Another Season, Another Camera

ES Broadcast has a wide and varied client base, but a portion of that is definitely focused on the OB market.

ES Broadcast Hire has invested in predominantly OB specific equipment to service that select market whilst the sales company buys and sells new and used equipment from and to OB clients, and of course we have a dedicated department here selling outside broadcast trucks all over the world. The conversation often dominating the director's offices here, particularly at ES Broadcast Hire, is the debate of what new equipment should be invested in to best supply our customers with exactly what they are looking for.

Warren Taggart, Managing Director of ES Broadcast Hire, made the decision to invest in two outside broadcast trucks worth of Sony 4300 4K cameras this January. Graham Howe, a freelance camera man, who recently worked on Euro 2016 games, live rugby and boxing, has given us an invaluable and honest review of the worth of a 4300 camera to today's OB cameramen.

"Another Season, another camera!"

"My first concern was having to learn a whole new set of switches and more importantly a new menu system, but in truth the 4300 works as all the previous Sony Line cameras have over the past few years. The switches on the back and side are exactly where you want them to be; equally the menu set up is very easy to navigate. In fact, I can have my OLED viewfinder set up in a matter of seconds, slightly blue peaking, but still a nice crisp colour picture, with all my boxes set up for the graphics, etc. that BT sport uses.

"So firstly, it's great to use a camera for 4K that allows you to use dedicated B4 mount lenses directly onto the camera. This allows B4 mount lenses in either HD or 4K to be used. It also allows you to use large box lenses which is a great improvement on 4K setups I have used up until now. This may seem a small improvement, but previously using a camera such as the F55 (whilst a great ENG camera) for live OB work meant using clunky PL mount lenses or B4 lenses via an adaptor such as the "LA FZB1". Also, cameras like the F55 come with a whole different set of menus, which for an OB cameraman are not as intuitive as they would be for an ENG cameraman!

"Now, another thing that impressed me was that the 4300 whilst being 4K is still able to shoot HD but also can be used as a slo-mo camera in both HD and 4K. This is down to the camera only requiring an additional licence to enable a HD, 4K or Super slo-mo capability.

"As an operator who works with both hand held and tripod shoots being able to put it on your shoulder or hold in your hands without moving viewfinder supports and shoulder pads is a huge benefit. I've found this camera ideal for hand held work. The camera is not excessively heavy and is well balanced, but do be aware the first B4 4K ENG lenses can be quite heavy and may slightly throw the balance forward! This being said the results I have seen with this camera in 4K have been unrivalled.

"The return to a traditional OB workflow from a location rig/build perspective also allows no unnecessary time to be spent on setup or additional training which in the 'time precious' OB workday is also a great benefit. All in all I have been very impressed with the Sony HDC-4300 and look forward to working with them again in shoots to come."

When we invested in our Sony 4300 cameras, we were aware, as we always are, that only time will tell whether the investment is the right decision for us or not. Six months later, it's clear to see from a history of work at events such as the Euros and the French open and a full hire book secured for them this summer, the Sony 4300 is very popular with our client base, and we are very happy with our decision.

www.esbroadcast.com

This article is also available to read at BFV online here, page 38.

(JP/MH)