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Xpro 1 will potentially give the much nicer photos than the 450D. The 35mm F1.4 is a gem of a lens but a little narrow. That makes it 53mm in 35mm equivalent size.
With my XE1 I shoot this way. I set camera to shutter priority ode (S mode - check the manual) and shutter speed high - like 1/500th to 1/1000th outdoors sunny. Then I set the aperture to suit the depth of field I want - ie. how much in the image is going to be in focus - shallow are or a large amount? Stopping down reduces the depth of field and opening up makes it shallower. Then I set ISO to auto and let the camera pick it.
Indoors I use 1/250th to 1/320th of a sec and same as above. Works very well and most of my shots are dead sharp. With the 18-55 zoom its F2.8 and has optical stabilisation so you could go lower in shutter speed but I would be careful there. ISO 3200 is clean on XPro 1. ISO 6400 will start to be a tad noisy but useable. That zoom is better than most primes from other brands.
So ideally I would use that Fuji 18-55mm F2.8 zoom with image stabilisation. That is 27mm to 83mm. I found with 95% of my images that was the range I needed.
There is now a 23mm F1.4 prime which would be good for the wider group shots and general shooting but it may be a bit wide for the protrait type shots you will be doing. You don't want to be changing lenses all night either or fumbling around.
One that is about to hit the shelves is the 56mm F1.2. This is a dream portrait lens with amazing smooth background blur. As you probably know Fuji makes incredible lenses only 2nd to Zeiss (and not always).
Indoors at the dinner you will want to crank up the ISO to retain decent shots. Make sure the exposure preview is on so WYSIWYG in the electronic viewfinder. This is an awesome feature because you see what you the picture is going to look like before you even click the shutter and can adjust it.
I would also suggest you start practising on the type of shot you will be doing on the day so you are not fumbling with settings. That's why I like the settings above - no fumble and one or two dials shifted and bang you are ready to go.
XPro 1 autofocus will not be good for moving objects so it will be hard to capture a running child for example if they are coming towards or away from you. Make sure AF is on AFC and try to catch a vertical contrast line in the image for focusing - it'll be faster that way. Make sure you have the latest firmware for the XPro1 as Fuji has released at least 2 which improved autofocus each time.
For video you would be better of with your 450D or a Sony RX100 11. That's an awesome little video machine. Or a Panasonic GH 3 I think the model is. Often quoted as the hot video mirrorless camera.
I am very familiar with Fuji cameras so feel free to PM me for any other advice.
Oh shoot in RAW.
One thing you can do is make some presets for different types of shots with optimal settings for the camera. Generally speaking with the Xseries cameras turn down sharpening as they are already very sharp and it'll only accentuate noise.
Set a few for black and white to create some nice effects. Its amazing how classy a nice B and W portait can look. I also suggest you start looking over Pro Photographers wedding photo sites. You will get an idea of the commonly used compositions that go down well. For example a nice shot of the rings early in the day and the dress hanging off a door or a nice backdrop. Set up a location where you can photograph everyone before and after the wedding.
Turn off the beep in the camera for during the ceremony. Make sure you have several fully charged batteries and a few fast and large SD cards like 95mb/sec type.
I'd look into what flash you can get. Fuji aren't big on flash so maybe deck out your 450D to do the flash work, but as H says bright face flash isn't a good look. The XE1 has a good fill flashing which is quite subtle and works well without overexposing and showing every little skin flaw.
Finally there are several film simulation modes in the camera. Some work better for portraits. I would not use Velvia - that's more for landscapes and is the equivalent to Vivid in a Nikon or a Canon. Something more neutral like Provia.
Remember its somewhat of an emotional day and your job is to record that emotion so compositions and poses that evoke emotion rather than a boring straight pose for the camera. You want to capture that feeling and love. That's your job. Make sure the camera is level. I would turn on the level tool so you can see you are level and if it has a rule of thirds grid I'd turn that on to (I forget now if Fuji has that or that may be Sony).
Compose for the subject to be at the intersecting lines of the thirds vertical and horizontal. Keep lines flowing towards the subject from bottom left to upper right where you can. You want lines to direct attention towards the subject. Beautiful blurred background and sharp focus on the eyes is a god effect. Make sure the eyes are in focus.
I don't photograph weddings but I do know the X cameras. I took a few snaps at my son's wedding and it all went out the door at the
ceremony using a camera as a video as I was sitting and not a good direct view. So get in position early, it not like you can reshoot it.
Greg.
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