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NEW PRODUCTS
The Power of Images
New camcorders lead Sony innovations
It’s been all action at Sony has unveiled a raft of new cameras and technological developments designed to widen the
Sony in recent appeal of its professional camera range. Top of the list comes the European release of Sony’s SRW-
months with the 9000, billed as the highest quality 2/3-inch camcorder on the market. More keenly priced than the
‘Power of Images’ HDCAM F900R, the SRW-9000 is a full HD 1920x1080 resolution camcorder using 2/3-inch
tour heading out on CCDs and is capable of 4:2:2 10-bit recording and configurable up to 4:4:4. Sony has also unveiled
the road. The series SR Lite, its next generation file transfer technology which enables almost real-time exchange over an
of ‘Power of Images’ events take Sony products and Ethernet connection at 220Mb/s. Also announced at the ‘Power of Images’ event in London was a
product experts to its customers around the world, prototype 1TB HDCAM SR memory card capable of delivering rapid transfer rates of over
and at each stop, there’s an overflowing goodie bag 5Gb/s, plus plans to deliver an upgrade path to SR memory on the existing SRW-9000, a 40%
of new cameras, camera formats and peripherals reduction in cost of certain HDCAM SR tapes and a
to be unveiled. It all started at the Satis event in Paris memory adapter for the F35 and F23. Olivier Bovis,
back in October, which marked the arrival of both general manager of Sony Professional’s Content Creation
the first shoulder-mount XDCAM EX model, the Group (pictured), says: “We’ve shown a future-proofed
PMW-350, and a revised version of the EX1, the roadmap that offers a path to 4k and 3d native recording – it
EX1R, which brings together a plethora of doesn’t get any better than that.” Other recent launches
improvements based on customer feedback. include a new 2/3-inch box-style camera, the HDC-P1,
Next up was a deluge of forward-thinking new which sits within a compact body ideal for mounting on a 3d
product and future technology announcements rig. There are also additions to Sony’s XDCAM line-up,
at the London leg of the ‘Power of Images’ tour including the first shoulder-mount camcorder, the PMW-350
in November. This time around, HDCAM SR and the PMW-EX1R, which offers DVCAM recording,
took centre stage with key announcements about HDMI output and one-push Auto Iris. Finally, there’s
the format going file-based and a migration path NXCAM, a new format and camcorder based on AVCHD
for the SRW-9000 to a 35mm single PL mount technology and low-cost consumer memory cards.
sensor. Outside of HDCAM SR, Sony also
revealed a new entry-level file-based camera
CAMERA HIRE
format, NXCAM, based on the AVCHD codec.
The tour travels on, so keep an eye out for Top Teks and Pro Motion in hire firsts
more Sony launches throughout the year. In the
meantime, we once more bring you the cream of Sony Specialist Dealer Top Teks has placed the first orders in the UK for Sony’s new HDCAM SR
the crop of productions using Sony HD cameras, camcorder, the SRW-9000 (pictured), and has already sold one unit to hire company Electra Films. The
made by UK-based production companies with camera, which offers producers an upgrade path to a 35mm single PL mount sensor and solid state
cameras sourced from the Sony Specialist Dealer recordings, is available for trials to producers, freelancers and hire companies. Top Teks sales director and co-
network. The diversity of productions and, yes, owner Mike Thomas said: “We see the camcorder as ideal for high-end TV drama, sitcoms, natural history
the power of images showcased throughout these and documentaries. When all the option cards are included, it
pages ably demonstrates the ongoing versatility becomes perfect for digital features and commercials.” In a
of Sony’s range of cameras and camera formats. separate move, hire company Pro Motion Hire has become one
Jake Bickerton of the first companies to place an order on the new Sony PMW-
350 camera. An early adopter of file-based technology, the new
the editor
solid-state camera extends Pro Motion’s XDCAM range.
See page 9 for more information
NEWS IN BRIEF
iStockphoto
The London Studios, Free training is available on Up to 25 games at this
home to shows such as the PMW-EX1R (pictured) summer’s World Cup will .com © R
QI, has ordered 18 Sony and PMW-350, as part be produced in 3d using
HDC R-series system of Sony’s EXperience Sony cameras. Matches
oger Whitewa
cameras for its South programme. “We thought will be available on a
Bank studio. The deal includes the HDC-1500R and the best way to get the EX1R and 350 cameras out to range of 3d compatible devices such as Blu-ray disc y
HDC-1000R models, as well as three MVS-8000G the market was through our very successful EXperience players, VAIO notebooks and PS3s and 3d TVs.
vision mixers and over 80 LCD broadcast monitors, campaign,” says Sony’s marketing manager, media, Dan Screen Digest has increased its forecasts for the
including the BVM-L170 and LMD-1750W. Robb. To register, go to http://response.pro.sony.eu installed base of 3d TVs in Europe to 13.6m by 2013.
Winter 2010 theproducer 5
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