May 6, 2020
This camera did me well when I first started getting into wedding Videography. With the right lens I was able to capture movie like footage during a wedding. I would recommend this good camera if you are just someone who is experimenting with wanting to get into wedding videography. I always say start small and see if this is something you’re interested in. Save money first and then invest in a good camera when you feel you’ve become passionate about Wedding Videgraphy.
Basic Camera Specs:
This is my go to camera for weddings! When you’re feeling passionate and ready to make this camera upgrade you will not be disappointed. When getting into wedding videography, certain locations (Mainly the reception) may have the worst lighting. The perks of this good camera is that it films well low light situations.
Basic Camera Specs:
This camera can record for long periods of time! It also has crazy built in stabilization. You can use this camera hand held and your footage will look super smooth. Friends of mine have this camera and for the price it is a great camera.
Funny story about this camera. We were shooting a wedding in New Jersey in the middle of June @ 5,000 Degrees fahrenheit. My Nikon 3100 over heated and would not allow me to enable record…DURING THE CEREMONY! Thank God my wife was able to switch roles with me. She ended up shooting video with her camera and I shot the photos with my overheated camera cause it was all my camera would allow me to do.
During cocktail hour I ran to Best Buy a couple of miles down the road and purchased the Nikon – D5500 and used it for the rest of the wedding. Has a flip out screen! Always a great feature when shooting video. This camera was a good upgrade from the Nikon 3100.
Good Camera Lenses to Use for Weddings!
The very first lens I used when I started filming weddings with the Nikon 3100 was a Nikon 50mm. You get great bokeh (Blurry background).
What I would recommend you start with is a prime lens (Just means lens is not zoomable.) A 35mm lens is our go to lens when shooting a wedding. You can get great intimate shots with it and good wider shots when you step back. To me it’s the the middle ground of all other focal lengths. You can then adjust to a wider or closer focal length in the future based off of what you want more out of your photos.
Some things to be aware of when selecting prime lenses…Is it a f/1.4 or f/1.8? This means your aperture and how wide it will open vs how much it will close. Also known as “f-stop.” You can let more light in with a 1.4 then a 1.8. It may seem like a small jump but this jump makes all the difference. Let’s talk a little more in depth about the two.
f/1.4: Allows for more light to enter into your camera, you’ll need this especially for low light situations, and gives more bokeh to your images (Blurry background). It also has a smaller focal point allowing you to pin point a certain area you want to focus on. 1.4 lens are usually more expensive than a 1.8 lens but it’s worth the extra investment. There is just something about that extra f-stop that I personally love and want when dealing with low light situations, especially at a wedding.
f/1.8: Still allows more light to enter into your camera, but not as much as the 1.4. 1.8 still allows for that smaller focal point. 1.8 lenses are usually more cheaper than a 1.4 lens and if your on a budget you’re better off starting with this type of lens and then when you are really getting into it upgrade your lens!
I made two different list for you here 1.4 and 1.8 lenses but also within those list are different brands depending on the camera your using (Nikon, Cannon, Sony, etc.)
f/1.4 Lenses | f/1.8 Lenses |
Nikon 35mm | Nikon 35mm |
Nikon 50mm | Nikon 50mm |
Cannon 35mm | Cannon 35mm |
Cannon 50mm | Cannon 50mm |
Sony 35mm | Sony 35mm |
Sony 50mm | Sony 50mm |
I threw these in here because they are very popular lenses and I love how sharp my images look when using a sigma lens. They have special ones made for your specific camera brand. I could only find one f/1.8 lens on Amazon.
f/1.4 Lenses | f/1.8 Lenses |
Sigma Art 35mm for Nikon | Sigma Art 35mm for Cannon |
Sigma Art 35mm for Sony | |
Sigma Art 35mm for Cannon | |
Sigma Art 50mm for Nikon | |
Sigma Art 50mm for Sony | |
Sigma Art 50mm for Cannon |
Don’t overwhelm yourself with which camera is the best. Work on your skill first rather then getting the best camera for a wedding. Learn how to use the camera for video and nail down a style of filming. When you see yourself becoming more passionate about wedding videography then look into upgrading your camera. Everyone starts somewhere so don’t feel like you have to be great when you first start. Just practice on friends and family. You can also set up a free shoot for couples you might know and practice on them. Be creative and be inspired. You got this!
this helped me a lot! i have my first wedding in August and i feel more prepared because of this article! thank you so much!!!
I love sigma lenses and even though you are focusing on primes, I would add the 18-35 art series zoom. These are kind of known as being 3 primes in one. Can’t beat it for edge to edge sharpness and aperture, and because it is a zoom you can easily reframe the shot in tight quarters when you are trying to work around all those pesky guests. Gerald Undone has a great video on YT testing the color, sharpness, resolution, and aberration, etc…
thank you! i am planning to get a new camera and my brother is getting married soon, this is extremely useful!
Now I know what to get and hopefully i can take some great photos and videos on his big day! cheers
was planning to purchase a camera for my wedding by June and this helped me a lot, thanks to your advice and I will probably give the Sony a7 a trial