Sony EX3 Full-HD Camcorder

The Sony PMW-EX3 delivers the best HD quality yet seen in a semi-shoulder camcorder. The image quality is first-class with rich organic colours and masses of detail. The EX3 has proved itself as a champion workhorse in production environments throughout the world and is now a BBC HD approved camera.

The EX3 uses the XDCAM workflow and is equipped with three newly developed 1/2-inch type Exmor™ CMOS Sensors, each with an effective pixel count of 1920 x 1080 which delivers excellent picture performance with full HD resolution. It records at 35Mb/s and carry’s the legendary CineAlta 24P brand with a multiple frame rate recording capability.

To maximise recording time, the PMW-EX3 has two memory card slots which means with a pair of 32 GB memory cards. It can record up to 280 minutes of HD footage.

Recording Formats:

1920 x 1080/50i
1920 x 1080/25P

1280 x 720/50P
1280 x 720/25P

1440 x 1080/50i

The media is edit suite friendly so it's compatible with up to date Avid, Final Cut Pro, Premere, etc.

*BBC compliant when recording to 50Mbps or above

Sony PMW-F3 Super35 HD Camcorder

Sony PMW-F3 Camcorder with Zeiss CP.2 Lens Kit

A cinema depth-of-field is probably the most difficult look to achieve on a video camera; until now.

The Sony PMW-F3 is an interchangeable lens camcorder featuring a Super35mm sensor that was developed specifically for shooting motion pictures. This high sensitivity large format sensor delivers the much-desired shallow-focus look that is associated with high-end commercials and feature films. The sensor is the equivalent to 3-perf Super 35mm movie film.

The PMW-F3 is part of the CineAlta family of digital cinematography products and brings a true ‘film look’ and superior image quality to high-end production. The Exmor™ Super35 CMOS sensor was designed with the benefit of two decades experience in Digital Cinematography, pioneering digital HD acquisition for feature films and broadcast TV through the legendary CineAlta product range.

The Exmor sensor has outstanding exposure latitude and sensitivity to deliver extraordinary HD images subtle in detail and color gradation. The sensor is the same size as those beefy 35mm celluloid cameras that purr away on movie sets.

Here is an example of well-known sensor sizes compared to the Sony F3

Footage is recorded internally to SxS cards at 35 Mb/s or to my Samurai solid-state video recorder in Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD codecs at data rates up to 220 Mb/s. The format of choice for high end film/commercial productions.

The Sony F3 has none of the problems that you get when trying to use a full-frame still camera like the ‘canon 5D’ to shoot moving images. The Sony F3 sensor was specifically designed for shooting motion pictures, not still pictures. Recording in 1920x1080 this camera captures beautiful film-like images with a wonderful tonal range and is free of aliasing and artifacts.

Lenses are one of the most important elements of a camera because they form and focus the image that is recorded by the sensor.
I wanted the best optics for this camera, so I invested in a set of Carl Zeiss cinematography lenses. These are the type of lenses that would traditionally be attached to a 35mm motion picture camera and are suited perfectly to the Sony F3.
Costing around £3,000 each, these Zeiss CP2 cine lenses are super-sharp with great flare suppression. Fourteen iris blades guarantee natural and pleasing out-of-focus highlights with exceptional ‘bokeh’ – blurred areas that are pleasing to the eye.

Combining the Sony F3 camera with the legendary quality of Zeiss optics, I can now produce beautiful cinematic images that where previously unachievable with Digibeta, XDCAM, DV, etc.

Although these Zeiss primes are superb, I have occasionally shot with a £15 plastic toy lens adapted to hi-def cameras and have captured some amazing footage. It’s down to a combination of image softness from the plastic lens, lack of edge sharpness, vignetting and random light leaks which produce amazing stylized looks from years gone; a look that’s difficult to produce properly in post.

Filming with the Sony F3 requires similar disciplines to film shoots, i.e. tripod mounted with time taken to light and frame each shot properly before rolling the camera. Shooting reactively for news or documentary with the F3 may be difficult, but not impossible.

	Camera Features:
	Exmor Super 35mm CMOS Image Sensor (23.6 x 13.3 mm) A member of the Sony CineAlta™ family Slow and Quick Motion Variable frame rates from 1fps to 60fps Native ISO is 800 at 0db Uncompressed 4:2:2 Output with Embedded Time code
	Recording Format:
	MPEG-2 Long GOP 1920 x 1080/50i, 1920 x 1080/25p, 1440 x 1080/50i,  1440 x 1080/25p,  1280 x 720/50p,  1280 x 720/25p,  1440 x 1080/50i,  720 x 576/50i,  720 x 576/25p Plus NTSC area.
	Super35 Shooting kit comprises of:
	Sony NEX-FS100U Camcorder O'Connor Universal Baseplate O'Connor Matte Box Cinevate Follow Focus SmallHD 6-inch High Definition field monitor 1280x800 native Sachtler FSB8 speedlock tripod PAG L95 batteries and charger LENSES 18mm T3.6 Zeiss CP.2 Prime Lens 50mm T2.1 Zeiss CP.2 Prime Lens 85mm T2.1 Zeiss CP.2 Prime Lens 300mm NikonPrime Lens 11-16mm T2.8 Ultra-Wide-Angle zoom - Super-wide images without distortion. FILTERS Schneider ND.6, ND1.2, ND1.8 Tiffen ND Grad .9 Tiffen Black ProMists 1/4, 1/2, 1 Tiffen Ultra polarizer 17" MacBook Pro with Sony transfer software. A creative lighting kit and sound kit is also included and is listed below.

