Need expertise (ie, insight/thoughts on most appropriate equipment to purchase)

[Chris Wright]

here’s all the random stuff you could buy off the top of my head, based upon things you might do which requires needing more stuff…

make sure the 70-200 2.8 is macro too, so you can get minimum distance if necessary. parfocal(not change focus), constant aperture, a good countryman lav,DPA 4071, a rode mic(they sound good for the price), maybe a long shotgun mic like MKH 70, MKH 50s for interiors, maybe a portable mixer, a cat for the mic on a windy day, or more expensive Audio Ltd. 2040 radio mics with RK6 (six-channel radio rack),

there’s some really cool lcd lights out now that vary intesity and color temp, plus you don’t have to buy bulbs, enough batteries that you could switch them out off an inverter in your car,

an external sound recorder, maybe even consider an external hdmi recorder. I’d also get a wide angle lens, bout 25 or 28 maybe even a 14 so you can open up the door to landscape, buildings, etc. some sort of rail system, crane, mini stand, a rig of some sort. etc. ad nauseum

[Bill Bruner]

Hi William – welcome back to world of imagemaking! On the T4i – it may not overheat, but it will definitely shut down after 22 minutes of continuous recording (see specs here, click on “specifications” and scroll down to “continuous shooting time”). People who buy Canon DSLRs for video are sometimes surprised when they shut down in the middle of a shot (see this thread for a T3i shooter who was surprised when his camera shut down after 12 minutes).

If you need shallow depth of field video in a DSL-type camera that you can put on a tripod in the back of the church, turn on and leave running for hours, your only choices are the Panasonic GH2 or its successor, the new GH3 cameras.

Here is what the GH2 can do: https://vimeo.com/37401106

Here is what the GH3 can do: https://vimeo.com/52632262

For wireless mics, you need a couple of Sennheiser G3s. They are the best wireless lavs below $1000.

On camera mics are OK for pickups, but most of the amateur mics with 3.5mm unbalanced outputs are not very good. I use a pro mic with a balanced XLR output – and an inexpensive little XLR to 3.5mm transformer cable to match the impedance of my camera’s input (see photo here: https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6x2ziHgKUyQ/UOq2-ksrfPI/AAAAAAAAGXk/8i0Hrh9rLFw/s1149/P1010660.JPG)

With this setup, I get really directional sound with very little noise introduced by the mic. To get away from these cameras’ noisy preamps and really clean up the sound, however, you will need a high quality mixer/preamp such as a Sound Design 442 or an SQN.

Hope this has been somewhat helpful, and good luck with your new (old endeavor!

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

[Bill Bruner]

Hi William – welcome back to world of imagemaking! On the T4i – it may not overheat, but it will definitely shut down after 22 minutes of continuous recording (see specs here, click on “specifications” and scroll down to “continuous shooting time”). People who buy Canon DSLRs for video are sometimes surprised when they shut down in the middle of a shot (see this thread for a T3i shooter who was surprised when his camera shut down after 12 minutes).

If you need shallow depth of field video in a DSL-type camera that you can put on a tripod in the back of the church, turn on and leave running for hours, your only choices are the Panasonic GH2 or its successor, the new GH3 cameras.

Here is what the GH2 can do: https://vimeo.com/37401106

Here is what the GH3 can do: https://vimeo.com/52632262

For wireless mics, you need a couple of Sennheiser G3s. They are the best wireless lavs below $1000.

On camera mics are OK for pickups, but most of the amateur mics with 3.5mm unbalanced outputs are not very good. I use a pro mic with a balanced XLR output – and an inexpensive little XLR to 3.5mm transformer cable to match the impedance of my camera’s input (see photo here: https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6x2ziHgKUyQ/UOq2-ksrfPI/AAAAAAAAGXk/8i0Hrh9rLFw/s1149/P1010660.JPG)

With this setup, I get really directional sound with very little noise introduced by the mic. To get away from these cameras’ noisy preamps and really clean up the sound, however, you will need a high quality mixer/preamp such as a Sound Design 442 or an SQN.

Hope this has been somewhat helpful, and good luck with your new (old endeavor!

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

[William Cochran]

Thanks for the input, guys! Curious…is there a remote that will control the T4i? My intention was to have 2 stationary cams and one hand-held during a ceremony. I can handle the mobile one of course and an assistant the other two, but just in case I have no assistant for a shoot (or if one of the cameras is positioned in such a way that approaching it would interrupt or be detrimental to the ceremony/shot), I would like to be able to remote operate them.

I’ll look at your other recommendations this afternoon.

Again, thanks for taking the time to respond.