Wedding shoot with the BMPCC6K - Help needed

Hey all,

I recently helped a friend by filming her wedding and I wanted to take a few moments to discuss a few items in hopes of getting your opinions.

(Just an FYI, this is my setup: BMPCC6K on a Zhiyun Crane 3 Lab attached to a Thanos Pro 2 Gimbal Support System. To power the rig, I have a battery attached at the bottom of the Thanos Pro 2. I also have an atomos monitor with a Tilta Nano Nucleus wireless attached to the handle of the pole yoke so I can see what is happening and adjust the focus.)

Ok with that out of the way there are a few things I wanted to talk about.

1. I did the best I could, but I found myself really struggling to get things into focus especially if the subject was walking quickly. My focusing skills aren’t the best so it was a real challenge, and I was just wondering if this is the kind of camera to do weddings with especially when things move quickly. (For example, when the wedding party is announced and they come out, etc.) I flubbed the bride and groom’s entrance as it was blurry.

2. Another thing that happened which really frightened me (and I can’t figure out why this happened for the life of me) was that for a few minutes, the footage on my monitor was not the same that my camera was showing. I had my camera lined up perfectly (even my assistant couldn’t understand what was happening) pointing at the wedding party making their way down the aisle. The image looked great on my monitor but when I happened to look up at my camera it was somehow(????) showing stuff off to the right that it wasn’t even pointing at. I had to power off my whole rig in order for it to get back to normal. Has this ever happened to anyone?

3. During this same time and one other time the rig didn’t seem to want to power up after I clicked the on switch on the V Mount plate that has a Core SWX Nano battery on it.

I really like the BMPCC’s and I’m sure everyone else does here as well. I am not bashing, but I would maybe like to do more wedding’s but I was really scared after the above experience.

I have a recommendation to help with the first problem, but inevitably at least one shot gets flubbed anyway because you really have no control over any participant and something will go wrong and things happen that are spontaneous so you won’t be perfect.

Perhaps you did this, but always do a site visits as appropriate. With the camera and the bride in attendance. During the site visit I try to plan all the standard shots with her and how I’m going to position people and the camera and the range of movement and distance to the subject. That way the wedding party and the videographer have a great idea how to move and at what distance works well and how to expose. Site visits include the preparations of the bridal party such as at the hair salon and the reception as well as the actual wedding.

It’s good for you, good for the bride, and good for people providing their venues to become familiar and trusting of you; that trust helps everyone make suggestions and accommodate you. Remember though, it’s her day and the only rule to remember that shows your respect for her: the bride is always right.

I haven’t done any gimbal work so my shots are more controlled than if you just tell the bride you’re going to follow her for example. I do use that parfocal Fujinon Cine Zoom so I can ‘follow’ people by zooming in and out. Using that lens makes all shots so much easier as you move in for a closeup or pull away for a crowd shot. My tripod keeps things steady, but does take more work to move from shot to shot. In your situation, you’ll want to use a wide angle to get great depth of field. To me, the choice of lens(es) is extremely important. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself with too many variations.

Hey Robdoc! Congrats on shooting a wedding. That's a space I am wanting to move into if only to get my business profitable.

For the focus issue, I would suggest shooting with your aperture as closed as possible to get a deeper dof. Certainly go more shallow for controlled shots. This will require more light so I'd likely bump to 3200 ISO. Also, keeping the lens as wide as possible will aid in keeping more in focus. I shoot on a very similar setup although my stabilizer is the Best Boy Adam method and I use a (ahem) Moza Air 2 because that's what I have. Going to get a good one soon and will promptly recycle this one. The stabilization on this rig is just amazing.

#2 sounds like one of your monitors was zoomed in a bit. If this is the case, the footage won't be zoomed. I accidentally zoom on one monitor or the other all the time and usually get a quick o-ring pucker. Did your footage look right in post?

#3 This is not based off of any suggestions or requirements but I personally feel it's safest to switch the camera off before disconnecting power. I've pulled power and it always powers back but it just seems unsafe, like pulling an xlr with phantom power or removing a USB stick without ejecting. This may not answer this question.

That's a complex kit for a wedding, as you have experienced often key moments are over in a flash, you need to be nimble and foolproof.

I feel you could be aiming for the impossible when it comes to focus, if you are in motion, they are in motion then manual focus requires the concentration of a dedicated 1stAC, or the tech of a canon with dual pixel auto...

