Joel,

The first step is recognizing one's addiction : )

Geoffrey

Wow, good to know about the MemoryKick. For focus I use a mix. When on the tripod I use the loupe, when handheld the lcd. The more you use it, the more you get a feel for it.

One thing, as I was going through footage last night and working. These cameras basically resolve at 720. So there is no real quality hit when dropping from 1080 to 720. By delivering at 720 you get to crop your video and take advantage of rules of third, etc if you want. The gig I'm going through was my first one with the cameras, and I made the mistake of handholding the camera and the footage is jittery. The problem with fixing the stabilization is that you need a software that deals with the jello effect like mercalli. Mercalli can clip and create a border in your footage. Looking back I wish I had not filmed so close, and might experiment with shooting more loose in the future. Also, highly recommend newblues flash plugin. Gets rid of about 2 of the 3 flashes you get in footage. More:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/adobe-cr...s-premier.html

Joel,

I am a few hundred miles south of Chicago. which is probably a good thing or else i would spend all of my money at frys :)

borrowed mine from lensrentals.com

Thank you for the offer. I look forward to meeting you.

I think I better pick one up today so I can start practicing to see what kind of moves I can do with it. I was thinking the Canon 16-55 IS lens might be more useful because of the stabilizing feature, but the forum seems to be unanimously in favor of the Takina 11-16. And it's cheaper!

Thanks John. I think I have everything you mentioned already or they're on my shopping list.
-I'm going to get a T2i body tonight for a 2nd DSLR. I might get a third body.
-I'm looking at a Canon Vixia HF S200 camcorder for around $800
-My college aged son is my 2nd camera and my wife will be the PR person
-I have a Z-finder and I guess I'll need another
-I'm going to go without a shoulder mount device for wedding #1 and just use monopods as both a tripod and as a glidecam. I'll re-evaluate after the first wedding and after I attend the seminar.
-I've ordered a .75 Meter long HD Glidetrack

I use my DSLR for B-roll for a montage and multiple video cameras for the important elements of the day.

If you wait a litle bit you can get one of the new Canon camcorders with the new and very much improved sensor. Going from the cheaper upwards, model numbers in the US are: HF M400 $650, HF M40 $700, HF M41 $800, HF G10 $1500, XA10 $2000.

Expect them to be much better in low light as they share the same sensor that goes in the XF100

A bit too late with this but this slider 50KG Tele lens Camera Camcord slider dolly track 5d2 7d - eBay (item 120672581291 end time Jan-26-11 08:39:52 PST) looks like it is going to be much smoother than the glidetrack thanks to the roller bearings (found thanks to cheesycam.com).

John's suggestions are good. I would ad a second camcorder (pro-level); two decent tripods-handheld video looks amateurish. Two wireless lav mics. Use the DSLR for montage video but not the ceremony or reception. The montage will look great.

Re: Wedding Equipment
 

If you are considerng a third camera, I think you should stick with a dslr. I slowly transitioned from video cameras to total dslr's last year. The last holdout was an HV30 that I used to stick up high and in back and just let it run, just in case.

Now I run 3 7d's and 1 60d and I don't have to worry about matching footage in post.

Re: Wedding Equipment
 

I've used a Hyperspace HD80 for 5 years, and now have a Hyperspace UDMA. Both are capable of copying a 32gig CF card in 15min's - and I've done so _many_ times.

The last wedding I did as a photographer w/ some video, I was able to backup the cards from all cameras quickly btwn sessions, pretty good since btwn my wife and myself, I had 6 different cameras going for stills and video.

So it would seem that the Hyperspace, Nexto and MemoryKick are all about the same speed, but each with a set of features that set them apart.

Hyperspace - cheapest, only one with user replaceable HD's and batteries but least number of features
Nexto - most expensive but there's quite a few different modes, some video capable and can handle some of the specialty memory formats like SxS, P2
MemoryKick - good USB support, able to copy to/from/btwn USB devices, possible future video updates, but B&H lists their models as discontinued.

Re: Wedding Equipment
 

Consider the $650 Canon T2i with the Magic Lantern firmware to let the camera run for over 80 minutes with a 32GB card and just one battery. This has replaced my $3000 "real" video cam for the unmanned-back-of-church shot.

Re: Wedding Equipment
 

Did you ever match the 60D with the HV30? Can you share any secrets? This is my current setup: 60D, HV40, HV20
FCP7

Re: Wedding Equipment
 

I'm sorry to lower the tone, but where I come from, 'wedding equipment' has very different connotations.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Re: Wedding Equipment
 

This is what im about to try, how has this been going for you?

Do you lower the bit rate or turn of lcd to save space and or battery.

Cheers

James

Re: Wedding Equipment
 

No, one of the features of magic lantern is continuous shooting. It shoots the normal 4 gig/12 minute video clip then cuts filming for 1 second and starts a new 4 gig/12 minute run. So its not technically 100 percent seamless but lets be real, you're going to cut every few seconds in post.