GoPro2 - Miniature Ultra Wide-angle HD Action Camera

GoPro cameras have fast become industry standard for motor sports and body worn cameras.

With the ability to capture 170º ultra-wide field of view in Full HD 1080p video, the new HD Hero 2 builds on the extremely popular HD Hero. This tiny camera records to SD cards at frame rates of 25, 50 or 100fps. Encoded with H.264 into MP4 files.

GoPro2 kit comes with:

• Motorsports Mounts - Used by motorsports professionals for in/on-car filming.
• Head Strap - For point of view filming
• Body Harness - For activity where you want to get a 'lower shot' than the Head Strap
• Waterprood Housing - (197′ / 60m)
• LCD BacPac - Detachable on-board LCD monitor
• Two 16GB - SanDisk Extreme SDHC memory cards

The media is edit suite friendly so it's compatible with up to date Avid, Final Cut Pro, Premere, etc.

Nikon D5100 - For discreet HD filming

The Nikon D5100 is a high-performance D-SLR camera that records full 1080 High Defintion video to H.264/MPEG-4 codec.

With this camera I can shoot HD footage anytime, any place, discreetly. I can carry it around and shoot video without anyone noticing; they think I'm snapping pictures. The image quality is stunning and it records crisp stereo sound..

11x HIGH ZOOM LENS
The Nikon 18-200mm has a powerful 11x optical zoom range for a variety shooting situations and optical Image Stabilization.

SUPER ULTRA-WIDE-ANGLE
The world looks extraordinary when viewing through this impressive Tokina 11-16mm super wide-angle zoom lens.
With a104-degrees of view, it provides super-wide images without 'fish-eye' distortion.

Recording Formats:

1920 x 1080 25p/24p
1280 × 720 25p/24p

The media is edit suite friendly so it's compatible with up to date Avid, Final Cut Pro, Premere, etc.

Digital Betacam shooting kit comprises of:

• Sony DVW-790 camcorder
• Broadcast zoom lens
• Batteries and charger
• On-board camera light
• 6" TFT monitor
• Vinten tripod with studio dolly

A creative lighting kit and sound kit is also included and is listed below.

• 4 head Dedolight kit
• 12x12 inch LED Soft Lights
• Arri True Blue 1K fresnel
• Cinebank 120x90cm Soft light
• Cinebank 70x50cm Soft lights
• ARRILITE 750 PLUS
• SlimPAR PRO - Outputs any colour without gells

• Dedo projection attachment with gobos and iris
• 40 degree grid
• 18x12" gobos
• 18x24" scrims, silks and flags
• Califonian sun-bounce
• Mini grip kit

• 18x24" scrims, silks and flags
• Black interview background 210x150cm
• 8 x assorted interview backgrounds 210x150cm
• Blue & green chromakey interview backgrounds 210x150cm

More lighting info here...

Please Note: In preparation of the 2012 Digital Switchover, my radio mics are temporally unavailable. To conform to Government policy I'm in the process of purchasing new radio mics that operate on Channel 38

• Sennheiser 416 microphone with Rycote softy and short boom pole
• 2 x Sennheisier G3 radio mics (2012 Ch38 Compliant)
• 2 x ME 2 clip-on mics
• 1 x TRAM TR50 clip-on-mic
• High wind covers for clip on mics
• AKG 230 hand held reporters mic with wireless option
• Sennheiser HD-25 headphones
• Mic stand with short boom arm

More

DOLLY & TRACK

This dolly system is highly compact, super smooth and lightweight with 4-meters of fast set-up aluminum track. Please note that the dolly is not redeable or suitable for use on rough terrain.

4 METER JIB

This jib will fly cameras such as Sony EX3, etc. from ground level to 4meters. It has full control of tilt whilst horizontal framing is achieved by moving the jib arm. It's an extremely compact system and takes just 15 minutes to set up. The jib is not intended to replace complex jimmy jib shots, it's meant for quick impressive crane shots.

MINI JIB

A compact jib arm with a rise and fall of 1.5m

TURNTABLE

Great for product shots - 2.5rpm and a max payload of up to 4Kg

BODY-RIG

A body mounted camera support worn by actors. More

VEHICLE MOUNTS

On-board camera mounts.