Every few months a second shooter, or a cousin who just got engaged and bought a camera, asks me what equipment you need for wedding photography. They want a shopping list. What I give them instead is the honest version: two camera bodies, four lenses, two lights, and about $900 worth of boring accessories that nobody posts on Instagram. That is the kit that has carried me through 17 years of Los Angeles weddings, and I can tell you exactly why each piece is in the bag.

I shoot both photo and film at ConneryFilm, so my cases are heavier than most. But the photography half of it is what I am unpacking here.

The blunt answer first

A working wedding photographer in Los Angeles needs: two full-frame bodies with dual card slots, a 35mm and an 85mm prime, a 24-70mm f/2.8, a 70-200mm f/2.8, two speedlights with radio triggers, one light stand with a shoot-through umbrella, roughly 256GB of fast cards, four spare batteries, and a way to back up the day before you drive home. Everything after that is preference.

Honestly, I think most people buy this list in exactly the wrong order. They spend $3,400 on the newest body and $600 on a kit zoom, then wonder why the reception photos look muddy. The body is the fifth most important thing in that list. Glass and light beat sensors every single time, which is the same argument I make about timing and light mattering more than gear.

Two bodies, and the second one is not sitting in the car

I shoot with two bodies on a dual harness all day. Not because one might fail — although in 2019 a shutter died on me at 4:40 PM at a Calamigos Ranch reception, twenty minutes before first dance — but because swapping lenses during a ceremony is how you miss the ring exchange. One body wears the 35mm, the other wears the 85mm. I turn my shoulders instead of unscrewing glass.

Dual card slots are not optional. I will be blunt: if a photographer shows up to your wedding with a single-slot camera, they are gambling with the one thing in your day that cannot be reshot. Cards fail rarely. Rarely is not never, and I have watched a colleague lose a getting-ready sequence to a corrupt SD card that had worked fine for two years. Every frame I take writes to two cards at once.

Brand matters far less than couples expect. I have shot Canon and Sony bodies side by side on the same day and nobody — not one couple, not one planner — has ever picked the difference out of a gallery. If you want the long version of that argument I wrote it out in my take on which camera is actually best for weddings.

Four lenses cover 95 percent of an LA wedding

  • 35mm f/1.4 — my most-used lens by a wide margin. Wide enough to hold a room, close enough to stay intimate. Getting-ready shots in a cramped Downtown hotel suite live or die on this lens.
  • 85mm f/1.4 — portraits, ceremony reactions from the back, the parents crying in row two. At f/1.8 it turns a parking lot behind the ceremony into a wash of color.
  • 24-70mm f/2.8 — the workhorse for receptions, toasts, and anything where I cannot move my feet. When a venue coordinator plants me on a specific mark at Vibiana, this is what saves me.
  • 70-200mm f/2.8 — ceremonies where I am not allowed near the altar, which in Los Angeles means most churches. Also the lens that makes Malibu bluffs compress into something that looks like a magazine spread.

That is the whole working set. I own a 135mm and a macro for ring shots, and they come out maybe three times a season. Most photographers won't say this, but a fifth and sixth lens is usually a hobby purchase dressed up as a business expense.

Light is the line item everyone underbuys

Los Angeles gives you gorgeous light for about 25 minutes a day and then takes it away. Golden hour at a Malibu beach wedding in June ends around 8:10 PM and the ceremony often starts at 5:30 PM under flat, hot, overhead sun. Meanwhile, half the receptions I shoot happen in ballrooms lit like a steakhouse, with DJ uplighting turning everyone magenta.

So: two speedlights, radio triggers, one light stand, one shoot-through umbrella, and a pack of gels. Total cost around $1,400. It is the cheapest part of the kit and the part that decides whether your reception photos look like memories or like a phone camera at a birthday party. I go deeper on this in my notes on bringing your own light indoors.

One speedlight goes on-camera, bounced off a ceiling when there is one to bounce off. The second goes on a stand behind the dance floor, gelled to match the room, firing back through the crowd. That single off-camera light is why dancing photos have edges and separation instead of looking flat.

The boring gear that actually saves weddings

  • Batteries. Four spares minimum per body. A 10-hour day in mirrorless eats them.
  • Cards. I carry 8 to 10 cards and never fill one past about 70 percent before swapping. A 10-hour wedding puts me around 4,000 frames, which I wrote about in what I shoot versus what you receive.
  • A dual harness. Two bodies on one shoulder for ten hours will wreck your back by 35.
  • A laptop and two portable SSDs. I back up in the car before I drive home. Not the next morning. That night.
  • Black shoes you can stand in for twelve hours, and a black outfit. Sounds trivial. It is not.
  • A small LED panel. For dark exits, sparkler shots, and any moment where a flash would look wrong.

