What video camcorder?

[Carl in Louisiana]

A friends daughter's daughter is getting married in one year and wants someone to video the walk down the isle. "I have not said I would do it" and that "I would not want to be the one to cause trouble within their family if things went wrong or they did not like the video." They can't afford to pay someone to do it. So I am trying to find out which video camcorder would be best to rent for this event and pass it on to them. Maybe a family member would volunteer for this task/rental. I am thinking family/free no room for complaints. I have no idea what the location looks like, the lighting or what is allowed. I would assume low light conditions.The learning would be up to the one to do it. All help would be greatly appreciated.

[rpcrowe]

I am quite happy with my Panasonic HDC-TM900 Camcorder. It is a high quality consumer model...

[jcuknz]

I would tend on the side of 'do not do it, Video is not stills' and after an experience where for fun I shot a hi-8 video against a guy who was apparently in business as a wedding videographer and my knowledge from a few years in the amateur movie movement before going professional I'd repeat 'do not do it video is not stills' .... though on the plus side any film-video viewed by the people involved has a head start for acceptability .... it was how I started The trouble is people are much more exposed to video than when I started in the 1950's.

[Manfred M]

I totally agree with John - while both photography and video both require cameras, shooting video and stills take a totally different skill set, especially if you are looking at shooting a scene walking down the aisle. That would probably take a shoulder mounted camera and a lot of practice. I would also say "don't do it".

Unless there is a lot of light, video cameras do not have ludicrously high ISO settings and boosting the gain is not going get you particularly pleasing results. Unfortunately, adding light is not going to be something that the church is going to let you do.

Another issue with amateur video is that it tends to make you slightly motion sick when you watch it. Pros shoot from tripods (something I use all the time) or use a SteadiCam or similar stabilization system. It's not your photo tripod either; video tripods use viscous heads to give you smooth tilt and pans. You would probably want at least two shooters to get you good video coverage.

In photography, a good image is all about great composition. In video, it's all about the edit. If you want to put together a decent video, you need to get yourself a good non-linear editor and know how to use it. Again, not something that you can master overnight.

The final part of good video is good sound. A camera mounted shotgun microphone is a good start (again, I doubt that you can get a sound man with a boom into the church). On top of a good video edit, you also need to know how to edit sound.

In my experience (and I shoot a fair bit of video), doing a decent video is about 10 times harder than shooting stills

[Carl in Louisiana]

Thank you Richard I look into that one.

@ John & Manfred
Thank You,
However I thought that I made it clear in my post that I was not going to do this (but then maybe not) but simply looking for a camcorder to recommend to them, if one of them wanted to do it themselves.
"If it was a family member" and it was "not costing the bride and groom anything" then in my opinion there would be no room for complaining no matter how good or bad the video might be.
I have absolutely no experience in shooting or editing video and therefore would not even attempt it.
I do appreciate your advice and will adhere to it to the letter in this matter.

[Manfred M]

As for a video camera; I shoot with a Panasonic AG-AF100. Fantastic camera, but you need to spend some time learning how to use it. I believe that is have been updated and the AG-AF100A is the current model.

[jcuknz]

Sorry I didn't read your post properly Carl.
While for most things I have the conviction that video cameras for video and still cameras for stills I would check out as to if family members have still cameras capable shooting video which probably would suffice for this sort of event by them. One could warn them about low light and possibility of it not being a goer for the actual ceremony but arriving and departing the church should be AOK.
In view of our concerns it could be worthwhile to mention this to them as they still I'd hope have time to choose a suitable venue from a photographic point of view ... the last American wedding I went to was situated on a look-out platform overlooking the Rockies ... bright sunshine .. with the officiator the brides younger sister ... quite a different situation to what I was used to with dark churches, priests et al.

[Carl in Louisiana]

As for a video camera; I shoot with a Panasonic AG-AF100. Fantastic camera, but you need to spend some time learning how to use it. I believe that is have been updated and the AG-AF100A is the current model.

Thank You Manfred!
I am just looking to try and give them, friends, something to work with in the event they wanted to do it themselves. I will with recommendations inform them that they need to practice before hand. They are good friends and I would like it to stay that way. LOL

[Carl in Louisiana]

Sorry I didn't read your post properly Carl.
While for most things I have the conviction that video cameras for video and still cameras for stills I would check out as to if family members have still cameras capable shooting video which probably would suffice for this sort of event by them. One could warn them about low light and possibility of it not being a goer for the actual ceremony but arriving and departing the church should be AOK.
In view of our concerns it could be worthwhile to mention this to them as they still I'd hope have time to choose a suitable venue from a photographic point of view ... the last American wedding I went to was situated on a look-out platform overlooking the Rockies ... bright sunshine .. with the officiator the brides younger sister ... quite a different situation to what I was used to with dark churches, priests et al.

That's okay John and Thank You!
I know that my friend has a Nikon D80 I think it is with kit lenses purchased about nine years ago and only uses it to shoot snap shots, not sure what it will do as I have Canon 60D. I tried to be as kind as I could when approached about this and told them that a bad video in a venue of this sort could cause serious problems as it is a one time event for some and suggested a professional. That's when I learned that the family of the bride could not afford one. I did not want to be the cause of said problems and did not even offer to do it and the 60D is a capable camera for it. I just don't have the experience with video and editing it. I saw that Lens Rentals . com rents video camcorders for much less than buying one and may fit their budget better. It would cost more to get all that is needed to use the 60D than the rented camcorder would be and to my thinking easier for them. I could be wrong though.

[jcuknz]

A thought as in pre-pro days I did a number of them.
If you have a Home Video Club in the area, they were called Cine Clubs or Movie Clubs in my day, it could be worth approaching them to see if they have a member who would be interested in doing the job for free, just expenses, or a donation to Club funds.

[Carl in Louisiana]

Wow Thanks John what a great idea! I will pass that along to them also.

A thought as in pre-pro days I did a number of them.
If you have a Home Video Club in the area, they were called Cine Clubs or Movie Clubs in my day, it could be worth approaching them to see if they have a member who would be interested in doing the job for free, just expenses, or a donation to Club funds.