- A Wedding Videographer’s View

There can’t be many people who haven’t seen and marvelled at some of the footage produced by the recent video capable DSLRs, including the Canon 5D mark II and 7D.  Many videographers are starting to feel the days of the dedicated video camera are over, but is that true, and how would that effect the Wedding & Event videographers?

Several of the world’s top wedding videographers are now using DSLRs and producing some stunning footage, so should we all be dumping our regular video cameras and jumping on the DSLR bandwagon?  Well, hold your horses for a moment, because it’s not all good news just yet.

DSLRs certainly have a clear lead in terms of shallow depth of field and low light capabilities, the holy grail for many wannabe cinematographers, but for recording events this is by no means the whole story.

Among the current crop of DSLRs only the Panasonic GH1 can record continuously for more than just a few minutes without requiring manual intervention to restart it.  Even then, due to European tax laws the European (PAL) version is restricted to 30 mins while the US version can record up to the maximum card capacity.  Technically the GH1 is not a DSLR, but I'm going overlook that small technicality for now.

My day to day business is wedding & event videography with some corporate work thrown in for good measure.  Our basic wedding kit is made up of multiple Panasonic AG-HMC-151 cameras (HMC-150 in the USA), multiple Sennheiser G2 wireless mic kits and Zoom H4n audio recorders.  We have additional wired mics, stands and lighting when needed and it’s a good basic kit, but could still be improved.

We recently added the Canon 5D mkII to our kit bag and the information that follows is based upon my own experience comparing the Canon 5D mkII to the Panasonic HMCs both before, during and after the first wedding it was used for.

In my opinion there is no 'one piece' of equipment will ever be right for all types of work. The DSLR is certainly no camcorder killer if you are looking for a solid, dependable package that does it all.  However, if you are willing to work around the limitations imposed by the DSLR the results can be superb.  So what exactly do we need to work around?

AUDIO

Audio is a major problem on DSLRs because none of the current models deal with audio very elegantly.   The built in microphones are distinctly ‘home movie’ quality at best and the auto gain means that you can’t easily use it for anything where audio really matters.  If you wanted to dump the standard video camera in favor of using only DSLRs you would also need to add a separate method of capturing audio, such as a Zoom H4n. This means you need to re-sync them in post, either manually or using software such as PluralEyes.   While there is a firmware hack for the 5D mkII (Magic Lantern) that disables the auto gain (and enables headphone monitoring) it still requires some external hardware to take balanced mics, and since the 5D mkII can only record for 12 minutes at a time you would lose the audio continuity during the recording break.

If these were the only issues, most people would say “so what?” and jump on the bandwagon, but alas there are more.

CMOS SENSOR

All the video capable DSLRs use a CMOS censor, with all the known problems that go with it.  Flash banding is a big issue with CMOS sensors when ever there is a photographer around using flash, and for weddings that means every job. While many people ignore the problem, it’s something that drives me crazy.  Flash is clearly something you can’t ignore at weddings and I’m used to the CCD sensors in the Panasonic cameras producing a single frame of flash that comes and goes in a very natural way.

Unfortunately CMOS sensors give very unpredictable results and a single flash from a wedding photographer can easily disrupt multiple frames of video, instead of the single frame with CCD sensors. Below is an example of a single flash from one photographer.  The first frame is prior to any flash, the second shows the pre-flash used by the (still) camera's TTL metering system to calculate exposure.  The third frame is the time is takes for the still camera to calculate exposure with the fourth frame being the actual flash exposure.  This example is a very simple one with only a couple of frames affected, but even this sequence running at full speed seems to assault the normal senses more than a single CCD flash frame.  Now imagine the cake cut where there could be 10 or 20 different flashes going off within milliseconds of each other.  The 'banding' will now be random over the frames, with multiple bands (e.g. top and bottom) over several consecutive frames making viewing more than just a little uncomfortable.

Here is a second example where three consecutive frames were disrupted from a single flash.  The big problem is that the flash is not even across the frame, so while the brain sees the flash, it's not quite what it expected.

