Ben and Sally - a 5D Mark II wedding video

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A couple of days before he was scheduled to shoot Ben and Sally's wedding, my good mate and photographer James Day received his new 5D Mark II.

With very little prompting, I jumped in my car for a 12 hour round-trip to Coffs Harbour, NSW in an attempt to be (one of) the first in Australia to shoot a wedding video using only the 5D Mark II.

We picked up some ND filters on the way to the wedding and I basically learned how to use the camera as I shot the groom getting ready. Unfortunately the ND filters weren't the correct thread size so I resorted to blu-tacking the filters to the lens. DV Rebel indeed :)

To say this camera has totally blown me away is a huge understatement. It's not without its issues but working around them isn't too difficult.

A few thoughts:

- There's no better feeling than shooting wide open at f1.2
- There's no worse feeling than blowing a shot because you were shooting at f1.2
- Super crushed blacks and blown out highlights are tough to avoid - better to embrace them
- A super steady hand is required (not that I have one), especially with the 85mm 1.2 - it's a very twitchy lens. The 50mm 1.2 is much steadier
- Audio is passable
- A variety of ND filters are a must in order to shoot as wide open as possible

I'm sure there are more things I could mention but it's late and my brain is fading. Hit me up with a message or a comment to find out more.

Lenses used: 50mm 1.2, 85mm 1.2 & 70-200mm 2.8

Music: Sarah McLachlan "Answer" and Kings of Leon "Use Somebody"

Credits

56 Likes

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2 months ago
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2 months ago
creative video
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Tags

Catch The Motion 10 months ago

Love your style...
Do you plan to continue shooting with 5D?

- Arthur
Matt E 8 months ago

Thanks Arthur! Yeah, since shooting this I've purchased my own 5D Mark II and have been using it on a lot of shoots and weddings.
MAGICBRIDE 10 months ago

Cool!
But why not D90?
(i'm looking towards 5DMII too)
Matt E 8 months ago

I originally purchased the D90 but found that the footage is close to unusable. I wouldn't feel comfortable giving clients footage from the D90. The 5D Mark II is so much better it's not funny. More expensive, but way better.
MAGICBRIDE 8 months ago

Thanks Matt, I felt your answer would be like this
Yesterday was my 1st 5DMII/A1 mixed wedding.. and it was just astonishing how picture looks..
And congrats on top25, really deserved!

Serge
Chris P. Jones 10 months ago

Sexy good!
Matt E 8 months ago

Thanks Chris!
weedze 10 months ago

Matt,

I saw something new and refreshing! Keep it coming! I use some equipment from dvtec, the "Multirig Pro" a very light inexpensive and steady solution for the 5dm2.
Not al my films on vimeo are shot with it, but i can post if you like an example, you make a sholdercam of it with the rig, the are some strap on things verry handy for the longs stay shots, or some tele, i use it all the time with my 5dm2, and even lenses with no IS on it are exelent usable.

dvtec.tv/id33.html

weedze
Matt E 8 months ago

Cool! Thanks for the tip!
No Limit Pictures 10 months ago

Very interesting!!! Good point from Arthur as well. Will you use this from now on? I can also see what you mean by the crushed look. 'Ive gotta get a hold of Jonathan's and muck around with it.
Well done Neezer ;)
Matt E 8 months ago

Thanks mate. Yep, I'm loving the 5D and shoot with it as much as possible. I'm still keeping my Brevis35 and alternate between the two most of the time.
planetMitch 10 months ago

Great new stuff! We've added this to the 5D wiki at planet5d.com We've got more 5D reviews/still/video samples than anywhere else on the planet.
Matt E 8 months ago

Thanks!
egamiFX Studio 10 months ago

WOW!!!

For the next one, try to shoot with a slider if you can get one or even a Steadicam Merlin.

