Thoughts and Suggestions

[Robert Benda]

We've been learning a lot these past two years, and continue to improve, both in technique, and gear. I think we're both reaching a point where we can start consciously considering things like this instead of point and pray, and would like any suggestions, and basically to know if I'm understanding things correctly. We shoot Canon DSLR (two crop factor and one full frame)

We place the crop factor cameras closer to subjects since they get less light than the Mark ii - for instance, in the church, the Mark ii is in the back for the wider shot; the crop factor cameras are up front on the outsides to be able to get zoomed in faces of B&G or guests.

Lens choices (assuming full frame):
14mm fisheye for 'trick shots', especially if there is something INSIDE (like a church) and we want to be able to take it all in without panning
24-28mm for a nice wide, landscape/scenery shot
40-50mm for a 'what you see' look, as if you're a guest at the wedding, or a person in the room; our most common choice when, say, just hanging around getting random chatter, stories, and such
85mm+ to get a nice tight framing during vows

Aperture:
f/8+ for that back of the church camera that we want a LOT of space in focus
f/4 to f/8 for most shooting
f/2.8 for intimate moments, especially vows

Shutter Speed/fps
1/48th for 24fps
1/120th for 60fps, to be able to slow it down later, OR if you want a really crisp look

ISO
multiples of 160 for less noise
adjust last, usually, so you can set the aperture the way you want

RNB Wedding Videography

[Adrian Tan]

Hey Robert, just my opinion, but that all sounds pretty good to me.

Everyone has their own style and method of course. Eg I like a pretty close shot size for vows. And there's lots of variables that might affect things, like darkness and size of church. Maybe you have to open up the aperture to see anything.

[Dave Partington]

Wel also liked a pretty close shot from the back for the vows since we can rarely get two cameras at the front.

So our rear shot for the vows and rings would be typically be on a 70-200, often all the way in at 200mm (depends on the length of the church). DOF becomes a problem at 200mm and you need to be on top of it to get the best shot.

For the walk out the 14L was awesome because it gave a sense of the size of the church, guests and the hyperfocal distance is second to none.

We'd also often put a 15mm fisheye on a 5D2 body more or less on the floor at the end of the dance floor for first dance as this also gave a nice alternative perspective to cut to if the dance was anything more than just a nervous shuffle.