JELLO

Another major issue with CMOS sensors is the ‘jello’ effect.  Realistically, most professional videographers will not be panning fast enough for this to become an problem, but you may come across it if the ground / floor is not stable and the tripod is somehow rocked. While the output from CCD cameras can often be stabilized easily in post, motions like this from a CMOS sensor are much harder to fix because the output from the is no longer global and in alignment from top to bottom.  This could also be a major issue when using a monopod.

There are of course times when even the professional videographer has little or no control over the speed of panning, needed to follow moving subjects like the wedding car arriving.  Any background that a speeding car passes is likely to take on a very slanted look as you pan to follow it.

ND FILTERS

Most videographers that work outdoors take ND filters for granted.  It’s a basic requirement for video in order to keep shutter speeds down to avoid strobing.  Since the DSLRs are primarily designed for stills photographers who rarely use ND filters (some will never use them over an entire lifetime of photography) DSLRs comes without them.

This leaves you with the option of increasing the shutter speed (potentially producing a strobed look), increasing the aperture value (which kills the shallow DOF) or attached your own ND filters.

I used a Singray 8 stop vari-ND filter I've had for a couple of years, but remember that’s yet another piece of kit to buy, clean and carry with you, possibly multiple times if you shoot with more than one camera/operator, not to mention the time and inconvenience of having to fit/remove them as you move between inside and out.

Most of us will have missed something important at one time or another because we took too long to flip the ND filter switch, but imagine extending that time to allow for attaching / removing a screw on filter instead!

AUTO FOCUS

While the Panasonic GH1 has auto focus capabilities while recording video, most of the DSLRs do not. On the 5D mkII you can of course pre-focus using the AF button, but once you start recording the only way to maintain focus as the subject moves is by by accurately maintaining your distance from the subject, or by manually moving the focus ring on the lens.  All well and good, we do this on video cameras right?  The problem is that the focus rings on DSLR lenses are typically ‘tighter’ and so harder to move than those on video cameras and this can lead to additional camera shake, inducing the dreaded jello effect.

Auto Focus (pre-focus)  takes something in the order of 4 to 5 seconds to leave live view mode, focus on the chosen subject and reenter live view mode, but is still faster than I can manually focus (using the Focus Assist) on the HMCs.  The bad news is this can’t be done while recording video and you also lose sight of the subject on the LCD during this time. If the subject moved while focusing you probably focussed on something completely different, so you need to pay attention!

The good news is that the 5D mkII (and most of the other DSLRs) includes the ability to digitally zoom to 10x on any part of the screen to pre-focus manually instead of only assisting with the center point as the HMCs do.  Very handy.

Fortunately the LCD on the 5D mkII is also excellent and reliable focus can be achieved by eyeballing it ‘most’ of the time.   However, the LCD does have other problems.

FIXED LCD

All camcorders that are likely to be used by wedding professionals have articulated LCDs, allowing you to view what is being recorded from just about any angle (as long as you are stood to the left of the camera!). In contrast, most DSLRs have fixed LCDs that don’t move or rotate at all.  This makes viewing from abnormal angles very difficult. For some people this won’t be a problem, for others it may well be the final deal breaker.

ZEBRAS

Because video was almost an afterthought on the 5D mkII, Canon omitted the basic video tools we’ve been using for years, including zebras.  While it is possible to view the scene with a live histogram (choice of RBG or Brightness) prior to recording, once recording starts the histogram disappears.

As the sun comes out from behind that cloud you have a choice of stopping, viewing the histogram, make adjustments then restart recording, or  to make adjustments to the shutter speed and/or aperture on the fly and hope for the best.  And here comes the next problem, on most video cameras the IRIS is constantly adjustable so that you can make minor adjustments and not worry too much about it.  With DSLR lenses the aperture moves in discrete 1/3 or 1/2 stops, so you see a jump in exposure rather than a smooth micro adjustment.