Great job, been wanting to see a wedding video like that one shot with the 5D.
Matt E 8 months ago

Thanks!
Bartosz Hamerlak 10 months ago

really good look :)
Matt E 8 months ago

Cheers!
Josh Green 10 months ago

Very cool.
Matt E 8 months ago

Cheers Josh! Thanks for watching.
Jason Robinson 10 months ago

Fantastic job capturing the couple and great details, as always. How do you feel the audio issues can be overcome? Is there a mic jack for use with UHF receiver sets, etc?
Matt E 8 months ago

Still looking into better audio solutions. Yep, there's a mic jack. After doing some more shoots I'm actually a lot happier with the audio. It seems that this church was super noisy (airconditioner). Other shoots I've done the audio has been much cleaner.
Travis Cossel 10 months ago

Love the big guy in the speedo shot. Hilarious! Again, nice color and detail from the camera. Well shot, Matt.
Matt E 8 months ago

Thanks Travis!
Will 10 months ago

mmmm f1.2. You should give yourself more credit in the stability department! I was very surprised at how steady your hands are. Great work.
Matt E 8 months ago

Thanks Will!
Bjarki Gudjonsson 10 months ago

Awesome video. Your framing is great and the overall feeling of intimacy is really coming across. It's lovely to see these things used by people with a good eye. Not everyone has one, you know.

I couldn't help but smile at your "No worse feeling than blowing a shot 'cause your at f1.2 comment". Couldn't have said it better myself!
Matt E 8 months ago

Yep, 1.2 is awesome but the DOF is so shallow it's easy to stuff it up - but totally worth it when you nail it.
paramon 10 months ago

Hey Matt, great picture, next time use tripod, sound setup and maybe merlin;
as an experiment it's just awesome, but I wouldn't like my whole wedding video to be that shaky
Matt E 8 months ago

Interesting comment about the shakiness. I find that this video is actually way less shaky than some of my others. Like this one: vimeo.com/2675115
Alastair Brown 10 months ago

Love It!
Matt E 8 months ago

Cheers Alastair!
Benj Haisch 10 months ago

siiiiiiick dude. I honestly can't wait to get mine.
Matt E 8 months ago

Thanks Benj! Appreciate you checking it out.
marina miller 10 months ago

magnifique!
Matt E 8 months ago

Cheers Marina!
Ian C 10 months ago

Matt,

Great work on this. Really like the colors this camera cranks out. I can't help but feel, though, that the stuff with your XH-A1 is more appealing to me. Something about EXTREMELY short depth of field starts to get disorienting after awhile. I almost think the XH-A1, Brevis stuff you do has a more natural look, like what your eye would see.

Still, this has a great stylized look, and nice to see 5d mk2 footage other than "omg 5dmk2 tst checkitOUT, testing the test while testing"

peace
David McCarty 10 months ago

"Still, this has a great stylized look, and nice to see 5d mk2 footage other than 'omg 5dmk2 tst checkitOUT, testing the test while testing'"

- Totally cracked me up!
Matt E 8 months ago

Hey Ian. Thanks for your feedback. Yeah, the 1.2 DOF is pretty insane and I take your point. Cheers!
Ian C 8 months ago

Insane, but also really neat. I suppose the key is juggling some of the really neat extremely shallow DOF shots with those silky smooth XH-A1 shots that you always get. You've done a great job of that with the brevis, getting some shallow DOF shots and some standard. I think that 1.2 looks best on things like: Artsy shot of the rings, rack focus from/to husband/wife, a few of the couple/landscape shots where you can make it look like a "moving picture" more than a video, and then some of the b-roll of stuff like flowers, programs, wine glasses, ornaments, etc. I would use the XH-A1 for scenes with groups of people, steadicam shots, etc etc. Just my 2 cents. But like I said, you already do an OUTSTANDING good job on all your vids, and I can only hope one day to come close.

Btw, I just did my first attempt at an engagement video. Definately got a LOT of ideas by looking through your stuff. I didn't have much time to shoot, so a lot of the footage aint so hot, but if you have a chance I would sincerely enjoy input/comments/criticism from you, Matt.

