What kit would you have if money didn't matter and you just did this for fun?

[Byron Jones]

So, you have unlimited cash...so much your bored of it. You film weddings just for the joys of the day. You want the film to be a dream, but you also don't want to make too much more work for yourself. What kit do you use?

In my search to find what camera I like best for this, I have collected a small variety. Now I just wish I could afford to have all of them the same to make combining in post a lot easier!

[Danny O'Neill]

We shot our first wedding with our c100s yesterday and this thing really is our dream camera. I use a c300 on corporate jobs and never liked the flow of the controls or the weight.

[Adrian Tan]

Just wanted to add a thought on this. Have mentioned this before, but anyway...

Ray Roman seems normally to charge $15,000 to $20,000 per wedding, and is about to shoot one, or has just shot one, for $30,000. He does two weddings a month. I wouldn't say that money doesn't matter to him, but he's making enough to be able to use any camera he wants.

What cameras does he use?

For himself, a 1DC. For second and third shooters -- 5DMk3.

[Peter Riding]

Originally Posted by Adrian Tan

Just wanted to add a thought on this. Have mentioned this before, but anyway...

Ray Roman seems normally to charge $15,000 to $20,000 per wedding, and is about to shoot one, or has just shot one, for $30,000. He does two weddings a month. I wouldn't say that money doesn't matter to him, but he's making enough to be able to use any camera he wants.

What cameras does he use?

For himself, a 1DC. For second and third shooters -- 5DMk3.

I'm somewhat cynical about these seminars having had my fill of them in the stills industry so I'd say - I would wouldn't I - that if the speaker says that they use only very high end equipment then their seminar bookings plummet because what they do is no longer aspirational for the attendees. It is instead unattainable, and their lucrative seminars circuit grinds to a halt.

With stills it was Phase One medium format backs.

Remember that to make it long term in that market you also have to have the whole shebang in place - the full-page print ads, the trendy central location studio staffed, the big crews, the ins to exclusive venues that are also well lit and roomy enough, etc. etc. etc.

Another observation would be that if you did have the money you would not do this genre for fun. Very pleasant way to earn a living it is - and sure beats a "proper job" :- ) but it is work, it is not a leisure pursuit.

Anyway, back on subject. I don't know of it quite yet but maybe we are not that far off. Great low-light performance, very high resolution to enable creative cropping in post (which us stills people take for granted), enormous zoom range, terrific stabilisation, narrow depth of field capacity for when it is appropriate to use, small form factor, light weight.

Pete

[James Manford]

If money was no object, i'm fairly sure I would be chuffed owning a FS700 ... this is from some one that owns a FS100.

Anything remotely more expensive I would be uncomfortable running around with for wedding work ... it's an accident waiting to happen.

[Chris Harding]

As Peter says if you are doing it for fun then you need a fun camera ... even if you don't need the money it's still hard work so for fun stuff I firstly wouldn't do weddings ..just fun stuff ..bit of scuba and a bit of extreme sport stuff so in a nutshell I would get a nice batch of GoPros with lots of mounts and that would be that!

If I had to do weddings then definitely a JVC 800 series camera with all in insides ripped out and Sony's FS700 electronics inside but we know that will not happen.

Nope i'll stick to nice set of Gopro's with a couple on my hang glider, a couple on the jet ski and a couple for the ski slopes to .... if you are in the position to have fun, why would you do weddings???

Chris

[Dave Blackhurst]

OK, so we are going to make the "fun factor" a part of the equation...

In that case, I'll vote for the RX100M2 for compact portability with image quality, toss in a shell for weather/water use. Add In the RX10 which is just plain FUN to shoot with, and still compact and easy to carry. The RX10 is very hard to beat when it comes to just being fun to shoot with

And just for giggles the upcoming AX100 to complete the trio for a multicam rig in a small bag you can take anywhere, get good image quality, easy intercutting, and doesn't break the bank or your back... plus a bit of versatility built in because the 3 cams are "similar" but different enough to cover most bases!

I know I "cheated" on the money not counting, but if you've got money to burn, I'm with Chris... take your little camera bag on a world tour and capture the memories!! Who wants to drag around a bunch of big heavy gear!? I want small, light cameras that I can rely on to get the shot "most" of the time in auto, and let me tweak settings when needed for creativity. And It helps that the images look really good!

[Adrian Tan]

Depending on what the parameters of the question are, I think you'd have to start with:

1. A helicopter or two. Remote-controlled ones don't count.
2. Technocranes for the ceremony and for the bridal prep, to get an epic dress shot. In fact, it might be cool to copy the shot from Raging Bull -- steadicam operator stands in a crane, gets lifted down, steps off it and keeps following the subject.
3. Coverage of everything with Alexas and Phantoms, so you've got the choice of crazy slow motion if necessary. Actually, make that Alexas and Phantoms in 3-D rigs.
4. Then, when you're into lowlight stuff, assuming you can't light things properly, it might have to be 1DCs.
5. 1,000 more 1DCs, to be used as action cams, to hide everywhere you can hide them.

[Eric Coughlin]

Three C100s, four 1DCs, and a Steadicam Zephyr.

[Clive McLaughlin]

If money wasn't an issue I feel more camera operators would vastly improve my productions as much if not more so than other equipment.

For example, I don't have jib shots - don't because I can't afford a jib, but because there isn 't time to set it up and use it.

Equipment is only part of the story in terms of achieving excellence.

[James Kuhn]

If, money was no object? I have the best equipment available and I'd be doing wildlife documentaries. This has been a dream of mine my whole life. Unfortunately, I don't believe it will happen, but 'hope springs eternal', right?

Thanks for asking.

Regards,

J.