I'm going to be shooting my first wedding... not something I want to get into but since it's for family, I want it to look good. I think I'm setup for audio... wireless lapel and shotgun mics... my davis and stanford provista tripod with FM12 plus wheels. I have a portable green screen for interviews and anything else spontaneous I might run into... etc etc.... but for lighting... I'm kinda stumped. I have softboxes I can use for some of the contained areas but i wanted something soft for the steadyTracker shots through the crowds dancing and other similar shots. I have a canon light that was recommended, but I find it very harsh and I don't have any control over it's output. Does anyone have recommendations... model??? brand??? Is there such a thing as a camera-top light with a softbox? Keep in mind... price matters... this is a free gig.

Thanks to all in advance.

Nelson Cardoso

On camera lights are almost always harsh, but try low watage, around say, 10 to 29 watts max, with a soft diffuser on front. That will help out to 10 feet or so.

I've used a SonyHVL-20DW2, has 2 ten-watt lamps in it. The dual lamps help soften shadow edges a bit. Powered by standard Sony camcorder battery.

this is a topic that has been beat to death over the years right here at DVI but the short answer is just about any light will take a soft box and since you already have the Canon light, why not just soften it up with either a softbox OR a layer or 2 of ToughSpun or some other diffusion material. Since its a free gig why spend more money for something you're not going to use a lot.
Most cams today will work just fine with 20W - 35W with a softbox, depending on how dark they make the reception
Don

Go to varizoom and look at their new on camera light. has dimmer on it and doors runs up to 45 if i recall, but they are not cheap.