Best system for wedding and engagements

There are about a million threads here recommending hardware, inc duplicate backup equipment, look thru the archived threads here, have fun reading till your eyes are glazed over. :)

Also go to a store and try the cameras for size and handling, menu usage, etc. That is even more important than which brand you settle on. Don't forget you are going to be hauling that machine around for hours at a time.

Oh, to answer the question in the title,

The one that you like handling the best.

Not so fast... Not so easy... The best camera body for you is "the one that you like handling the best" (thanks, Bob). I'll add--the one that produces the files you like the best. I'd recommend renting the D700 and then the 5DII, using them for a week each, examining the resulting images, and then deciding.

Great photographers produce great work, in spite of the little annoyances present in just about any camera. They learn to deal with and overcome them.

Other than that, a wide-tele mid range, f2.8 zoom. Plus the 85mm f1.8 of the brand you decide upon. Build and/or upgrade from there. If you buy new, that total, with the body, will eclipse your budget. If you buy used, and/or wisely, you may be able to swing them all.

Canon, Nikon, both are more than capable. Pick whichever suits you best. The standard wedding kit includes a 24-70mm f/2.8 and a 70-200mm f/2.8 IS or VR. Throw in a good prime like a 35mm, 50mm, or 85mm; any or all, and you're on your way. Flash is a must, and a wide zoom such as a 16-35mm f/2.8 (or whatever Nikon's comparable lens is) may come in handy too. Full frame isn't a must, but the larger sensors handle noise better, which is a big deal for weddings. I shoot a 1D IV and choose it over a 1DS III because it has a higher native ISO and handles noise just as well if not better than the 1DS III despite having a smaller sensor. After you get all that you'll need back ups in case a lens or body malfunctions. However, buying all this won't qualify you as a wedding photographer, you not only have to know how to handle the equipment, but the people as well. It is a process and I understand you won't get all this overnight (or maybe you will), but this is something to strive for. I would work on getting faster zoom lenses for now and by the time you're in the market for a body, one of the newer one's with superb noise control may be more affordable.

Beth, bob's advice is good. How it feels in your hand is very important. Since you've been shooting on the xsi the canon will probably feel better just due to sheer familiarity. I won't get into the debate of canon v Nikon v Sony v Pentax v etc. any pro grade body at this point is great frankly. The flash system you are referring to I think is the Nikon cls, and some of their bodies can slave the off camera flashes. For small scale studio work and portrait work this may be sufficient. For weddings though both the canon infrared system and the Nikon cls system I find to be insufficient. They Are line-of-sight systems that are limited to about 33 ft and a limited angle and there needs to be a clean line of sight between the transmitter and flash, so a rogue column or tall guest can wreck you. Picking a system on the basis of that functionality would not be the factor I would concentrate on most.

The benefit I see of you going with a canon system (total disclaimer I am a canon girl back from film days) is that you have the xsi already, which for the time being could serve as your back up body. If you go Nikon, you need to have two bodies, so you'll be buying a second or renting a second until you can afford to buy a second Nikon body. Yes you in theory could have the xsi still as your back up but then you have to bring two different sets of lenses with you and that is just silly. If you do go with canon, just keep in mind so many of us are dying for an announcement of the 5dmkIII or whatever they choose to call their next iteration of it. I'd hate to have you go out and buy the 5dmkii and two weeks later they come out with the new model, but I suppose that new model will cost more and the 5dmkii still rocks my world and people still shoot with the original 5d with fab results.

So if I had 4g to spend I would get the 5dmkii body, 50 1.4, 580exii, pocket wizards flex 5 and mini tt1 for off camera flash use, 64gb of cf cards, Lightroom if you don't already have it, and tripod if you don't already have one. If you feel the need to have more lenses at first get yourself a 7d body still get the 501.4 and get the 17-55 2.8 efs lens people on here tend to rave about. Rent a longer telephoto as needed until you can afford to buy one. See if you can sell your old kit lenses for enough to buy another lens. Keep in mind they are likely efs lenses that would not work on the 5d but would work on the 7d.

I'd wait a few months if you can. Usually around April new "Stuff," arrives. For example the Canon 100 to 400 is several years old. It works well, but it has that push-pull lens. I'd rather see the lens turn left or right. Who knows if this will happen. They probably won't change a thing regarding that lens, but they surely will be updating new cameras.

