Camcorders only

[Peter Rush]

Steve as solo shooters we have to compromise occasionally - I've used this technique successfully for a half dozen weddings this year. Sometimes this also gets guests arriving which I turn into a little time-lapse clip.

[Phil Stanley]

Originally Posted by John Nantz

No-one has mentioned the AX33 and it’s B.O.SS system. It uses the same NP-FV70 battery as the AX100. It would seem that it would make a good B-cam. 1/2 inch sensor.


Answer: Yes, they both use the same NP-FV70 battery.

I have an AX33 John but it doesn't cut it quality wise against the AX100, it's low light performance lags behind the AX100, I have actually stopped using it

[Steve Burkett]

Originally Posted by Peter Rush

Steve as solo shooters we have to compromise occasionally - I've used this technique successfully for a half dozen weddings this year. Sometimes this also gets guests arriving which I turn into a little time-lapse clip.

Couldn't agree more. I plan to roll it out on my next Wedding.

[Clive McLaughlin]

Upon reflection, I think my earlier comments about my CX730 and RX10ii were a little harsh.

I decided to make up this comparison image - untouched and ungraded.

I think I had an unfairly poor opinion of my CX730 because for me its always a wide 'safety net' shot, and its hard to see much detail when you are so far away from the action. Used on a closer crop on the B&G, it's probably a fair option.

Still though, I'm tempted to switch to the a6000 for my wide, using an external recorder (like the Black Magic Video Assist) to avoid the clip length limit.

My wife came with me for the first time on Saturday and that is how I got the RX10ii shot - she won't be able to come to every wedding, and I don't do two shooter packages - but boy did it help! Took some pressure off at key moments!

In speeches, my wife's job was to stay on the speaker - I used the RX10ii on monopod to get reactions - it was so good to have the freedom to add in reaction shots to the edit without crazy fast pans from my main camera!

That said though - auto-focus struggled in this environment since there were so many heads and table top decorations. I'll go manual next time!

The have to say, I really like the RX10ii, but I'm worried it's noticeably soft against the A7s and A7sII, and my wife was using it for details shots, which really could have done with a bit more shallow DOF.

It certainly has it's place in my bag - just need to get clear in my head when to use which camera!

[Noa Put]

Upon reflection, I think my earlier comments about my CX730 and RX10ii were a little harsh.

I understand what you mean, I have shot a ceremony with gh4,s only before and it's just something about the look I can achieve with these GH camera's that are just not possible with the cx730, where the cx730 outperforms the gh4 by a mile is ease of use, I can close my eyes and still go home with usable footage :)

I am a bit surprised though that your rx10II is softer then the A7s, even in 4K compared to 1080p from the a7s?

My rx10's (mark1) footage is a bit of a mixed bag, in good light the footage can look gorgeous but in lower light it goes downhill quickly and then I much prefer what my gh3/4 output, also the dynamic range of that camera is limited and windows inside a house often pose a problem as they blow out completely, just look at the 2 shots at 01:33 in the video I in this thread here, the window behind the bride and her sister is just one big white blob.

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by John Nantz

No-one has mentioned the AX33 and it’s B.O.SS system. It uses the same NP-FV70 battery as the AX100. It would seem that it would make a good B-cam. 1/2 inch sensor.

The image quality is noticeably inferior to that of the AX100 to the point where you would have difficulty intercutting clips. If you only had one camcorder to film your kids & kittens then I am sure that you would be very happy with he AX33. If you want to use a camcorder professionally then it's worth paying double for an AX100.

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Clive McLaughlin

The have to say, I really like the RX10ii, but I'm worried it's noticeably soft against the A7s and A7sII, and my wife was using it for details shots, which really could have done with a bit more shallow DOF.

Did you shoot 4K with the RX10M2? If not why not?:-)

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Roger Gunkel

Surely movement and imagination is what good creative camerawork is all about, whereas a load of cameras locked off on tripods is more like cutting together cctv footage.

Speaking of which whatever happened to Peter Riding?

[Mark Watson]

For the AX100, besides the NP-FV70, you can also use the NP-FV100 which nearly doubles your battery life.


Mark

[Steve Burkett]

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

Speaking of which whatever happened to Peter Riding?

He left the forum around the time of the BVE; I only recall cos he instructed some of us to visit it to learn some humility, which coming from him was pretty funny. I think his setup was 3 or 4 fixed cameras he'd cut between, which is probably what Roger was thinking of. The application of just 1 moving camera can combat that effect, plus there's editing. If you're just randomly cutting between 3 cameras as he did, it can look very cctv like, but if you cut to other cameras at the right point, mixed in with moving shots from your main camera, the final results bare little relation to cctv in my opinion.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

Speaking of which whatever happened to Peter Riding?

He is not active anymore on the forum, just look at his last discussions and you know why.

[Mathew Williams]

Originally Posted by Steve Burkett

The 29 minute clip limit is a major pain and I've got to the point I no longer wish to invest in a camera that has this limitation. Like Peter says, you can get boxed in and it looks quite unprofessional going around resetting your other cameras, when any camcorder a guest may have can run continuously. The new GH4r has therefore been a blessing for me and I intend to add another soon to the one I have. This has saved me from having to go down the route of camcorders, which although have plenty of advantages can be limited in some low light venues. Even my GH2 with a 2.5 pancake lens can be very hard to match for some Weddings with my GH4. I even had 1 Bride pick me up on it. If I was to add a camcorder to my mix, it would be the AX100.

I had no idea there was a DSLR with unlimited recording, that's great news. I've been restricted to using older DSLRs up to now that have Magic Lantern for auto restart which isn't ideal. How long do the batteries typically last on the GH4r - ie how long can you record for before the battery runs out? Also, the new V-Log L mode presumably makes matching to other cameras easier? I wonder if other DSLRs will now also bring out cameras with unlimited recording...

Matt

[Jack Walsh]

Originally Posted by Roger Gunkel

I use one of my Panasonic video cams for a continuous wide angle base shot of the ceremony and speeches. That is then used as the editing base on the timeline, with the FZ1000 footage synched to it along with a base audio track from one of the audio recorders. If I am using both FZ1000s, one is locked off and I use the remote control app to monitor it and restart if necessary. I can also adjust the zoom if I want to change the framing, without having to move from my main tripod.

Roger

So, how far away from the FZ1000 can you be when using the remote control app Roger?

[Steve Burkett]

Originally Posted by Mathew Williams

How long do the batteries typically last on the GH4r - ie how long can you record for before the battery runs out? Also, the new V-Log L mode presumably makes matching to other cameras easier? I wonder if other DSLRs will now also bring out cameras with unlimited recording...

Matt

The GH4r continuous recording is hopefully an innovation to be taken up with other cameras. Battery length is variable depending on whether a stabilised lens is being used. I've not pushed any to the limit but I think 3 hours continuous recording is possible on a non stabilised lens. Given the GH2's battery have done 2 hours at a push and the GH4's battery has greater capacity, this isn't an unreasonable expectation. Plus there's a battery grip which I've not invested in, and this would double this length.

I've yet to use the v-log; I plan to play with this over Xmas when I have more time. I'd need another one to benefit from the colour grading and matching, but I'm finding having 2 GH4's, though 1 is not an 'r' version to be very easy to grade to look identical as I've set up the various camera profiles to match.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Mathew Williams

Also, the new V-Log L mode presumably makes matching to other cameras easier?

Unless you have some advanced grading skills I would not shoot in vlog, just like any other flat profile like slog and so on it's difficult to get the right color out of it.