Who needs a videocamera.....

[Matthew Ebenezer]

Originally Posted by William Smyth

Maybe I'm dense, but I'd like someone to explain to me how photographer will now shoot video and not have his/her still product suffer.

Quite easily I'd say. A photographer isn't shooting stills every single minute of the wedding day. They are already there with the bride when she's getting ready, at the ceremony, photo locations etc ....

In my opinion, all the photographer would need to do is gather enough footage to make a short highlights clip from the day and that would make a nice little add-on or upsell to their existing packages.

In fact, I've already heard some high-end wedding photographers talking about adding a video option like this for around $1,500.

As Chris P Jones said, "with 73% of brides not choosing to have a motion picture of any kind at this point, at least 25% of the untapped should go for this product." Not sure where he gets his stats but I agree with him. I think photographers adding on video shouldn't be seen as a huge threat. Looking at those stats, anything that educates brides as to the value of wedding videography is a good thing in my opinion.

But, I think it would be a mistake too dismiss the whole DSLR/video thing too quickly and put it into the 'photographers will find it too hard to make a video' basket. A few years ago putting video on the web was a pain, but now any person with a webcam can do it via YouTube. Technology has a habit of making things easy that were once quite difficult.

My thoughts are that as videographers we need to not be focusing too much on the 'now' when it comes to this emerging technology, but looking 2, 3 or 4 years down the track at the implications that this type of technology will have for our industry.

[Dave Blackhurst]

Practically speaking we all are ALREADY shooting "stills"... just ours come out at somewhere around 24-60fps, and have sound... quite the advantage really, when you think about it.

If you're shooting SD video, your resolution is not up to par, and even with HD, it's still fairly "low resolution" compared to most still cameras.

THAT is what makes this camera an interesting tool, and a sign of things to come. As visual communicators (don't forget the audio...), we are looking for the compelling, the emotive, the striking, and the stunning.

To me a dual purpose camera with serious resolution like this presents a powerful tool, but it can no doubt produce drek in the proper hands... if anything, we should be getting creative with how this can add another dimension, not worrying about the inevitable progress of technology.

I'm just as comfortable with a still camera in hand as a video camera, and in casual shooting with the SR11/CX12, I'm getting a sense of how one can "double up" and still get great results.

To use a wedding related metaphor... the two shall become one... It's up to US to see how to most effectively benefit from the obvious "union".

I'll just suggest that the advent of the word processor and cheap high quality digital cameras hasn't made everyone a Shakespeare or an Ansel Adams. The gear is agnostic, it's the vision of the man or woman using it that makes greatness or garbage.

[Kevin Shaw]

Originally Posted by Matthew Ebenezer

In my opinion, all the photographer would need to do is gather enough footage to make a short highlights clip from the day and that would make a nice little add-on or upsell to their existing packages.

Indeed, but that's not nearly the same as providing a complete wedding video including all major events with clear sound. Having done both video and photography for weddings I can't see doing both well with one camera except as a gimmick - and some photographers will probably try. What these combo cameras may do is get more photographers thinking about video and perhaps buying a proper video camera to stick on a tripod while they shoot stills, supplemented by a few artistic shots from the DSLR. Conversely, videographers can buy a DSLR and do the same thing, so then it just comes down to who wants to do what and how it's marketed to customers.

My brother predicted a while ago that photo and video services will merge for wedding purposes and be perceived as one product by many couples. (Not all, but some.) I've had several customers express interest in getting both services together, but I haven't pushed this too hard because it's a lot of work. My advice to videographers interested in this trend is to start taking some photography classes, offer a few customers a discounted photo/video option to see how that goes, and consider how you would modify your marketing to offer both services. If you currently get a lot of referrals from photographers you'll face a conundrum on how to maintain those relationships while offering photo add-ons, but don't assume they'll worry much about you if they decide to add video to their services.