I shot a wedding over the weekend using the A1. It went great! This camera is very easy to use when your runin and gunnin. I especially loved the Kelvin switch as it made white balacing a breeze. I shot this by myself so I was running around like a mad man. I'm sure the couple will be very happy as they only had a very basic package to start out with.

www.joesimonproductions.com/video/kjhd.mov

great footage.. did you use a small jib for some of those shots?
Also what kind of stabilizer are you using with the A1..

Good work, images look great!

I used the Kesler 8' crane, and the Glidecam 2000 pro.

Joe: thanks for posting this ... great job. Whatever you're charging, raise your prices ;) Your clients will be thrilled.

You have to be ecstatic with these images. There was one lowlight shot, however, the one where you are panning across the reception tables, and the faces look smudged, blurry ... is this due to the Quicktime compression? Or did it look that way on FCP (I assume you used FCP to edit). Do you remember what gain setting you had the camera on for that shot, and was the blur due to the gain noise?

What did you think of the lowlight performance, now that you've shot a wedding with it? (Did you bring the PD170 along just in case?)

Also, I assume you shot in 24f?

Hey Joe,
Great job on the highlight! I do have a few questions as a potential XH-A1 owner. How was the feel of the camcorder for you on this job? In comparison with another camcorder you film weddings with. Lastly you were using a on board light, what type was it? The footage looked great (also the low light reception) and I'm very excited to see what this cam can do. Thanks for sharing and posting your experience. Much appreciated

Monday

Dave - The table shot I was at 6db, no light. The smearing is only with the quicktime compression, the FCP file looks good, faces are just dark. This was shot at 30f, I wanted to test it that way before jumping to 24f. I will be shooting one this weekend in 24f! I thought the A1 performed very well at the wedding in low light, and I did bring the 170 as a backup.

I used the sony 10/20 watt light which I used on 10 most of the time. I just ordered some cool lux 35watt lights that have a dimmer and soft boxes. I think they will do much better at lighting the whole screen.

I used to shoot weddings with the Sony PD170. I think this camera being able to shoot in 24,30 and HD does an amazing job. Also I like the controls a lot more on A1.

Thanks Joe -- what did you think of the LCD screen on the A1? Comparable to the PD170 in terms of usability?

Hello Dave,
How is CT, I used to live in West Hartford.

Great Recap Joe. I really enjoyed it. I bet the bride will be thrilled with her wedding video.

I have a couple of questions if you don't mind. I have a crane and a Glidecam, but I've never been able to use the crane at a wedding due to time and room to use it. You said that you shot with one camera. Did you do it all by your self? I usually work with 3 manned cameras plus a director and still can't see how I could have time to take a crane set it up and not miss anything. How do you do it?

Great Work!!!

I shot with 3 cameras at the ceremony by myself. 2- XHA1's, 1 - HVX200. It was a Last minute change to HD so I could not get my other shooters out there. Usually an HD package would be 3 people, 2 shooters and one assistant to move the crane and set up various items.

I Arrive to the venue a few hours earlier than the bride just to get crane/time-lapse shot done. Its a lot of work but looks awesome later. I hope to do a proper HD wedding shoot later this month.

what are you charging clients for this set up? (what's your price list?)
Isn't ourweddingvideo in austin?

Well this wedding paid a whopping $1300. haha. I'm trying to build up our new HD demos so I'm pretty much shooting all existing packages with this set up. Our new HD pricing is starting at $3000

Our Wedding Video is in San Antonio

I shot a wedding over the weekend using the A1. It went great! This camera is very easy to use when your runin and gunnin. I especially loved the Kelvin switch as it made white balacing a breeze. I shot this by myself so I was running around like a mad man. I'm sure the couple will be very happy as they only had a very basic package to start out with.

www.joesimonproductions.com/video/kjhd.mov


Hi, Congrats you have some nice shots there.
I would like to know some things:
1. Are you previewing this with a HD 1080 display, If so how does it looks, mainly in the low light parts.
2. When using the crane is the Cam in Auto mode?

