Is it better to use manual or auto settings on a wedding video?

Question

I have been doing wedding videos for a couple years, but now I have some serious equipment and am charging serious fees. I have an XHA1 and a handheld HD camera. Would it be better for me to adjust everything manually (fstop, shutter, white balance, focus) or for something like a wedding where you are constantly moving around, lighting is always changing, etc, is it better to rely on the auto settings to get it right. I've been dismayd a few times in the past when the my shot was ruined because I got the settings wrong. Anyone out there a pro, I'd love to get your advice.

Answer 1

I would definately go with the manual controls. When shooting something such as a wedding, you cannot rely on the automatic functions. I do not think manually setting the white balance should be any problem when moving around, unless you constantly change light sources- fluorescent, incandescent, outdoor, etc, but I do not think that will be the case. Just set white balance before you start and you should be good. White balance is not nearly as good on auto mode, especially when you are shooting into light sources. Auto white balance can be problematic when shooting indoors next to a bright window, the camcorder will set it to outdoor light, and throw you off!

    For manual focus, I always keep in on manual. Especially with a camcorder as good as the Canon XH-A1, it should be easy focus quickly. Manual focus can be crucial because for one thing, auto does not always utilize the full potential of your camcorder's picture quality (which in your case is important), but more importantly, you could shoot hours of irreplaceable footage to later find out that the camcorder's auto mode was focusing on the wrong thing!! This is particularly important with many subjects at different distances from the camcorder. However, auto focus is usually not bad, and can be very helpful in hectic situations, which may be the case. If you do decide to go with auto, I do advise that you try to turn your aperture to a high f-stop, because the higher the f-stop, the greater the depth of field, meaning, more subjects will be within your depth of field. Take caution though, a higher f-stop means a smaller iris, meaning your picture may be dark, so try and find a happy medium.

     Regarding Aperture/ Exposure, I would probably keep that on manual as well. Like the white balance, you would probably only need to set it once, making sure everything you need is properly lit. You may need to tweek it if lighting varies, but I cannot see a wedding hall having drastic changes in light- that may be the case though.

   The auto aperture is usually quite good, but I try to avoid it indoors. It can totally mess you up when shooting a subject infront of a bright window; the camcorder will properly expose the window light, making your subject WAY too dark.

I don't see why you would need to adjust shutter speed, unless you notice your subjects blur to much, and in that case, make it faster, or if you need to make the scene brighter to compensate for a high f-stop, and in that case, make it a slower shutter speed. However, I would NEVER use a shutter speed slower than about 1/30 of a second, unless it is for the affect. Once again, if you want to bother with shutter speed, it is easy, and you probably won't need to fiddle with it all throughout the shoot. I would stick with 1/60th or 1/90th of a second to be safe- you can go a bit higher if it is outdoors, and a little lower if your picture is too dark.

In conclusion, I would most definately manually control white balance, and aperture (or f-stop), I would consider shutter speed, and manual focus is completely preference and I will leave it to you to consider the pros and cons I have previously addressed. These are simply recommendations, so use what you want, or totally disregard it if you want. Good Luck and have fun!!!!

Answer 2

The real skills in cinematography are in the manual settings. The same should be for videography and I don't see why not. Auto settings are very unreliable. Dont trust them. Practice manual settings and in a while you should get the skills. Good luck.