Shooting a wedding with point and shoot camera?

Question

My gear:

Canon PowerShot A590IS

Slave flash unit with bracket (will buy...any recommendations?)

several pairs of rechargeable NiMH AA batteries

several memory cards (8 GB capacity each)

Is this good or bad? What's your advice? I won't be buying a DSLR since I prefer p&s.

Answer 1

Well, except that shutter lag is going to make you miss many  good photos.

Are you doing this professionally? At best, it's going to look really silly taking photos at a wedding with a P&S. People paying you aren't really going to see the value. They'll be thinking "Well I can do that, what am I paying him so much for."  

Answer 2

It seems as if you are not really looking for opinions... cause you are getting pretty defensive... but since you put it out there... I would never shoot any ones wedding with a point and shoot camera, even a family member who tells me they don't care, even if I'm not getting paid, I would still shoot with a DSLR.  I don't know a single thing that would make the P&S a better choice then the DSLR. It makes no sense.  But I wish you luck with the wedding.  Hope you have a blast! =)

Answer 3

I guess you are not charging the standard fee of $2000 plus photos?

Is this your first wedding gig?  Have you ever assisted a wedding photographer?

Just the fact you prefer a P&S tells us a lot ... no professional photographer lets the camera decide the exposure, that is why they use 35 mm SLR's, medium format SLR's or now DSLR's ...

That is also why the have the credentials earned by attending school and spending years and years gaining the experience necessary to use a "professional" level camera, day in and day out providing perfectly composed and exposed images on demand.

What you are attempting to do is an injustice not just to the bride and groom, but to the pros who are supporting their families as wedding photographers.

What can I say?

Answer 4

Well, i guess it would work. Although most point and shoot cameras are c**p by nature, i don't think A590IS is. It has a lot of resolution, and quality. However, it still won't be as good as a digital SLR. i have a Canon powershot S3IS camera, and i would never take a wedding with it, here's a link of what the camera looks like:

http://images.google.bs/imgres?imgurl=ht...

I have a digital SLR and i would use that primarily for sure, I wouldn't dream of using the point and shoot camera. However, the A590 has more resolution, and is more up to date, You'll get some nice shots, however, they won't be as good as SLR shots. If you're going to do weddings, you really should use a digital SLR camera, you'd be taken more seriously. However, you'd still get some really nice quality shots.

Answer 5

I would always be very careful about taking a wedding, family or otherwise, casual or otherwise. If you make a mess of it, then you are going to be in trouble. Wedding photography is very difficult, whether you are using a Hassleblad or point and shoot andis best left to those who know what they are doing.

Answer 6

I have a question for you...

Why don't you want a DSLR, they work basically the same as digital point and shoot cameras but produce better quality pictures.

Answer 7

I know its the photographer that makes the photos, not the camera, but if I hired you and you showed up at my wedding with a point and shoot, I wouldn't take you too seriously (actually, I would be quite angry).  Point and shoots have some problems that DSLR's (generally) don't.  The main problems that I see are ISO and red fringing.  While red fringing can be fixed by making the aperture smaller, noise from high ISO's can't really be fixed.  If you want high quality pictures using a p&s in a low light condition, you probably are not going to get very good pictures.  You can fix the camera to a tripod, but you will still get a lot of motion blur.  I have a Canon Powershot S3 IS that is a great camera, but I never use any ISO larger than 200.

edit:

If you are the extra photographer like you said, then go ahead and have fun.  It will be a neat experience.

Answer 8

My dear, my dear... whoever you are shooting for should really consider hiring a professional... sure, you can bring your camera, but having a professional shoot their wedding day is something they will never regret... they will, however, regret not hiring a professional. Now, I know professionals are expensive... but it really is worth it.

Answer 9

To me it looks as you 'ask and answer' your own question since you have already decided in using the PS A590IS.

Since this is what you want to do then I think is a great idea and wont have to spend any extra money buying a DSLR

Answer 10

Becaus ethis could be you...

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

and just wait to see what happens using a slaved flash at a wedding!