Reluctantly agreed to do a wedding - advice please on FS700 lens choice, slog etc

P

pythonman

Well-known member
Hi all,

I am in the corporate video market, and I've been using the FS700 since July last year - made about 30 corporate videos since then using the FS700 and happy with the results. I normally avoid weddings like the plague, not my area of expertise and not one I wish to venture into. However I do get asked occasionally by acquaintances and friends - often I come up with an excuse not to do it, but recently I agreed to shoot one on Valentines day! I'll be editing it as well of course.

For my corporate work I normally use the Canon F4 24-105L with Speedbooster, along with various other Canon lenses on occasion. However, as a wedding is a 'run and gun' event I ordered the Sony SELP18-200 power zoom lens (the one now supplied with the 700RH), as I thought it would give me all focal length options during the day without having to change lenses. I originally was holding out for the Sony 18-105 power zoom, but we all know the issues that has. I tried the SEPLP18-200 for the first time yesterday - mostly I'm happy with it, love the 'auto-focus-face-recognition-when-zooming-out-towards-camera' (can I coin that phrase?!) function - something very hard to achieve manually. Also generally I like the motor zoom (if used sparingly), but I have found it slightly judders at the start and end of the zoom, not happy with that, plus it slightly loses focus for a split second at the beginning of the zoom - both issues I can probably get around by careful editing afterwards, but a shame they exist at all.

But I do notice the indoor low light performance difference between this lens and my Canon lenses. So will it be good enough for the evening reception? I'm thinking I may swap back for that part of the day. Any thoughts?

Also part of me thinks I'll put the camera on Slog PP. I don't want to have to be thinking of changing PP throughout the day (in case I forget to change it back to the more appropriate one at various stages). So do I take the risk and run with Slog all day, knowing that it adds noticeable noise?

By the way I will be using some other locked off cameras during the reception and ceremony - small Sony HD cameras. Plus I'll have a second operator using a 60D. Plus radio mics and a H4N recorder strategically placed.

If anyone out there with wedding shooting experience on the FS700 can lend any advice (with lens choice, PP etc) I'll be very grateful.

Thank you!
 
pythonman said:
Hi all,

I am in the corporate video market, and I've been using the FS700 since July last year - made about 30 corporate videos since then using the FS700 and happy with the results. I normally avoid weddings like the plague, not my area of expertise and not one I wish to venture into. However I do get asked occasionally by acquaintances and friends - often I come up with an excuse not to do it, but recently I agreed to shoot one on Valentines day! I'll be editing it as well of course.

For my corporate work I normally use the Canon F4 24-105L with Speedbooster, along with various other Canon lenses on occasion. However, as a wedding is a 'run and gun' event I ordered the Sony SELP18-200 power zoom lens (the one now supplied with the 700RH), as I thought it would give me all focal length options during the day without having to change lenses. I originally was holding out for the Sony 18-105 power zoom, but we all know the issues that has. I tried the SEPLP18-200 for the first time yesterday - mostly I'm happy with it, love the 'auto-focus-face-recognition-when-zooming-out-towards-camera' (can I coin that phrase?!) function - something very hard to achieve manually. Also generally I like the motor zoom (if used sparingly), but I have found it slightly judders at the start and end of the zoom, not happy with that, plus it slightly loses focus for a split second at the beginning of the zoom - both issues I can probably get around by careful editing afterwards, but a shame they exist at all.

But I do notice the indoor low light performance difference between this lens and my Canon lenses. So will it be good enough for the evening reception? I'm thinking I may swap back for that part of the day. Any thoughts?

Also part of me thinks I'll put the camera on Slog PP. I don't want to have to be thinking of changing PP throughout the day (in case I forget to change it back to the more appropriate one at various stages). So do I take the risk and run with Slog all day, knowing that it adds noticeable noise?

By the way I will be using some other locked off cameras during the reception and ceremony - small Sony HD cameras. Plus I'll have a second operator using a 60D. Plus radio mics and a H4N recorder strategically placed.

If anyone out there with wedding shooting experience on the FS700 can lend any advice (with lens choice, PP etc) I'll be very grateful.

Thank you!
Click to expand...

There is a chance your 18-200 will not be fast enough for the evening ceremony. People tend to keep that dimmer than you'd think. If I was you I'd go mainly with the nice 24-105 you usually use.
It also gives you a bit of that low depth of field - wedding couples love that. I only do weddings seldom, but when the jobs are few well then..
The 18-200 i mostly use during the ceremony, cause I will want to zoom out when they pass me on the aisle. Otherwise I mainly use canon 17-55, the tokina 11-16 and sometimes a prime (samyang 24, 35 or 85 )for dof - or because they lit the evening reception solely with candlelight:/. So I'd go with the 24-105 plus you are familiar with it.

I'd not bother with slog unless there is a lot of bright outdoor scenes, but then if you later struggle for light, then noise becomes an issue. But more importantly it can mean alot of extra work grading it. That is a personal thing of couse, but in general because it's a long day I usually tend to make everything as easy for myself or whoever is editing, as possible. I also economize with the shots: get some good stable mood shoots and then lay of the record button. Use your good lenses, and lay of the run and gunning with the 18-200. It usually for prettier footage Just my 2 cents..
 
I dont know why you got the second lens.

24-105 + booster is great, Id get a 50 1.8 or 35/2 in reserve for the evening..

S
 
I only ever use the fs700 as a b-cam on sticks at the ceremony if at all. Its vastly more cumbersome than a 5d on a monopod, but if I was forced to shoot exclusively with the fs700 all day, I would be using the 24-105 with speedbooster, a 70-200 handy for the ceremony and a 50 or 35mm 1.4 for the evening which is always way darker than you think.

That 70-200 2.8 comes in real handy at the reception too when you plant yourself somewhere so as not to be in front of guests for important parts of the eve but can still get mediums and close ups from just about anywhere in the room with a shallow depth of field. B-cam can take care of wides etc or vice versa.
 
Thanks everyone. Yes I do have other lenses including the Canon 50 1.4 and 70-200 2.8, and I plan on taking the FS700 off the rig (apart from an EVF) and using a monopod. I guess I'm just concerned about the time-consuming element of changing lenses during a live event. But when it gets to the evening I expect there's more time for such things. So are we saying Slog is too noisy? I'm not worried about the time grading afterwards. Thanks again.
 
I understand why you got the SELP18200. I've found this lens invaluable for talking head doco's with the face recognition feature. Just a word of warning, tho', this lens is very power hungry. And yes, unfortunately, it doesn't have a smooth startup on the zoom....Sony just disappoints in the optics dept.
 
If it were me and shooting 8-bit, I would avoid slog2. Way to much to do in post when you can get it 90% of the way there with one of the cine gammas.
I would only use slog2 on shots you know will be technically difficult due to challenging lighting situations and stick to something like cine4 for the rest.

Do some tests shooting into and away from the sun with diferent picture profiles. Especially skin tones. If the day ends up overcast, I also recommend avoiding slog2. I shot some footage like that recently and I had to ride the contrast and saturation so hard in post that the footage deteriorated before my eyes. I was damn lucky I had a 5dmkiii grabbing a wide next to me and it saved my bacon.

In my limited experience, their are as many downside to upsides recording slog2 internally. The 7Q on the other hand is absolutely beautiful with slog2.
 
Thank you all for your advice and thoughts - much appreciated.

Tony, really like your article on your website, very helpful, thank you.
 
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