Camera size no longer important?
It seems that the general bride has now come to terms with the fact that bigger is not better any more ...we all seem to be using smaller cameras and the huge shoulder mount camera weighing in at 25lbs is no longer a pre-requisite for a professional wedding video. I have dropped down significantly in size over the years and brides and guests don't really seem to care anymore.
Has anyone found any issues with using smaller equipment and get a comment "Is that what you are using for my wedding?" I found even people are getting used to having a DSLR pointed at them and they realise it's video and don't pose for a photo!! Gosh, in the old days if you didn't have a "TV station size" camera on your shoulder and a stills camera with a honking great tele lens up front, you were not considered a professional!! |
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Hi Chris,
With the proliferation of smart phone photos and video being seen (and seen to be taken) everywhere, I guess the future Mrs. thinks anyone with a proper camera, of whatever size, must be a pro. Considering it's feasible, though not necessarily wholly practical, to cover an event with a pocketful of GoPros, in 4K at that if they're Black edition and especially if one or two have replacement lenses for longer shots, it's probably a good thing! Your next downsize? Dave |
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A few years back when I showed the couple my camera gear at a pre-booking meeting, they were a little concerned and I had to explain in detail why my GH3 and GH2's were capable of obtaining Professional footage. I also use to occasionally get the Groom or male guests come over and comment on how technology is getting smaller these days, but haven't had that conversation for several year. I think so many shoot with DSLR's these days that its taken for granted. Even in the Corporate world, I'm finding acceptance of DSLR size camera. Mind most are ignorant of video. Photography though gets more snobbery, perhaps as more people have taken it up as a a hobby. A recent Wedding where the Photographer used what looked like an old fashioned film camera, but actually a more recent digital from Fuji, got a few comments from Guests particularly the hobbyist Photographers so he said, but he preferred the camera, so he let them pass.
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I must admit that moving from a shoulder mount camera to a DSLR sized machine did make me wonder about whether guests or the couple might question the professionalism of the gear but no-one said anything...in fact I can count on one hand where even grooms have asked what we shoot with.
I actually saw another post elsewhere Steve regarding the guy with the "brownie" camera which is in fact a Fuji as you point out ...it looked like he was using a pop up flash only but in fact it was a full TTL flash that fits on the hot shoe. As long as the photog gets results so what? If you put a Sony A7 next to a 5DIII with a huge tele lens it also looks amateur but really who cares. I used to have a photog friend who took all his cameras to a bridal interview and spent more time telling the bride how good they were instead of concentrating on what he was going to cover on the day!!! |
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A Little off topic Noa but you mention shooting with the GH4 a lot handheld - do you have a rig at all or is it simply just the camera? |
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When you shoot corporate video I can understand a client would not appreciate you turning up with a little camera, especially when they pay a lot of money and that it would take a lot of convincing that it might not be about the size of the gear but weddings is totally different. |
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Now I'm pretty confident in my work and ability to deliver, but if a Guest did bring in a C100, I would certainly be mindful of the competition, which is something I rarely have shooting video. Intimidated, no, aware yes. |
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I have seen your work Peter which I find good and if a client would doubt you because of the camerasize then believe me she is not worth convincing, it's all about what you deliver, not what you use to deliver it on.
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I have used small cameras at weddings for many years to be fast and unobtrusive, so am interested to see that others are going down the smaller route. The only comment I have ever had about the small size of my cameras was from a photographer who had 3 full frame DSLRs and a collection of lenses draped around a harness. He was quite derisory and questioned whether I had ever done it before and what I thought I was going to end up with. I was amused when I delivered the video to find that the family were not only very disappointed with his pictures, but also had an album made with stills I took from the video.
I have also never shown equipment to a client and only twice in thirty years been asked about it, although I sometimes get asked about how many cameras I use. I also frequently take bookings based on recommendations from previous clients because of how inconspicuous I am. I am sure some get booked for the opposite reason, but for me, small size and portability is very important. Interestingly I was at a big wedding show at the weekend where there were another 4 videographers, which is quite unusual around here. One of them had his big cameras, tripods, quadcopter and slider as the focal point of his stand. There were very few potential brides looking at his stand and in my experience they are much more interested in what they will get, not how it is done. Roger |
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I find that downsizing from my EA50 (once described by Noa as looking like a bazooka lol) to something way smaller and compact is a very good selling point which my couples appreciate.
