One Camera or Two?

Many wedding video companies make a big issue out of using two cameramen, rather than one, at your wedding.  Now whilst it’s possible that a second cameraman may be useful in getting an alternative angle in a church or spontaneous audience reaction during the speeches, we believe that for most weddings, two cameramen is one too many!

Why.... well for a start most churches simply won’t allow two cameramen (many don’t really want the first one) and if you’re having a civil ceremony then two is simply not required.

Then there’s the photographer; not in a million years does he/she want to be working around two guys with video cameras alternately getting into the important shots.  One, easy to work with; two, not so easy ~ which is why so many video companies find themselves unpopular with so many photographers.

And then there’s the ‘rest breaks’. Filming weddings is hard work; so many two-camera teams simply take it in turns to film the various parts of the day ~ which also ties in with the 'family day out'.  Many video companies, particularly at the lower end of the market, simply use their wife/girlfriend/cousin to be the second camera.  They treat it as a jolly ~ but is that what's best for you?  Is that really going to give you a great film?

And of course being discreet and unobtrusive often goes out of the window with two cameramen.

Now that’s not to say that there isn’t a place for two cameras ~ indeed we offer the service ourselves ~ but there has to be valid reasons for doing so in order to balance the downside, and it has to be done with two experienced and talented cameramen.

There are really three reasons for using two cameramen ~ logistics, size of wedding and type of wedding.

Logistics are when it is just difficult to get between two locations.  Central London is the epitome of this where the church and reception may only be a mile or two apart but a nightmare to get between and then get parked (which is why we have a dedicated service for Central London ~ although this still doesn’t necessarily depend on two cameramen)

The size of the wedding is also a factor.  If you have more than maybe 150 guests, then there may be a useful reason to have two cameras.

But the most usual reason for us to recommend two cameramen is the type of wedding.  For example, we film many Jewish, Greek and Asian weddings and because of the nature of these weddings, the amount of different things going on and the genuine need to often be in two places at the same time, two cameramen is usually ideal (and if you’ve ever been to a large Jewish, Greek or Asian wedding then you’ll know exactly what I mean )

For the most part though, one cameraman who is talented, experienced, hard working and knows exactly what they are doing is always the best bet.  Certainly the majority of our very best films have been shot with a single camera.