Thanks and congrats again.

Alexis

How did you feel the extra weight of the camera affected the Glidecam 2000? Any more fatigue than the PD 170?

wow.. that's cheap!

$3000 is much more like it for that deal with a jib and 3 cameras.. sheesh
in SOCAL it would be more like 4,5 or 6k.. of course my prices aren't that much eaither but they have been up to 4k on a wedding before (in SD, 3cam, Aviator, +lovestory)..

Cool.. good stuff!

I don't have a 1080 monitor, I'm just using the LCD/Viewfinder. The LCD is pretty good and a lot easier to focus with then the HVX. I even prefer this one over the PD170. When you use the peaking and magnification functions you can get perfect focus.

I only use this camera in manual mode, I don't trust auto settings. When its on the jib I lock the settings for what will look best.

You can definitely feel the extra weight of the A1 over the PD170 on the Glidecam. Especially when you add a light. I shot this whole wedding with the Glidecam and by the end of the night my back was done. I just purchased a DV Multi Rig so I'm going to alternate between the two so I can save my back as well as get different kinds of shots.

Hey Michael how is the Aviator? The 2000pro works ok but it makes you really tired. I'm thinking of getting a new setup but not sure which way to go.

Great shots there man!

Joe I thought that you were using the Smooth Shutter. I couln't handle the Pani HVX200 on the Glidecam 4000 for too long so I got the Smooth Shooter. The Aviator is probably smoother, but it should be heavier also with the monitor and the battery weight.
I like what you have done with your HD price list structure. I will probably change my own at the end of the year. I already have plenty of HD demos to generate enough HD business.
It has become hard for me to see my olds SD videos. How are you showing your SD and HD demos as far as DVD player and Display?
I went back to using CRT for SD and Plasma or an HD Sony CRT. Are you using CRT or LCD/Plasma?

Joe,

I hate to hijack this thread, but how are you distributing DVDs in HD? Are you using a BluRay recorder or do you send them off somewhere? Also, I assume you're using DVD Studio 4...

One of the main reasons I am getting the A1 is for weddings. I was originally going to upgrade from my XL1s to the XL2, but when they announced the A1s at such a low price my plans rapidly changed! I now want to offer weddings to couples in High Definition, but have a hard time finding good information out there...

Thanks for your help

Joe, the vid looks great... I know your from Austin, did you say this was shot in San Antonio, is this a park ???

Awesome stuff Joe!! Making me feel awesome that mine is gonna be on my door step by 3pm tomorrow. Via FedEx!!

I just started shooting in HD so I'm still finalizing my distribution plan. But I will probably burn the weddings to Blu-Ray discs. Panasonic makes a burner that looks great. Presently I'm using the H.264 on standard DVDs in DVD Studio 4.

I'm getting a LCD T.V. to show brides my HD work and the SD weddings I'm showing on a Sony CRT. The SD footage looks better on the CRT. I'm going to linked my computer to the LCD for the HD weddings and play it direct from there. This is my first wedding in HD so I'm still in the middle of putting my demos together. But I want to have this set up soon.

I am in Austin and this was shot at DunveganKeep.com in Austin. This place is in someone's backyard. Craig built it all by himself, its pretty awesome!

Hey Michael how is the Aviator? The 2000-pro works ok but it makes you really tired. I'm thinking of getting a new setup but not sure which way to go.

The Aviator is an amazing set-up.. definitely a "Big" step-up from the 2000-pro.
As far as back pain or fatigue.. we'll there is none.. I have filmed all day with the rig on with no issues. The vest and arm support all of the weight. It does documentary just as well as creative flowing shots.

you can view footage/behind the scenes of me using the aviator on varizoom's website under the "Stabilizers in Action" button in the upper middle of the stabilizers page.

http://varizoom.com/stabilizersindex.html

Also if you click on the "WEVA" tab.. that's my wife demoing the unit at NAB, explaining all of the parts.

