Hi,
Wondering if anyone is willing to compare notes on what equipment they take to weddings, for a two-person videographer team.
I've usually been guilty in the past of taking way too much gear, requiring up to three trips to the car and back for ceremony set up. Still take too much, but in the process of reducing further.
Current set up is:
Unpacked:
-- Steadicam Merlin, 5dMkIII, Canon 16-35L, Rode Videomic Pro
-- Manfrotto monopod, 5dMkIII, Canon 24-105L mainly, Rode Videomic Pro
-- a mannequin (to put bride's dress on in the morning -- looks a lot better than on the bed or hung up)
-- drinks, snacks, etc
(Generally, the way we operate, one person concentrates on wide and moving shots; other person get boring but safe, pulled focuses, close-up detail, etc)
Wearing on belts
-- Bunch of CF cards (usually don't shoot more than 250GB over a 14-hour day)
-- Batteries
-- Vari NDs
In one roller bag (the camera bag):
-- Lenses: two x 70-200, one x 24-70, 50mm, 85mm
-- Two additional 5dMkIIIs (usually cover the ceremony with at least three cameras, leaving fourth camera affixed to Steadicam; exact positioning of cameras varies depending on the ceremony and location, but it might include one camera behind the priest, to get couple's faces when they're turned away from the audience and pick up occasional cutaway of parents of couple, one safety net wider shot from audience's side taking in entire bridal party, one close-up camera from audience side that can be repurposed when people give readings)
-- Miscellaneous camera stuff: camera-cleaning equipment, GoPro (rarely used; put it in a bouquet every so often), Z-finder, EVF (rarely used), gorillapod (rarely used), lens caps, odds and ends...
(Don't really like shooting on primes for events generally, to be honest, and haven't invested in all that many good-quality ones.)
In a wheeled lightstand bag (a very heavy bastard):
-- Two tripods
-- Two light stands
-- One microphone stand
-- Slider
(Microphone stand because we usually try to record at least three sources of sound during ceremony/reception: eg get a feed from DJ, plus on camera, plus a shotgun microphone randomly set up somewhere pointing at a speaker)
In one back pack (the sound bag):
-- lav microphone
-- Tascam DR-100 (need to buy another recorder, we're finding, especially for ceremonies where you have multiple sound sources)
-- big battery to power the Tascam
-- Rode NTG1
-- Rode NTG8 (probably overkill)
-- all the other sound bits and pieces
(Found it very useful to have all sound gear in the same place.)
In other backpack (small day bag):
-- anything for bride and groom prep in the morning, for instance 100mm macro for ring shots, Edelkrone pocket DSLR (if the monopod person feels the need to get a quick handheld shot), one LED light, cleaning gear, etc.
In another rolling bag (the reception bag):
-- lights (just use cheap dimmable LED lights at the moment; hot lights wouldn't be safe or feasible in many of the cramped and no-power environments we work in)
-- batteries
-- battery chargers
-- miscellaneous grip and support gear. This has in the past included random objects as: clamps, cineskates (for ring shots), cinesquid, a lazy susan (for ring shots/shoe shots), an additional camera, like an HVX, when we used to use a proper video camera to get continuous coverage...
Currently trying to combine last three bags into one large backpack.
Anyway, if you're willing to disclose your setup, what sort of gear are you taking?
Wondering if anyone is willing to compare notes on what equipment they take to weddings, for a two-person videographer team.
I've usually been guilty in the past of taking way too much gear, requiring up to three trips to the car and back for ceremony set up. Still take too much, but in the process of reducing further.
Current set up is:
Unpacked:
-- Steadicam Merlin, 5dMkIII, Canon 16-35L, Rode Videomic Pro
-- Manfrotto monopod, 5dMkIII, Canon 24-105L mainly, Rode Videomic Pro
-- a mannequin (to put bride's dress on in the morning -- looks a lot better than on the bed or hung up)
-- drinks, snacks, etc
(Generally, the way we operate, one person concentrates on wide and moving shots; other person get boring but safe, pulled focuses, close-up detail, etc)
Wearing on belts
-- Bunch of CF cards (usually don't shoot more than 250GB over a 14-hour day)
-- Batteries
-- Vari NDs
In one roller bag (the camera bag):
-- Lenses: two x 70-200, one x 24-70, 50mm, 85mm
-- Two additional 5dMkIIIs (usually cover the ceremony with at least three cameras, leaving fourth camera affixed to Steadicam; exact positioning of cameras varies depending on the ceremony and location, but it might include one camera behind the priest, to get couple's faces when they're turned away from the audience and pick up occasional cutaway of parents of couple, one safety net wider shot from audience's side taking in entire bridal party, one close-up camera from audience side that can be repurposed when people give readings)
-- Miscellaneous camera stuff: camera-cleaning equipment, GoPro (rarely used; put it in a bouquet every so often), Z-finder, EVF (rarely used), gorillapod (rarely used), lens caps, odds and ends...
(Don't really like shooting on primes for events generally, to be honest, and haven't invested in all that many good-quality ones.)
In a wheeled lightstand bag (a very heavy bastard):
-- Two tripods
-- Two light stands
-- One microphone stand
-- Slider
(Microphone stand because we usually try to record at least three sources of sound during ceremony/reception: eg get a feed from DJ, plus on camera, plus a shotgun microphone randomly set up somewhere pointing at a speaker)
In one back pack (the sound bag):
-- lav microphone
-- Tascam DR-100 (need to buy another recorder, we're finding, especially for ceremonies where you have multiple sound sources)
-- big battery to power the Tascam
-- Rode NTG1
-- Rode NTG8 (probably overkill)
-- all the other sound bits and pieces
(Found it very useful to have all sound gear in the same place.)
In other backpack (small day bag):
-- anything for bride and groom prep in the morning, for instance 100mm macro for ring shots, Edelkrone pocket DSLR (if the monopod person feels the need to get a quick handheld shot), one LED light, cleaning gear, etc.
In another rolling bag (the reception bag):
-- lights (just use cheap dimmable LED lights at the moment; hot lights wouldn't be safe or feasible in many of the cramped and no-power environments we work in)
-- batteries
-- battery chargers
-- miscellaneous grip and support gear. This has in the past included random objects as: clamps, cineskates (for ring shots), cinesquid, a lazy susan (for ring shots/shoe shots), an additional camera, like an HVX, when we used to use a proper video camera to get continuous coverage...
Currently trying to combine last three bags into one large backpack.
Anyway, if you're willing to disclose your setup, what sort of gear are you taking?