Cheers!
Vladimir Chaloupka 10 months ago

Very nice!!!
Matt E 8 months ago

Thanks Vladimir!
Eric Bakken 10 months ago

To be fair regarding shallow depth of field:
In daylight and brighter, you have do a fair bit of trickery to shoot at 1.2 or 1.4 (just as you would with stills) and get that very shallow depth of field. The 5d MK II does a great job at any of the apertures the lenses will use.
Giorgio Constantine 10 months ago

Very inspiring. Just received mine and i'm kinda dissapointed by the Jelly effect , but other than that I'm totally satisfied with my new Toy.
Matt E 8 months ago

Thanks Giorgio!
Greg Filipkowski Vispol.tv 10 months ago

Very Very inspiring work!
When I shoot in my house it's nice with my 50 1.4 but when I shoot outside on a sunny day, it looses the depth, what would you suggest i should buy?ND is that the trick?
Benj Haisch 9 months ago

detach the lens from the contacts. if you're not using a lens with IS it won't matter. I've been shooting my 50 f/1.4 wide open with no probs
Mateusz 9 months ago

What I like the most in your video is Your's style, Your own style.That is pretty impressive. Can you tell me how do you set up video option to rendering? This video is only 118.83MB but quality is very good.
Matt E 8 months ago

Thanks Pego, that means a lot. For compression I use the settings outlined here: vimeo.com/help/compression
i say 9 months ago

I love this video. Can I ask how long you can film with this camera?
Matt E 8 months ago

Thanks! On a 4Gb card you get 12 minutes of footage.
Hyperfokal 8 months ago

Great, added to
vimeo.com/channels/eos5d
Matt E 6 months ago

Thanks!
DunnRight Video 8 months ago

I can't wait until canon fixes the rolling shutter issues & adds the audio controls. The next version will rule the world! I've posted couple of test shoots with this cam. I love color.
Matt E 6 months ago

Yep, this is only the beginning!
Karen Montalvo 6 months ago

It's been a while since I've been on here and checked out your stuff. Way to go! You've always been amazing but I love seeing you on new equipment.
I have a question. Do you find it difficul to do very high or low angles with the 5D Mark II since the screen doesn't angle up and down like the HV30? Is it limiting to have to be in the same sight line as the camera?
Again, beautiful work :)

K
Matt E 6 months ago

Hey Karen! It is a bit challenging for low and high angles. Outdoors in sunlight with lots of glare on the screen is difficult as well. But, the amazing footage makes it all worth while!
Rhys Day 6 months ago

really nice man.

ps. I keep seeing you pop up in videos over from the states haha... Bit far from Toowoomba dont you think??
Matt E 6 months ago

Hey Rhys! Yep, a very very long way from Toowoomba, that's for sure.
DunnRight Video 6 months ago

I saw a great post about using the Zoom field recorder for your audio. You can monitor your audio, record at 48 khz, two xlr mic inputs, and direct your audio out to the camera. There is a new version that came out. I bought one last year and the audio is pretty amazing, even from the built in microphones. I think this is much better than the other audio boxes out there since you get a recorder/ monitor / audio out all in one.
Matt E 6 months ago

Cool. Thanks for that. I got to play with the Zoom H4n while in the US. It is very cool. Definitely saving up to get one.
DunnRight Video 6 months ago

I also use the DV Tec Multirig. I have two 5D test videos using this. It's light, folds up to a small space and gives you the stability you need while allowing you to view the back of the camera monitor at a comfortable distance.
Matt E 6 months ago

I recently got the Cinevate DSLR rig - cinevate.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=143&osCsid=e32a2b087d6c949747323e19dd9a21ec - it's pretty cool as well. Definitely miles better than shooting handheld with the 5D.
DunnRight Video 6 months ago

Yes, you definetly have to have some kind of support system for such a small camera.
Jerry Verdin 4 months ago

Love your video's! Very cool to include that surfer with the group shot!
Alastair Battson 3 months ago

WOW! if I can get half this video for my wedding day I'd be blown away!. Wonderful! And great inspiration. A great job and gift from awesome friends!