Wedding setup

[Thomas E. Smith]

So I'm trying to get together a setup to film weddings. I need help figuring out if there's anything I should change or if my current plan is adequate.

Already have:

Panasonic GH2
Panasonic 14-45mm (for stationary camera)
Panasonic 45-200mm (for manned camera)
2 x 16GB Sandisk Extreme SDHC cards
Zoom H2 audio recorder
Ravelli AVTP tripod (for manned camera)
Final Cut Express
LG Blu-ray burner
GH2 AC power adapter

Planning on buying:
Second Panasonic GH2
2 x 16GB Sandisk Extreme SDHC cards (for backup)
Rode Shotgun VideoMic
Ravelli AVT tripod (for stationary camera)
Extra GH2 AC power adapter (for second camera)
Toast 10 for burning Blu-rays

Is this sufficient for a basic wedding setup? I've thought about buying another H2 to tie into the audio board, but I'm not sure if I need to. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Jeff Harper]

You should consider adding Canon G10 video camera or equivalent and faster lenses for your GH2. The lenses you have are not close to what are needed for wedding environments. They are too slow.

Your present lenses are fine for outdoor work or any well-lit situation. I had the 14-42, and loved the little guy, but it was useless for wedding work.

If you have little or no experience shooting weddings, you should consider a good low light videocamera. I shot with 4 GH2 and GH1s for months before breaking down and getting a real videocamera, and am very glad I did.

Anyway, videocamera or not, your present lenses will produce grainy or dark video images in darker environments, and you will need to change them. If you've already tested what you have and think they are OK, then never mind.

[Thomas E. Smith]

I think I'll be sticking with the GH2 setup, since I've never been happy with the sub $1000 video cameras.
Wouldn't the GH2 with a slow lens would still be better than something like a Panasonic TM900, since the GH2 is much better at higher ISOs to begin with?

I'm having trouble finding a faster lens that is long enough for closeups. I suppose I could get the 14mm or 20mm for the stationary camera, but I need something with enough reach to get closeups of the bride and groom. What lenses would you suggest?

[Jeff Harper]

Thomas, I have used approximately 12 lenses of various speeds and angle with these cameras, and have shot about 20 weddings using them exclusively.

The G10/XA10 keeps up with the GH2 to a large degree, and as I said the lenses you have chosen are too slow for quality wedding video. I suggest you go ahead a shoot a few weddings with what you have, and see what you think.

[Khoi Pham]

Yeah like Jeff said, you need faster lens F 2.8 minimum, F 1.4 preferred, those lens you have only good for outdoor wedding during the day, and you need wireless mic for vows, strings quartet, vocalists or at least use mp3 recorders and plug a lav mic into it, I hope you don't plan on using the tripod at the reception the whole time, so you will need some kind of support, at least a mono pod, if you want better video you also need some kind of steady cam, slider, but those can wait until you get better. Good luck. btw if you closeup, get the Canon 70-200 2.8 and with your gh2 crop center zoom, it could become 600 mm with no quality loss, right Jeff?

[Thomas E. Smith]

What about getting, say, a Panny 14mm for the wide shot and the reception? I realize that the 20mm is faster, but I don't think it would be wide enough for the wedding itself, and I don't have the cash for both.
Would the 45-200mm be OK for the ceremony itself?
I do like the look of that Canon, but I don't have another $1k to spend on a lens.

[Evan Lloyd]

Rent some lenses for the wedding day. It will give you the ability use some amazing glass without having to pay for it. After that, invest in some quality glass and you will be a happy camper.

Evan

[Tim Akin]

I'll chime in with this bit of advice Thomas, make sure you check your H2 to see how well it will sync up with your video. I had to dump my H2 because it was such a PITA in post. The Zoom H1's sync perfect with video and not all H2's are the same I think.

[Khoi Pham]

If I am you, I would go with something like this
CANON FD 135MM 1:2.5 S.C. FAST LENS WITH CANON CAPS | eBay
and get an fd to micro4/3 adapter and use that for close up along with your center crop, and also a Canon or other brand 55mm f 1.2, and a few more lens for wide and you still be way under $1000.00, you will loose auto focus but if you want to be good you don't want auto focus anyway. I shot all of my weddings with prime lens and rarely use zoom lens and if I do I want fix aperture not one that change when you zoom in.

