Off topic a little but I'm tempted to loose one of my light stands (less weight to carry to and from church etc) and use my manfrotto magic arm clamped to my main tripod with a CX730 on it, it will be the same viewpoint as my main camera but set to wide. I had a PITA vicar recently that would only let me have one camera so this is how I got over it (she didn't notice) and it worked nicely but I did get a little movement in the arm and hence my CX730 when repositioning my main camera - do you get this Noa?

Pete

@Noa, nice to see you are using a clamp on the tripod now for a second camera. I have been doing that for quite a while now and it is so useful to be able to use the main head mounted camera for the close and moving shots, without affecting the clamp camera which I usually have set up for a wider general shot. I'm really surprised that others haven't adopted this method. It's so much easier to move the setup and of course you can instantly unclamp to put the camera on something else.

I also use a clamped camera on the DJs lighting rig for the first dance overview, and sometimes during the signing of the register I will quickly clamp it on a pew or screen for an alternative view of the processional.

@ Chris, so you have promoted the FZ1000 to your main camera! I may well do the same thing, with the little Pannys covering the break in the recording time if necessary. I also have five school filming jobs over the next two weeks that I will film with 4 cameras, so I will try to use the FZ1000 to record whole stage in 4K to see if it is possible to have a one camera plus backup solution for that type of production filming. That would mean that with two FZ1000s, Claire and I could film independently at different schools, doubling the work and the income:-)

Roger

That's the way I work now, I have a clamp on my main tripod, a very simple mefoto traveltripod which folds up very small so easy to transport yet sturdy enough to hold 2 camera's, I set my ax100 wide with teh altar and lectern in one view and use a cx730 zoomed all the way in at the lectern, then I use one other cx730 to walk around and shoot handheld. We don't have those position restrictions here like you do so that's not an issue, once I have fixed the position of that tripod I usually don't touch it anymore during the ceremony.

It's a great way of working Noa and I wouldn't be surprised to see more adopting it over the coming months. For me, size, speed, and portability are what wedding filming is all about.

Roger

I think it will work well Roger

You really don't need a big camera as your main unit ...the most important thing on the camera is to make sure you cover the audio side well and I'm doing that with two wireless units ... I will replace the current units when funds permit with two of the new Rode 2.4GHz systems as they have no frequency issues. The other of course is to make sure continuous focus is turned off so the camera doesn't decide to switch focus from the couple to the altar behind them in the middle of the vows and with the record limit you also need to decide when you will do a stop start. I usually do one after the readings, then a second after the homily and then a third once they are ushered to behind the altar to sign the register. My main cam stops at that stage and I do the signing on the B-Cam and then a final clip when they do a final blessing and exit. It's unusual that any of those go for more than 15 minutes at best!!

Chris

The one thing i'll miss when the ea50 goes is the fact that the battery lasts pretty much all day and I never think about the media - with 64gb SD and FMU it was worry free - unfortunately with only one card slot on the A7s (why in such an expensive pro camera??) I'll need to change cards regulary and with the battery grip i get 2 hours max - need to be on the ball with that! It's always the way that solving one problem brings about other ones - still the right choice for me though

Hi Pete

I was reading a post about guys with A7S cameras at weddings and they said they went thru 5 batteries per camera during the day ... To be honest I seldom shoot more than 2 hours per camera of actual footage so based on that you should get away with one more set of batteries.

OK, I'm still confused? So if the EA-50 and Canon lens goes are you using your existing A7 as a main camera? What will you use then to shoot cutaways and handhelds ...another A7S????

Chris

In terms of batteries Chris you get max one hour per battery - I tend to have the camera turned on for a large part of the day (especially the EA50 that had a slow boot time) so I can just hit record and I'm off! What I'll need to do is plan in my battery changes so they are convenient for me rather than sweating in the middle of the ceremony/speeches as the gauge goes into the red! Also I'll need to have a series of SD cards in case one fails and I don't loose everything. I'll just have to be organised, having a system for new/used batteries and cards - something I'm not really used to.

Regarding my setup, the A7s will be my main camera for the whole day, walking around/ceremony/speeches etc - I've just bought (I couldn't help it) a used Zeiss 24-70 F4 FE lens that has nice stabilisation and smooth autofocus - this will be my main lens but I still have my canon lenses and metabones adapters if i need more range or something slightly faster. While the camera is mounted on a tripod for ceremony and speeches I can use a CX730 for any cutaways but the A7s is the one that will be in my hands for most of the day.

Last week's wedding I juggled 3 cameras before the ceremony (A7s for prep/CX730 for the bride's walk down to the ceremony area/EA50 for ceremony - including a lens change, swapping from the A7s to the EA50) I hope to make this a thing of the past, it's too stressful plus in all the juggling it's easy to miss something.

