Shooting my first wedding next weekend

[Evan Bourcier]

I've been using a Vello grip with a Canon and Pearstone battery and have noticed the meter is inaccurate.

[Iker Riera]

any experiences with using only Canon original batteries?

[Taky Cheung]

Originally Posted by Iker Riera

Have you tried the grip with two original Canon batteries? I'd like to know if it shows the inaccurate battery reading with them too or only with the third party versions.

Yup, I have tried them with 2 canon stock batteries (I have 3 T3is). Battery meter still inaccurate. I just trained myself to carry 2 batteres in my pocket. Once I see the battery meter is half gone, changed them.

[Iker Riera]

Interesting, thanks for the help. I'm waiting for my grip to arrive in a few days so it's a good thing to keep in mind for the first shoot. I'll test it as soon as i get it.

I would leave the slider at home. The shooter with the least experience should NOT go hand held or for that matter do zooms, tilts and cutaways. That is, don't move the camera a lot. Stay in eye contact with each other. If you are delivering longform, that is, NOT highlights, you will need to have coverage. Both cameras cannot be moving, reframing at the same time. I would get the tallest tripod you can get your hands on, at least getting up to a height of 8 or 9 feet, and put any small HD camcorder on it. Canon Vixia are great. Let it roll a lot. At the reception one of you can run two cameras. Start the camcorder first and keep it wide. Start the T3i or whatever your other camera is and get closeups with it. You always have the wide for protection. This style allows delivery of what I call, documentary with cinemagraphic elements. If you don't end up going around and getting closeups of everything, then you can deliver what I call, documentary.

I am currently the president of the Greater Austin Professional Videographers Association.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

In our experience Transcend are decent quality & we are still using the four 16GB compact flash cards that we bought with our 5D2s over three years ago.

I personally never use cheaper brand cards but only Sandisc, they cost much more but I rarely hear anything bad about them, I think you should never save on cards as those are THE most important part of your camera. I only use sdhc extreme pro cards (class 10-45mbs) and I offload the cards after every shoot and back the data up to another internal and a external drive. After that I erase the cards and twice a year I format the cards, been doing like this for the past 2 years.

[Evan Bourcier]

I've talked to her about it, actually met with her just now, and I think it's going to be moreso a highlights video. 5-10 minutesish, something easy to watch and entertaining. Much less stressful that way, much easier to do with the camera and talent I have.. I think it'll be good. My only real worry now is the whole getting sound for the ceremony thing, and the weather... She said the officiant will have a wireless mic at the ceremony, so I could possibly record off that speaker... Could I record with the Lav onto my iPhone and get usable quality? That's easy to fit in a pocket.. Then put the h4n on the speaker for backup.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Evan

BIG mistake!! Don't neglect the audio unless you really don't want it at all. It's the biggest single mistake new wedding videographers make. You need a lav mic on the groom and that's the absolute minimum !!

By all means use the PA as a last chance backup but do the main audio correctly!!

Chris

[Taky Cheung]

I always mic the groom with a wired lav mic recorded to an olympus voice recorder. Then have a zoom recorder positioned near the loud speakers. It works well.

[Long Truong]

The best would be to have a few wireless lav setup on the groom and officiant. But if you don't want to invest too much, a fairly cheap solution would be to get a Zoom H1 ($100 at B&H) and use your current lav mic with it on the groom. Just make sure you do a sound test before the ceremony to make sure your levels are correct since you won't be able to monitor it later.

Then, your Zoom H4n could get the feed from the mixer. It will most likely be RCA, 1/4" or XLR so make sure you have the proper cables and adapters. In case there is no audio output available left on the mixer, it could be wise to have a few Y-splitters that you could use to share a feed.

Some speakers will also have a 1/4" or XLR output that you could use as well.

Since it's an outdoor ceremony, I presume there will be a DJ or a band that is going to take care of the sound control. When you approach them and ask about getting a feed from them, try to be as friendly as possible if you want them to cooperate.

[Evan Bourcier]

My first choice is to lav the groom with the zoom, but if I can't hide it on him I need to either try to use an iPhone or something to hide on him or come up with a plan B. at what point do you guys usually place/remove the zoom? I'd figure he doesn't wanna get tackled while walking down the aisle or right after their first kiss haha.

[Taky Cheung]

The Zoom will be too heavy for the groom to carry. I am using Olympus DM420. its about $80 at Amazon. this is a more affordable option.

I have my zoom mount to a light stand positioned near the speaker. If that's not possible, I will place the zoom on top of the speaker and have a wired lav Mic dangling in front of the speaker. But sometimes some of the speaker.cracking sound will be recorded too. Or you can check with the DJ to connect to his sound board.

[Taky Cheung]

Originally Posted by Evan Bourcier

Anyone have experience with the batteries Taky posted? For $14 I'd buy a few more, definitely more likely than the $30 otherwise..

I'm selling these batteries but I'm also using them for weddings with my three T3i and battery grips. They are reliable. I do 40-50 weddings a year. I'm a dvinfo sponsor. If the batteries stop.changing, you can always contact me for exchange.

i also saw some really cheap LPE8 out there like $8 for 2 pieces. I wouldn't trust them for professional jobs.

[Long Truong]

Originally Posted by Evan Bourcier

My first choice is to lav the groom with the zoom, but if I can't hide it on him I need to either try to use an iPhone or something to hide on him or come up with a plan B. at what point do you guys usually place/remove the zoom? I'd figure he doesn't wanna get tackled while walking down the aisle or right after their first kiss haha.

There is no way you can mic him with a H4n without making him uncomfortable. That's why I suggested a wireless solution or a Zoom H1, which is a lot smaller and lighter.

Haven't tried the Olympus Taky Cheung suggested but I guess it's about the same size/weight than the Zoom H1, which could work too.

Your iPhone solution might work too, I personally have never done it so I won't be able to comment. If you want to go that way, just make sure that the app you'll be using to record the audio allows you to control the levels and that it can record even when the iPhone goes on Sleep mode. And most importantly, make sure you're on Airplane mode so you don't receive calls/text/emails during the ceremony.

[Corey Graham]

Originally Posted by Long Truong

Haven't tried the Olympus Taky Cheung suggested but I guess it's about the same size/weight than the Zoom H1, which could work too.

I use the exact same model as Taky, and it's fantastic. The batteries last FOREVER.