My Wedding Filmmaking Gear 2022
Wedding Filmmaking can present a unique set of challenges for a filmmaker. Weddings tend to be a “run and gun” style of filmmaking, where there is often one chance to get a take, as well as variable lighting and audio conditions. These challenges however, can be addressed by proper planning. Over several years, I have honed my craft and have assembled what I believe to be the best wedding filmmaking gear kit.
Traditional weddings typically follow a standard format. Preparation, Ceremony, Cocktail hour / photo session and reception. All of which needs to be captured. With experience, these stages can feel routine for a wedding filmmaker. Within those stages, there is consistency. With this consistency, we can begin to select certain gear.
Watch the Video summary of this article here!
Camera
Lighting: Wedding filmmakers are expected to film with little to no additional light or light modification. On top of this, Shooting can occur in the most extreme conditions, such as during the middle of the day and at night with little to no light. This means we need a camera that ideally has a log profile, good dynamic range and low light capabilities.
Operation: The second aspect of camera selection is operation and workflow. The camera can’t be too difficult to use, but has to be reliable. Autofocus is a controversial, but key component to my camera selection. A few years back autofocus on cameras was slow and unreliable, however major improvements have been made and now most wedding filmmakers rely on this technology.
Because of this, I have opted to go with Sony. Sony offers the best resolution and framerate at the price range (especially in the full frame category), along with best in class autofocus. Sony is also known for their exceptional low light performance. In addition, Sony's new cameras come with updated color science and high bitrate, low compression 10-bit 4:2:2 video capture that supports a color grading workflow.
Choice:
—Sony A7siii (Out of stock)
-Sony A7iv (A-cam)
-Sony A7iii (B-cam
-Sony A6400 (C-cam / Budget Option)
Glass
Types of shots required: There is a lot that goes into making a great wedding film. The possibilities are endless. However there are a few things that will make your wedding film bad. One of those things is shooting the entire day on one focal length. Even worse is choosing a wider focal length. Low focal lengths are great for getting wide “establishing” shots to set the scene but past that shouldnt be used all that often. I tend to film much of the day on a higher focal length lens that allows me to capture details as well as stand further away from my subject (something that is very important during the ceremony, dances and speeches).
Workflow: Due to a need for capturing a variety of shots, from wide shots to tight shots in a short period of time, I opt for zoom lenses over prime lenses. If you don't know what zoom lenses versus prime lenses are, (blog post coming soon) the main difference is prime lenses are a fixed focal length. Why would people choose a fixed focal length? In short, primes tend to be sharper and have more depth of field than zooms. These days, however, with full frame cinematography (which allows for increased DOF as opposed to aps-c) and years of innovation, the benefits in sharpness and DOF you gain with primes are very minimal. This difference is not enough to outweigh the time you lose having to change lenses on an already fast paced, wedding day.
Brand: Tamron Makes great lenses, This video is less on glass and more on overall kit selection. Odds are if you are unsure of the differences between native gmaster glass and tamron glass, you probably should opt for tamron. If you do know the difference and wish to debate, I would question why you are reading this article in the first place and after I do so, Invite you to review the MTF charts for G masters and Tamrons. The differences in sharpness and vignetting is so minimal, you would never really be able to tell at 1080p resolution video.
Choice:
-Tamron 28-75mm f2.8
-Tamron 70-180mm f2.8
-Tamron 20mm f2.8
Camera support
Gimbals: Gimbals are a hugely important tool in creating high end wedding films. Gimbals allow for the capture of walking and moving shots as well as great b roll shots. That being said, I HATE gimbals. They are tricky to use, finicky, and oftentimes cause you to miss moments on wedding days as they can’t always be moved around very fast. This is one of many reasons, I am starting to move away from gimbal use and more towards a natural handheld style.
If you do decide you want a gimbal (and if you're just starting out, I'd recommend you do use one), I would more than certainly recommend the Zhiyun Weebil-s.
Tripods: On to the very borong tripod portion. Get somethin with three legs. Don't worry about getting a fluid head or a video tripod that can support the weight of a cinema camera unless you're actually using a cinema camera. If you shoot solo, don't be afraid to shoot your b cam in 4k for additional flexibility in post.
Audio
Arguably the most important aspect of a wedding film is the audio. Audio is its own separate entity that deserves blog posts of its own, and for the sake of time, I will keep this section short. The key to audio is to get the best signal to noise ratio. The key to that is to get the microphone as close as possible to your subject.
There are two key moments you need to capture audio; the ceremony and the speeches. For the ceremony, we need something we can hide on the talent. For this we will use lav mics. During the speeches, the speaker will most likely be holding a microphone so it is best to grab that audio signal right out of the DJ’s system. BEWARE: DJs are like trolls, you have to pay the troll toll to get into the right audio hole (It's always sunny reference). On a serious note, NEVER touch someone else's equipment without asking permission. DJs want to make our mutual client happy and more often than not willing to help you, but touching their gear without asking is downright disrespectful and you wouldn't like it if anyone touched your gear.
Choices:
Lavs:
-Rode wireless go 2
-Tascam dlr-10l
-DJI Wireless mics (haven't used, cant recommend)
Recorder:
-Tascam dr-60d
-zoom f3
-zoom h6
Every other moment throughout the day, an onboard rode mic (Phantom powered) is sufficient. You won't likely be using this audio anyways and if you do you can be selective here which soundbites to do and don't decide to use.
Drone
Drone selection comes down to preference. There are a few categories to consider when selecting drones. Price, Image quality, overall usability.
For me, the goldilocks drone is the Mavic Air 2s. For the price, weight, overall use case in my entire filmmaking career, and image quality, this drone is perfect for me.
You make no compromises in image quality as this drone has a 1-inch image sensor that records in 4k 10-bit 4:2:2 internal recording. This drone is lightweight and packable, which is perfect for me as I do a lot of adventure filmmaking.
Misc
ND Filters: Your going to want ND Filters, to help block out the light on a sunny day. I plan to write a future blog post but for now a short review will have to suffice. I would not7 but the K&F concept ND filters as they are cheap and can produce bad results in situations with high glare. I currently use Tiffen ND filters and love them.
Lighting: Generally there isn’t enough time on a wedding day to manipulate and add light. The reception however is different. It doesn’t hurt to have some easy to set up lighting in your kit to help add light to the reception. Because of this I have a Godox vl-150 and a Godox sl-60w that I use to light a reception when needed.
Conclusion
Of Course, gear is not the entire equation. Contrary to what people say, (ironically the loudest proponents of this notion are often the ones with the most gear) gear does matter. I believe that you should squeeze the most out of what you have BUT with training, experience you will find yourself in situations where you do need to invest in gear. Hopefully this post helps you understand what aspects are important to consider when choosing gear to shoot a wedding with. If you found this helpful, consider subscribing!
