Wedding videographer's who use DVX 100B

[negy]

Wanted to know other videographers who shoot with DVX 100B. How do you handle low light scenes such as shooting the ceremony in the church when you can't use any lights. When you are allowed to use your lights what type of battery belt do you use. And how do you handle Miking the groom. I generally switch to input 2 for the Vows and the Rings. Do you do it differently? Just wanted to know any other gear that you might find useful. Such as Mono Pods ETC...

[bilgami]

I dont use the 100b i use the dvc80 but i shoot weddings. in low lite i bump the gain to 6 or 12db if need be iris up. i have a vidled it works great plus lite kit for the dance floor and a interview section. in the church your at the mercy of what lite there is, but just iris up or gain up. for putting a mic on the groom i use ch1 and ch2 for shotgun mic to get nat sounds. i use my second cam with a wireless mic to get the podium. Tripods and monopods come in handy.

ps we need a wedding section.

[slimchrisp]

ps we need a wedding section.

that would be great. mods?

[bilgami]

most churches are adequately lit to accomodate your cameras low light needs...if they're not ask the church folks to turn on more lights.

With the receptions it really sucks, i fight with the wedding planner all the time but usually win the battle of more light vs. less. If they bitch about it and want to dim the lights for that "romantic feel" snap back and tell them to ask the bride if she doesn't mind having her video look like shi t. More often than not they agree to do what I say, after all I am god.

Your biggest battles will be with the people who want the low lighting for the "romantic feel" your best bet is to be nice "so it dont get around town that your a jerk and wont hire you" and ask for better lighting if possible, if not you can always use the bride and video looking bad due to low lites card.

[JONJON]

What would be good settings for a wedding? I just got a DVX last week to start doing weddings. Any suggestions?

[Thomas J. O'Hara]

Shoot 24P!! It kills me when wedding videogs shoot 60i on their DVX. What's the point of having a DVX if you're not shooting 24p?? Get an XL-2 if you want 60i, those have longer lenses and are more suited for events anyways.

If it's dark where you're shooting, set the shutter to 1/24 and open up the iris all the way. This is usually good enough for me.

I try NOT to use the gain boost if possible, but if you have no lights and it's pitch black...you have no other choice but to boost up that gain!

[Thomas J. O'Hara]

oh, and it would be nice to have a wedding/events section on here.

I've been hanging around videouniversity for wedding stuff, great community over there. But it would be cool to have our own wedding section just for us DVX'ers.

[renegadewill]

you mean get an xl1 if you are going to shoot 60i. xl2s have 24p.

[Thomas J. O'Hara]

you mean get an xl1 if you are going to shoot 60i. xl2s have 24p.

oh, ya...XL1

doesn't the XL2 have "24F"? Is it real 24p?

[ryan brown]

It's the same 24P as the DVX... you can also shoot 24PA or 24PN. I shoot weddings, and I have one XL2 (for the awesome zoom), and a DVX.

Although... I NEVER shoot weddings in 24P. I shoot them in 30P.

EDIT: What was the deal with the second post by bilgami? was it supposed to be a quote or something??

[NC17z]

ps we need a wedding section.

I would like this as well, I am booked for 12 weddings this season and I'd love to communicate with others on my experiences.

[slimchrisp]

i do the wedding thing also, and this guy has given me some really great ideas: www.cinematicbride.com. check him out. i've found it almost impossible to find ace wedding video work, but this guy has skills.

but yeah, a section specifically for wedding work would be awesome.

[chingatorz]

Shoot 24P!! It kills me when wedding videogs shoot 60i on their DVX. What's the point of having a DVX if you're not shooting 24p?? Get an XL-2 if you want 60i, those have longer lenses and are more suited for events anyways.

If it's dark where you're shooting, set the shutter to 1/24 and open up the iris all the way. This is usually good enough for me.

I try NOT to use the gain boost if possible, but if you have no lights and it's pitch black...you have no other choice but to boost up that gain!


ditto that!! I made the switch to 24AP last year for all weddings.

