Wedding videography is a tricky business. I mean all video productions are tricky but stuff that you can’t reshoot and you can’t do ADR is scary in this day and age.
Considering it’s a one time event, you need the best acquisition as most of the wedding videography decisions are based on hype (i.e. what’s the best and latest). At the same time, the HDV format (read on how to burn HD to DVD) is not yet widely adopted, so what do you do with the relatives who want to see themselves on tape but have nothing but a VHS player.
Here’s my shortlist of cameras you might want to to get:
1) Sony FX1 – a penny saved is a penny earned. You can have it for $3,000 or less. Here’s the list of advantages:
- Affordable (Canon XL H1’s price is almost 3 times higher)
- 1080i support (actual chip is 1440×1080)
- Vibrant video with some low light capabilities (3 lux)
- Long battery life
- Standard HDV, i.e. using MiniDV cassettes
I’ve always loved Sony’s picture but most importantly, most of my clients love vibrant colors. So the Sony gets the first choice for normal weddings.
2. Fancy weddings require a different beast so if it’s all looks and money’s no object, I’d recommend getting Canon XL H1. It’s a very impressive camera in terms of design and definitely has the WOW factor. The wedding will look expensive although the quality of the video (and maybe not just the video) will be similar to Sony FX1 .
3. Geek weddings … hmm, never been to one of those but one would assume that geeks marry too. If you’re hired as a videographer to shoot a geek’s wedding, I suggest you get a Panasonic HVX200. The camera isn’t particularly sexy but you can spend a DAY just talking about HVX200′s specs. Believe me these guys LOVE specs and they will be one of the few who would actually comment that “if DVCPRO HD is 100Mbps then it should offer 4 times the quality of regular HDV!” Wow, never figured out that one before.
Maybe I come back to this topic, I feel I didn’t cover it properly. I did a much better job describing HD cameras for guerilla fimmaking …
As a Massachusetts Wedding Videographer for close to 10 years I believe using a 3-Chip Camcorder is the best way to go for now. Upgrading to HD is not necessary just yet because most people will not be able to watch it in HD because they will need a Blue-Ray DVD Player. When more people have blue-rays then HD will be more affordable and necessary to then upgrade.
Bloomsbury Films is one of the leading wedding video producers in the UK. For years we have played down the significance of cameras and formats to our clients knowing it is an area you can easily get overexcited and wrongly invest in. Up until the end of last year we still mainly used the Sony PD170s. What is significant about the wedding video market compared to other areas of event videography is that HD is very consumer driven. For anything other than weddings, nobody cares! Its simply the heirloom/future proofing issue that causes people to get all needy over a format that they mostly can’t enjoy without a BluRay player and HD TV. That said the time for HD is getting riper and at Bloomsbury Films we are finally switching over in the Spring having trialed the Sony EX1 and will be delivering on BluRay on request.