A smaller camera such as the A7s allows me to mingle more with the guests and yet still remain unobtrusive. It allows me to film people in a more natural way as they are less likely to be aware of my presence and finally, with this particular camera, it allows me to film without a video light, again filming people behaving more naturally as they are rarely aware they are being filmed. A bit like a video ninja! |
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I never take cameras to a bridal appointment and they never ask about gear either. I also never take samples to an appointment (slight lie cos I do have a DVD in the case but never offer it to them) Brides seem to want to know what I will cover and then they book me ..end of story. However I do have tons of samples on my website and also camera specs too (you have to look hard to find them) so when brides call me they have seen the work and simply book me...I just assume they have made up their minds after seeing the website. I prefer it that way as I'm not the best salesman in the world! In fact most calls/emails read "We would like to book you for Saturday 15th January 2016" .. that's what I prefer so the appointment is purely a meet and greet and discussion of details!
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Aside from 1 Bride who was into Photography and gear, none have been interested in my equipment or requested to see it as this Bride did. Style of filming has come up, particularly of late. Cinematic or documentary. Really its the Groom who shows more interest in the how. I never show gear at a show. Only samples. A slider looks quite boring compared to the footage you can get from it, so why have it there.
At Weddings, it''s usually guests, some who dabble in video, others professionals in a different area of work, who will approach and show interest in my gear. Most of the time I find it irritating as I'm busy working, but occasionally a useful chat can be had. New contacts etc. I've had a fair few more this year than previous as I've been using a slider and a jib at most Weddings and the male Guests do pick up on it. |
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Yeah I don't think anyone cares.
Although, I will admit, I wonder what guests think when I'm running around setting up my stationary cameras (Nikon V1, Nikon Coolpix A, and a Canon Vixia Mini). lol |
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I started shooting weddings in 1992, and have never had a shoulder-mount camera. Began with Sony Hi8 HandyCams then VX-1000 MiniDV 3-chip, then VX-2000 (x3), then Sony and Canon HDV units. I think maybe 1 or 2 clients ever commented about the camera size and it was never an issue after explaining the technology to them (3-chip digital), and also mentioning how it allows me to be more unobtrusive and more easily get different angles and such in tight spots like limos, dressing rooms, etc.
The Bride and Groom are really pre-occupied on their wedding day and have seen and liked my demo footage already, so the technical aspects of the gear are not a concern at that point. So in response to the thread title, it would have been more a more timely a decade ago perhaps ;-) Thanks Jeff Pulera Digital Vision |
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Funny...I usually set up an action cam on a light stand at ceremonies and guests ask more questions about that than any other camera. They think it's so cool to have a GoPro shooting the ceremony in wide angle. That's the smallest camera and yet attracts the most attention!!
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I rely heavily on the GH2 and have never gotten any comments are sideways glances. Old people still stop to pose, thinking it's a still camera.
Now that I've added the blackmagic pocket to the mix, that gets a few curious looks and questions, but more in the sense that people think it's neat how small technology is getting. The funniest is on some corporate gigs where I'd pull out the GH2 and then use my old HMC150 as an audio recorder. That confused some people. |
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TBH I've found a bit of a reverse effect, using my rather bulky Z5U. I've had a few looks at it like 'Oh, you don't shoot DSLR'. Mostly from grooms/groomsmen. I figure they either work somewhat in a related field having knowledge of where videos been going lately, or they've attended a previous wedding where the videographer shot using one. Anyway I feel like they're poo-pooing me a bit for it, never had comments, just glances & such.
I have a VG900 for my b-cam, which is interchangeable lens. I'm considering slowly going over to that for all bridal prep & dancefloor footage, and the keeping the Z5U for the Ceremony & speeches/dances due to its XLR & zoom. I only got the VG900 a year ago so finally settled in on all its settings & have a couple usable lenses to select from. |
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I was experimenting when I still had my EA-50's and had a rail under the camera with a large matte box up front. It was a disaster and the already front heavy camera was made worse by the matte box and almost topped 5kg!!
