7D for Weddings

Hobbes00

Hobbes00

Well-known member
Hi guys, I'm sold to the 7D - Even bought one.
It's my top choice of tool when I shoot anything from films to TV Commercials.
But when it comes to things like Weddings... What's the best way to work around this bugger?

Still Motion is able to do it becos they prob have multiple operators on the event, and prob someone to make sure they record the audio on H4n. But say if we're a 1-2 man operations - I reckon the magic lantern will help loads, but till then what can we do?

What lenses should we use also since in such events, if you need to capture something critical - i would prob go wide and move the focus to close to infinity.

Any wise men wanna advice on this? (:
 
I think part of it is learning how to cover an event with just one person. The way I understand it, Stillmotion does not always have a large (3-5 man) crew at events. At least with this one: http://vimeo.com/6496808?hd=1 they say they only have one cinematographer. (But does he have an assistant?) Although they did have two cameras, one probably to go on the Tripod while the camera man went around with the monopod and slider.
 
I was in the same boat as you but just took what I had and shot my first wedding this weekend. I only had the kit lense and a 50mm 1.8. There was practically no light in the hotel so it was a very difficult shoot, but it is possible to do it with one shooter. Here it is....http://vimeo.com/8092391
granted it was my first wedding and had no stabilization besides the indie slider mini and my hands! I had a monopod and tripod but both were't working for me that day. The monopod was borrowed and gave me a lot of issues but you can be the judge.
 
I think you need two cameras anyhow you look at covering a wedding. The last one I did used four cameras in the church. One camera from the second floor covering the church from "behind", one camera near the priest on tripod covering the wedding couple, and two handheld cameras.
 
I've spent some time considering and planning wedding shoots with the 7D. And while actually doing is better than considering or planning, here are my thoughts.

Having only one camera is a challenge. The shooter has exactly one chance to get things right. There is no B-roll. One also has to make some creative decisions that can't be altered in the edit room - close-up or wide-shot? static, pan, or slide/dolly? etc. Pre-production really would matter here.

Having two cameras provides relief and a backup, especially with two shooters. One can use B-roll footage to cover up the 4GB filesize limit if that problem occurs (which, with a long ceremony most likely would). There is also some creative liberty since one can capture two differently composed shots at the same time.

Having three cameras is a luxury.

Having four cameras for only one cameraman, in my opinion, may become somewhat of a burden. That's four batteries, four CF cards, and four 4GB limits to be mindful of. All while wrangling audio and keeping A-cam footage looking great.

Ideally, I'd love a three person crew with three cameras. This allows for disgusting amounts of coverage pre and post ceremony and would allow for active A and B cameramen while person 3 monitors a master shot C cam and/or manages audio.

Also, fast primes make quick work of interiors.

Another note: the partial exposure effect bothers me in a big way. If you have camera flashes going off only a portion of the frame is going to be lit up which, to a lot of people, looks like something went wrong. It's fixable in post, but that's some extra time.
 
Last edited:
Michael Olsen said:
Another note: the partial exposure effect bothers me in a big way. If you have camera flashes going off only a portion of the frame is going to be lit up which, to a lot of people, looks like something went wrong. It's fixable in post, but that's some extra time.
Click to expand...

Some extra work? In an average 8-10 hours wedding day I see hundreds if not thousands of flashes. I can work with one camera but partial exposure, rolling shutter, jello and 12 minutes I can not live with. I love the image. LOVE THE IMAGE! I however am gonna stick with DVX or HVX for weddings for another minute or two.
 
I think a DSLR is the total wrong tool for a wedding video or any live event where you get no re-takes. It may be just me but I would never do a weeding with a DSLR for video. But then again I would never do a wedding at all.
 
Hobbes00 said:
Hi guys, I'm sold to the 7D - Even bought one.
It's my top choice of tool when I shoot anything from films to TV Commercials.
But when it comes to things like Weddings... What's the best way to work around this bugger?

Still Motion is able to do it becos they prob have multiple operators on the event, and prob someone to make sure they record the audio on H4n. But say if we're a 1-2 man operations - I reckon the magic lantern will help loads, but till then what can we do?

What lenses should we use also since in such events, if you need to capture something critical - i would prob go wide and move the focus to close to infinity.

Any wise men wanna advice on this? (:
Click to expand...

Use H4n so that you can have continous audio, take plenty of cut away shots, plan your shoot, 12 minutes limitation should be no problem for the vows or long speech because you have continous audio, just make sure that you have good cut away shots to fill in when you have to stop/start recording at 12 minutes limit, or there will always be a pause before the priest start going into the vows and so you could stop there and start again so you have a full 12 minutes or so take. Fast lens is a must, 2.8 is minimum, I recommend 1.4 .
The only thing is watch out for overheating, right now is winter and so can't really test and see how it goes in the outdoor summer weddings.
 
thpriest said:
spenser, did you use a loupe like the zacuto or hoodman?
if not how did you find focussing?
Click to expand...
No i had nothing else. I find the lcd great for focusing actually. There has been some complaints about it but inside its definitely not a problem for me. Outside may be another story but spending 400 dollars on a zfinder is just not in my budget right now and I have barely had any focus issues.
 
