DSLR vs. Video Camera

[Jeff Harper]

I love using my DSLR for getting ready and other intimate stuff. The footage looks SO much better than I can capture with a video camera. I can get by with no lights almost anytime. I also put one with a wide lens by the door at weddings to capture the processional from up close to the door, it's so small and handy.

For the reception I will dive into a packed dance floor and get awesome footage handheld, and the best part is people don't run from the dslr like they did from my videocameras.

Yes I get a rare, occasional person that thinks I'm shooting stills, but as I learn to handle the camera I have found that is almost non-existent anymore. You don't approach people head-on with it, but from an angle, almost surreptitiously, and it's not a problem. I find I cannot live without either my video cameras nor my dslrs.

[Long Truong]

Hi Chris,

I think it is safe to say that we can all look at our portfolio and compare our own work with those who have made it in the industry and it should give us a fair idea on what we can do to improve ourselves in order to get better and eventually add value to our work.

It could go from a simple equipment change to an entire new approach to the craft. What's important is to keep finding ways to improve and better ourselves. And what better way is there than to learn from people who are better than us?

And about dSLR's and shooting with a big production team, I strongly recommend some of you to check out these solo shoots here:

Carmen + Elton | Florence, Italy | shooting solo on Vimeo

jc plus esther // all 7d highlights on Vimeo

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Long

However that doesn't answer the question in my post!! A bride will ask me "Why is your package $8K and the videographer I just saw only $2K" I could never raise my prices to that level without at least some justification and telling the bride she will get a far more creative package isn't exactly going to be convincing is it??

If I tell her "my team of 4 will give you a Hollywood style production and we have stedicams, cranes and shoot with 6 cameras and it takes our team of editors 6 weeks to craft your awesome package", THEN I have justification..... Doing a solo shoot at a hugely different price with just 2 Canon 5D cameras isn't going to convince anyone so....... what justification would I have to charge BIG prices, shooting solo????

Chris

[Noa Put]

what justification would I have to charge BIG prices, shooting solo????

I think if you are able to sell a mobile phone to a deaf person you can sell a 10k package to your clients, just trying to say that you need to be a very good business/salesperson as well knowing how to do efficient marketing and how to create an identity so people will continue to recognize you beside the fact that you can shoot and edit very good video.

The internet is the most important tool to get noticed and once you accomplished that everyone is talking about you and once you raised your prizes to a very high level, you will start to attract a kind of clientele that thinks that high prizes must mean high quality. It's the kind of people to who'm 10k probably is a small expense.

Unfortunately I"m a bad salesperson who just happens to live in the wrong country and likes to shoot video :)

As far as creating an identity my personal favorite is papercranes, their Australian as well Chris :) and they also charge high prizes, looking at their portfolio they use dslr's and they seem to be doing very well.

[Jonathan Lau]

This won't answer anyone's question about charging more, but here are tips for solo shooting with DSLRs:
[Q of Week] – shooting solo – stillmotion

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

However that doesn't answer the question in my post!! A bride will ask me "Why is your package $8K and the videographer I just saw only $2K" I could never raise my prices to that level without at least some justification and telling the bride she will get a far more creative package isn't exactly going to be convincing is it??

If I tell her "my team of 4 will give you a Hollywood style production and we have stedicams, cranes and shoot with 6 cameras and it takes our team of editors 6 weeks to craft your awesome package", THEN I have justification..... Doing a solo shoot at a hugely different price with just 2 Canon 5D cameras isn't going to convince anyone so....... what justification would I have to charge BIG prices, shooting solo???

It's art. The price isn't just based on time & materials. Some photographers charge $500 & some charge $5000 even though they may both be using the same camera. Here in the UK photographers are generally charging more than videographers in many cases a lot more even though there is less work involved (no offence to any photographers). The bride doesn't try & beat down the photographers price by pointing out that the video guy will spend more time in post.

[Long Truong]

I'm definitely not a good sales person so I rather be honest with myself and my clients. Therefore, I go with the "what you see is what you get" approach. I'll show them my portfolio and let my work do most of the talking for me. The bride should be able to use her own judgement to decide if she believes in the value of my work and feels comfortable with the asking price.

I even tell them that they shouldn't care about what equipment I use, how many people are on my team or how I achieve the result that I get. I tell them to only concentrate on watching my wedding films and let me know if this is what they are looking for. If the answer is yes, and the budget works out for them, then I'll be happy to share the technical side of the craft if they're really curious about it. But I will never use that as part of my sales pitch. Because at the end of the day, what will really make my clients happy is not the fact that I used 50 cameras and 100 people to shoot their wedding, but the fact that I managed to produce a high quality film that is worth every single penny that they paid.

With that said, I really wouldn't mind using a traditional video camera if it was the tool that would allow me to obtain the result that I'm looking for. But at this point, dSLR's seem to be the best fit for the quality that I need.

[Victor Nguyen]

hey uhh, can some one point me where to find the heated war between Traditional Camcorder vs DSLR that happen 6 month ago?

[Monday Isa]

Originally Posted by Victor Nguyen

hey uhh, can some one point me where to find the heated war between Traditional Camcorder vs DSLR that happen 6 month ago?

There were a few heated ones.

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/wedding-...slr-event.html

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/wedding-...ning-dslr.html

[Chris Harding]

Hi Victor

I think the war has ended a while back and each faction has settled down quite a lot!! It was a little senseless as there were a few casualties too..we had one member banned due to one of those threads!!

Far better to live in peace and just use the tools that suit you best!! No sense in dragging out any dirty laundry again and re-kindering emotions!!

Chris

[Nicholas de Kock]

I use both. I use DSLR's & EX1's as the situation calls for it. People get hung up on choosing only one format but you really don't have to choose between the two, use both.

[Noa Put]

Do you use your ex1 and the dslr on the same shoots and if you do, how do they match? the resolution diference between the 2 must be obvious, no?

[Paul Mailath]

nothing like an interesting debate to get things going.. too far sometimes.. but

I started shooting weddings with the Xha1 and HV30 - the only reason I moved on was low light. I'd happily move back if a 'real' camera could deliver the same performance in low light - well maybe not - when the lights go down and I throw an old canon FD 85mm 1.2 on the GH1 and start shooting I ABSOLUTELY love the images I'm producing. in fact at anytime of the day I love the images coming from this little DSLR.

I miss the power zoom, the ND filters, gain control, ability to monitor audio.. I think that's about it I don't think I find it harder, just different

I keep looking at the new cameras coming out but I think I'm hooked on the low light & DOF that DSLR's offer - low light = romantic, if it's not the bride it's the venue (gives me the shits sometimes) but I give in and stock up on fast FD lenses.

I'm just looking over a current edit and there are so many shots that I like that I just couldn't get without a DSLR - I'm not talking about what the brides want, I'm talking about what I want.. to see. I love taking these images and working with them. My website shows my style, if they like it they book if they don't they can go elsewhere.

[Jeff Harper]

Noa, I use two GH2 and two Xa10 and they match perfectly fine, it's the lenses more than anything that enable good matching.

When in conditions that push the limits of videocameras, such as low light, etc, then the differences become more problematic. At ceremonies the cameras match extremely well, it's getting the white balance right that makes the difference.

[Noa Put]

I at least can't match my 550d's with my xha1 as both images are too different, if I put a wide angle lens on my dslr and place it side by side with my xh-a1, the xh-a1 is noticeable sharper. Also the look is different and I find it very hard to colorcorrect to match both, that's why I use a sony xr520 together with my xh-a1 in church and they play together fine. From the reception on it's only dslr.
Jeff, was it not you that used 4 dslr's some time ago and operate them alone?