I shoot weddings all the time in LP mode. The Catholic ones. You may have a dropped framed, or a few, but it is not a big deal in my opinion. We use 3 cameras for a ceremony, so one camera can always cover for another, if I see a dropped frame. But over all, you should be fine. As for quality drop, I have not noticed any difference. Good Luck:)

Thanks guys. I don't normally shoot live events (e.g., weddings) so I don't use LP mode much. The few times I have, I had no problems with drop outs so I'm not too concerned about that. I was just wondering if it mattered when the footage was captured in Vegas. Apparently not.

mvp - how do you fit three cameras in the space??? The church I'm shooting at tomorrow will barely have room for me and the still photographer! Can't imagine where I'd put two more cameras. :-) (Of course some venues are huge so not always an issue.)

EDIT: I didn't mention I was shooting 24p. I assume it's still not an issue right?

1. There is zero difference in quality, as long as you don't drop frames. Since the tape is running slower, the dropout rate can be higher, but it is still usually zero if your heads are clean and you are using good tape. Unlike VHS LP, the video is still recorded in exactly the same way and therefore is byte-for-bytes identical to SP mode.

2. Put a camera behind the couple. Put one slightly behind and to the side. Put one at the back of the church. Put one in the balcony. Put one near the front row, to the side, behind a pillar or other object. Point is, there are lots of places to put them, even in small chapels. Getting one behind the minister/rabbi is a good thing because you can then see the bride/groom faces.

Oh, and don't forget a wireless mic, or at least plug one camera into the church sound board if you can. Even if the video screws up, if you have good audio, most people will be happy.

I borrowed a wireless mic setup and tested it last night at the rehearsal and it works fine. As for other cameras, I do have a friend who will be shooting from the pews, but there is literally no room for another shooter. There's no balcony, they don't allow anyone behind the priest, people are sitting in the front rows, the back of the church is a good 150ft away and the working area in front of the altar is maybe 10X20 (plus the lighting is pretty bad). It's the San Gabriel Mission in Los Angeles - I think it was built in the late 1700's.

they don't allow anyone behind the priest

That is typical. However, get yourself an 80 minute tape, put the camera in LP, and set up a table-top tripod somewhere in the flowers or whatever is behind the ceremony. Turn off the tally light, and just let it grind. Works best if you can set this up and test it during rehearsal, so you make sure that you can really get the couple's face. The camera is unmanned, so no person is behind the priest, and you can usually almost completely disguise it, especially if you use a hand-held camera. If the quality of the camera is significantly worse than your main cameras (because it is small and SD and your other cameras are HD), you can still use the video as an inset, which works well.

Since the camera is not manned, and the couple may move (sounds like it is Catholic, so they'll be kneeling a lot -- a Catholic wedding is quite an aerobic workout because of all the kneeling) you'll have to frame a little wider than you normally would.

I don't do weddings very often, but when I do, I consider the camera "behind the action" to be almost a requirement.

I would use an 80 minute tape (1:20) in SP for the main camera. I do events all the time that run beyond one hour. The Panasonic 83 minutes tapes usually run 85 minutes.

The drop-outs in LP speed usually show up if the tape is played on a camera other than the one on which it was recorded.

I film weddings a lot and use the 83 minute Panasonic PQ tapes. Never had one break and you don't have to worry about changing tapes during the ceremony- especially if you have a bottom load camera (who ever thought up that?)

j razz

Is the rehearsal tonight? You can shoot some coverage and cutaways.