Broadcast News

Bookmark and Share
20/12/2016

Canon Selected For New Nature Series 


News Image
Canon's ME20F-SH has been used by Offspring Films for its latest series, Monkeys: An Amazing Animal Family. 



The factual, natural history production specialists deployed the camera to capture Tarsiers in extremely low light. For the project, Offspring Films needed a balance between capturing the highest quality images possible while remaining unobtrusive when operating in the tarsier's natural habitat.

When the programme required a segment on tarsiers, who are nocturnal animals living deep in the Indonesian jungle, DoP Mark Payne-Gill and the producers chose the Canon ME20F-SH.

The ME20F-SH is an HD video camera capable of capturing full colour images in environments of extremely low-light with an ISO of up to 4 million (+75dB). With this capability, the production crew could shoot at 45db – the equivalent of 144,000 ISO – using an older Canon 150-600mm f5.6 EF-mount lens, and document the tarsiers at night time in full colour HD without the need for intrusive lighting that would have scared the animals away.

Payne-Gill said: "I pushed the ME20F-SH to a very high ISO and we were still blown away by the results. We got close-ups of the animal's faces with their massive pupils in full colour. Being able to capture them in this way meant we could really tell their story." 



Clare Dornan, Director, Monkeys: An Amazing Animal Family, added: "Tarsiers have been filmed before, but filming them in colour, undisturbed in their natural environment has not been achieved before."

VMI worked with the DoP to customise the camera setup into a handheld configuration. The Canon ME20F-SH was mounted on a Vocas 15mm bar support with Hawkwood battery mount, TV Logic Alphatron viewfinder and a Convergent Design Odyssey 7Q recorder.

Monkeys: An Amazing Animal Family is a three-part series which premiers on Sky 1, Christmas Day.

Image: Mark Payne-Gill, DoP, on location.

canon.co.uk
canon.ie

(MH)
Solidmate Ltd Memory Card Hire London

More Broadcast Cameras and Camera Equipment Stories

21/06/2019
ARRI Unveils New ALEXA Mini LF Camera
ARRI has unveiled its new ALEXA Mini LF camera. Combining the compact size and low weight of the popular ALEXA Mini with the large-format ALEXA LF sen
18/06/2019
Sony's 4K HDR Professional Camcorders To Receive Additional Workflow Flexibility
Sony has announced that its palm-sized 4K HDR professional camcorders, HXR-NX80 and PXW-Z90, will receive additional workflow flexibility via a free f
29/03/2019
Vinten Unveils Two Additions To Its Range Of Robotic Solutions
Vinten has unveiled two additions to its range of robotic solutions for broadcast studios. These include a new virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/A
26/03/2019
Disney Benefits From Cooke Optics' Anamorphic/i Lenses
Two VFX-heavy commercial spots for Disney highlighting the latest Star Wars toys and merchandise benefited from Cooke Optics' Anamorphic/i prime lense
09/04/2018
Sony FS5 II Now Supports Apple ProRes RAW
Atomos has announced that the Sony FS5 II with the Shogun Inferno 7" HDR monitor/recorder now supports Apple ProRes RAW. There are now nine ProRes com
05/04/2018
A Filmmaker's Guide To Sensor Sizes And Lens Formats
As a cinematographer who owns lenses designed for various formats, I am often asked "will this lens work with my camera?" or, "will this lens cover 8K
12/03/2018
Cooke Optics Reveals New Focal Lengths
The next focal lengths have been announced by Cooke Optics for its latest lens ranges. The S7/i purpose-built full frame lens range is to include a 16
12/03/2018
Sony Ships VENICE Full-Frame Motion Picture Camera System
Sony's much-anticipated VENICE – its next-generation CineAlta motion picture camera – has commenced shipping to customers. 

As previously
15/02/2018
Anamorphic Lens Choices For 2018
The popularity of shooting with Anamorphic lenses has seen increased interest. This has expressed itself not only in the demand for established produc
14/02/2018
Historical Vignettes Lensed with Cooke S4/i Primes
For the historical vignettes in the upcoming CNN six-hour, six-part miniseries Pope: The Most Powerful Man in History, Dane Lawing, SOC wanted each er