Also keep an eye out for those still video cameras. They are already out, but have a crude design. This surely will get better in the near future. More than the camera setups I'm into good off camera lighting. Check out Alien Bees and White Lightning. Some of these lights come with built in radio slaves. Kind of cool. It's actually the same company, different divisions. Often they have complete setups on sale. Also radio slaves, like hte pocket wizards, there are a lot of them now. For portraits I'm using Green Screens. You can go on the Ebay and buy around 300 to 400 DVD backdrops. Most of them you won't ever use, but there are some really nice ones. I think the cost is only around $20.

You also have to take a close look at software and computer power for editing. With XP I had a few crashes with RAW files. I've been using windows 7 with the I-7 processor and 16 gb's of ram, for 2 years now. No more crashes. I'm able to load all of my raw wedding images without any crashes. Thats so nice.

So if I had 4g to spend I would get the 5dmkii body, 50 1.4, 580exii, pocket wizards flex 5 and mini tt1 for off camera flash use, 64gb of cf cards, Lightroom if you don't already have it, and tripod if you don't already have one.

And this would be why you shouldn't listen to everything posted on forums... Vail (who's advice is usually sane) has just spent $3850+ of your $4000, and doesn't even have a fast zoom, nor a backup, nor a spare battery, nor a backup flash... With $150 left, you can't even rent what you'd need to actually shoot a wedding, much less buy AAs to put in the 580EXII.

Personally, aside from the Nikon/Canon thing (stick w/ the one you know how to use fast and well!), I'd advise you forget about new eqp. and 'pro' lenses. Not if you want to turn 4K into shooting weddings. Rentals are a losing proposition (aka a perpetual drain if done regularly - can you afford 10% of your revenue to go straight out the door?), and so is blowing your bank account on new eqp. You can't afford it.
So what can you afford?
A couple of 5D(1)s, a Tamron 28-75/2.8 & Sigma/Tamron 70-200/2.8, & maybe a 50/1.8 and flashes plus the required accesories (batts, CF cards, tripod, monopod, etc.) if you want to go FF
...OR... , a refurbed 7D + a 40D (used of course) w/ a Tamron 17-50/2.8 + a 3rd party 70-200/2.8, a 50/1.8 & 35/2 (for near normal) + flashes & accesories (see above)

Either of those kits could be had for ~4k, and that assumes you do things like forget about the shiny new 580EX2, but go for the scratched up 580EX (plus a 3rd party bounce&swivel ETTL unit) instead. Instead of 'rebates' look for used eqp 'deals'

Best of luck, and don't forget marketing - it's gotta come out of the startup capital also.

BTW, Vail is right about LR. It's worth more (even the $99 educational license ;-) ) to a wedding shooter than a 24-70/2.8L any day of the week.

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60D/7D, 24-70L or 17-55 IS, 85 f/1.8, 580EX.......very basic kit...

Like a number of others here, I started off shooting weddings with a film SLR, then slowly migrated to a dSLR - Canon XTim - which I still use today.

I too was surprised at Vail's recommendations for expensive off-cam flash setups and memory cards. I would propose Paul Buff's Cybersync wireless system (for your portrait business). They are reasonably priced and, in my experience, extremely reliable.

I can tell you that gear is a very small part of the equation. You could go and blow 4 grand on the latest and greatest and your new images may still not hold a candle to those taken with your current setup (which by the way you have not specified). On several occasions, I have taken casual photos at friends' weddings (as a guest where I always have just my 50 f/1.8) and the couple ends up wanting to frame mine over the hired pro's images.

I agree with Marcus' suggestion: I would rather you get a reasonably-priced, capable body (5D1 is a good example), or maybe a factory-refurbished 5D2 body + Tamron's 28-75 (which I currently use), a decent flash, spare batteries, sufficient memory cards and Lightroom 3. After that, very importantly, develop and hone your style. That should then help decide what you get next. The setup I have proposed should come in well under your 4k budget.

You would also do well to invest in learning the business side of things. Most businesses fail on that premise. You may be a great photographer but a poor businessperson. I for one, have my wife handle all my business transactions, pricing, etc. because she has great business sense. I stick to the imagery ;-)

Finally, as has been said, please search the threads here. This topic is discussed so often. There is a treasure trove of information. You would do well to start here: http://photo.net/learn/wedding/