Using EX1 for weddings

J

jideobi

Active member
Hi Guys
I am looking to buy the Sony ex1 (not ex1r) for shooting wedding videos. Would this camera be suitable for this.
what are the focusing aids like on the ex1.
Are they any issues problems that I need to be aware of. I know that the ex1r is better but I cannot afford it
THANKS
 
Very good for weddings, I've only done one wedding and my only regret is that I didn't shoot multi camera and used some better sound gear, you might want to be aware of the weight, focus aids are good.
It depends on your shooting style I guess, I did a lot on tripod and just pulled it off when I really needed too.
 
Its a heavy ***** to lug around all day, but the footage is awesome! get extra big batteries, and use the camera for sound. Its crisp and clean with wireless audio. a monopod will do wonders for shooting with it all day.
I love mine!!
 
Z1Scottie said:
Its a heavy ***** to lug around all day, but the footage is awesome! get extra big batteries, and use the camera for sound. Its crisp and clean with wireless audio. a monopod will do wonders for shooting with it all day.
I love mine!!
Click to expand...

You have very nice videos on your website . which cameras did you use for the "Megan & Choia" video
 
It is the best for weddings (IMHO). We shoot about 7 to 10 weddings a month with EX1 and sometimes with a GH1 as a 2nd camera. You can see some of our clips here at www.exposureroom.com/972media. The EX1 was the main camera used on Urit, Wedding at Kibbutz Tzohar, Kates, Levinson, and Pesach & Temima. We use it with a DV-TEC Multi-Rig and with a Blackbird Stabilizer on a Steadicam Pilot Arm & Vest. Best investment we ever made to shoot weddings. A couple of months ago, I was shooting standing next to the video guy who was doing the live stream, it was very dark, lit only by the outdoor garden type lights, and he had an HMC40 that was up to something like 27db gain, and it still looked dark and ugly, while I was at 6db gain and the picture was bright and crisp. When I showed it him what the EX1 was getting his draw dropped.

The auto-foucs peaking and zebra exposure assist are both awesome, and having the iris on the lens barrel is an absolute pleasure. The only caveat as was mentioned in the post above is you will need some sort of support, either a good monopod like the Manfrotto 561 or a nice shoulder brace of your choosing. Also, it records perfectly to relatively cheap Sandisc Extreme 32GB SD cards using adapters sd card adapters which gives you about 220 minutes of continuous recording.
 
Last edited:
jideobi said:
Hi Guys
I am looking to buy the Sony ex1 (not ex1r) for shooting wedding videos. Would this camera be suitable for this.
what are the focusing aids like on the ex1.
Are they any issues problems that I need to be aware of. I know that the ex1r is better but I cannot afford it
THANKS
Click to expand...
I am using EX1R to shoot weddings all the time. be aware of auto focus, it looses focus if you pan or move fast. takes few seconds to get it back, but you loose those seconds. need to buy good sound gear, build in mike is not that great to capture sound.
 
What is the work flow for those using the EX1/R and either Vegas Pro and Premiere Pro? You shoot in 720/50/60p? Shutter on or off? OK with using a Rode NTG 2?

In the NLE, how would your render settings be for DVD use?
 
We use Premiere Pro CS5.5. We shoot all our weddings in 720 50P, shutter off (it defaults to 25 fps when in 50P mode), with a Rode NTG-1 pulling 48v phantom power from CH1 and a Sennhheiser EW100 system hooked into the soundboard of the hall into CH2 on the EX1. Use XDCAM Clip browser to copy clips onto 2 separate hard drives and consolidate multiple cards into a single BPAV folder. Drag the BPAV folder into PP and start editing immediately in real time. XDCAM EX works perfectly in CS5. We edit everything onto a 25P timeline, and if we want perfect slomo, just right click the clip and modify the frame rate from 50P to 25P, and when added to the 25P timeline will interpolate into perfect 50% slomo. When edit is done, use export media option to send to Adobe Media Encoder, select DVD-MPEG, set bit rate to fit onto a single DVD, select "Add to Cue", then render anytime in the background. After render, open Adobe Encore, import mpegs as assets, add menus, etc and burn off to DVD. We can fit just under 2 hours on a single DVD of decent SD quality using a bit rate of around 5 mbs. For us, the integrated work flow for wedding and event work which is delivered on DVD is a slam dunk for the Adobe suite. For longer form projects we prefer Avid Media Composer mainly because I just find the actual editing and cutting process has a much more organic feel. Avid also is better at managing, logging, and organizing large amounts of footage. However when speed and a streamlined workflow takes precedent, Adobe has the edge on Avid.
 