[Thomas E. Smith]

That actually might work right there. I don't mind manual focusing as long as there's no zooming involved.

The only thing I'm worried about is the wide stationary camera. Since it would be unmanned, I don't know how well a manual focus only lens would work. Would I be better off with the 14mm Panasonic? Or do you think that I could just focus on a fixed point near the front and it would be OK for the whole service?

EDIT: Also, how would the crop factor work with an adapted lens? I'm assuming it wouldn't be 2x.

[Khoi Pham]

If you can find an old wide and fast lens then get it, you don't need auto focus, the wider it is the more dof you will have, example, my tokina set at f 2.8 and at 11mm, when I focus it at around 7 feet, it will give me good focus between 4 and 1/2 feet to 100 feet.
With a GH2, any lens you put on there will double the field of view, so if you put a 14mm on it, it will look like 28mm field of view.
If you decided to go with the old lens, make sure that you get the right adapter for it, there should be plenty on ebay.

[Thomas E. Smith]

Awesome.
I'm leaning towards this adapter, since it appears you can change the aperture while the lens is attached:

Amazon.com: RainbowImaging Canon FD Lens to Micro 4/3 Four Thirds System Camera Mount Adapter, Olympus PEN E-P1, Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1, GH1, G1, MSRP USD30.99: Camera & Photo

 

Amazon.com: RainbowImaging Canon FD Lens to Micro 4/3 Four Thirds System Camera Mount Adapter, Olympus PEN E-P1, Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1, GH1, G1, MSRP USD30.99: Camera & Photo

[Jeff Harper]

I personally would go with the 20mm, that will get you through a huge number of situations. I could shoot an entire wedding with the 20mm if I had to and I wouldn't bat an eye doing it. You can shoot the processional from down front with it, you can shoot the introductions of the bridal party, you can shoot the cake, toasts, everything if you had to. Obviously not ideal to use only one lens, but if there were only one, that is the one.

14mm is too slow for general wedding work. You could use it a lot, but it's too slow for many situations. I have the 12mm F/2.0 and there are times it is borderline fast enough.

I disagree about the tripod, I use a tripod for everything. I do go handheld, but when I do it's with the 12mm as it's so wide that it's smooth even when I walk with it carefully. You can follow people with it without a steadicam and it's amazing.

[Jeff Harper]

I have the 135mm F/2.5, if you want mine make me an offer. Go on ebay, find one, and I'll sell mine for $20 less and include free shipping. I will throw in the adapter. the lens has an aperture ring, you don't have to have an adapter that does that.

[Thomas E. Smith]

I just bought a Canon 50mm from Jeff here, so that should suffice until I can save up for an Olympus 45mm.
I decided to trade my 14-45mm for a 14mm, mainly because the 20mm just isn't wide for some of the buildings I'm in. The last wedding I shot for a friend was in a small church, and the lens I used then (Olympus 14-42mm) was just barely wide enough. I'll probably pick up a 20mm in the near future once the price drops.

I did check out the sync between my H2 and GH2, and luckily it was perfect.

Here's my updated setup.

Already bought:

Panasonic GH2
Panasonic 14mm f2.5 (for stationary camera)
Canon 50mm f1.8 (for manned camera)
2 x 16GB Sandisk Extreme SDHC cards
Zoom H2 audio recorder
Ravelli AVTP tripod (for manned camera)
Final Cut Express
LG Blu-ray burner
GH2 AC power adapter

Planning on buying:
Second Panasonic GH2
Olympus 45mm f1.8
Panasonic 20mm f1.7
2 x 16GB Sandisk Extreme SDHC cards (for backup)
Rode Shotgun VideoMic
Ravelli AVT tripod (for stationary camera)
Extra GH2 AC power adapter (for second camera)
Toast 10 for burning Blu-rays


The only aspect I'm still unsure of is the audio. Would I be better off just buying another H2 instead of a shotgun mic?