I am gonna shoot a weddin event with my newly bought xl1s.
I was worried that the height of the groom etc , ie if they are much taller than me would it affect the way the video to be captured.

And is a camera light necessary for wedding videography?
Can I use the xl1s +18db to compensate the lack of lighting etc?

Thanks for answering.

the hight of the people won't affect the look of the video, but it will affect the way you shoot. You'll have to shoot from a position where you can frame everyone correctly.

A video light won't be necessary for every wedding, but it's a handy piece of gear to have. Using +18db will work but it will add 'noise', like a badly tuned TV channel, to your video. It's better to use a light and keep the gain down so you get a nice clean picture.

I see.
But during the wedding ceremony, i need to keep my focus on the groom and the bride, and they'll be moving around.

Lets say they are moving towards the altar or something, and i have to get the scene from the front, and i am way shorter than the groom, where's the best position to put everyone in frame?

I mean i have to be infront and i dont really understand what you mean by the best position . I am a typical newbie :(

I checked out the +18db in the xl1s. It doesnt have much noise when i see them in the viewfinder though. Perhaps when i see them on the screen i'll notice them.

I'll try to keep the db as low as possible. Does 12db or 6 introduces any noise? Or do I have to keep them at 0 for noise free video?

If you are shooting with the standard lens that came with the camera, then you will probably have to be some distance to get everyone so you won't have to worry about the height of people. The main thing is to find out what the wedding schedule is. If you go to the rehearsal then you can shoot that as a practice and then you will know where to stand to get the best shot. If there is no rehearsal, then ask the wedding planner or whoever is in charge which route will they take, where will they stand, etc..

I shoot weddings in Japan using an XL-1, the wedding halls usually have a lot of light so I never use a video light. Take one just in case, better to be safe than sorry. Also take a pair of headphones so you can monitor the sound. I usually shoot with manual audio levels, I'm moving around a lot also and when I go near the speakers I turn down the sound. Plus you want to make sure it is actually recording the sound. A couple of times I had bump the mike wire and the connection was a little off so I got sound drop out. I think I might not have pushed the connector all the way in, but now I always use headphones.

The +12db should be okay, I shoot lots of stuff in dark clubs and I always use the +12db gain and have had nice clean blacks, no visible noise at all.

Once you shoot your first event, the next ones get easier so don't worry too much and enjoy your shoot. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have, just let me know how I can help you.

I'd like to ask . Do you guys bring along a secondary camcorder just in case the xl1s is faulty durin the wedding ceremony?

I am worried bout this thing happening and i couldnt afford for another cam at the moment :(

And are those camera lights accessories sold in camcorder shop sufficient for wedding shoot?

right now I only have one XL-1 and can't afford another one so I only shoot with one camera. If I was getting more money for the wedding then I could get someone else to help me shoot with another camera and two cameras means twice as much footage and more editing.

More than likely a newly bought camera will be okay and will not be faulty during the wedding. Way before the wedding you should shoot as much as possible to get used to the camera and its settings and hold the camera in different positions to get a feel for it. And after all that shooting review your footage and you will see if there are any problems with the camera. After a while shooting with it will become natural.

Most wedding halls are well lit, and unless you shoot in a hallway or someother place that isn't part of the wedding, then you might run into a slightly dark place to shoot, a small video light will light up the area right in front of you, but usually they are bright and will make people squint so put a gel on it to diffuse the light, just play with the light and shoot some video at home of some friends to see what's the best way to use it. Most importantly, gets lots of practice shooting with the camera and light(if you buy one) before the wedding.

Let me know how it goes and good luck.

Do u put the optical stabilizer option on?

I heard that you should not do a pan with the option on etc, so meaning i'll have to switch it on and off whenever I move the cam around?

What's the setting you use for wedding btw?

And i assume that you are using the 16 bit audio rite?
1 thing i don't quite understand is this. It is stated that when we use the 16 bit audio option, we can't add music or sound effects to the video. We can only do so when using the 12 bit option.

It doesnt apply when you are using computer as a NLE system rite? Coz i could still add music etc even when i'm using the 16 bit audio option.
And thanks for all the previous answers :)

I shoot all my stuff handheld so I have the stabilizer on, I try to pan slowly, I've noticed some weird strobing if I slow down the pans in FCP, haven't tried turing it off when I pan, I should play around with that, see if there is a noticeable effect when I turn it off(if it does something if you are filming while you turn off the stablizer.) I usually cut out the pans in post if I get that effect.

I use the ND filter when I shoot outside and inside I do a manual white balance. I also use manual audio levels and monitor it with headphones and periodically look at the audio meter.

I also always shoot in frame movie mode.

I shoot in the 16bit audio because I only use the camera mike during the reception and I plug into the soundboard during the wedding ceremony. I run some cables out of the board in the back of the camera, I put the audio setting to audio 1 input. During the ceremony they use wireless mikes and a cd player. I don't have a wirle system so I just run some cables, I don't have to move around a lot so it's no problem. Using a wireless during the reception wouldn't work for me since I move around alot and I have to get the people's voices when they talk to the bride and groom, in one part I have to follow the couple all inbetween the tables and get them talking with everyone so I need to get the audio with the camera mike.

I always add the extra music when I edit. But when you add the music, make sure it is set at 48 khz if that is what your audio is set to in FCP. Shooting with the XL-1 at 16bit would have the audio at 48khz. If you import a cd track, it will be at 44khz and you might get some hissing and popping.

check out this thread for possible problems involving audio in FCP:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1479

I haven't used the 12bit mode with a second audio in, I do all my audio effects, adding music in post using FCP, it's a lot easier and I have more control over the audio.

But then, i am putting my final video in vcd format. Which means i need to set the sound at 44 khz which is the vcd standard.

What programme do you use to convert 48 khz to 44 and so on etc?

And bout frame movie mode, the video gets kinda jerky at times.
I know I need to pan slowly for a smooth effect, but at times i need to do a faster pan, and also some of the motion appears to be not as smooth when i use the frame movie mode.

Any tips for me?