Hi,
I shoot weddings and portraits and from past couple of years have been going well. At the moment I have D700 & D800. I am looking to retire my D700. I was wondering should I go for D5 (do have a budget for this) or D810 or D750 and save money to get some lighting gear like Phottix Indra500 and not sure which one and best in all around performance. Any advice will be helpful.
Thank you.
The best advice - speaking as someone who has run businesses rather a wedding expert - is to decide for yourself. Sorry: it's a business decision not one based on photography. What you have to ask is which choice will get you the best return on your investment. That requires knowledge of your local market - where you get sales, who your competition is, how you get jobs instead of them, what opportunities are there for higher priced work if you had Thing X, etc.
So for each piece of gear, work out how much money it will reasonably make for you compared to the cost of purchase. Then buy the one that works out best financially.
(My bet would be on the D750 being the best buy and then your spending some time trying to get editorial publications and make better links with wedding planners, florists, dress sellers, etc. Eg some first class shoots with hired models in collaboration with the best dress seller to partner with, get that shot published, and pay for a huge print with your name on to go on the dress shop's wall... But that's just general business sense and someone who really knows the wedding biz may know better.)
I shot wedding for years with a 800. I was also hesitating between the 810 and 750 and at the end I choose the 750 (mainly because of the price). But to be honest, there are only 2 things I really don't like in the d750 (the missing function buttons on the top and the 1/4000) but that's it. Great camera, my assistant is using a d810, both of them great cameras.
That's what I am wondering and might go with D810 probably. Will rent both cameras though to use them and compare them side by side. Thank you.
I used to use D700 as well, then upgraded to D3s, and this year I bought a D750. I must say that I like the pictures from the D3s more, at ISO speeds of ISO 1000 or more. At lower ISO values, the D750 seems nicer. The AF and FPS of the D3s is ideal for weddings. I get more in-focus shots of rice throwing pictures with my D3s than with my D750... have you considered D3s or maybe D4s ?
I would say, that if you can afford a D5, and tend to photograph in low light, it would be a nice bet...