5d only weddings???
 

Hi everyone,

I've been toying around with the idea of selling my a1 and buying another 5d mark2 for weddings.I primarily shoot stills so this would be great for that side of the company.I'm phasing out video this year. and concentrating on fusion stuff.I can still use my pilot and g2 wireless with the 5d so I'm thinking it would be a good move.Does anyone have any input or experience with 5d only weddings? Any input would be fantastic!

Thanks!
Ryan

Hi Ryan,
I think Stillmotion is shooting exclusively with the 5d's now. Ask Patrick, he should have some good insight.

Isn't there a record time limit of 12 minutes on these things? That would kill it for the ceremony but I could see you being able to work around that for everything else.

Love to know what they're doing for ceremonys if they're running an all 5D package.

Thanks guys for the responses.....That is my main concern.....THE CEREMONY. Everything else would be no problem for the 5d.I do alot of short ceremonies but if there is a full mass mixed in there I'll be stressed.Also if there is a looooong toast.Those are the things that worry me most.Hopefully someone can give us some idea of how to work around these things.I mean you can always through a still frame in there to transition if the 14 minute clip runs out.....right?

You could always figure out a way to keep two of them running at staggered intervals but what a headache. My guess is that you'd do one of two things for a ceremony.

1) Roll a regular camera as the cover/safety shot from the back and use the 5d up front

or

2) roll regular cameras during the ceremony and 5D's the rest of the time.

How many cards would you need for a full day of 5D shooting?

A 4gig card will hold 12 minutes of footage in HDV.

No breakup should be in the soundtrack during ceremone and toost so I would get f.ex. H4 to record good sound and then you can get a way with not having actual images all the time.

I have a yamaha pocket trax cx for back up and I attach a powered countryman lav to it so I can get it on the groom.The audio I get from it is always great.I'm worried about the audio drifting when I pair it up with the 5d footage though.Any suggestions on that?

Ryan

Ryan - I use a 16GB card which holds 48 minutes- enough to get through most ceremonies without changing cards as long as you're not running continuously. The challenge is to time the stop/start with the important segments of the ceremony so you don't hit the 12 minute threshold in the middle of something important - vows, toasts, etc.

-Art

I would imagine that you'd still need the A1 for a stationary wide-angle shot during the ceremony and long speeches. Our wedding was shot with mostly MKIIs during the day but I remember an A1-ish camera propped onto a tripod during the ceremony and reception.

If it's just for cut scenes, then just get an HV30 as your stationary camera. But if you're completely phasing out video, then I wouldn't bother with that idea.

joyce + raymond // stillmotion special edition sde // LA on Vimeo

Thanks guys!

I really appreciate your feedback.I definitely need something to run long for the big stuff.Maybe I should hold off on to the A1 sale for a bit.I have a few more full video weddings this season,so Maybe I'll make the full 5d transition after the new year.I'm really trying to turn over a new leaf with our photography and bring something nobody else does to the industry in my area.....ah hell the world....hehehehohohohahaha:) the video seems to be taking away from my flow.I wish I could do it all on my own but it's just not possible right now......hence the change.I still WON"T sell my steadicam.It's just toooo much fun to play with.

Thanks for the help!
Ryan

Thanks Art! I just realized that I never got back to you since you're email.We'll get together soon!

Selling the Steadicam. Is that what you said! Please say it ain't so.

NO WAY Dave,The steadicam is staying......We just have to get together to practice sometime this year...haha.I'll still use it for special projects and for those few clients that want to pay me $4500 for a video package;).I just have to move closer to the city.

Ryan

There is always a tendency with something new to get over excited and overuse a new tool. The 5D MkII is a great camera with some very useful features. But I believe the way to view it is as a PART of the tools one uses. A pro golfer might spend hundreds of dollars on a good putter but you don't read any golfing articles with a title such as "I played 18 holes with just my putter."

The other thing that tends to happen with something new is to over use it. Shallow depth of field, focus transistions etc. can create a terrific impression unless they are overused. If these tecniques are overused the only impression you may make is to make someone motion sick. It's a bit like a consumer with a brand new camcorder right after they discover zoom - not a pretty site. Or imagine a chef who is complimented on how good the spaghetti sauce was who decides that if a tablespoon of Oregano was good then a cup would make it even better. The actual result is that it would be inedible.

Good points Jim. I find it really hard to avoid shallow dof though with this camera. You are going to get it no matter what indoors when you have to shoot wide open, and then if you zoom in you got incredible bokeh, whether you want it or not. It is a blessing and a curse.

Bruce Cleveland