card.

47. YES!!! Wedding photography that is simply a joy to look at. I don’t regret getting rid of my dslr’s for wedding work for a second.

    • Thanks mate, there’s definitely quirks to the rangefinder system but the experience is so dauntingly refreshing I’m not heading back to DSLR. Especially the weight!

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