News A huge response for F3


The scramble to find out more about Sony’s new PMW-F3 35mm camera since its London launch on 17 November has been intense. The interest in the model has been nothing short of phenomenal. At the launch event at the Charlotte Street


hotel, Sony screened two films showcasing the striking image quality of the F3. Both films (set in iconic London locations) show off the camera’s gorgeous images, so you’d expect them to pique interest, but perhaps not to the extent they have. One of the films, a short called Convergence, has


picked up over 76,000 views on vimeo (at time of going to press), while the other (the official launch film) has had nearly 20,000 views. Not content with using the launch event just


to focus on the F3 and Sony’s other key new camera release, the SRW-9000PL, Sony also revealed a prototype of a forthcoming, ultra low cost 35mm camera, to be added to the NXCAM range next year and expected to cost around £5k. It looks set to be a great entry-level to digital cinematography for indie filmmaking, pop promos and corporate productions. All these new cameras are detailed in our


news story on the right, while elsewhere in this issue of The Producer, there’s the usual mix of the best recent productions making great use of different Sony cameras. We’ve also put the spotlight on electronic news gathering in The Producer report this month, as news broadcasters begin equipping themselves with new cameras for high definition news services. Jake Bickerton


the editor NEWS IN BRIEF


Sony Professional UK will be focusing on its expanded


35mm


camera range on stand number I20 at this year’s Broadcast Video Expo exhibition. The three day event will be held at Earls Court II Exhibition Centre, London


from 15-17 February 2011. Televisual will also be exhibiting at stand B58.


Dutch hire company Camalot has upgraded its SRW-9000 cameras to the PL mount version, making the company one of the first in Europe to offer clients the SRW- 9000PL with 35mm film lens option. Camalot chose to upgrade its facilities with the purchase of two SRW-9000 camcorders at the start of 2010.


Cameraman Nick Read received the Sony Professional


Impact


Award at last month’s Rory Peck Awards for his film The Slumdog Children of Mumbai, a C4 Dispatches from True Vision. The Sony-sponsored award honours freelance camerawork in news or current affairs which raises humanitarian issues.


Winter 2011 theproducer 5 35MM WORLD Sony focuses on affordable 35mm


Sony Professional has added to its Super 35mm CineAlta line up with the launch of the PMW-F3, billed as an affordable PL mount camera compatible with film lenses, such as Cooke, Arri, Fujinon and Zeiss. Based on Sony’s XDCAM EX workflow, the F3 uses Sony’s SxS ExpressCard-based recording media format, with the Super 35mm CMOS imager delivering filmic depth of field, with high sensitivity, low noise and wide dynamic range using the Super 35mm range’s S-LOG and Hyper Gamma functions. Cinematographers will be able to seamlessly inter-cut F3 footage with content shot on Sony’s F35 or SRW-9000PL cameras, making it an ideal second unit option. The camera will be available in an F3K version with a low-cost PL lens kit including 35/50/85mm T2.0 fixed focal length lenses, or a body-only F3L version. Available in January 2011, Sony also unveiled plans to add a portable SR memory recorder to the line up later in the year. Sony has also announced that it is developing a new E-mount 35mm camcorder aimed at the entry-level digital cinematography market. Using a Super- 35mm CMOS sensor, it will become one of the new models in the NXCAM line- up available in early summer 2011.


3D TRAINING 3d training launches in Basingstoke


Sony has launched a state-of-the-art 3d training facility, dedicated to ensuring that stereographers and camera operators are equipped with 3d skills. The facility, based at Sony’s European Customer Experience Centre in Basingstoke, contains 3d rigs and camera systems allowing users to learn how to capture the best 3d footage while dealing with issues such as lighting, temperature and speed of action. It includes the MPE-200 multi format processor, central to the production of high quality live 3d. Sony Professional director of marketing David Bush said: “It will allow us to work with our customers to understand the issues which they are facing and to work together collaboratively to solve them.”


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