Is it possible just to rent a video camera to set up and leave stationary for the ceremony?
Question Asked: 12/05/2017
Wedding Date: 9/08/2018
Most Helpful Response
She Said YES Wedding Film & Photography
(12) · Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast, servicing all of South East Queensland.
Posted: 26/06/2026
<p>Yes, you absolutely can rent a camera and set it up on a tripod for the ceremony, and plenty of couples do exactly that to keep costs down. If you go that way, my honest advice from the shooting side is to think hard about three things: audio, light and where you place it. Audio is the one people forget. A camera sitting at the back of the aisle will pick up the celebrant's microphone barely or not at all, so your vows can end up as a lovely picture with no sound. A small lapel recorder on the celebrant or groom makes a bigger difference to a ceremony recording than the camera itself.</p>
<p>Light is the other trap, especially here in South East Queensland. If you're marrying outdoors in the middle of a Brisbane summer afternoon, a stationary camera left on auto will chase whatever moves and blow out the bright sky behind you, and once it's recorded that way it can't be fixed later. Set your exposure before guests arrive, frame a little wider than you think so nobody walks out of shot, and tuck it somewhere it won't get bumped when the bridal party files in.</p>
<p>What a single locked-off camera won't give you is the in-between: the reaction on a face, the hands shaking, the cutaway to a teary mum. That's the real difference between a recording and a film, not just the gear. If the ceremony is the only part you care about keeping, a rented camera done carefully will do the job. If you suspect later you'll wish you had the whole story told properly, it's worth at least pricing a ceremony-only videography package before you decide. For us, everything we shoot is edited in-house by our own team, so the footage is shaped into something you'll actually want to rewatch rather than a long single take you skip through.</p>
Answered by: 14 Experts
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<p data-start="146" data-end="243">?? Yep, totally possible! You can rent a camera, pop it on a tripod, hit record, and let it roll.</p>
<p data-start="245" data-end="501"><strong data-start="245" data-end="257">Buuut...</strong> keep in mind:<br data-start="271" data-end="274" /> – You won’t get zooms, reaction shots, or good audio (unless you mic it properly).<br data-start="356" data-end="359" /> – No editing or stabilising, just one static angle start to finish.<br data-start="426" data-end="429" /> – If anything goes wrong (dead battery, wrong focus), there’s no backup.</p>
<p data-start="503" data-end="653">So yes, it <em data-start="514" data-end="519">can</em> work—but it’s <strong data-start="534" data-end="559">a big drop in quality</strong> compared to having a pro behind the lens. Great as a backup, not so much as your main memory.</p>
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<p>Yes, you definitely can!! Though in my experience that camera will often not capture your ceremony! People stand in front of cameras, stand where you're not expecting, lighting changes, cameras stop recording and have a million issues. The only way to guarantee you'll get video of your ceremony is to hire a videographer.</p>
<p>Yes, definitely. You can hire a camera and tripod set-up starting at around $250 for a very basic one. You just need to provide your own SD card. </p>
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<p>If you want to go even further you can hire a mic and download a free trial version of Final Cut Pro. It gives you a month to buy so you can learn and edit your own wedding in that time before you'll have to pay.</p>
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<p>Just note that you'll have to keep a very wide angle as you'll be moving around to sign the certificate ect and you might not have anyone who knows how to zoom and focus manning the camera.</p>
<p>Yes it is possible and way cheaper. But here are more disadvantages of doing so: It will probably miss alot of action that professional videographer wouldnt (first kiss, mothers tears). Sound may be bad. Edit would probably be boring to see all the ceremony from the same perspective.</p>
<p>It's definitely possible - but the appeal of Motion Pictures is the Motion! And that includes the motion of the camera! If there's no one there to move the camera, you're losing a fundamental element of the art.</p>
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<p>And there's also the consideration of the gear- will you be hiring the best gear for the job? Won't it be a distraction for you to need to worry about that hired gear (and your liability) on your Wedding day? We say hire someone to worry about it for you! They'll come with their own gear - cinema cameras, cinema lenses, sliders, gimbals, microphones-- the whole kit, as it were, and you won't need to worry about anything. </p>
<p>There are many different things that you will be disappointed with if you go down this route. Audio would be #1 - if you want to hear you and your partners vows, hire a professional. Framing would be #2 - if anyone moves out of frame the camera can't pan itself and having a professional zoom in/out and pan etc. will capture more detail and make your video more interesting to watch. Editing would be #3 - once your wedding day is over and you want to watch the ceremony back all you will have is a video file sitting on a hard drive, unless you know how to edit video you're going to have to seek the assistance of a professional video editor whom you should have hired from the start to film the ceremony also. In my opinion leaving it up to the professionals is your wisest choice - you will not regret paying a professional to provide you their services leaving you with a product you will be happy with.</p>
<p>Yes, Sapphire Film Productions offer a DIY Wedding Video service which is basically camera and equipment hire. Film as much as you like on the built in Hard Drive and then simply download onto you computer just the same as any other device</p>
<p>At 3XO Virtual Reality, our cameras are actually stationary and are only slightly adjusted through out the ceremony by our talented film crew when needed. </p><p>Being the only company in Australia that film weddings using our state of the art technology, we are able to capture your wedding from every angle. It's because of this technology that we can give you the opportunity to relive your wedding day over and over again using virtual reality. </p><p>I hope this helps, and if you do have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to contact us. </p><p>Happy Planning! </p>
<p>Hi,</p><p>You can certainly hire/rent a camera. It will depend on your expectations and budget. You will also find smart phones have great camera functions but from my experience if you are looking for something to capture the heart and story of your day then as a professional we would encourage you to consider engaging with a company like Wedding Movies to capture your wedding.</p><p>It should also be advised that a lot can go wrong with a stationary camera. It can be knocked by someone unintentionally which would impact the framing as well as stop recording or a battery failure. Also if settings are not set correctly it can autofocus to the background or wrong subject and the iris/aperture settings may keep shifting.</p>
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