EX1/EX3 for weddings

[Paul Gallagher]

Is there many members on here that are using the EX1/Ex3 for weddings?

Thanks

[Matthew Ebenezer]

Originally Posted by Paul Gallagher

Is there many members on here that are using the EX1/Ex3 for weddings?

Thanks

I think Don Pham is .... and I vaguely remember Patrick from StillMotion might have upgraded recently ... don't quote me on that though ... I could be wrong.

Cheers,

Matthew.

[Paul Gallagher]

Thanks Matthew, I know most people are just using them for short docs etc.

They don't seem to qualify as a good wedding camera except for how they excel in low light.

I would like to see some footage taken from weddings with them as I like the thought of the tapeless workflow for capturing and previewing some shots on the job.

Also the last few weddings I have done the speeches lasted over an hour and meant a tape change at awkward times but the tapeless media means you can change media while still recording.

[Oleg Kalyan]

I've used it as a second camera and for SDE, considering there is no time to load tapes to hard drive...
..it's works really bad with camera flashes, you can do research on that, otherwise it's a great camera I thought, great for low light situations, better than any camera in that price range, in my observation, a little harsh overall picture compared to Canon H1, A1, imho (less cinematic).

[Noel Lising]

The company I work for (my full time job), rents out EX1s, given that a 16G sxs card records only 50 mins at 35mbps and 60 at 25mbps, I can only see the EX1 being suited for Eshoots, Bride's prep, Park and having a 2nd different camera shoot the Ceremony and reception. Having said that EX1 is a true HD camera ( sensor is 1920 x 1080 unlike other HD Cameras) as far as I know only Sony Cameras have 1920 x 1080 sensors, the rest works on 1440 x 1080 and upconverts output to 1920 x 1080.

[Paul Kellett]

I use an EX1 for weddings.
Love it.
Any questions, fire away.

Paul.

[Don Pham]

Originally Posted by Paul Gallagher

Is there many members on here that are using the EX1/Ex3 for weddings?

Thanks

i have (2) ex1's and i love them. it is heavy but the images i get from the camera is well worth it. as far as sxs card...i have (6) 8 gig and (6) 16 gig cards for a two camera shoot. camera flash looks a little funky in slowmo because of the cmos chips but i can live with it cause the images are so great. here are some samples on vimeo

http://www.vimeo.com/1177319

[Noel Lising]

Hello Don,

Amazing quality. On a side note, if you can afford the SXS Cards and you have 8 like Don then EX1 can be used for weddings. I think they are $ 1000 each ( 16 G). I wish I have that kind of money and market.lol

[Danny O'Neill]

Don, when you say the flash looks funky do you mean it all goes a bit blocky?

Our FX1's (humble Mini DV) are great until you get a flash and for that split second the image is all blocky. Does mean slow mo goes bad but I think were just too self critical.

[Perrone Ford]

Originally Posted by Oleg Kalyan

...a little harsh overall picture compared to Canon H1, A1, imho (less cinematic).

What does this mean?

[Oleg Kalyan]

OK, about the picture, I'd say in interlaced mode and good lighting Ex1 and Н1/A1 are similar in resolution, possibly EX1 has a slight advantage, in progressive Sony no doubt leads, on the other hand, it's easier to get overexposed shot, white spots with EX1, I do not know how to explain that, (colors with the change of exposition vary also more on EX1, also I find the skin tones tend to be a little magenta pinkish, purple, from what I've seen on the internet and from my own/friend results... Please, take a look, that is first 3 minutes from preliminary edit of wedding film(not a promo or a trailer (in Russian), can you tell where EX1, and Canon H1 respectively?

http://olegkalyan.ru/_Quicktime/3firstmin_Drobysh.mov

What I mean less cinematic, is a perceived dynamic latitude, colors primarily, and overall picture quality,
EX1 looks more "digital", and that is pure personal taste.
But again, low light stuff is incomparable to any camera in that price range, and some costing more...I plan to buy EX3 and try different optics with it, EX1 used in that shoot belong to my friend, DP Gennadiy Kotelnikov.

[Patrick Moreau]

My opinion is that the A1 is by far the best value. I've tried the Ex1 and it certainly is a very good cam, but it also comes at a much higher price tag. It certainly has some big features but also some big drawbacks. For one, I think the AF isn't even usable and you need to resolve to going fully manual if you want the EX1. The A1 has great range, 24P, custom picture profiles, and a great price tag. The Japan trailer Konrad and Tony just shot, which is on our blog as well as another DVinfo post, was shot entirely with the A1.

P.

[Danny O'Neill]

Patrick, when you talk about AF when do you use auto?

[Paul Gallagher]

Well I would like to thank everyone for their help and I know the cost of the media is expensive but it seems to be worth it for the superb picture quality.

It sounds like you would need another 2 additional batteries for a typical wedding to avoid having to recharge on the job.

I have 2 Z1's and an FX1 at the moment but hate all the wasted time used up when having to capture all the tapes as I always use 2 cameras and have up to 10 hours footage back with me from some shoots so the speed of tapeless capture will save me money on time eventually.

I have looked at the S270 at Earls court but could not get a play with the EX1 as it was always busy. I didn't like the S270 and I have heard some complaints about the CF card not syncing up with the audio right at times but no complaints about the SXS cards as of yet.

Don the image quality looks fantastic on Vimeo and as far as the photo flash problem my Z1's do very similar and it is more obvious in HDV but I can live with that no problem.

I don't see how any of the EX1 footage looks very digital at all but the A1 produces some excellent footage as well but its still a tape system.

It is a big expense to have to buy 2 of them but I might just hire one out as suggested for a week-end and use it at weddings to see how it performs and make a decision from that.

Thank you again for your help.

Paul

[Kevin Shaw]

Originally Posted by Paul Gallagher

It sounds like you would need another 2 additional batteries for a typical wedding to avoid having to recharge on the job.

I think two of the largest batteries might be enough, but I'll have to check with one of our local association members to confirm that.

As far as saving on capture time is concerned, keep in mind that with any tapeless camera you trade that for the time required to make a reliable archive of your master footage. Most who have gone tapeless seem to prefer the workflow, but it's not necessarily simpler or faster than working from tape.