Iv'e shot over 100 weddings, even when gimbals became a viable option about half way through my wedding career we still shot 90% of content on monopod and tripods, drone and gimbals were used very sparingly. A monopod with a v-mount will see you through the day, allows a simplicity for you to nail focus and more importantly be nimble enough to get enough coverage to create mini stories for the edit.

I also found its useful to not be dressed like robocop when you're covering emotional/vulnerable moments. Dress smartly with a compact kit and you blend in enough for people to relax and be themselves, which is super important.

I would also carry a back up camera, shooting any wedding without backup gear is a risk, with BMD gear its way more risky.

Just a few thoughts.

Hey Rob, all good suggestions above from fellow BM owners. Let me round their key pointers as I totally agree with their responses.

From Rick - stage the shot before hand by doing a site visit. Use a parfocal lens with zoom control. The parfocal lens will help tremendously. Checkout the DZOFilms Pictor series of zooms for a low price alternative.

From Galin - close your aperture to get a deeper DOF which will help reduce blurring.

From Mike - be nimble and the monopod is your friend. Don’t come as robocop. You don’t need a complex support system. That’s for when you can take your time to shoot, like in narrative filmmaking.

Now, my 2 cents. Agility is very important in events, weddings, and some documentary filming. I don’t do weddings but my son does and he keeps everything light and easy to move around. Your mantra should be to be able to quickly take shots at a moment’s change in action and phase. Although a Cine camera can be a good gear and can be used, they are more designed to have forethought of the shots. For weddings, you’ll need to be almost fully automated - auto focus, electronic iris, etc. I know my son depends on the Sony A7 series of cameras and have 3 in places. He has a couple of them situated where he needs them on sticks, and one he carries and moves around with a monopod. Prior, he was using the Penny GH5 but he wanted a bigger sensor, low light capability of the A7. These cameras have built in stabilization so that’s one gimbal less to use although be Carrie’s an RS3 pro just in case. He uses the Ninja so he records in Prores. Long story short, he keeps things to what makes him flexible, shooting at 4K so he has room to adjust in Post since his delivery is always 1080p. No one ask for 4K as far as I know - I help him with post work sometimes. .

Also, the less equipment you bring to these events, the less time you need for setup and tear down, and minimize the risk of loosing gears when it gets really chaotic. Good luck and best wishes with your new work.

IMHO there are only two camera lines perfect for weddings at this point in time: Canon R and Sony Alpha. I say this because of their fantastic Eye-AF. Nobody else comes close.
But the new Sony Alpha 7 IV is the better choice, since it doesn’t switch off due to overheating. I wouldn’t like to shoot with an external recorder, it’s just another source of potential issues. The H.265 10 bit 422 in these cameras is good enough for some grading (as long as the client doesn’t insist on HDR).

IMHO there are only two camera lines perfect for weddings at this point in time: Canon R and Sony Alpha. I say this because of their fantastic Eye-AF. Nobody else comes close.
But the new Sony Alpha 7 IV is the better choice, since it doesn’t switch off due to overheating. I wouldn’t like to shoot with an external recorder, it’s just another source of potential issues. The H.265 10 bit 422 in these cameras is good enough for some grading (as long as the client doesn’t insist on HDR).

You have omitted the Nikon Z9 which is arguably the best choice if one can afford it, can get hands on one and is not already invested in Canon or Sony. There is still a world shortage and long waiting times (in Europe at least). I don't have one but I would like one. The AF tracking is supposedly excellent and it shoots internal raw as well as a load of other formats.

Hey all,

I recently helped a friend by filming her wedding and I wanted to take a few moments to discuss a few items in hopes of getting your opinions.

I did the best I could, but I found myself really struggling to get things into focus especially if the subject was walking quickly. My focusing skills aren’t the best so it was a real challenge, and I was just wondering if this is the kind of camera to do weddings with especially when things move quickly. (For example, when the wedding party is announced and they come out, etc.) I flubbed the bride and groom’s entrance as it was blurry.

2.I had to power off my whole rig in order for it to get back to normal. Has this ever happened to anyone?

There is some great advice here. I'll just add a few extra thoughts.

The biggest problem with getting a wedding business going is getting that initial portfolio as well as getting the experience. Catch 22: you can't get the work without a portfolio and you can't get the portfolio without the work - stllls in my case but the same applies with video. Even getting one wedding under your belt is a start so best to focus on the positives and learn from the negatives which you are doing. Your friend can't have any complaints and it has given you the opportunity to gain experience as well as some footage.

