Broadcast & Pro A/V

HVR-Z7E- Going to the End of the Road

Filmmaker Richard Nicholls turned to this lightweight durable tape camcorder for his first feature-length documentary, filmed in a £100 second-hand car driven over 4,000 miles across seven countries, and a stretch of the Sahara desert, to the Gambia in West Africa.

Undercover shooting with the HVR-Z5E

“The ability to quickly switch recording between tape and card or to both was essential. At all times I would have a tape in the camera with innocent footage on it. In most countries when you are stopped by officials for having a camera they are almost always satisfied if you hand over a tape.”

Video Production Tips: Getting the best out of HD Mini-Cams

Watch the below exciting air ‘combat’ footage to see how well ground and POV cameras can cut together, then read the below article to find out how it was done.

Frozen Dreams

HVR-Z5E & HXR-MC1P- Shooting at –40º

Polar explorers Paul Kamphuis and Jan Fokke test the HVR-Z5E camcorder and HXR-MC1P compact camcorders in -40º conditions in Antarctica. Find out how they, and the camcorders, coped with changing temperatures, ultra bright weather and shooting in the dark.
“Our goal was to test the camcorders in harsh conditions, specifically with cold and high humidity.”

HXR-MC1P films dogsledging documentary

“By using the HXR-MCIP, I was able to get dynamic, first-person shots that really convey the speed of the dog teams. I'd definitely recommend it to other producers.”

Liverpool Screen School refurbishes

“Endemol worked with the students to research, recce, film and edit the films and asked us what we needed in terms of kit to produce the films. We were already thinking about the Sony HVR-Z1E and Endemol confirmed that this would be an ideal camera.”

Kenyan drama shoots on HVR-Z7E

“I found the Z7 menus very simple to use and within 20 minutes we had come up with a basic look that we would carry with us for the two months, with very minor adjustments.”

Huddersfield University installs HDV

“For students doing digital media design, it’s good to have access to kit that shoots in high definition and we’re hoping that the quality of their work will grow with their familiarity with the technology.”

Greenwich University buys EX and HDV

“The EX1s are excellent for the studio, while students borrow the V1s and A1s for shooting outside. The progressive mode suits this work especially well.”

Mummy Forensics captures on HDCAM

“The HDCAM performed as well as we knew it would. We used larger lighting rigs than normal to help capture the mummies in detail at the museums, but I was most concerned about post production since this was my first HD project.”

Jimmy Doherty series shoots on HDCAM

“With HD you can produce some really lovely close-ups so you really see detail in the crops, almost feel its texture. You get a real sense of the landscape, you can see the fabric people are wearing and feel that what you are looking at is so much more enhanced.”

Dan Burton works with the HVR-Z7E

“The Z7E is a major step forward. For example when handheld on the shoulder its balance is perfect. A lot of the functions which used to be hidden deep in the menu are now accessible from buttons.”

Simon King films with HVR-Z7E

“The camera is versatile, it allows for a rapid response, gives pretty, punchy pictures and is rugged.”

BBC’s Oceans series shoots on HDCAM

Oceans is a new eight part series for BBC Two, which explores the hidden stories of the planet’s oceans – in HD. Matt Dyas, producer/director, explains what the series is about and why they chose to shoot in HD.

Wild cats shot with Sony kit

“When you want to see all the information in the frame, such as each leaf moving on a tree, then HD is perfect.”

Simon Rattle tour on HD

“In the field of documentary films, where 35mm film material was seldom seriously considered because of tight budgets, HD has made something possible, which has really brought documentary films to the forefront.”

Taking the HVR-Z7E to Greenland

“Because of the size of the camera, you are able to record very intimate moments. It allows you to reach out to people in a way that a bigger camera wouldn’t reach. I think Sony has something to offer with this type of camera that wouldn’t be able to be achieved without it.”

Magarida Cardoso

scene2screen interview

“I think movies have a mission. This mission is not in the genesis of the film, but in the life that it assumes later — how we see the movie and where it is shown, who sees it and in what context.”

Berlianale award winner shoots on HDV

“I shot on HD because it's much more affordable – that was the main reason – and also I didn't know what I was doing half of the time, so I had to shoot many minutes, another reason to shoot on HD.”

David Hunstone on making mobile content

“We shot in entirely in HDV. We then edited it as HDV 16:9, being, of course, aware that ultimately the film would be for a mobile broadcast. In order to make sure we did this properly, we ran several camera tests, pencilled in a grid, shot to that grid, then compressed the film to mobile and checked the quality on a range of different handsets to see exactly how much we were cropping.”