Good for Wedding Videography

[scenedirector]

I am battling between the A1 or the HVX200. Want to go HD and I know HVX has a TON of filmmaking features that I want in my moviemaking endeavors, but I am a PROUD reservationist....if that's a word, on the new RED camera, and that will take care of that fix.

ANYWAY, I know with wedding videography you need good low light performance and all the 1/3" HD cams suffer to a degree. Would the Canon be best fit rather than the HVX for my event and wedding stuff?

Let me know guys.

[icicle22]

Absolutely. The HVX is a low light dog. It may look like film when shooting a well lit event/scene but it really sputters in low light. I owned the HvX and sold it to get an H1 which I found to be much, much better and cleaner in low light.

And the workflow.....P2 vs. HDV for an event that is long? No contest.

The A1 should be an awesome camera for this. And until you get RED you can shoot in 24F and get the highest res image for under $10k.....color correct in post to get the HVX look. Of course you can't do variable frame rates but I'm guessing you knew that?

Peace!

[manglerBMX]

i do a lot of events and thats whats driving me towards the a1. i'm a dvx owner and i love the hvx but its just not practical for all the things i do. thus, hdv is pulling me towards it, as much as i hated it in the past. i hope canon can change my mind.

[Elton]

Of course you can't do variable frame rates but I'm guessing you knew that?

Of course, you know my position on that subject. A great deal of the look of HVX under/overcrank can be achieved in post. Especially when we are talking about the 720 format. No, you can't do all the various finer increment frame rates, but it's pretty easy to get 720/60p overcrank 2.5 slow motion from 1080i. You can also get a slight slow mo effect shooting 30F and conforming to 24 fps.

Want those groovy light streaks and a hyper-speed undercranked look? (2 fps HVX "hack" mode) Shoot 1/3 shutter in 24F mode and speed it up in post. :)

[icicle22]

I am talking about the more subtle frame rate changes. My friend has an HVX200 and is shooting a lot of dramatic scenes at 36fps and 26 and 28. These are very subtle and can add a "mass" or "serious" look to certain actions but not really scream "slow motion" to the viewers.

I have to admit that for a few sceonds I considered the HVX200 again when I saw that they are giving a free 8GB card with purchase. I miss the features of the HVX but not the image quality.

I have used slow mo on some H1 clips lately and it turned out really nice. But I am mostly limited to 50% slo mo and 66% if dropping in a 24P timeline.

[Elton]

Yeah, good points Icicle. I just wanted to say that some of the more common slow mo and fast motion is possible.

[Hobbes00]

hey icicle, do you do alot of weddings/events videos with ur H1?
Do you have any of ur videos online?

I'm an XL2 owner in Singapore, and the Canon people in Singapore are really kind enuff to agree to let me trade in for one of their 3 HD cams for a very very low price... :P
cheers

[Elton]

I have used slow mo on some H1 clips lately and it turned out really nice. But I am mostly limited to 50% slo mo and 66% if dropping in a 24P timeline.

Have you ever tried 30p to 24p? It's a pretty good one for subtlety.

[Noel Evans]

Want those groovy light streaks and a hyper-speed undercranked look? (2 fps HVX "hack" mode) Shoot 1/3 shutter in 24F mode and speed it up in post. :)

Original plan was to shoot some of this today in Shinjuku night of course) but we cut short today, so wasnt waiting hours for the sun to go down. Anyway I am still going to give it a try on a local overpass, hopefully there will be a reasonable amount of traffic.

If I have an hour of footage, what speed do you recommend? Usually I cut to time needed, but in this case I have no predetermined outcome.


Sorry to threadjack...... to the original question, good for wedding? Hell yeah, tapes at HD keep you going all day. Get an extra 970g battery it seems to last forever (rated for about 480 minutes on the A1 - yeah 8 freakin hours). Im shooting a wedding in two weeks, Im doing the whole thing in 30f. I usually do abiut one wedding per month as income supplement. People think I am great because I take so few bookings, everyone thinks I am so busy.

[Elton]

If I have an hour of footage, what speed do you recommend? Usually I cut to time needed, but in this case I have no predetermined outcome.

I'd just pop it in a 24F timeline and speed it up 1000% (10x) and see what it looks like. Try it faster or slower than that. Choose your "undercrank".

[Emanuel]

Absolutely. The HVX is a low light dog. It may look like film when shooting a well lit event/scene but it really sputters in low light. I owned the HvX and sold it to get an H1 which I found to be much, much better and cleaner in low light.Interesting... Before my first RED reservation, I thought exactly the same. Why was it so? Still today, I'm not sure if I will buy or not one of the new Canons. The best lowlighting & 1/3" performance IMHO.

EDIT --
I miss the features of the HVX but not the image quality.Again I thought the same when I decided not to go in this route.