Davey

Tried uploading numerous very low quality jpegs compressed as far as possible but they are still all too big. This is also an edit test. Edited. It works fine. Not very colourful but it will have to do for now.

Just buy a reflector for £10 ( or make one) and use small LED torches that have an option to change beam behaviour. These are a cheap way of learning how to create moods and set up lighting without breaking the bank.

That lens! When almost going down the 4/3 route it was because of the 42.5 Voigtlander.

I couldn't see any ads but I couldn't see any credits to the artists or sites from which the music was purchased, either. Every genuine Royalty Free site that I buy licenses from for YouTube use (monetised videos) insist that the artist, track name and site are linked to in the description or at the end of a video. Even Kevin MacLeod - who gives his music away for free under CC - insists that he is credited.

What's your channel called?

I think the a6500 suggestion was a wind up. It was the two batteries that gave it away lol.

I am actually already in paid employment (security guard) and definitely don't want to do weddings as any more than a sideline. I will pick and choose which weddings I do (friends and friends of friends) and not look to do it full time because it really does feel like slave labour. I am filming a friend's wedding in February and can't wait to do that one because I really want to bless the couple and will put my heart into it. Documentary work (again as a sideline) is something that I have tried my hand at and enjoyed immensely - filming, editing, writing, researching, narrating, interviewing. Though I can't see me making a living from it full time. My ideal scenario would be working part time in a non demanding job and making up the money to a living wage using my camera (as you suggest). I am probably a few years away from that goal - I haven't even mastered colour and white balance on my Sony cameras after seven months, let alone scratched the surface of grading. Moving from a fixed lens bridge camera to what I have now (a7s and a7s2) has been a steep learning curve. I've spent far more time struggling with the technical side of things and mislaid the joy of actually filming in the process.

Photographers around my way (that I personally know) get £500 to £1000 for around 80 to 100 photos. They spend about 40 hours in Lightroom picking out and processing the best of 1500 shots or more. I shot two weddings with one of them (who is a professional) and wasn't even wanted there unless I did it for free. Ended up with 45 minutes of footage, including highlight reels, which took around 30 hours each to edit. People just aren't (in general) interested in video. Both clients were over the moon with what I had produced (even my photos were better in some cases) but nobody thought to give me a penny. They just assume that I point the camera and upload straight to a DVD or something lol.

Alternatively, wait until they are a few pints to the wind. Go candid the rest of the time.

This entire thread and therefore the original product had passed me by. Glad that it's made a reappearance because I fancy this (with motor). £535 for the whole unit (from scratch). Does anybody know if that is a reasonable price? Only, I have looked on YouTube and the majority are screaming that it is overpriced.

I take all of their 'reviews' with a huge pinch of salt. Fortunately for them, people forget months later that they failed to tell us about all the problems that since came to the surface with an individual product because they have 'reviewed' another twenty cameras by then. Jason Lanier is much the same in terms of shamelessly blushing over Sony products but at least he showcases some fantastic work, whereas I have never seen anything remotely impressive produced by TCSG. I guess that the former is an artist and the latter are sellers of cameras.

The bride's best friend is your best friend - so true. Built such a good rapport a couple of weddings back that she sought me out whenever they were to go slightly off script.

Yep. I won't be using them again. Their licenses are all over the place. I feel sorry for the artists who are locked into contracts with them - if the site wasn't such a shambling mess (which I now suspect is by design by being deceptively ambiguous) then I would be purchasing lots more music.

At least make the effort to post a minimum 100 times a few months in advance of known product promotion day. Funnily enough, Andrew's colour settings have been dissed by two different first time posters in the last 24 hours...

Not available for FCPX.

Especially if you are a one man band with only two cameras - but - I read so much criticism of other people's work on forums like this (and Youtube / Vimeo) that I just would not risk it lol. If Philip Bloom gets slaughtered for his Instagram style grading, then I am not going to risk ever doing anything for anybody who has ever held a camera.

So true. I did a couple of weddings for free (to gain some experience) and blew some highlights here and there, as well as having a grave struggle with skin tones. However, because I chose powerfully emotive music and was able to capture the joy of the day through stealth shots of individuals and tender moments between various family members - and edit these in such a way that the viewer has just finished crying when they find themselves laughing and then back again - everybody agreed that the finished videos were like nothing they had ever seen. If you love your work, your client will love your work much more because they are emotionally involved in the story. The people you are filming have a history together - they will recognise and love every mannerism common to their loved ones that nobody else can. The only wedding I won't touch after that feedback will be where either the bride or groom are professional videographers. They would notice the slight moire on the registrar's tie, the crushed shadows miles away in the corner of the church, the purple fringing in one second of the entire production - and then sue you silly for daring to soil their big day.

Manual, with a variable ND if needing to keep the shutter speed down.

Have used the a7sii in low light weddings and the skin tones are a nightmare. They are dead. Shines above all else when the party starts and the lights go down. Don't really need a gimbal if you know how to move the camera and are taking short, swooping shots over a 5ft distance. Obviously, long tracking shots are a different thing. Personally, I'll go with non electronic gimbal type in future - the DS1 I bought is utterly useless. I'd use a cheap Canon for close-ups of people or perhaps master Andrew's colour settings for the Sonys. I've yet to buy them and am holding fire until the WB issues are understood (by me).

This is where 4k comes in handy when your output is 1080 - smooth Ken Burns zooms that no fly by wire lens can replicate.

Been checking back every ten minutes. Cheers for the update.

LOL

Excellent, cheers.

I thought it was all about S-Log?

Panasonic fz200 for under £300. Will need lighting for indoors, mind.