You know, maybe I'm in the minority, but I'm not sold on the DSLR HD video. Granted, I haven't done a whole ton of research into them... but there are too many things that seem to throw me off. For example, I've heard rumors that when shooting over 20 minutes, there is an overheating issue with the 7D (and that some have even shutdown!). I'm not extremely educated on the CMOS sensors versus the 3CCD chips, but if panning is kind of sketchy, I'd rather go with a "real" video camera. I guess it's just my opinion that as a I'm striving to become a more professional wedding videographer, I want a professional camcorder that IS a camcorder, not a DSLR that shoots HD video. I don't know, does that make any sense? Shallow DOF is important to me, but not at the cost of passing on the best overall camera for my needs (which appears to be the HMC150).
OK - lets put some things in to context. If I were using the camera to shoot weddings (which of course I do) then I would no be relying solely on a vDSLR, it's that simple. The only thing that will do the job of a video camera over the course of a full wedding is.......... a video camera. So, we need to clarify a few things as we go along here.
I don't think I'd get the Letus Extreme up front. It would be a down-the-road purchase when I'm lucky enough to make time for a creative non-wedding project or two. I'm not even sure I'd ever use it in a wedding, considering the potential problems you mentioned (mounting, size, weight... etc). Would still be a nice "toy" though.
Bingo. Buy the camera first, learn how to use it, every detail of every function, because until you know how to use everything you don't yet know the full potential of the camera and could easily be missing something very useful. I especially recommend playing with the vDetail and Coring functions in lower light. They can make a huge difference!
For non-wedding projects, the Letus and / VDSLR are great bits of kit. If you are shooting a short film in reasonable light, the HMC+Letus can do an awesome job. If you are planning on shooting at night then you may want to consider the 5D2 or 7D as viable alternatives, because you are unlikely to be shooting for 20 mins solid and the sensor will get chance to cool down. This is an important distinction between weddings and other non-wedding shoots. At a wedding you are shooting to some one else's schedule, whereas other types of shoot you may be able to influence the schedule to suit you (and your camera).
I love my HMCs (I have 4 of them now)...
Share the love man! My mailing address is...
No honestly though... what are your thoughts on warranties David? I'm leaning towards just a 3yr warranty to try and save money... but then again, I'm thinking "Hey, if I'm spending this much, what's an extra several hundred for the 5yr?"
I registered all my cameras for the Panasonic 3 year warranty the day I got them. Honestly, I don't know if I'll still be using them in 3 years or if I'll have moved to something else by then, so I'm not going to spend extra money now on a warranty I may never need. The fact that Panasonic give the cameras 3 years already tells me they are confident it's going to last. After all, there is no tape mechanism.
What are some accessories that you're utilizing with your HMCs? Shotgun Mics? What batteries? What tripod you mounting to? I'm doing my own research on accessories now, but your input would be much appreciated. I'm thinking about clicking the BUY button within a week or two here...
OK - here goes
BatteriesThe firs thing I bought was a 3 hour battery. I went for the IDX SSL-VBG50 because at the time there were no Panasonic batteries to be had, and the IDX was also significantly cheaper (at the time). Given I now have 4 cameras, I've also bought a lot more of these batteries too. Batteries (and the cost of them) are often over looked when budgeting for weddings, and I would say I like to have 4-6 hours worth of battery per camera as a minimum. Occasionally I use more, but not very often, and then only on one or two of the cameras, not all 4.
Memory CardsDon't skimp on the memory cards, on the other hand there is no need to spend too much either. There are several ways of looking at cards, specifically with backup in mind, but alas what I think I should do and what I actually do don't always stay in sync! I've got 10 Verbatim 16GB cards giving me a total record time of > 1,000 minutes. I thought about using only 4GB cards so that I could back them up individually to DVD-Rs, but then I thought that 25 mins was not enough recording time and I would always be needing to switch cards at an inappropriate moment. So, what about 8GB cards? These could at least be backed up to dual layer DVDs, but I'm not that happy with DL DVDs so skipped this too. The record time would be OK for most things @ about 50 mins, but in the end I thought that the 16GB was the best compromise, giving 101 mins of record time. They can still be backed up to single layer Blu-ray discs if required (BD-R are now as little as $2), though I'm settled on backing up to HDDs most of the time. A typical wedding leave me with around 70GB-90GB of raw footage to backup (we change cards before they get full). The HMC can use SDHC class 4 or faster (e.g. 4, 6, 10). Don't bother trying to use anything slower and
don't buy ANY memory cards off e-bay - they are usually fake and don't work (been there done that!).