I just need to work out what to do regarding my steadicam as I used it for this but I don't want to be breaking it apart just for the odd steadicam shot - also I really don't like changing lenses too much so I might dig out my VG20 and use that for steadicam work instead - still thinking about this though.

That's quite interesting Pete!

My main camera that sits on the tripod is used ONLY for the ceremony and the speeches ..nothing else!
Prep is done on my B-Cam as well as arrivals, cutaways during the ceremony exit and congratulations. After group photos my B-Cam goes onto the stedicam and I do a nice slomo video shoot. It continues at the reception for bridal entry, tables and comments, cake cut and dance and also does cutaways during the speeches. Then of course the action cam on the stand runs the entire ceremony and then it's put away

So in terms of use, my B-Cam is the hard working one and is handheld ..my A-Cam sits on the tripod and does just the ceremony and speeches so maybe in my case my B-Cam is the main camera ..it certainly shots a LOT more footage. Every 6 months I exchange bodies so they roughly get the same amount of use.

My aim Chris is to get all my cameras and audio recorders in one carry case - which is this one

Kata OMB-75 One Man Band Bag, Medium KT OMB-75 B&H Photo Video


It will take all my handycams/A7s/VG20 and audio recorders. I have a long case for 2 lights stands and tripod and two sandbags - this I can take to the car in one trip - as sometimes weddings are 3 locations I NEED to be agile and portable - it's key for me now as the amount of setup/tackle down/setup etc etc is stressing me out a little.

Loosing the EA50 will also relieve me of 1 large camera bag - I'll keep a spare lens (maybe my 24-70 f2.8 with adapter) and spare batteries and cards in pouches on my belt. I have extra stands and lights and stuff for the evening reception but there is always plenty of time to set this up. I also only get my steadicam out at receptions so again, there's enough time for me to do this.

I have a hotel wedding this week and my other half is coming along to help out so it's the perfect opportunity to test out my A7s on a full day - the EA50 will be sat in the car.

I bet you won't miss lugging 2 EA50 cams about!

Brilliant Pete

My B-Cam EA-50 with the Sigma lens and battery came in at around 3.5kg and the A-Cam about 3.2kg ... bear in mind that I used to have rails and matte boxes too so I was lugging around close to 5kg units!!

The FZ1000's with the aluminium frame and mic/receivers tip the scales at a much better 1400g ..the camera totally bare is 850g so the frame/mic setup adds the rest. They are also a LOT more compact ..the EA-50 (unless you strip it down takes up a lot of space so I ended up making a fancy aluminium dolly to lug everything around ...(it was a pneumatic tyred garden trolley in the beginning and I ripped off the bin and just used the frame. Got to now figure out how I can modify it to make it more compact ... I also need to re-design my camera cradles (aluminium and foam) that allow the cameras to travel comfortably in the car!!!

At least I have some July projects as it's our barren month for weddings!!! I look forward to your comments after your next wedding without running the big camera!!

Chris

My aim Chris is to get all my cameras and audio recorders in one carry case - which is this one

Kata OMB-75 One Man Band Bag, Medium KT OMB-75 B&H Photo Video (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/601953-REG/Kata_KT_OMB_75_OMB_75_One_Man_Band.html)


It will take all my handycams/A7s/VG20 and audio recorders. I have a long case for 2 lights stands and tripod and two sandbags - this I can take to the car in one trip - as sometimes weddings are 3 locations I NEED to be agile and portable - it's key for me now as the amount of setup/tackle down/setup etc etc is stressing me out a little.


Hello Peter,
I wasn't clear on whether you already had the OMB_75 case.
Though I find the OMB's very useful (I have a half dozen of them in different sizes and use them for a variety of gear), I wanted to caution you if you didn't already have the case -- that the fact that they are rather deep can make packing for 'quick-draw' and 'fast pack' use a bit tough - since you may find yourself stacking on multiple levels within the case. For faster access (though smaller cases) I started using the Kata Fly-By (75?) in conjunction with an (Ogio Stealth) camera backpack which travels on top of the FlyBy when upright. With that confuguration I can fit an F3, two EX cameras and an A7s with lenses, batteries accessories and a monitor.

My wedding on Saturday was at a church where they have one wedding every hour. My wedding started at 2pm and the one before left the church at 1.45. I dashed straight into the church. spoke to the vicar, clamped one Panny on the church screen for an over view, already had main and clamped camera on the tripod, put a sound recorder in the church and another with a lavalier on the groom and was ready for the Bride arriving by 1.52. The breakdown afterwards took less than 3 minutes!