Check it out.. have fun :)
P.S. I'll try to post some more footage.. or let me know if you want a demo DVD.

Joe I thought that you were using the Smooth Shutter. I couln't handle the Pani HVX200 on the Glidecam 4000 for too long so I got the Smooth Shooter. The Aviator is probably smoother, but it should be heavier also with the monitor and the battery weight.

No actually the Aviator is lighter.. The battery and 7" monitor weigh very little and stabilizers from VariZoom don't use additional weights but rather smart machanics/adjustments to balance the system.

I have balanced my Aviator rig to be used handheld (w/o vest & arm) with the A1 and it is quite light in comparison to the 4000 pro. Also the monitor and battery wires run through the pole instead of the outside as does the Smooth Shooter (incase you planned on adding them to the 4000 pro).

Also the Aviator/Prolite sled is far more advanced in comparison with fine adjustments in all directions. In addition to that it uses a BNC connector for the LCD on the post.. the A1 has BNC out :)

No actually the Aviator is lighter.. The battery and 7" monitor weigh very little and stabilizers from VariZoom don't use additional weights but rather smart machanics/adjustments to balance the system.

I have balanced my Aviator rig to be used handheld (w/o vest & arm) with the A1 and it is quite light in comparison to the 4000 pro. Also the monitor and battery wires run through the pole instead of the outside as does the Smooth Shooter (incase you planned on adding them to the 4000 pro).

Also the Aviator/Prolite sled is far more advanced in comparison with fine adjustments in all directions. In addition to that it uses a BNC connector for the LCD on the post.. the A1 has BNC out :)
The Aviator is probably a better system,but it is also listed $2500 more than the Smoth Shooter. If you can justify the difference in price it is probably the the way to go. In my case at this time it is not.

Joe:
The A1 looks to be producing some nice footage! Thanks for sharing!


Michael:
Nice job with the Aviator footage! BTW, looks like WEVA took their video down so the link on the site is dead.

Also, how do you pull off wearing the whole rig during the wedding? Do people get distracted or make comments? My biggest concern is that I will be seen as being obtrusive and in the way. How do you convince your clients with being okay with the rig? Also, are there times when you don't wear the rig? Thanks!


Doug:
Right now, I am looking at getting the Indicam PILOT (http://www.indicam.com), which you might want to check out, too. Looks like a good in-between system as it costs about the same as a SmoothShooter with Glidecam but it has dual articulated arms so it should give smoother stabilization that the SmoothShooter and a much wider boom range :)

I bought and use the Indicam sled for weddings and Terry (the owner) is really helpful and friendly. His service is fantastic and timely! However, using it for a whole wedding does put a strain on my forearm and back so I am still considering an arm and vest system... but again, my biggest concern is walking around a wedding looking like RoboCop and drawing attention to myself so I am looking forward to Michael's reply ;)

Thanks!

That is great, well done!

Actually people quite like it..
I get lots of looks.. but they are all positive :)

The bride and groom think "damn that's cool.. it sure make me look cool to have hired him.." in other words it looks like they can afford to spend some cash.. and everyone wants everyone-else to think they're rich.
It's also a good conversation piece..

One groom recently hired me just to get to see it in action.. said he had never seen a real Steadicam system up close before.. his wife said he was so excited.. I know it sounds lame.. but its true.. Men and Gadgets.. hey its why my wife isnt' posting here.

As for wearing it all day.. no that doesn't happen completely, but I do spend several hours in it at least with no issues. I don't always wear it durring wedding ceremonies.. (its by request); the wedding shown in the start of the behind the scenes shot was a 3.5hr ceremony (ouch!); so I never took it off.. wasn't a problem at all. I have the VariZoom rocker mounted so I never touch the camera (almost never ie. changing tapes etc..);
Also I get to charge more in my packages for having it on site. Which is nessasary since it is a bit more of a deal than having a glidecam on hand.