weismangroup said:
We use Premiere Pro CS5.5. We shoot all our weddings in 720 50P, shutter off (it defaults to 25 fps when in 50P mode), with a Rode NTG-1 pulling 48v phantom power from CH1 and a Sennhheiser EW100 system hooked into the soundboard of the hall into CH2 on the EX1. Use XDCAM Clip browser to copy clips onto 2 separate hard drives and consolidate multiple cards into a single BPAV folder. Drag the BPAV folder into PP and start editing immediately in real time. XDCAM EX works perfectly in CS5. We edit everything onto a 25P timeline, and if we want perfect slomo, just right click the clip and modify the frame rate from 50P to 25P, and when added to the 25P timeline will interpolate into perfect 50% slomo. When edit is done, use export media option to send to Adobe Media Encoder, select DVD-MPEG, set bit rate to fit onto a single DVD, select "Add to Cue", then render anytime in the background. After render, open Adobe Encore, import mpegs as assets, add menus, etc and burn off to DVD. We can fit just under 2 hours on a single DVD of decent SD quality using a bit rate of around 5 mbs. For us, the integrated work flow for wedding and event work which is delivered on DVD is a slam dunk for the Adobe suite. For longer form projects we prefer Avid Media Composer mainly because I just find the actual editing and cutting process has a much more organic feel. Avid also is better at managing, logging, and organizing large amounts of footage. However when speed and a streamlined workflow takes precedent, Adobe has the edge on Avid.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for your advice.

When you mentioned "right click the clip and modify the frame rate from 50P to 25P", I cannot see that option in CS5.5 when i did right click on a clip, unless the function has a different name?
 
Right click >> Modify >> Interpret Footage >> Assume this frame rate >> enter 25. If you have a lot of clips, or use the function often like we do, you can map the "Interpret Footage" menu selection to a key on the keyboard. Then just hit the key, tab, tab, 25, enter, and the clip is slomo'd in about 2 seconds flat.

You also can change the speed of the clip on the timeline, either by left-clicking on the clip in the timeline and selecting "Time Remapping" then pulling down the yellow horizontal line to 50%, or by right-clicking "Speed-Duration" and entering 50%. You can then use the trim tool to adjust your outpoint to the proper spot.

The advantage of doing it at the clip level is that you can set you in and out points with the clip in slomo, however, if you want to use a different part of the same clip at normal speed, you will need to make a duplicate clip to modify.
 
weismangroup said:
Right click >> Modify >> Interpret Footage >> Assume this frame rate >> enter 25. If you have a lot of clips, or use the function often like we do, you can map the "Interpret Footage" menu selection to a key on the keyboard. Then just hit the key, tab, tab, 25, enter, and the clip is slomo'd in about 2 seconds flat.

You also can change the speed of the clip on the timeline, either by left-clicking on the clip in the timeline and selecting "Time Remapping" then pulling down the yellow horizontal line to 50%, or by right-clicking "Speed-Duration" and entering 50%. You can then use the trim tool to adjust your outpoint to the proper spot.

The advantage of doing it at the clip level is that you can set you in and out points with the clip in slomo, however, if you want to use a different part of the same clip at normal speed, you will need to make a duplicate clip to modify.
Click to expand...
If to use this feature on multiple clips, do I highlight those clips and proceed the same way?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top