TIME CODE

While many videographers never use timecode to sync multiple cameras together, it’s something we’ve been doing for a long time.  Simply jam the timecode on the cameras at the start of the day and when the footage is imported to the NLE the footage from all the cameras can be sybc'd on a single sequence (one track per camera) providing a complete day with all the angles from all the cameras ready to go.  OK, so it’s not a perfect solution because the cameras can drift by a frame or two, but it’s close enough to start sorting through the clips and figuring out what you want.  If you can find a sync point anywhere in the day (e.g. a photographers flash) you can move that camera’s footage for the entire day by the one or two frames it was out and not have to worry.  Everything is nicely sync’d.

That’s not quite how things work with the 5D mkII, and certainly not with the GH1.  The GH1 always starts recording every clip at a time code of 00:00:00:00.  Certainly not very helpful. The 5D mkII does include some timecode information but it’s not always complete.

Synchronizing on a single still camera flash is no longer a simple task because the flash banding from the CMOS sensor means you don't have a single reference frame that you can rely upon.  So, things just got that little bit harder on synchronisation too.

While software such as PluralEyes is available to help (at cost), it uses the audio to sync the video, but if the audio is not good enough it simply doesn’t work. It can also take several hours to sync things for an entire day over 4 or 5 cameras (assuming it gets it right, which is not guaranteed), and I can generally do a better job more quickly by manually looking for events.

TIME REMAINING

The 5D mkII does provide ways to figure out the time remaining on the card while recording, but it’s a course measurement and not always easy to see.  The TOP LCD will display the number of still images that can fit in the remaining card space, and depending on the frame rate you are using you can mentally divided that number to get the approx remaining seconds of video.  It’s a shame there is no display for this on the rear because if the camera is in a high position, e.g. to see over people’s heads during speeches, you can’t see the top LCD without standing on a ladder (or chair!) so have to keep a mental running total of the time used and predict when the card will be full.  Contrast that to regular video cameras that have a time remaining on the main camera LCD that can move to almost any angle you want.

FOCUS AND FOCAL LENGTH

Something else that becomes a little harder on the DSLR is manually rack focusing between two subjects using the on-LCD focus point indicator (i.e. number of feet to the ‘in-focus’ subject). The 5D mkII has no way to display this information, so you have to focus visually instead of rack focusing between two known distances.  Maybe I’m being picky, but I use this technique a lot during ceremonies and the only way to ease this situation on a DSLR is to use a focus puller wheel with markings.  That’s even more gear to buy, carry and maintain.

ACTION SAFE

Another thing missing from the DSLR display is the action safe overlay.  I use these all the time on the HMCs to know what is likely to be visible on a consumer TV set.  Even modern LCD TVs have overscan, so it’s generally a good idea not to let granny disappear off the side of the screen during the formal photoshoot coverage.  Of course you can estimate positions or place your own markers on the back of the camera as a guide, but it would be nice to have the option of displaying it as we are used to seeing it on camcorders.

ALIAS / MOIRE

Ouch!  This is a big one! The aliasing on DSLRs can be NASTY, yes I really did mean NASTY.  I have some relatively unusable clips where the groom and best man were wearing jackets with a very fine check and the shots from the 5D have moire / aliasing that is about as bad as it can be.  No aliasing is present on HMC footage.  This is something to be aware of and try to shoot accordingly.

SENSOR OVERHEATING

When was the last time your camcorder told you it’s sensor was overheating and it stopped recording?  Never?  Be aware that DSLRs can and do overheat if used for too long in the wrong conditions.  While I have yet to see this message, I have spoken with several people who have had this problem more than once during the ceremony or speeches.  Imagine your camera shuts down during the vows, what is your backup plan?  Think about it.  This will happen one day, and if it happens once it is likely to happen again and again.

BATTERY LIFE

I’m used to having chunky 3 or 4 hour batteries sticking out the back of my camcorders but this seems not possible with DSLRs.  The battery is normally held within the DSLR body, behind a closed door.  My tests show that the battery life on the 5D mkII is about an hour or less, so for long ceremonies you can expect to need to change batteries.   If you are used to shooting (say) 8 hours of footage you better budget for at least 9 or 10 batteries.  Some DSLRs will take an additional battery grip, making the overall camera larger and heavier, but allowing you to add a second battery to extend the time between battery changes.  Add the cost of a grip for each camera to your budget if you feel you need this.

