Shooting Weddings In Low Light

I recently shot a wedding using my "little" Nikon D40 and D40X.  Shooting in low-light is the challenge that a lot of photographers enjoy conquering.  The wedding was held in a restaurant lit only by small incandescent lights in the ceiling.  To make matters worse, they closed the curtains so we lost the majority of natural light.

I knew that my partner and I would have a tough time with the available light.  He was using a Nikon D300 and a Nikon D700.  Both cameras are better than the D40 in low-light.  The D700 is actually one of best available to photographers currently.  It's very capable at ISO 3200 - producing fairly clean images.  The D300 holds its own as well, but not as good as the D700.  Either way, both are far more capable of capturing noise-free images than my D40.  I've been wanting to upgrade, and since the wedding, I'm now convinced that I should.

As far as lenses, I was using the Nikon 17-55 f2.8 on the D40 (I rented it from Borrowlenses.com), and my Sigma 70-200 f2.8 on the D40X.  I would have rented the Nikon 85/1.4, but it doesn't focus on my D40.  Next time, when I have a capable camera (one with a focusing motor), I'll go that route. I could have used the extra light, and simply "zoomed with my feet".  My partner had the same 17-55/2.8 on the D300, and the Nikon 80-200/2.8 on the D700.

Overall, I was happy with the shots taken with my D40.  It just goes to show - it's not the gear that's important...it's the skill of the photographer to get the most out of the gear.  Although I had the skill to eek out every bit of light from the situation, I could have done a lot better with a camera with better ISO performance.   I'm now in the process of buying a Nikon D300s since it's within my budget.  I'd like the D700, but I would have to get new lenses which I can't afford right now.  Oh well, maybe next year...

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