Spenser- I posted this on Vimeo- but I'll ask here- what ISO did you shoot with the 1.8 50mm?
 
IMHO, I don't think the 7D, 5D, or even multiple DSLR's are the best answer for complete documentary wedding and event coverage. They are another creative tool in the arsenal. For highlights or SDE only wedding work, they can certainly be used solo- and that represents many of the clips that have been posted online from the 7D.

We currently use the 7D and 2 Panny HMC-150's to cover weddings. The 150's look great and do several things that can be difficult or impossible on DSLRs. A good example is a bride walking down the isle in lowlight. A slow tracking zoom out in AF works great to get the CU expression of the bride and her father. Try that with a DSLR. Can't do it! I have also found that critical setting such as exposure, focus, white balance, and audio are MUCH quicker to dial in on the fly in conventional video cameras than they are in DSLR's. That becomes extremely important for spontaneous wedding events such as a quicker than expected boquet toss or unexpected toast. Finally, I feel that the 150s are more reliable than the 7D's. You may have heard of the heating & buffer issues on some 7Ds. How important is reliability in filming an event you can't shoot over?

HOWEVER, (and this is a big however:) the picture from the 7D is incredibly filmic- more so than any camera I have ever used- I used to think the picture from my EX1 was the be-all and end-all. With fast, prime lenses, the low light capability of the 7D is simply unmached anywhere near that price point. So I will continue to use the 7D for much of our pre-wedding, photo shoots, interviews, and sporadically during the day. I much prefer using the 7D than the 150's, but continue to rely on the 150's to get the rolling footage and record multiple audio tracks that add continuity.

My advice: start with a good, conventional video camera and add a 7D and/or 5D for your creative work.

Video Camera = Engine
DSLR = Turbocharger

Best of luck,

Mike | Jensen Films
jensenvideo.com
 
Last edited:
Thanks for sharing all your inputs and comments! This is pretty informative. Hope StillMotion could come and share how they cover their weddings.

Jensenfilms: Well said! Any other tips regarding communication between operators during the event?
 
I think Mike at Jensen Films is absolutely right. The 7D is the perfect tool for bridal prep, love story b-roll, interviews, cutaways, etc. But for the ceremony and reception, I don't see how its possible. As a B camera, yes. But to those that can shoot the entire day on a DSLR - my hat's off to you. I can't pull that off.
 
tommygunn said:
I think Mike at Jensen Films is absolutely right. The 7D is the perfect tool for bridal prep, love story b-roll, interviews, cutaways, etc. But for the ceremony and reception, I don't see how its possible. As a B camera, yes. But to those that can shoot the entire day on a DSLR - my hat's off to you. I can't pull that off.
Click to expand...

You just do it and you will get good at it, but I must say, can not do it without the help of the Zacuto Z finder, especially when you have people walking toward you or away, you must see it clearly in order to focus.
 
PSA1 said:
You just do it and you will get good at it, but I must say, can not do it without the help of the Zacuto Z finder, especially when you have people walking toward you or away, you must see it clearly in order to focus.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I can subject myself to test it out at a wedding.

-How do you white balance on the fly?
-How do you zoom, focus, and adjust exposure, and audio at the same time?
-What if a speech/segment runs longer than 12min?
 
tommygunn said:
Unfortunately I can subject myself to test it out at a wedding.

-How do you white balance on the fly?
-How do you zoom, focus, and adjust exposure, and audio at the same time?
-What if a speech/segment runs longer than 12min?
Click to expand...

I practiced focusing for a week with my kids running around the house before I shot my first wedding.
Shooting DSLR is totally different style than with video camera, I know that you are used to zoom and all that but with DSLR you don't zoom, if you are using a fix lens, and somebody like the bride is coming down the aisle, you either can let her go pass and out of the frame while focusing or if you are using a zoom lens you can let her fill the frame as much as you want and then reframe/recompose your shot, your audio should have been set already, for speech/vows you should be using secondary audio recorder like I mentioned on my previous post like a H4n or something similar so that you can have continous audio, have plenty of good cutaway shots like real close up shot of parents, just in case your 12 minutes run up in a middle of the vows...
Practice makes perfect, if you like the quality of DSLR video, you will learn to overcome its shortcoming, just do it.:happy:
 
There are several guys in the Salt Lake market that are shooting exclusively on the 5D/7D. Sure they have "real" cameras for ceremony shoots but the preference is for the DSLR.

It wasn't an overnight transition... When it came to the creative/directed shots, one of the guys explained it: "I'd shoot the shot on both cameras - at first, maybe 10% of the 5D footage was usable... then 20% and now I shoot almost exclusively on the 5D."

Salt Lake has an interesting niche market with the all the Mormon Temple weddings... these shoots practically cater to the DSLR shooter.

Examples to watch: David Perry Films & Chris McClain Productions
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top