Multiple DSLRs during wedding ceremony: same aperture, ISO?

[Rob Patin]

There is probably an obvious answer to my question, but I figured I would consult with the experts as I'm new to the world of DSLR wedding videography.

When shooting a wedding ceremony with multiple DSLRs, is it important to keep the same ISO and aperture from camera to camera? When I shot with my Panasonic HMC150s, we kept the gain settings the same during the ceremony so that noise would appear similar from shot to shot. The problem, of course, was that as we zoomed on one camera, the aperture changed and the shot got darker. I'm wondering if I should have offset this by bumping the gain and not worried about the noise that would have appeared in the shot.

Our plan is to shoot the majority of the ceremony with an 85mm F1.4 and a 80-200mm F2.8 on two Panasonic GH2s. Should I be most concerned about what the exposure meter shows me? Should I be changing the aperture on the 85mm lens to match the 80-200mm? Am I overthinking all of this?

Thanks for your help. The fun begins with our first wedding of the year on February 25!

[David Schuurman]

the general rule in film is to try and shoot scenes with a constant aperture, so one shot is 2.8, then the other shot should be. But in a live situation I dont think its too important. I'll shoot at 1.4 sometimes and at 4 or 5.6 sometimes. But Usually wide open on whatever lens I have... Your cameras should be set to expose whats in front of them, if you have backlighting on one camera, youre going to have more light on the other camera...so adjust to match...

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Rob Patin

When I shot with my Panasonic HMC150s, we kept the gain settings the same during the ceremony so that noise would appear similar from shot to shot. The problem, of course, was that as we zoomed on one camera, the aperture changed and the shot got darker. I'm wondering if I should have offset this by bumping the gain and not worried about the noise that would have appeared in the shot.

What you should do in those situations is to set the aperture to the value it would have when zoomed in & then adjusted the gain so that it was properly exposed. The Panasonic HMC150 has a lens that is F/1.6 when at minimum zoom & F/3.0 at maximum. Set it to F/3 & you can zoom in & out without worrying about the aperture changing & your image getting darker.

[Tim Bakland]

Doesn't the 180-degree shutter speed rule fit into this, too? I generally find myself shooting at 1/60 to maintain 180º and changing aperture accordingly. I actually am happiest when I'm not fully wide open as the DOF/focus gets a bit extreme.

[John Wiley]

It doesn't really matter if the aperture doesn't match. Because the angle and perspective between the cameras is going to be different, the DOF won't necessarily match anyway, even if the apertures do.

It's good to keep the ISO the same, or at least close, so that the grain matches from camera to camera. Ideally you would be shooting with a 180 degree shutter all the time on both cameras, but during the ceremony where there is not a lot of movement it is not too much of a problem if they shoot at different of higher shutterspeeds.

What is important to match is the white balance and picture styles. Get these right and you will save yourself a lot of time in post when it comes to colour correction. If any of your cameras don't have Kelvin WB (600D or 550D), then I would recommend installing Magic Lantern for this feature alone.

[Tim Bakland]

Originally Posted by John Wiley

What is important to match is the white balance and picture styles. Get these right and you will save yourself a lot of time in post when it comes to colour correction. If any of your cameras don't have Kelvin WB (600D or 550D), then I would recommend installing Magic Lantern for this feature alone.

Yes! I can't say enough how nice it is, with two quick clicks, to be able to change WB in degrees Kelvin. Magic Lantern is a great time-saver for quick WB changes.