Budget Wedding Filmmaking Gear Guide for Beginners in 2020

If you are just getting started with wedding filmmaking and aren't sure what gear you need to buy to create a beautiful wedding film without breaking the bank, I made this guide for you.

🎥 BUDGET WEDDING FILMMAKING CAMERAS

BUDGET WEDDING FILMMAKING LENSES

🎤 BUDGET WEDDING FILMMAKING AUDIO

BUDGET WEDDING STABILIZATION GEAR

🔋 BATTERIES, MEMORY CARDS, & CABLES

Music licensing sites I recommend:

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[kushekpayev]

Couple years ago I jumped straight into filmmaking, with the setup like that, I invested in camera gears, but one thing that I really understood since then, that I spend much more time editing, sound designing, creating than filming...and realised that 2 years I worked on laptop, I got used to proxies and hours of rendering and etc. But one day I edited on real editing PC. And then I realised that I spend most of my editing time struggling instead of comfortly creating, my 40% NTSC laptop display is bad for colorgrading, my crappy headphones, 15 inch display with tiny source window...my advice for begginers - invest in good PC and Monitor, because you'll be spending most of the time editing, buy an ergonomic chair...believe me to stay in this bussiness you have to love the editing process, and its really hard with laggy pc, and with pain in the back...and yes A6400 is amazing cam. my advice good PC, versatile cam, good mics, and at least one good portable light source.

[danieldougan]

I own the Manfrotto BeFree Live, and I love it as well. For being so light and portable, it's remarkably stable.

[ErbVideoProductions]

Started off my first two years shooting off of (basically) this setup. It's killer for the price, cant beat it!

[BSRWeddingFilms]

That Sigma 16mm 1.4 is sick. Been using it for the past two years on all my weddings. The Sigma 56mm 1.4 is also super light and fire. 🔥

[ubokakpan]

Hey Matt! Great one there as always. I was expecting you'd spread some of that budget to cover some cheap lights. I'm in Nigeria and that usually means filming dark skinned folks in some poorly-lit reception venues and churches. Kinda makes additional lights a must have.

[adamooseandsammy]

I bought a slider once, used it one time. Bought a gimble, never looked back 😂

My Manfrotto monopod was extremely sturdy, but then my 2nd wedding in with it. A kid jumped on it and it snapped in two. I was hand help filming at the time and heard a massive crack behind me. I just knew what that was. Very sad, loved it.


Good video Matt, spot on 👍🏼😁

[TylerScheff]

I'm going to be shooting my first wedding this summer and this video is EXACTLY what I needed!! Thanks!!!

[LampeProductions_nl]

I would recommend a Canon C100 with a Sigma 18-35 f1.8 and a Sigma 50-100 f1.8. One of the best camera/lens combination out there.

[gmcubed]

I think a second angle camera should be higher on the priority list. getting that kiss is the single most important thing, and most cameras have an annoying 20 minute limit. Sometimes its hard to know when a good time to reset would be without missing anything.

[rusidimitrov]

This video its before 3years and still help people you are great videographer and youtuber thank you so much!

[Ghvxddf]

The A6400 is a crop sense camera so another thing to keep in mind! I’m using the Sigma holy trinity which is 16mm, 24 and 56mm

[ZacharyWillFilms]

I would also recommend the 18-105mm F/4 with clear image zoom, it can reach out to about 200mm.

[jonjoygaba]

Great work Matt - always a good resource for those starting out! I would add this cautionary message that for those just starting out, one should also consider in their budget a 4k-capable editing computer which you have also so nicely provided a guide as well. A much better value than a gimbal, slider, drone, etc. I'd add it to your description too! Furthermore, Davinci Resolve is an amazing free non-linear editor (it blows my mind that it's free to be honest). Just be sure you new Davinci Resolve editors are filming with an 8-bit codec so you can you use the free version!

[AlexanderBischof]

Hi Matt, may i ask you what you would buy to make my gear set ready for wedding filming?

I am starting my side business as a wedding photographer. I think about having the option to go deeper into wedding filming:
I currently have:
- A7 II + A7 III
- 24/1.4 GM
- Tamron 28-75/2.8
- 135/1.8 GM
- Rode VideoMicro
- Good tripod


My budget to extend this is around 700-1500€/$

Many thanks in advance

[felipemvera]

Mat: memory cards will be one of the cheapest things you will have to buy for your camera!

CANON 1DX Mark III has entered the chat

[TristanBarrocks]

Why do you always get me feeling like I have to buy new gear? Thanks bro!

[afnanrazin]

Sweet! Thanks Matt, I just found this video in 2022 and still it really helpful for a beginner like me to decide which camera to buy. Much appreciated if you make a video on a budget a6400 rig for casual vlogging and filmmaking. Salam from Malaysia :)

[christianhotter]

Good list. There is definitely a starting investment needed for making a good video. I started with $3k worth of gear (close to what Matt listed but with a b cam for recording ceremonies). Once you make a couple good videos, your should be able to market yourself better and then you can put aside money to upgrade your gear. If you're not equipped to produce a good starting video, then you have a longer period of doing low paying work.

Gear does matter. I know you could give a great filmmaker a two year old iPhone and he could make a nice video, but if you give that same filmmaker the gear he wants to use, then he would make something much better.

[OrdinaryFilmmaker]

I think we sometimes underestimate the value simplicity brings.

[DrewTooley]

MATT JOHNSON is the MAN!!! Thank you so much for all the inspiration and valuable content. This is a great video. I watched so much of Matts content when starting my wedding videography venture a year ago and gained so much knowledge. He also inspired me to start YouTube. Thanks Matt for all the amazing content and the BEARD 🤣