Thing is people love the effects of the Aviator system, even if it is just roaming through the crowd durring the reception.

The A1 is far lighter than what I have been using on the Aviator for the past couple of years.. so the ProLight would be more ideal (and its cheaper too)
Its basically the same design just the springs are set for lighter weight cameras such as the XH-A1 and goes up to 12lbs. You will have to double check to see if it comes with a 7"lcd or 5.6 4:3 lcd.

here is a redirect (my blog) for the weva newsminite:
http://visualmasterpiece.com/Site/Blog/BF1F95AA-C59C-456F-91D3-56DEDEDDE40A.html

I'll post a link to the wedding with the Aviator in a few..

I shot a wedding over the weekend using the A1. It went great! This camera is very easy to use when your runin and gunnin. I especially loved the Kelvin switch as it made white balacing a breeze. I shot this by myself so I was running around like a mad man. I'm sure the couple will be very happy as they only had a very basic package to start out with.

www.joesimonproductions.com/video/kjhd.mov


Joe, you are making it real hard to sell mine. Great looking stuff..and you put it together quite well. Like others have said, you should be getting 3x that price.

Joe I have been watching several of the videos on your site and you do quite amazing work! So far I have thoroughly enjoyed each piece of video and I think the music selection is some of the best I've heard.... truly an inspiration.

How much of a demand are you guys getting for stabilizer shots in weddings? I have weighed getting the Glidecam 2000 and Smooth Shooter, but now this Aviator is looking great too. I just wonder how well it will pay off...

Joe,

I hate to hijack this thread, but how are you distributing DVDs in HD? Are you using a BluRay recorder or do you send them off somewhere? Also, I assume you're using DVD Studio 4...

One of the main reasons I am getting the A1 is for weddings. I was originally going to upgrade from my XL1s to the XL2, but when they announced the A1s at such a low price my plans rapidly changed! I now want to offer weddings to couples in High Definition, but have a hard time finding good information out there...

Thanks for your help
Delivering HD is a bit difficult. I have done about six HD productions and I deliver them with the AVeL Link Player SRDVD-100U JVC ProHD DVD player. You can burn about 20 minutes of HD on a single sided DVD and the player costs about $300. These have been industrial or commercial installations where they loop the DVD and it plays continuously. I have one location that never turns it off and it has been playing for more than six months.

The players work great and the image quality is amazing but I'm not sure I'd use them for weddings.

Sorry Joe,

your work is inspiring. As good as the A1's picture is I'm sure you could make a wedding look great with a Polaroid...

Great music selection. Who is the musician?

Joe, yes very nice mate. You got it working in the wedding shoot thats for sure. Up your prices as of today though, your worth more than that and people will pay it. There arent too many people doing wedding shoots that turn up with a jib to get those beautiful shots.

A1 kicked the ass out of this wedding. Good to see.

Joe, consider something like the steadicam flyer and some serious training. You would be the No1 guy to beat then.

I dont do a lot of weddings (I limit myself to one a month). One cam shoots is all I do, so its a little lower end but I am still charging $2k USD here in Tokyo - and weddings here last 4 hours. But I am using the steadicam Merlin. This is one area your shots could improve. The stabilised shots had plenty of movement.

EDIT: Sorry not saying they arent good - just could be better with better equipment.

Thanks guys.

The music is from Iron & Wine its called "Naked as we came"

Its tough using all this weight with the 2000 Pro, I bought some extra weights but its still handheld. I would love to get the flyer and some training with it, but at $7000 I don't think thats in my budget. I'm looking into the Smooth Shooter, or the VariZoom Pro Lite. I know these are not "Pro" quality but I'm sure I could get really smooth shots with them.

Mike,
Thanks again for sharing your experience.

When you do wear the Aviator at ceremonies, do you stay in the back to avoid distracting the guests or do you walk around at the front as well (assuing the minister allows you to)?


Thanks guys.