MicrophonesWhile the built-in mics are Ok on the HMC, they are not outstanding and I do add a shotgun mic when ever audio is important. I chose the Rode NTG2, although for on-camera work the NTG1 would do just fine. The reason I chose the NTG-2 over the NTG-1 is that the NTG-2 can (if you want) take a AA battery to provide power to it's pre-amp and so be used remotely with a wireless mic kit (see below). While I don't often use it like this, it has been useful when the need arises. Of-course I have more than one NTG-2 as well! I made the mistake of also buying the SM5 shock mount, thinking the NTG-2 would not be stable in the HMC's mic holder, but since it fits perfectly the SM5 went unused. I do however use it on the mic stand if I'm using the NTG-2 remotely (via wireless).
Wireless MicrophonesI use the Sennheiser G2 wireless mic kits (actually the EW 112-P G2 kits), with the cameras mounted receiver (mounts on the cold shoe) and the transmitter fits neatly in the Groom's (or speaker's) jacket pocket, or on their belt. These make a huge difference to what audio can be captured at the ceremony and reception speeches. What ever wireless system you choose, choose one, you won't regret it. Even shotgun mics don't pick up audio well if you are forced to stand behind the bride & groom. The G2 is now discontinued (you can still buy them), replaced with the G3 which is much more expensive because it added the diversity functions. Make sure you learn how to use these (or any other wireless kit you buy) enough to at least change the channels on both transmitter & receiver. Most churches here use a wireless mic themselves, and often it's the same G2 on the default channel. If you turn up with yours on the same channel then you get t figure out how to change
your channel (they won't have a clue how to change theirs) right when you are already under time pressure for everything else.
Backup Audio!As good as microphones are, it's always nice to be able to plug in to the venue's soundboard (mixing desk) if you can, so some sort of audio recorder (e.g. the Zoom H4N or similar) is always going to be useful.
On-Camera LightsI don't tend to use on-camera lights because the low light capability of the HMC is very good, especially with a little bit of Neat-Video love. All the same, very occasional I do wish I had one (my last light broke - think backups!) and I'm seriously considering the Comer 1800 (x2). If any one wants to jump in with alternatives, feel free.
Tripods & HeadsTripods and heads are a personal matter. While I can tell you what I do and why, it's all dependent on the type of venues you shoot at and how mobile you want to be. I just took delivery of the Manrtotto 058B tripod for the extra height it affords, but boy it's heavy and I'm really not going to be lugging that thing around all day long. I also have some Velbon DV-7000 tripods that served well for a couple of years, but the heads are plastic and not very good. What I have done is remove the Velbon head, taken the 3/8" to 1/4" thread adapter out of the Velbon head and mounted it to Manfrotto 503HDV heads. So now I have a hybrid (cheaper) Velbon tripod with Manfrotto 503HDV heads. These allow me to pick up the tripod, head, camera etc in one hand to walk through doorways without any problems (something I cannot do with the 058B), it has a single knob to free/secure the leg spreaders (unlike the 058B that uses one for each leg) and it can still reach 68" (173cm) in height to the center of the lens. It has a centre strut that can be raised (using the winding handle) where as most of the lower cost Manfrotto tripods don't.
Field MonitorI bought a 9" field monitor to use in extreme cases. I'm still playing with the mounting options so I can't really give you lots of feedback on this yet. It does however make focusing a lot easier when you are already zoomed in al the way (say stood at the back of a church and the minister is at the altar).
What Else?The sky is the limit in terms of what else you can buy. Depending on what NLE you use, I really like the Neat-Video noise reduction plug-in. While the HMC is generally regarded as one of the better low light capable cameras, there are times when a little kiss of noise reduction can help turn something from good to great.
Is that it?So, first, get the camera, figure out how to use it, get the extra batteries & cards. If you are primarily concentrating on weddings then figure out where your budget allows you to go in terms of
backup equipment before you spend too much on extras that are 'nice to have' but not absolutely
required for a wedding. If your primary camera fails, all the extras mean nothing without a backup camera. If I had to prioritize things they would be batteries, cards, microphones (shotgun
and wireless) before anything else, do a couple of weddings and see where you feel you are short of equipment for the style of weddings you chose to do. Not every one is the same, so what you need may be different to me.
Oh, I just saw how much I wrote.... and I could have gone on more..... sorry!
