For those of you that use your XHA1 for weddings, what your prefered method for filming. Do you go handheld or with tripod? I've always found the camera to be a little awkard for hand holding by yet a tripod is to cumbersome. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Handheld a camcorder for wedding footage will be all shaky. It shows non-professionalism too. Using it with tripod is a must especially for long scene like ceremony. Otherwise, get a steadicam.

I use tripod whenever I can. The ceremony and speeches is always filmed with the tripod. When on the tripod I always turn off the image stabiliser and back on again when hand held.

I arrive a couple of hours in advance and shoot as much as I can with a track & dolly. Then I switch to a shoulder rig for shooting preparations, then tripod for the ceremony. I switch back to the shoulder rig for the reception, but keep the tripod very near.

i use the A1 for weddings and always use a shoulder mount or tripod. been using the shoulder mount much more lately just much more flexible and super steady.

Use the tool that best suits you at the time (and according to the style you're cultivating). I have tripod, monopod, and steadycam that I use throughout the day (along with the good ol' fashioned right hand grip). There aren't any hard and fast rules...but I will agree that hand-held ceremonies tend to look worse than the rock-solid tripod shots. If you're doing shortform wedding recaps, you can probably get away with much more handheld footage.

I'm a cinematographer, but my current job is as a videographer for a wedding company in the LA/OC area called Elysium Productions. We generally have two shooters for every wedding, and the work is split up between the two. Whether or not we go handheld or on tripods depends on which part of the wedding we are currently shooting, and it can vary. For getting ready sequences, we go handheld. At the ceremony, both shooters are on tripods - one close on the bride, the other wide from the behind the congregation. It allows for our editors to cut between two different angles. As for the reception, one videographer generally keeps the wide shot of the main events - toasts, cake cutting, garter/bouquet toss, dancing - while the other goes handheld and gets all the closeups and we communicate on what is being shot so the editor has matching footage.

Do you go handheld or with tripod?

Yes.


Seriously though, expect to have to swap around a bit depending on the logistics. No one method covers a typical wedding + reception completely; flexibility is key.

No one method covers a typical wedding + reception completely; flexibility is key.

This is very true. Though the videography company that I work for has a way of shooting, it is adaptable since no two weddings are alike - especially cultural weddings like Indian, Persian, and Greek Orthodox - which differ greatly from American weddings.