DV to Broadcast PAG MC 124 Charger Sony DXC325 camera 650W Pulsar lamphead Tektronix 1731 Waveform Monitor
 

...or you can talk to Martin Kay on 0161 736 5300 

 
 

Some of our
Video Kit

Sony DXC30P & DSR1 DVCAM camera
Sony DXC-D30/DSR-1
full-size DVCAM

Sony PDX-10 mini DVCAM camera
Sony PDX-10
mini-DV/ DVCAM

Libec H80 fluid head & carbon fibre tripod legs
Libec H80 head/legs

Canon J14x8 2/3" lens
Canon J14x8 lens

SQN Mixer in Portabrace shoulder bag
SQN Sound Mixer 

 

Video Recording Services

You probably don't care what equipment we use, you just want to see what the video will look like, and know how much it'll cost?

Obviously it depends on the time taken and the nature of the job, but rates start at £40/hr for a cameraman with a basic shooting kit.

This would provide simple coverage of presentations, interviews, solo performers, news reports, etc, up to the limit of what is possible with a one-man crew. If you're not sure, just ask! If your requirements are more complicated, we can put together a larger crew and obtain any necessary extra equipment. 

Just need an extra camera for an existing shoot?
I'm happy to come out and operate as a cameraman on a multi-camera shoot, with or without equipment.

based in Salford Quays, Gtr Manchester, UK


Got something you want to tell the world about?
Chrissie Wunna has plenty to say in this Video Profile recorded at our Salford Quays base
 

Lighting Kit

300/500W Mizar fresnel spotlight
300/500W Mizars

650W Pulsar lamphead
650W Pulsar

800W Ianiro RedHead
800W RedHeads

Quartz Polaris 1KW fresnel
1000W Polaris

With stands & dimmer

Martin's mini-review of the Panasonic HMC 151                                    
recording in AVCHD format on SDHC cards

Panasonic HMC151 AVCHD Camera  Video frame from HMC151 camera

I tried out a Panasonic HMC 151 for a few days in early February and despite the cold weather shot about an hour's worth of assorted footage, both indoors and out, in a variety of lighting conditions. I've tried most (although not all) of its various features and options - certainly enough to form some opinions. See a sample clip on my dv2broadcast YouTube channel (click the HD button in the viewer for best results).

I liked:-
  • The pre-record buffer
  • The picture dynamic range handling
  • Solid-state recording and picture review capabilities
  • The waveform monitor
  • The scene-file memories & selector knob
  • The switch layout, generally
  • The optical stabiliser - quire effective when handheld at the long end of the zoom
  • The focus assist histogram & switchable viewfinder peaking
  • The connectivity - CVS, YUV, HDMI & USB2
  • The low running costs from using SDHC cards
 I was less impressed with:-
  • The auto-focus, which sometimes locked onto the background and ignored a centre-frame subject
  • Manual follow focus is still pretty difficult, despite the focus assist functions, which are best used before starting recording
  • The mic holder - a 416 wobbles about rather a lot
  • Lack of calibrations on the audio level display on the LCD screen
  • The lack of an interval record/timelapse function. I would have thought that this should be easy on a tape-less camera?
  • Poor software support for AVCHD files as yet (eg Premiere CS4), but this is not Panasonic's fault!

I'm not a fan of compact cameras generally - I'd rather have something with a traditional manual lens on it - so I always miss having clearly marked focus and iris rings, but at least the HMC 151 has a "normal" zoom ring on which the servo can be disabled. What I couldn't fail to be impressed by was the overall picture quality when viewed as HD. I'd been monitoring the down-converted SD during much of my shooting, which looked OK but nothing special, so it was only when I finally viewed the AVCHD files via the Panasonic Viewer software that I saw the full amount of detail recorded. And it's this high picture quality, for the price, combined with the low cost of SDHC cards, which makes this camera appealing for a wide variety of applications.  Current price is 3395.00 inc 2x16GB cards & reader (from www.zenvideo.co.uk).

Sennheiser MKH 416 short gun mic Micron VHF CNS radio mic TX/RX Tektronix 1731 Waveform Monitor DV to Broadcast

Copyright © 2009 - All rights reserved. E&OE - Revised: 16 Jun, 09

...you can talk to Martin Kay on 0161 736 5300