Brides Magazine: “only choose photographers with ‘full format’ Nikon or Canon cameras”
Dec 28, 2016
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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Brides Magazine is all about weddings, yet they don’t really seem to like wedding photographers. After they advised the brides not to feed their photographers, now they have another “ingenious” piece of advice. They say you should hire a professional photographer, but they consider pros only those who use Nikon or Canon. And only full frame cameras come into consideration!
Earlier this year, Vogue shocked us by advising couples not to hire wedding photographers. But Brides Magazine also seems to be taking the bread out of photographers’ mouth, in their own way. Both figuratively and literally.
In their article “Essential Questions You Need to Ask Your Wedding Photographer”, they give a set of, well, essential questions for you to ask. I won’t discuss if all of the questions are actually essential, but there is one suggested answer so wrong that it hurts.
According to a wedding photographer Tiffani Matsuura, you need to ask the photographer what kind of equipment they use. And the answer they’re supposed to give you is “either Cannon or Nikon”:
What kind of equipment do you use?
“They should say either Cannon or Nikon, which are the most readily available professional cameras available,” says Tiffani. “However, there are professional and amateur cameras in both brands. A professional camera should be a ‘full format’ camera. This will ensure that you can print large-scale prints easily.”
I don’t know where to start. First of all, I really wouldn’t like anyone to shoot from Cannon on my wedding day. In some countries, people shoot from guns on weddings, but I think cannon would be a bit over the top.
Second, using only Canon or Nikon means you are a professional? All of you who use Sony, Fujifilm, Olympus… Sorry, not only you won’t get fed at a wedding, it seems you shouldn’t be hired either.
Thirdly, you should only hire photographers with “full format” cameras because of prints? Are you printing a billboard?
And last but not least, there are some other camera types as well. Tiffani mentions film cameras in the article, but where are the mirrorless ones? There are many photographers who have switched to mirrorless and they’re doing a wonderful job. Remember Kevin Mullins? You want to say he’s not a professional?
I’m very surprised this kind of “advice” comes from someone who is in photography business. I suppose she uses a full frame Nikon or “Cannon”, but I don’t know if she’s aware that it’s not what makes her a professional. Being a professional is so much more than that!
[via FStoppers]
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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35 responses to “Brides Magazine: “only choose photographers with ‘full format’ Nikon or Canon cameras””
I would be far more interested in the contents of their portfolio than their camera body.
Looks like they’ve changed the article now. But still advising we should be using the most readily available professional camera. Obviously the most readily available camera is the one in my camera bag. Fecking numpties.
They tried to tone it down a bit, and made it even worse. :)
Choose a photographer because you like their portfolio. It doesn’t matter which brand camera they use or if they shoot digital or analog. It’s their style that matters not the equipment they use. Sure a full frame camera has more resolution but my Hasselblad 500 C/M has more resolution than any full frame DSLR today on the market.
A full frame camera doesn’t necessarily have more resolution. There are 16 and 20 mp full frames. There are lots of aps-c cameras with 24 mp resolution.
my thoughts EXACTLY!! do these writers who are giving so much advice even know anything about photography?
Rhetorical question this?
I’m quite sure that top end digi cams now have the same dynamic range, or more than most film stocks.
Absolutely
I love my Olympus mirrorless for weddings it has a true silent mode so no loud “CLICK CLICK” during intimate moments. My full frame is my second backup. I leave it in my trunk, it’s too damn heavy.
I was about to say, “Well let’s just nuke all the Micro Four Thirds photographers right NOW!” What is WRONG with these magazines? And do real brides actually read and believe this sort of crappy non-information?
stupid idea
When will people learn the equipment doesn’t make the photographer!? It’s all about the final product. They need to be concerned with the portfolio, not the equipment.
Those terrible Hasselblads and Leicas can just ruin a wedding.
you hire photographers because their portfolio match what you’d be expecting as results, not because of camera brand, maybe that’s going to be a soon to crash magazine if they don’t change their vision soon
I believe the intent in the article was to instil a respect for hiring professional photographers rather then Uncle Bill with his point and shoot…
What if uncle Bill has a Hasselblad X1D or Fuji GFX 50S?
Uncle Bill can still be a moron as far as shooting wedding photos is concerned. The general public has generally no clue what it takes to produce professional wedding photos.
Sure. Throw that guy with a $100,000 Hasselblad set-up out the door.
Their reasoning is totally wrong, but there is an argument for this over other brands, dual card slots. No reshoots at a wedding if a card fails.
The Fuji x-t2 has dual card slots… and I’m sure there are others as well.
Oh I didn’t realise they’d added that. A good start.
Of course, the next time I fly, I will make sure I ask the pilot what kind of motor are on the plane. I would not want to get on a sub-par machine… nevermind that I don’t know anything about planes. It should not stop me from making a judgement about wether or not a plane is fit to fly.
Exactly, why is photography that one trade where people give all the credit to the gear. Well… not the only trade, people still tell me how good my mics sound when I record music lol
So if I’m a product photographer with zero people skills but own a full frame Canon/Nikon then I qualify?
Or a noob who just decided to go all out on an expensive full frame. It’s happens.
BULLSHIT!!!
The reference magazine article seems stuck between analogue and digital cameras for weddings. I know why the advice is given but its still incorrect or missing some real world facts making the advice just plain wrong (if not stupid).
First, I am a nikon shooter but I love canon products as well. So the nikon/canon war doesn’t exist in my head. Second, don’t be so surprised at their opinion when they tell their readers to get shot with a cannon rather than being photographed with a Canon.
As for the Vogue magazine fiasco….My wife had a subscription to vogue that I would page through and check out the shots etc. I’m not surprised there either, most of the magazine looks like it was shot on a cell phone in low light and printed with an old inkjet printer in “quick print” mode. I use to think it was mostly the print quality but check out their instagram, they don’t care how things look. As an added side note, it’s hilarious that a bridal magazine thinks “full format” is the only way you can get large prints. They really should have consulted with a professional for that article. It’s kind of like if I, a male photographer, wrote about feminine care products as if I was an authority. They need a fact checker or they will be ridiculed. The sad part is, I wonder how many brides are blasting through wedding photographer rejections because of that article.
There are exceptions to every rule but the majority of truely great professional wedding photographers either use Canon or Nikon full frame cameras. There are some that are either trying to be unique or are early adopters that are using other gear for various reasons. There are many others that try to justify their small investment in their craft with using less expensive gear. A great photographer does not need expensive gear but in general great photographers own and use expensive gear because they want the very best possible results and they are invested in their craft. There are other company’s that make good gear but Canon and Nikon are still the gold standard in the industry. This article seems like good advise for the majority of people shopping for a good wedding photog they can rely on. It’s not a sure fire solution to getting perfect wedding pictures and other factors need to be considered but it will definitely help to weed out some of the less competent operators.
I can serve them well :D
I will bring a nikon and a canon film body which is fullframe already and take a roll with each. Then i can use my trusty Pentax to take the rest of the real pictures. :D
Sounds like you’re really “old school” if you’ll “shoot a roll with each”. Just kidding.
Has anyone seen a wedding album the size of a six seater dining table?I strongly feel that in these days of excellent photos being pulled out of 4k video footages shot at some 12k ISO, hand held…This discussion is redundant.
And here is new panasonic that beats them all. Nikon user myself and i just moved to a fullframe. Also this statement is even worse in Russia.Most people in here thinks only Canon 5d2 (now 5d3 / 5d4) is professional and the rest is crap and Nikon is not professional at all. oh well
When I shoot weddings, I use a Full Medium Frame Cannon Format. No wait, it’s a Crop Film Nikon. :)