[leosilve]

Hi there! I've been using my DVX100A for a couple of years now shooting weddings. I use it for the ceremony, and the details part of the shoot. For those scenes I shoot in 24P because there's almost no fast movement so the slower shutter speed helps with lower lighting in the church. For the reception I use a Sony PD-170 which gives cleaner video in lower lighting conditions. Using both cameras gives me the best of both worlds and leverages the individual strengths of each camera for specific parts of the coverage. Here is the rest of my gear;

2 Identical Bogen/Manfrotto fluid head tripods
1 Manfrotto dolly used with one of the tripods (mostly for the reception)
2 PAG C6 on-camera lights with batteries
Sennhiser wireless lav system receiver and transmitter (for the ceremony)
1 Sennhiser wireless handheld mic adapter (works w/ transmitter for interviews)
3 batteries each for the Sony and Panny (more than enough for a weekend)
Sony Wide angle adapter for the Sony PD-170
Sony wide angle adapter (72mm) for the Panny DVX100A - works really well!
Bracket 1 holder for the Sennhiser wireless transmitter

I think both cameras are perfect for wedding videos. The only thing lacking is the ability to do true 16X9. There are work arounds in-camera, framing, or post, but it is a pain and you loose resolution. But for SD video and DVD release this combination rocks!

[drdimento]

Just happened onto this thread and wanted to drop in that we never use artificial lighting on camera; will only put an Arri up in a balcony or on the side positioned high and then only if absolutely necessary (twice in 5 years). Reason, on camera lighting makes people react suspicous, non relaxed, and always on guard. Too much on a dance floor will definately clear the floor in a heart beat. We had a nice pro lighting rig and sold it after only two gigs.

On the reception, just turning up the gain just a little or turn the house lights up a tad, the extra light is liked by most of the older folks at the reception and the extra light doen't have one eye ohtta affect on the dance crowd. The DJ will say it does but I've never seen it have an affect on a half drunk crowd. In fact, in a bar turn the house lights on full blast at closing time and you still have to run the people out :o)

Learn how to maximize your camera with shutter, gain, and cheating the gain with outdoor settings cuz it can have a really neat affect on the image and offers an FX quality. Our couples give us great recommendations and with the DVX100B's we have the best results to date.

Give me an HD camera that out performs the DVX100B in low light and you have a sale. Also, as a closing note, compose your shots with positioning, roll, house lighting affects, etc. I've been told by almost every DJ at weddings, "Wow, you get a work out man. Most videographers just get some shots and that's it." Angles often make the best video and when panned nicely and smoothly are awesome and even look dolly or jibbed. Get a good solid shouldler rig which was the first piece of equipment I purchased after my tripods. I got it on ebay for $22. I sell them now to other videographers for $50 plus shipping.

[jambredz]

do u hav a link to ur shoulder rig so i could have a look?

[drdimento]

do u hav a link to ur shoulder rig so i could have a look?

Actually I don't. But give me a week or so and i can. I have about four HOT projects due out like "now" and I'm struggling to get them done. Maybe I'll even do a vid with it. It's the slickest thing I've run into and it folds up and fits in a suitcase which is really nice.

[IjabaFilms]

I'm still waiting to see/buy one of these shoulder rigs....

[drdimento]

I'm still waiting to see/buy one of these shoulder rigs....

Oh geez, I just used the thing yesterday on a corporate video and on Sunday on one of the tv shows AND not more than about 3 or 4 weeks ago found the company that makes them . . well maybe it was 6 or more weeks ago . . time does fly when you're having fun huh?

Send me a PM and it will serve as a reminder and I'll track it down and I even had them send me a direct delivery price instead of the "dealer price" i purchased mine under but the corporate direct was within 5 bux of what I paid :shocked:

[salils]

What would be good settings for a wedding? I just got a DVX last week to start doing weddings. Any suggestions?

Most weddings I have shot are done in 60i, it helps sell the reality feel as if you are there. If you want a choppier feeling try 30p, but generally speaking 60i is what people expect and if you want to give that choppier feel to a couple shots you can go back and de-interlace with a small resolution loss. Plus you can get smoother slow motion with 60i. Usually I would ignore most of the scene files and do major color correction in post on a quality monitor unless you're really pressed for time. Consistency is more important than the overall "look" the scene files create IMO. The more your shots match the less clips you have to individually color correct.

If you're doing a live switch, make sure to white balance & sync all your cameras and you should be good to go. Be careful with using camera flashes for sync points, I've seen cameras miss the flash. Especially if you're using different model cameras, scene files will certainly be helpful for tweaking cameras to all match.


Shoot 24P!! It kills me when wedding videogs shoot 60i on their DVX. What's the point of having a DVX if you're not shooting 24p?? Get an XL-2 if you want 60i, those have longer lenses and are more suited for events anyways.

Because it produces good looking 60i SD and it's more sensative than the XL2 which is really important for event videography.
I don't see why someone would shoot almost any weddings in 24p, you lose a lot of light (which can often mean the difference between whether you need to gain up), many people may not even have a proper tv for viewing progressive scan material so it will flicker like crazy (on an interlaced set) if you want the extra resolution, and I don't know too many weddings that are transferred to film so I don't see much point in it unless the client specifically requests it for some reason.