NEP Supershooters used Ikegami HD cameras for its coverage of the World Series on Fox.
The Pittsburgh-based mobile production company deployed 14 Ikegami HDK-79EC’s in its SS17 mobile production unit at the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies’ Citizens Bank Park. The HDK-79EC HD native multiformat CMOS camera system employs three 2/3-inch 2.5 megapixel CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) imaging sensors. These 1920Hx1080V active-pixel CMOS sensors are switchable between interlace and progressive readout modes. These sensors provide: 1080/60i, 1080/24p, and 720/60p performance.
Also available are optional 50Hz formats, 1080/50i and 720/50p, and high-speed dual-link 1080/60p, and for super slow motion, 720/120p, and 1080/120i. With its SE-79D System Expander, the portable version of the HDK-79EC enables the use of “box”-syle studio or long-zoom HDTV field lenses.
“When we’re in the stadium, situated at multiple angles with long glass, capturing players in the infield and outfield, the CMOS chip of the HDK-79EC is the strong point,” Hoover says. “They work with greater sensitivity in lower light, which is a major asset.”
The HDK-79EC’s SE-79D System Expander also enables use of Ikegami’s VFL-900HD, a 16:9 color LCD viewfinder measuring 9 inches diagonally and featuring very low lag characteristic and very wide viewing angles.
“Our camera operators really appreciate those color viewfinders,” Hoover says. “Beyond baseball, the color is extremely helpful for covering racecar driving, or football where there’s a lot of people and uniforms out there on the field.”
The docking-style body of the HDK-79EC allows easy swap between fiber and triax camera cable by simply mounting the FA fiber adapter or TA triax adapter on the camera and throwing a switch at the CCU-890 side.