What made me decide to change was a guest looking at one camera on the table and saying "That video camera is so 80's style!!" |
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This i what look like, my other camera is on a tripod. My client I delivered to the other day likened us to a television production, it was a complement thank goodness.
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Couples never (ok, rarely) cared about how big our gear was. The only people who ever thought it was relevant were videographers. If anything they would prefer it to be small.
Remember just a few years ago when you visited most wedding video websites. The first thing you saw wasnt a video of what they do but a great big picture of their 'broadcast' quality camera on a £2000 tripod. Because people thought that people would see that and say "Wow, hes serious, must book" when in truth people got scared and walked away. Although I still see it to some degree, you goto a wedding fair and the video booth has a tiny TV showing what they do but they proudly have their camera sitting on a tripod for all to see. I just sink my head into my hands. When we got our C100's we tried to get used to working it without the side grip to keep the size down but couldnt get the speed of operation high enough so relented and accepted the handle. If your resisting the DSLR revolution because your afraid people wont take you seriously... |
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Roger |
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Hey Roger,
That's what we are, unobtrusive. We've been called invisible. We get the shots we need. The photographers in our area are the obtrusive ones.. lol. |
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Great camera you have there... for corporate work. I think I'd rather mine be a tad smaller for Weddings. |
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Hi David
I have yet to see a wedding guest sport anything better than a palmcorder with a flip out LCD screen and hold it in one hand to film the speeches from a back table. However plenty of people have quite fancy DSLR's and I remember one guest that had a huge Canon tele lens that he struggled to hold and also seemed to find no space to put it down when he was done! It certainly dwarfed the photogs Nikons so that's probably more of an issue than video! I expected comments from people when I moved from a shoulder mount Sony to my Panasonics (which actually have a slightly bigger body than the GH4 so would appear significantly larger than a GH4 with a pancake lens!! However no-one has said a word and I've used them at 4 weddings now ...if they did I don't care anyway as the IQ blows the Sony's away so they are keepers!! |
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Hi Steve
Plus 1 for me too!! My Sony EA-50's were twice the size (if not more) than my Pannys and the image quality is 10 times as good! I could manage 3200 ISO on the Sony yet on a camera 1/4 of the price I can shoot at 6400ISO .. and yes the Sony's were the same as well ..3 x ISO presets only ..on the FZ's I can scroll on the thumb wheel to whatever I need instantly!!! Bigger and more money doesn't always mean better!! |
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Bottom line, if bang for your buck is your goal, the GH4 smokes the C100, but when it comes to features, and price doesn't matter, I'd take a C100 everyday. |
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Unlike the Canons, I find that great footage from the GH4 requires work and comittement to it. It took me several months of experimentation to find settings I liked and low light of any quality relies on a good range of lenses. The lack of internal ND is a negative but resolved with a variable ND that has a bonus in that it can be minutely adjusted whilst filming as you go from light to dark scene, something my af101a and I assume the C100 can't do as the change of ND is quite obvious on screen. I use it a lot.
Touch screen is a bonus in that you can tap something and focus shifts to what you've touched. It works very well and very quickly. As for the lack of xlr inputs, bit of a sore subject for me. I was using my xlr inputs on my af101a on a days filming at Vet School last week. The speaker had a wireless mic I had plugged in but during the shoot, the battery died for no reason at all. It was half way through its cycle, so in hindsight connecting to a zoom recorder would have guaranteed audio throughout and would benefit from not relying on me to be filming to have it recorded. Plus the avchd files have to be imported from the card folders or else there's this small fraction of a second gap between each file, something my GH2 doesn't suffer from and yet the AF101a does. Quite irritating. I hate avchd!!! All cameras have their pluses and negatives, but its not just bang for the buck that has me choosing the GH4 and I shall be replacing the af101a with the GH4r very soon; but its small size and features wins me over every time. |
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