Leading equipment hire company HotCam has added Canon’s new XF305 camcorder to its London rental fleet as part of a major technology investment covering both its UK and US offices.
The XF305, which uses the MPEG-2 Full HD (4:2:2) recording codec and transfers data at rates of up to 50Mbps, was recently included on the list of approved cameras that can be used to produce programmes for the BBC’s HD channels.
HotCam, an approved BBC supplier, will make the XF305s available immediately.
They are expected to be popular with factual, news, reality and sports producers as well as independent filmmakers.
HotCam managing director Trevor Hotz said: “We’re always led by what our customers want and recently we’ve started getting a lot of calls about the XF305. Once the phone starts ringing about a camera, it’s a bit of no-brainer really: HotCam reacts to its client demand, especially as the BBC has approved the camera for their HD programming. As it’s so compact and easy to customize, it looks like doing for HD what the Sony Z1 did for SD.”
At the same time, HotCam has bought additional Sony PDW-F800 camcorder bodies, taking the total stock of F800s in its London fleet to 12.
In New York, the company has added extra Sony EX3 cameras, Convergent Design nanoFlash recorders and more Sony PDW-F800s with HD lenses.
Other new kit includes:
- Leader test and measurement scopes;
- Go-Pro POV HD video cameras (and accessories) including underwater housing, Helmet, Motorsport and Surf;
- LibertyPak battery systems;
- Lentequip CanaTrans UHF video transmitters.
The combined value of the new equipment being added to HotCam’s inventory is more than £100,000 ($160,000).
Discussing the investment Hotz said: “File-based production has proved to be a cost-effective option for many broadcasters and independent producers. As a result the PDW-800s and EX3s are flying off the shelves so having a few more of them – plus the peripherals that go with them - was becoming essential in order to meet demand.”
The new equipment was purchased from Broadcast and Production Services (BPS) with camera finance provided by Fineline.
