You want something with excellent focus tracking and IS, basically. Skin tones a must. The rest is planning. Planning, staging and lighting, all working in sync. You can certainly mix in some GH2s or other m4/3, especially like the 14mm for framing the whole scene and getting everyone in focus in the audience using hyperfocal DOF, but for most shots but then you lose the focus tracking and the skin tones are on the GH2 are good but not great.

@MikeLinn great reel.

Okay....... you've got your 50mm 1.4 for close-ups, so unless AF is a big deal for you, you don't need the 45mm Olympus. I wouldn't get the 14mm unless you specifically want a wide static shot in low-light (usually unmanned). Your 14-140mm witht the right light will work just fine for most of the day. Pulling focus on the 20mm is not the same as doing it on the 14-140mm. The 14-140mm is much easier the 20mm is way too fiddly and you will be left disappointed when you miss "The shot".

I would use your G6 for the wide fall back kind of shots, and work everything else with the GH3. Having a second cam for ceremony and speeches allows you to make changes and have something reliable to fall back on.

I think ultimately you will struggle to work solo without the 12-35. It is expensive but certainly well worth it.

My go to lens is the 12-35 Panasonic Lens. The 20mm for low light is excellent, but for when good accurate AF is required it will leave you in a bad situation. We film in AFS mode which allows us to change the focus when required and the 12-35 is extremely fast at making adjustments when needed. We also use a lot of manual lenses but these tend to be used for the more static situations (speeches, Dance). Don't forget the Olympus 45mm M43 lens, it is brilliant.

Hi, this is my first post on this wonderfull forum :) but I've been reading it for quite a while.

I have a question, several actually :)

What lenses do you mostly use for weddings? Are manual primes usable or is AF a necessity? How about Panasonic 20mm f1.7, any experience due to slow and noisy AF? Any experience with a Kiron 28mm f2 or similar?

I curently have G6 & GH3 with Panasonic 14-140mm 3.5-5.6, MF Pentax 50mm 1.7, MF Fujinon 50mm 1.4 + adapters. I'm thinking of adding aditional lenses for filming weddings and other events.Must point out that I have limited budget. Any thoughts?

Thanks everybody in advance.

I dont understand enough about audio but neither to the DJ's who frequent weddings - what in need is a line out that doesn't increase in volume when the DJ cranks up the volume.there are so many different desks out there with different features

I think the headphones out might be the answer and I got a double adaptor to try it but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Latest Highlights film we made. Introduction and Confetti shot with the Samyang 85mm. It is a fantastic lens and really allows you to get tight in without getting in the way.

There is a lot of helpful info here guys! Many thanks! Don't let the thread die!

First Wedding using new lenses. Olympus 45mm MFT and Pansonic 14-140 (original)

For well lit shots the 14-140 was excellent and the stabilisation worked well at even 140.

The Olympus 45mm is razor sharp, quite scary how much detail that tiny lens allows into the camera.

Totally agree with the 2nd shooter comments. There are some weddings though where it really isn't needed, specifically more intimate affairs with not a great deal happening.

I started shooting weddings in 2012, and its a lot of fun and a lot of work, and I've learned a lot of hard lessons...

I don't go wireless for audio... if the groom is micd up in the house system wirelessly i'll tap the house audio feed, but then i'll also mic the groom and officiant with some tascam pr-10's (little tiny recorders that seem to work well for my uses).

Don't shoot alone! I shot 7 weddings alone my first year doing them, and there were so many things I missed because I had to change lenses or switch batteries or SD cards... I now shoot with 2 other guys that I pay, and my life is so much easier! I was able to get a lot more footage together to build a more cohesive wedding film.

Don't think that a GF2 is an acceptable b-cam to a GH2... it's not. it looks like shit and I returned it right away and thankfully the bride wasn't concerned about the quality (it was a freebie I did for a friend just to get my chops up).

And, for every 5 weddings you do with an amazing bride and groom that absolutely love your work, you'll get 1 that is a textbook bridezilla who will be pissed off that you didn't get a shot of her uncle's best friend's sister's neighbor who sat in the corner alone during the entire reception... cover yourself with a good contract, and explicitly state that not everything can, nor should, be covered. You as the videographer are hired for your talent and interpretation of their wedding. If they haven't viewed your past work and don't have trust in you to give them the best quality wedding film of your ability, then come to the agreement that you may not be the best videographer for them.

I know I still have a lot more to learn and to get better practice... the Rob and Vanessa tutorial that @jambo posted was great to watch, definitely helped open my eyes to some ways of doing things.

This is one I shot in February. I would have liked to have gotten some more footage of a few other things, but in the end, the bride and groom were very happy with this.

I wouldn’t use wireless mics i go for a little Tascam in the brooms pocket and for best man and woman too. Wireless isn't always working and you can not always listen in what is recorded. For a very good tutorial I can recommend http://www.creativelive.com/courses/wedding-cinematography-rob-and-vanessa

One question I have how do you start your business how do you got your first couples before you even had some wedding videos as a example?

Color balance looks orange and red on my calibrated monitor in the indoor shots.