The music is from Iron & Wine its called "Naked as we came"

Its tough using all this weight with the 2000 Pro, I bought some extra weights but its still handheld. I would love to get the flyer and some training with it, but at $7000 I don't think thats in my budget. I'm looking into the Smooth Shooter, or the VariZoom Pro Lite. I know these are not "Pro" quality but I'm sure I could get really smooth shots with them.

Having a vest and arm support for your Glidecam definitely takes the strain off your back and forearm. If you're looking at the SmoothShooter, you might want to consider the Indicam Pilot as it has a dual articulated arm, as opposed to the SmoothShooter which has only one arm.

I borrowed a Glidecam V-8 before (which was replaced by the SmoothShooter) and while it does take all the strain off, there is a limited range of motion as compared to a dual arm setup.

Anyways, thanks again for sharing your clip. Great work! I am in agreement with everyone else that you aren't charging enough for the quality of work you do.

I shot with 3 cameras at the ceremony by myself. 2- XHA1's, 1 - HVX200.
I missed a litle detail in your answer above, the HVX200. I also have one and had to create a system to edit HDV and DVCPRO HD together. I capture the HDV as DVCPRO HD 1080.
So, How do you edit the two formats together and, Did you use any of the clips from the HVX200 in your demo?
Not that it makes a diference as far the quality and artistic creation. I am sure that you could get same result with any camera you use.
I just want to know how other videographer edit mixed formats and how the two cameras work together.

Joe:

I am still trying to master my Quicktime compressions and you seem to have created a great quality .mov file that wasn't too big. Would you mind typing your quicktime settings? Would appreciate it. Thanks!

It used to be that you shot on BetaSp, edited on BetaSP and delivered on BetaSP. But now with such a wide variety of new camera's, formats and deliverables that just doesn't work well anymore.

One thing that the HVX200 does is force the user to develop an IT approach to production (provided your using P2) dividing the production into three main categories acquisition, post-production and distribution. A mistake I think a lot of people are making as they attempt to transition to HD is that they treat it like big video instead of more like digital film.

I digitize HD [D5 and DVCrpoHD], HDV [from a JVC HD100 and Sony FX1], and any HD-SDI into a Digital Intermediate that converts all of these formats into the same lossless file format. In my case I'm using Cineform's DI Codec [http://www.cineform.com/]. Working this way enables me to do two things, becasue all of the applications I use in production can share this file format [in my case all of the Adobe applications] I can easily distibute and manage the workflow to create a "look" that differentiates my work from others and can therefore charge more for it and secondly, much of the work in an IT based system can be automated and distributed over a large number of CPU's providing better economies of scale - the system becomes more efficient saving me time and money. Added together this makes me more profitable.

It used to be that no matter what you were producing you made the project conform to the workflow. Using a digital intermediate you can make the workflow conform to the project, every project can have a different workflow which goes against the grain of many in the video industry. They talk like they understand this but then they want you to buy their NLE and claim it will work with any format [making it the center of your production workflow] when the reality is that in an IT based system the file system is at the center of the production workflow. This is a big fundemental difference.

Yes, most if not all NLE's will edit HDV natively but just becuase they can doesn;t mean you should.

It sounds like you've done enough HD(V) to know how much better it is than SD and are looking for a way to be more HD centric. I'd suggest that you do a little research about IT (data/file) based workflow.

[Sorry this was in respons to Douglas]

One thing that the HVX200 does is force the user to develop an IT approach to production (provided your using P2) dividing the production into three main categories acquisition, post-production and distribution. A mistake I think a lot of people are making as they attempt to transition to HD is that they treat it like big video instead of more like digital film.

I digitize HD [D5 and DVCrpoHD], HDV [from a JVC HD100 and Sony FX1], and any HD-SDI into a Digital Intermediate that converts all of these formats into the same lossless file format. In my case I'm using Cineform's DI Codec [http://www.cineform.com/]. Working this way enables me to do two things, becasue all of the applications I use in production can share this file format [in my case all of the Adobe applications] I can easily distibute and manage the workflow to create a "look" that differentiates my work from others and can therefore charge more for it and secondly, much of the work in an IT based system can be automated and distributed over a large number of CPU's providing better economies of scale - the system becomes more efficient saving me time and money. Added together this makes me more profitable.