Doing weddings professionally without appropriate gear is a recipe for personal anxiety and potential disaster at worst. As others have said, a light system with top class AF tracking is pretty much essential for mobility and capturing action. The monopod suggested by Mike sounds like a great idea as you can rest it rather than continually carrying a heavy gimbal kit. I always use a monopod for my stills wedding work. You could always set your BMD camera on a tripod, capturing wide shots as well.

The aisle walk shot can be difficult as the light is frequently terrible and it happens fast so there is no time to think - you have to be ready. Have your settings fixed and ready to go - never start messing with camera settings as it is happening. I always ask the couple to walk very slowly and savour the moment - most of them do which makes it easier. Nevertheless mistakes or errors happen. I lost most of the aisle walk in a recent wedding when my extremely reliable Nikon D850 ceased up temporarily and I had to turn it off and back in again by which time the walk was over. Hit the shutter button and nothing happening - a horrible experience. The reason - I realised I had left the the slower backup card in the camera and took it out with the camera still on so my fault. Fortunately I got the beginning of the walk and the couple were very relaxed in any case about it when I told them what had happened.

Anyway best of luck if you go on to do wedding video as a business. Mistakes are the best way to learn although I gues it is better to make the bad ones and learn from them before you start doing it professionally.

You have omitted the Nikon Z9 which is arguably the best choice if one can afford it, can get hands on one and is not already invested in Canon or Sony. There is still a world shortage and long waiting times (in Europe at least). I don't have one but I would like one. The AF tracking is supposedly excellent and it shoots internal raw as well as a load of other formats.

Nikons are great cameras, especially for stills. When it comes to video, there are a few nuance that makes it slightly difficult to work with like for example their lens focus and aperture ring direction gets in the way with standard third party focus motors.

Nikons are great cameras, especially for stills. When it comes to video, there are a few nuance that makes it slightly difficult to work with like for example their lens focus and aperture ring direction gets in the way with standard third party focus motors.

That's true no doubt for the older Nikon F system lenses but the new Nikon Z lenses don't have an aperture ring and they are really top class lenses. Nikon have come late to professional video but the Z9 is supposedly out of this world as a video and stills camera with a state-of-the-art AF tracking system so manual focus may not be a big issue. It shoots internal raw (both ProRes Raw and Nikon's own new raw).

I don't have a Z9 and they are very difficult to get due to global shortage at the moment. However, I do have the Z6 and Z6II. These have AF tracking in video mode which can be initiated from the touch screen. The AF tracking for video on the Z6 is pretty good unless the subject is moving fast or light is too low and the Z6II is even better. I don't have any other camera brands to compare them to but they are more than usable for my current purposes. The in-camera video is not great but I use them with external monitors for BRAW and ProRes Raw and the quality is very good.

The point I am making is that Nikon cameras have moved a long way in relation to video in the last few years.

I’ve used the Z6 in the early days and sometimes the auto focus on fairly stationery actors was hit and miss. I’m sure this is much better now and recently considered a Z9.

I’ve used the Z6 in the early days and sometimes the auto focus on fairly stationery actors was hit and miss. I’m sure this is much better now and recently considered a Z9.

Yes Nikon have continued to provide firmware updates which have improved the AF systems in the original Z cameras and the Z6II is even better. I don't know how good it is in very low light or with rapid movement. I'm not doing professional video (as yet) - video is all fun learning at the moment for me. The AF tracking in both Z6 and Z6II cameras certainly works pretty well on fast moving flowers (wind blown that is) in close up which is about as hard as I have pushed it. Image quality is excellent with log or raw into external monitor. I think if I ever do pro video I will be looking at the Z9 though. I still use a D850 for my wedding stills work as I know it is extremely reliable.

Thank you for the tremendous support everyone! I am going to look through all of these and read them carefully this weekend. And yes, I was dressed like Robocop.

Hi Rob, it sounds like you encountered a few challenges during your wedding shoot with the BMPCC6K. For focusing issues, consider using the camera's focus peaking feature to help you keep moving subjects in sharp focus, or try a faster lens for better low-light performance and quicker focus acquisition. Regarding the monitor issue, check your HDMI connection and settings; it may be a simple glitch or a cable problem. Ensure all firmware is up-to-date to prevent power issues, and for reliable performance, consider using a different power solution, like a dummy battery or a more robust external power source. With practice and some adjustments to your setup, you'll likely feel more confident in future shoots!