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Advice: Wedding Video Practical?

J

Jarret Blinkhorn

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Hey everyone,

First time posting... I have been doing a lot of wedding videography with the Canon 7D and really want to get away from DSLR. My budget for a new rig is around 12k and I've been a big fan of RED. I worked on a feature and did a couple of shots on the RED One MX but the camera was already up and running so I'm unfamiliar with its operations. Mainly I want a nice rig to potentially shoot features but wedding videos is a big source of income for me. I've looked into the FS700s, C300s and AF100s but visually nothing compares to RED for me. I know it's not designed to be as much of a run and gun rig but my question is is getting a RED One MX is practical for weddings, or what would be the downsides to doing so compared to something like a 7D. If anyone has any helpful insight it would be much appreciated.

Any RED wedding videographers out there?
 
Well, first off, if you are considering a RED One, you're already at ten pounds. So, it will tire you throughout an entire wedding. You'll also either need PL or Nikon lenses for it. In addition, you will need to buy a good amount of batteries and storage, both for the camera and computer. Have you looked at the Digital Bolex and BM cameras as well?
 
The best camera for wedding videography today - is DSLR, and it's proven by the best in the industry, I mean size, weight, image quality;
but unfortunately, to understand that you probably still going to try to shoot one with another camera, and from your list Red would be the last one i choose to shoot a wedding. I shoot a lot of weddings, and i shoot some parts of the day with Epic, mostly slomo on steadicam, but i use crew of three and up to 4 cameras. To film the whole day, even with two Reds would be an unnecessary challenge, if you shoot weddings you know, there is enough challenges throughout the day:) Not that this is impossible, people shoot weddings on iPhones, but it's just like choosing a bicycle to go to the cottage 100km away, and leaving your SUV in the garage.
$12K might get you complete R1 shooting set, but to shoot a wedding with that - being wedding videographer myself - i wouldn't recommend you;
For any other work - buy Red only, you gonna love every single shot you'll shoot.
 
If you're wanting to take it a step further, using something like the 1DC would keep you inconspicuous and you won't be going crazy for batteries, but you will need a lot of cards and storage space, you will get a sharper picture when scaling from 4K and you can crop the sensor in camera to magnify your lenses, which during the ceremony can be quite handy at times depending on how big the wedding is. I haven't shot many weddings, so I can't comment too much. I'm a heavy REDuser with my RED One, I can say, it will get heavy and it gets really noticed when you are trying to be unnoticed at times. Bigger camera also means bigger support gear. The Scarlet is a good way to cut down on the size, and there are some good used ones coming up on the marketplace every now and then. If you have a lot of Canon Lenses the 1DC or the Scarlet would be a more reasonable way to go as far as size and weight. The 1DC isn't what you would call an "A" cam for features camera, I don't know of anyone who has used it as such, but it definitely has a nice look. Shane Hurlbut's "The Ticket" is a good example. Audio will be more difficult on a 1DC, but DSS makes that point null.

I guess the point I'm trying to say is, a RED One package would be good for feature work, but a major pain for weddings. Take from it what you will, my 2 cents.
 
Thanks everyone for the help! I appreciate it. After thinking about it for a while I believe I will still be getting a R1 just to have, try it out for a wedding, and if I don't like it still use DSLR for weddings but keep the RED for everything else.
 
As far as weight and size are concerned there is no match for DSLRs but not image quality. The very best event cinematographers (Ray Roman, Pennylane Productions, Pacific Films, and many others) have left the DSLRs behind in favor of one cinema camera or the other. We have used our Epic on a few weddings but only as a specialty camera and only for select parts. Personally I think an Epic is an overkill for weddings (as is the Red One for that matter) but since I have it and I love shooting with it.... I use it.
Many wedding guys I know have opted for the C100 or C300 cameras and they are happy. I would also wait until this yea's NAB to see the new toys on the block.
 
I have shot a wedding on a RED One. Although it was a pain it saved me. Having to run around and fix other camera and audio equipment the RAW saved me.
Not to mention it is easy to edit as you can always punch in with 4k to make shots look different. You'll also need a computer to handle all the data.
 
I shot a friend's wedding on an Epic. It looks great. He was blown away by the quality. And they can pull stills which made them even happier. As to weight, I used a Titan Lite handheld rig and didn't have any complaints on comfort over the 2-3 hours I shot at the reception.
 
Ive shot weddings On both Epic and r1 and I would advice u NOT to use r1... Too heavy for long. and stressful days.
 
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