When I’m photographing a wedding, I’m using the equipment I own that gives me the best quality images–e.g., my Canon 1-series DSLR + an “L” zoom lens or my prime lenses. Same with my portrait sessions. (Clients like to see that you are using expensive camera equipment when they’re paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for your services; it probably shouldn’t be that way; but, believe me, it truly makes a difference to some clients.)

But prime lenses and the best quality zoom lenses cover limited focal lengths; there’s always a trade-off between optical image quality and the range of focal lengths a zoom lens covers. Normally a prime lens–which only covers one fixed focal length–provides the epitome of image quality but the least flexibility in terms of focal length range. And professional quality zoom lenses–like the 24-70 f/2.8 and 70-200 f/2.8 IS–extend focal length flexibility with a slight, but usually acceptable, drop in image quality. However, any one of these high-quality professional zoom lenses necessarily leave out a large part of the focal length range photographers commonly like to cover–e.g., 24-300mm.

Whenever I am covering a wedding (or other event) or photographing a portrait session, fleeting moments appear in front of me that I may not be able to capture well with the focal length or lengths available to me with the lens currently on my camera, and there often isn’t time to change my lens before the moment has passed. Also, there is occasionally a need for some flash lighting that may or may not be available on my camera at that moment.

So, what do you do to insure that you are “ready for anything”?

First, I try to use a lens on my primary DSLR that can capture 80% or more of the types of images I’m trying to capture during any particular stretch of the session or event. A prime lens may suit this purpose (e.g., a large max aperture prime lens when low lighting is an issue), or a high-quality professional zoom lens might be the way to go.

What about those other 20% (or so) unexpected shots? I like to have a relatively small DSLR with a prime or zoom lens (the lens should be relatively small & light as well) on my hip, and this lens should cover a portion of the 24-300mm range not being covered by the lens on my primary camera.

Now, I’ve photographed many weddings and portrait sessions with two large DSLRs hanging on me (e.g., a 1-series and a 5D with grip) and trying to capture roughly equal numbers of photos with each camera. It’s a pain in the butt in many ways. Two large cameras weigh a lot and they can get tangled up–even when you start using some of these innovations now available to get one or both of the cameras off of your neck (I’ve experimented with some of them); also it’s amazing how easy the camera you’re not currently using can get bumped and the settings messed up such that its not available for that quick shot! The standard configuration here is having two cameras (with the same or similar crop factor), one with a 24-70mm lens and the other with a 70-200mm lens.

I have found that relying on one main camera + lens for 80% or more of your shots (during any particular stretch of an event or session) truly simplifies things and makes it easier to focus and enjoy doing the photography: less weight, less time switching back-and-forth between cameras. And if the second camera is one of the smaller, less expensive DSLRs, they come with a built-in flash just in case you need it; this is *much* more portable than having one of the professional DSLRs that require an attached flash unit.

I just photographed a fashion show this past weekend. My primary camera + lens was a Canon 1D with a 70-200 f/2.8 lens, which covered more than 90% of the shots I wanted to get. However, at my side I had my good old Canon 20D with a 28mm f/1.8  lens to grab any wide angle shots that might appear before me on short notice. This combination worked great!

The actual combination of lenses you’ll want to use will depend on the event, and may even change during the course of a particular event–e.g., for a wedding, I normally use different lenses for the “getting ready” photos than I use for the ceremony photos. For outdoor portrait sessions, I’m finding that a 24-105 lens on a 1.3 crop factor Canon 1-series DSLR works well for more than 80% of the photos; match that with a telephoto zoom on a small DSLR (e.g., 100-300 mm) and you’ll also be able to zoom in for some close-up shots from a comfortable (for both you and the subject) distance.

So, if you photograph event and/or portrait sessions and you don’t want to buy or carry around two large and expensive DSLR cameras–or spend the time and experience the hassle of regularly switching back-and-forth between them–then consider buying and using one expensive “primary” camera and lens. Supplement it with a cheaper and smaller camera + lens “safety net” at your hip that can fill in all or part of the critical focal range you’ve necessarily had to leave out to maintain the single, high-quality camera and lens configuration, and you’ll be “ready for anything”…:-).

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