Is it time to film weddings with a Super 8 camera?
This is my Canon 514XL Super 8 film camera, which I recently bought and took to a wedding. I want to tell you about that experience and give you two reasons why you should consider getting one of these for your wedding filmmaking, plus one reason I wouldn’t. Two pros, one con. Here we go.
Why Super 8 Is Better Than Fake Digital Overlays
So how did I get into Super 8? I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of shooting on film. Up until this point, the closest I ever got was recording home videos on my parents’ camcorder onto VHS. So this is a little older than that.
Just like Instagram sparked a revolution of people putting vintage filters on their photos to add character and style, the same thing has happened in video, with companies selling light leaks, film grain overlays and plugins that imitate film.
But whenever you watch a video with one of those Super 8 grain overlays or light leaks on it, 99% of the time you can tell it was added in post. The aspect ratio will be off, or the colors won’t look right, or the biggest giveaway of all, the depth of field is way too shallow and it was clearly shot on a full frame digital camera.
There’s a lack of authenticity to all of it. And not to go all Christopher Nolan here, but I personally think there’s a very real, almost magic that happens whenever you watch something that was genuinely recorded on film, rather than recorded digitally in a way that simulates film.
And if you’ll let me go even more philosophical for a second, I think that authenticity applies incredibly well to the powerful emotions you see on a wedding day. Laughter, romance, love. It all feels heightened when it’s captured in this medium.
I’m not saying shooting on film is going to magically turn a shy, reserved couple into an exuberant one. But there’s an argument to be made that having something like this in your tool belt can help you break through emotional barriers and really show who a couple truly is.
We’re getting too deep, and arguably I’m just a hopeless romantic who has filmed way too many weddings at this point. Anyways. If any of that intrigues you at all, that’s the first reason I’d recommend buying a Super 8 camera. Wedding filmmaking is a business and I’m sure we all want to make money, but it’s also an art, and I think a Super 8 camera is a great way to explore that side of it.
Super 8 Can Make You MONEY
If the first reason was purely artistic, the second is entirely on the business side, because I think offering Super 8 in your wedding business has real potential to increase what you make from filming weddings.
Think about it this way. Of all the couples who ever ask you to film their wedding, I’d bet 99.9% of them have never experienced anything more than a cheap camera filter on Instagram or TikTok that mimics Super 8. So if you can offer them something shot on real film, something authentic, and it also happens to be a video of them, that is incredibly powerful and it has the potential to be worth a big investment from a couple.
You could easily start charging $500 to $1,000 or more as an add on to your regular packages, and I’m betting couples would happily pay it. This is one of those no brainer add ons that you can integrate into what you already offer, and it doesn’t take a ton of investment to get started. Heck, if one couple books it you’ve already recouped basically everything you spent on the camera and film, and every booking after that is mostly profit.
And it isn’t like you’re doing much differently on the wedding day. You carry an extra camera in your bag and take it out at various moments to grab some cool shots.
When You Should NOT Get A Super 8 Camera
There’s one situation where I would not recommend getting into Super 8, and that’s if you’re either just getting started in wedding filmmaking or you’ve only been at it a short time.
If you’re just starting, you almost certainly have more important equipment to buy first. Put your money into your audio gear, make sure that’s rock solid and you have a lot of redundancy in place, before you start spending on fancy fun pretty stuff like this.
While you’re here, take a look at Time to film weddings in 360? | Insta360 One X Review.
Or maybe you’ve been filming for a year or two and you’ve basically bought everything you need, so now you’re looking at fun extras. In that case whether you should buy one really comes down to what you’re charging. If you’re in your first or second year and you’re only charging $1,000 to $2,000 for a wedding film, I don’t want to see you including Super 8 as a cheap add on.
Because whenever you get into this, you’re going to realize the cost of the camera plus film plus processing plus shipping is not exactly cheap. I don’t want you digging yourself into debt because your couples aren’t willing to pay enough to make an add on like this worth doing. Don’t think you can tack it on as a $100 upsell and make a profit.
In that situation, instead of investing in Super 8, I’d work on increasing your pricing overall and getting up to $3,000 or so per film. That way, whenever you do offer Super 8 as a $500 to $1,000 add on, couples are far more likely to say yes.
Otherwise, if you’ve been filming weddings a while and you’re happy with what you’re charging, I say go for it. Super 8 is a great purchase, it’s a lot of fun, and I have zero regrets about buying this camera.
In-Depth Super 8 Filmmaking Guide
Now, it’s easy for me to say just go out and shoot Super 8, you’ll do great. That may be emotionally encouraging, but practically it isn’t very helpful, and I want to be helpful.
So I made a full deep dive into the practical side of Super 8 filmmaking. It covers the cameras I recommend and the specific features to look for in any Super 8 camera you buy, film stocks and what to use indoors versus outdoors, and then the real nitty gritty of where to send your film to be processed and scanned, and where to get the highest quality footage back for your videos. It’s a lot. I looked at the script and thought, dang, this one is a monster. But if you’re intrigued at all about getting into Super 8, I think you’re going to love it.
If you film weddings, I’ve also put together a free guide to booking more clients, and I have a wedding film editing course if you want to go deeper.
The digital footage here is graded with my own color presets at whoismatt.com/luts, my friends at Archaius Creative help me edit and will give you 10% off your first project, and if you film weddings, come join us in the Learn Wedding Filmmaking Facebook group.
Thanks so much for reading, and have a great day!