It's great what you can do with a lightweight setup and a camera backpack :-)

Roger

Hello Peter,
I wasn't clear on whether you already had the OMB_75 case.
Though I find the OMB's very useful (I have a half dozen of them in different sizes and use them for a variety of gear), I wanted to caution you if you didn't already have the case -- that the fact that they are rather deep can make packing for 'quick-draw' and 'fast pack' use a bit tough - since you may find yourself stacking on multiple levels within the case. For faster access (though smaller cases) I started using the Kata Fly-By (75?) in conjunction with an (Ogio Stealth) camera backpack which travels on top of the FlyBy when upright. With that confuguration I can fit an F3, two EX cameras and an A7s with lenses, batteries accessories and a monitor.

I already have the OMB-75 Dave and yes - it's deep but I have it partitioned and put stuff I don't need until later in the day at the bottom :)

My wedding on Saturday was at a church where they have one wedding every hour. My wedding started at 2pm and the one before left the church at 1.45. I dashed straight into the church. spoke to the vicar, clamped one Panny on the church screen for an over view, already had main and clamped camera on the tripod, put a sound recorder in the church and another with a lavalier on the groom and was ready for the Bride arriving by 1.52. The breakdown afterwards took less than 3 minutes!

It's great what you can do with a lightweight setup and a camera backpack :-)

Roger

Jeez that's tight - If I can't get into the church 45 minutes before the ceremony I start to panic - well done!

My last 2 weddings the couple arrived at the same time at church as I did, the only time I had to set up was the time the master of ceremonies needed to get all family out of their car's and line them up to enter the church. :) The groom allready has a lav mike on him before they left to church and I only put a audio recorder in front of the church soundspeaker, my 2 camera's on one tripod get set up after the bride has entered the church as that first part gets shot handheld, that's really guerrilla style. :)

I love it, really gets the adrenaline flowing :-)

Roger

Completely off topic now Noa and Roger but with so little time how much importance do you place on getting good footage of guests arriving and that whole pre-ceremony buzz thing? I try to get as much as possible as I know that my brides like it as it's a part of the day they are not around for? Seems like you two have very little time for this when timings are so tight?

Pete

Hi Pete, not completely off topic as speed of operation and mobility is very relevant to the camera upgrade theme of the thread :-)

My experience at the weekend was very unusual, as I arrived at the church as usual with an hour in hand. I took my usual shots of guests arriving, groom, best man, ushers etc, but just had no access to the church unti 15 minutes before the ceremony. If I was using the sort of equipment that many on here seem to have, it would have been impossible to set up in the time available, but with my equipment it was no real problem.

Roger

Hi Pete

The answer is to leave the bride's house at least 30 minutes before she does! That way you can set up, sit outside and film the guests arriving and then the limo arriving ... I tell her before the wedding what time she has to be in her dress and if she goes over that time I'm outta there so I can setup at the Church/Venue in time ... I actually left one bride still having her hair done 30 minutes before she was due to leave (still had to do her makeup and get dressed) It's either that or explain to her "If I stay you won't have any pre-ceremony footage ..your choice"

Chris

When I do a prep where the location is not the ceremony venue I charge a little more and my other half goes with my to finish off after I've left for the church - I leave her with a CX730 and list of shots, she's done it often enough now and although not ideal (I'd still rather do it myself) the footage is generally ok just for the last part, which is mainly the girls getting dressed, having some pics taken and leaving the house.

Regarding kit I can set up in 5 - 10 minutes depending on the layout of the venue - I still feel I need to get this down though - currently...

1 tripod
2 light stands with handycams on and small sandbags
Lav mic on the lecturn
Zoom H2 on a smaller light stand in front of a church speaker, if accessible
Zoom H1 secreted somewhere near the action

And I've just started leaving a GoPro on a light stand at the entrance to time-lapse guests arriving - very happy with it and it looks kinda cool but I've just added extra kit and setup time :/

In 4 days I'll be doing my first wedding with my EA50 in the boot of the car - just the A7s and 24-70 lens - I'll have my Canon 24-105 and speedbooster in a belt pouch which I will a the last minute swap onto the A7s for ceremony and speeches - this will give me more reach (becomes 38-168mm and F2.8 constant) - wish me luck!

Pete

Good Luck Pete

I don't think you will have any major issues leaving the EA-50 in the car ... so the A7S will be on a tripod as the main camera ?? Just make sure that you have any sort of continuous focus turned off ..I did a wedding with my old Panasonic AC-130's and left AF on ...it held the bride and groom in perfect focus for 10 minutes and then decided the trees in the background were more fun to focus on so it locked on those for the remainder of the ceremony making the couple's faces nice and soft and fuzzy. To be honest the GoPro saved by bacon there as I used lots of cutaways and the GoPro footage to cover up the error as much as I could!!

Chris

What cameras did you decide to get, Chris?