It used to be that no matter what you were producing you made the project conform to the workflow. Using a digital intermediate you can make the workflow conform to the project, every project can have a different workflow which goes against the grain of many in the video industry. They talk like they understand this but then they want you to buy their NLE and claim it will work with any format [making it the center of your production workflow] when the reality is that in an IT based system the file system is at the center of the production workflow. This is a big fundemental difference.

Yes, most if not all NLE's will edit HDV natively but just becuase they can doesn;t mean you should.

It sounds like you've done enough HD(V) to know how much better it is than SD and are looking for a way to be more HD centric. I'd suggest that you do a little research about IT (data/file) based workflow.

[Sorry this was in respons to Douglas]
I don't see what you do as different from what I do. You use intermediate codec and I digitize FX1-Z1 footage through a Blackmagic card to DVCPRO HD.
What is an IT based system?

So, slightly off topic. But for songs from major bands like Iron and Wine, do you have some sort of deal worked out with them for using their songs?

I don't see what you do as different from what I do. You use intermediate codec and I digitize FX1-Z1 footage through a Blackmagic card to DVCPRO HD.
What is an IT based system?
It depends more in how you use it. Many of the projects I take on I farm out much of the graphic design, effects and color correction to artists that are both local and remote.

An IT based system allows me do do several things, one is that it is scaleable:
By using a shared files system over fibre channel, the more drives that are added the greater the bandwidth. So I keep my file system running at approximately 600MB/s for fast access to files and use networked attached storage on the same file system for slower (remote) access.

This enables us to have one artist doing rig removal on the same file as another concurrently composits a scene using the same image file. The compositing artists doesn't have to wait for the paint artist to complete their work before starting to composite. We never actually work this way, we just use this to demonstrate the level of control we have throughout the entire system for prospective customers.

If you own an FX1 and edit with FCP how do you differentiate yourself from everyone else who is using the exact same tools in much the same way? Generally you start out by trying to sell the value in your creativity but it will quickly get to the price. In LA just about everyone differentiates themselves based on price so now most of them are working for nothing.

By moving the application to the data rather than moving the data through the application we can create a look (that you can not create with the tools in FCP for example) and manage that look more efficiently. An IT workflow allows us to work procedurally, if you're familiar with Dynamic Link in the Adobe Production suite where you can make changes in an AE composite that automatically show up in your Premiere timeline, you can take that to the next step by making the information from many of the tools explicite.

For example, the levels command is the same in Photoshop, AE and PPro, so why can't you apply this command across the entire wirkflow that will correct all of the elements the same. Well you can in Adobe Bridge and there is a lot of functionality that works this way. If you think of each of these tools as seperate (explicit) image processing applications "nodes" you can create a workflow that applies this functionality at any point in the data stream you like.

Does this mean that my productions are better than yours? Obviously not. But one of the problems that I often encounter working with customers is that you create something then refine it, refine it some more, make a few more changes, then suddenly they decide we've gone too far and want to go back three revisions. Instead of rendering and saving different versions, in an IT workflow you can just save the parameters of each node (an ASCII file) and then go back to the decision lists that defines what the customer likes and output that version quickly, easily and without a lot of rendering.

If your familiar with Shake, that's a dataflow paradigm.

I'm looking to upgrade to the Canon XH A1 early next year after seeing so many great samples of work done with it. And, now that I've seen your wedding reel, I am seriously considering getting a steadicam to go with it.
I love dolly shots, but can't afford a professional dolly system, and need something more portable for when I'm doing weddings. Do you find the Glidecam 2000 is a good compromise for a dolly system?