What all of this actually costs

Bought new, the kit I described runs roughly $11,000 to $13,000 in 2026 — call it $6,500 for two bodies, $5,000 for four fast lenses, $1,400 for lighting, and $800 for cards, batteries, bags and drives. Used, you can assemble something genuinely professional for $5,500 to $7,000, and I would not be able to tell from the gallery.

If someone handed me $4,000 tomorrow and told me to start over, here is what I would buy: one used full-frame body with dual slots ($1,400), a 35mm f/1.8 and an 85mm f/1.8 ($1,100 for the pair), a used 70-200mm f/4 ($700), one speedlight with a trigger and stand ($450), and $350 of cards, batteries and a drive. Then I would second-shoot twenty weddings before charging anyone full price. Gear was never the bottleneck.

If you are a couple reading this, here is what to ask

You do not need to know lens names. You need to know four things: does the photographer shoot with two bodies, do those bodies have two card slots each, do they carry off-camera lighting for the reception, and do they back up the same night. A photographer who answers those four confidently has thought about failure. One who talks only about the brand of camera has not.

The other question worth asking is whether your photo and video teams have coordinated. When they are separate vendors, you get two people negotiating the same three feet of aisle. We run photography and cinematography as one team out of one studio precisely so that does not happen — the photographer and the filmmaker know where the other one is standing during the vows, because they planned it over coffee on Thursday.

Questions I get asked about wedding photography gear

Do I need a full-frame camera to shoot weddings?

No, but it makes dim receptions much easier. A crop-sensor body at ISO 6400 in a dark Pasadena ballroom will look noticeably rougher than full-frame at the same setting. If budget forces the choice, spend on fast glass first and accept the crop body.

How many lenses should a wedding photographer bring?

Four in the bag, two on the bodies at any moment. More than five and you start making decisions instead of taking pictures.

Is a drone part of standard wedding equipment?

Not for photography. It is a specialty item that needs a Part 107 license and venue permission, and most LA venues near flight paths say no. It is also rarely worth the line item for film, which I explain in why you probably don't need a drone.

What settings do you actually shoot at?

Most of my day sits around f/2 at 1/250 with auto ISO capped, adjusted constantly. I broke the whole approach down in my post on the settings I use at LA weddings.

Should a couple ever supply equipment?

Never. If a photographer asks you to rent or provide anything, that is a serious red flag about their insurance, their finances, or both.

How much backup gear is enough?

Enough that any single failure costs you nothing. Two bodies, duplicate cards, spare batteries, a second flash. If losing one item would end the day, it is not backed up.

If you are planning a Los Angeles wedding and you want a team that shows up with the right gear, the right plan, and photography and film under one roof, I would genuinely love to hear about your day. Call or text 818.749.7039, or come see the work at ConneryFilm.com — a fifteen-minute conversation will tell you more than any equipment list ever could.

Meet the Author: Connery Davoodian Hello, I'm Connery Davoodian, the visionary behind ConneryFilm, and I'm thrilled to share insights from my 17-year journey through the world of wedding photography and videography. My passion extends beyond simply capturing images; it's about artfully weaving your unique love story into a timeless, cinematic masterpiece. My artistic path began long before I ever picked up a camera, deeply rooted in music as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. This diverse background in directing, producing, and editing has cultivated a unique perspective, allowing me to approach each wedding not just as an event, but as a dynamic narrative waiting to be beautifully told. This blend of technical mastery and creative storytelling is the heartbeat of ConneryFilm, ensuring that every frame, every shot, and every film is infused with depth, emotion, and unparalleled artistic integrity. At ConneryFilm, we believe your wedding memories deserve nothing less than bespoke luxury. My philosophy centers on capturing the authentic, unscripted moments – the genuine smiles, the tender glances, the joyful laughter – that truly define your day. While we obsess over exquisite details and sophisticated aesthetics, our true joy comes from making you feel completely at ease, like a "friendor" who genuinely celebrates alongside you. This calm, organized presence allows your true personalities to shine, resulting in images and films that are as real and vibrant as your love itself. Based in the heart of Los Angeles, California, my team and I are privileged to serve couples across the globe, bringing our signature high-end wedding photography and videography to destination weddings worldwide. Through these blog posts, I aim to share invaluable insights, luxurious inspiration, and practical, fun advice to guide you through your wedding planning journey, helping you make informed decisions about preserving your most cherished moments. Thank you for trusting ConneryFilm to be a part of your extraordinary adventure. I'm excited to share my knowledge and passion with you, helping you create memories that will last forever.