The 5D mkII also goes through 16GB cards in about 48 minutes shooting at 1080/25p, so budget for lots of cards too!

THE FOOTAGE

So, that’s most of the negatives out of the way.  What about the footage itself?  This is after all where the rubber hits the road.  One word - WOW!   OK, another word - AWESOME!  If you can find a way to work around all the issues mentioned above, the footage from a DSLR may change the way your wedding videos look forever.  The ability to isolate a single person in a crowd and have the viewers eye drawn directly to where you, the videographer / editor wanted, without having to resort to vignettes and other image trickery is an powerful tool in your cinematic armory.

Shooting from a reasonable distance with a 70-200 f2.8L IS II lens I was easily able to isolate the fathers of the Bride and Groom chatting in a crowd. This is simply not possible with a stock video camera.  You can of course buy DOF adapters and achieve these results (albeit with slightly reduced quality) with a video camera that is correctly kitted out with adapters, mounting rails and lenses, but who wants to carry that stuff around at weddings?

The one major drawback here is that you will likely need to purchase, carry and change between multiple lenses during the day, something that you are unlikely to ever do with your camcorder.  Typical camcorder lenses that cover the 28mm-350mm range (such as the lens on the HMC) do not exist for DSLRs in a package that provides wide enough apertures for shallow depth of field and/or low light shooting, nor in a size, weight or price range suitable for the task in hand.

If you need to film from the back of the room with a 70-200 then the 7D may be more suitable due to the 1.6 crop factor effectively turning this in to a 112mm-360mm f2.8 lens.

There are many fast lenses available, such as the fast  f1.2 and f1.4 wide angle primes, all the way to 135/f2, but once past this focal length the fastest lens you are likely to buy is an f2.8 which needs an extra stop of light, or an increase is ISO.

CONCLUSIONS

Any one who thinks that moving to DSLRs will mean carrying around a smaller kit bag may be in for a big shock.  You will need ‘more’ kit not less, unless you somehow manage to shoot with just one or two small lenses.  It’s not my style to be up and close during the ceremony and speeches, so the longer lenses are none negotiable for me.  Some of the time it's likely to be harder work driving a DSLR solution than a standard video camera, but other times the DSLR will prove to be liberating due to low light capabilities, ability to change lenses and to isolate subjects almost at will.

I’m certainly not yet ready to give up the HMC cameras and go all DSLR for the ceremony, and probably not the speeches.  I like to have a backup plan, and that means cameras that can be relied up for extended and unattended operation with continuous audio capture from multiple sources, including wireless mics.  Having said this, could it be done? Can you really change over to all DSLR?  The simple answer is yes, but only if you have sufficient crew to operate the cameras on a rotating stop/start basis or you are willing (and able) to move around at will.  Anything less than that and you may find yourself wishing for your old video cameras back again.

There are new video cameras promised by both Panasonic and Sony that may offer better working solutions to many of the problems highlighted above, but a this point they are not yet shipping. It’s likely that Sony will want to keep the lens mount proprietary and controlled, but it's highly likely that others will reverse engineer it in order to sell third party equipment if the market is big enough.  Ziess, Sigma, Tokina and Tamron come to mind as obvious candidates.

The new Panasonic cameras are likely to accept any lens made to the micro four thirds standard since they claim the sensor is a micro four thirds size, the same as the GH1.  However, I worry about how many of those lenses will have wide enough apertures at the longer focal lengths and at a rational price to make it worth while.   Too many of the current offerings are f4.5-f5.6.  That's way too slow to be of real use in low light environments.

Until these cameras are released it’s hard to know which way to turn for the best.  It’s a safe bet that Canon will be working behind the scenes to build significantly upon the 5D mkII’s success, and having listened to what the film makers have been saying since the launch of the 5D mkII I would like to bet the 5D mk3 will be a killer piece of equipment with major video feature built right in.

To say that we live in interesting times has never been more true than it is today.  It’s just a shame we always have to wait for the new toys!

Good luck in your choice and as ever feel free to ask questions in the forums!

David Partington

Exact Image Limited