A steadycam device isn't a replacement for a dolly, in my opinion. You can follow somebody around with a steadycam, go up or down stairs, walking through the tall grass, etc. But you can't do the slow precision moves of a dolly. They are two entirely different tools.

A steadycam device isn't a replacement for a dolly, in my opinion. You can follow somebody around with a steadycam, go up or down stairs, walking through the tall grass, etc. But you can't do the slow precision moves of a dolly. They are two entirely different tools.

I appreciate your feedback. It definately seems to make a marked improvement over simply handheld shots at least. I've heard some people have had decent results substituting a wheelchair for a dolly, but I've never tested that method out myself.
I was an extra in The Perfect Storm (Don't blink or you'll miss me), and I couldn't believe the beautiful precision dolly system they had for that movie. I was drooling over it.

I don't think the 2000 pro is a good glide cam for the A1. I used with every wedding I shot with my PD170 and it worked amazing. But the A1 is heavier and the lens is longer so it makes it hard to get acceptable shots. Also your arm gets super tired using it. I'm going to get a articulating arm stedicam when I can save up the funds. They produce perfect shots, but of course you need to be trained on it first.

I don't think the 2000 pro is a good glide cam for the A1. I used with every wedding I shot with my PD170 and it worked amazing. But the A1 is heavier and the lens is longer so it makes it hard to get acceptable shots. Also your arm gets super tired using it...
I wonder if the Glidecam 4000 would be a better fit for the Canon XH A1 since it can hold up to 10 pounds.

Dana, you don't have to have a Fischer dolly to get good dolly moves. There are lots of systems out there for lightweight cameras. We have two dollys. One is a western, or doorway dolly, ie., like a cart with big flat tires and a rack and pinion steering system with push bars on each end. I can mount a tripod or pedestal, with a jib, on it.

We also got a Losmandy Spyder dolly with Flextrack, and I use it more these days. Flextrack is their solid rubber flexible track. It comes in 40 foot lengths. You can use one piece and loop it for a nice 18' run, so you don't even need two pieces. The dolly itself can be the tripod-mount configuration, or you can add a leg and put a platform and pedestal on it. There are numerous other systems with small, easy to set up track. And people make their own out of skateboard wheels and pvc pipe.

The wheelchair is an old trick I've used since way back in my 16mm days. If the floor is smooth, you can hand hold the camera and do quite well. Hand holding with somebody pushing the wheelchair looks more like a steadycam type shot. I've even used grocery carts in grocery stores...and for a conference table shot where I wanted the camera dollying down the middle fo the table I used a skateboard with my beanbag gaffertaped on, and the camera on that held by bungee cords. If it's got wheels, somebody is gonna make a dolly out of it somewhere sometime.

Dana, you don't have to have a Fischer dolly to get good dolly moves. There are lots of systems out there for lightweight cameras. We have two dollys. One is a western, or doorway dolly, ie., like a cart with big flat tires and a rack and pinion steering system with push bars on each end. I can mount a tripod or pedestal, with a jib, on it...


...The wheelchair is an old trick I've used since way back in my 16mm days. If the floor is smooth, you can hand hold the camera and do quite well. Hand holding with somebody pushing the wheelchair looks more like a steadycam type shot. I've even used grocery carts in grocery stores...and for a conference table shot where I wanted the camera dollying down the middle fo the table I used a skateboard with my beanbag gaffertaped on, and the camera on that held by bungee cords. If it's got wheels, somebody is gonna make a dolly out of it somewhere sometime.

Thanks for the tips! I've been looking at a few possibilities for makeshift dollies. There is a nice cart at work with big rubber wheels and plenty of room for a person and a camera to ride on it that I plan to test out soon.
Joe Simon, I apologize for taking this thread somewhat off track, but seeing your smooth shots got me thinking about how I could get the same results.

Stedi cams are great but they get expensive quick. I have an Indie dolly that has worked great for me. But to set it up at a wedding is difficult. I might try it for some pre-ceremony stuff later this month and see what happens.