In Broadcast - June 2015 - 65


65

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 5 - Issue 6 | June 2015

InFocus

Specialist Camera Systems
Contributing Editor Andy Stout takes a look at the ever-changing
world of Specialist Camera Systems...

O

ne of the more entertaining
facets of looking in-depth at the
specialist camera market is that the
definition of what is and what is not a
specialist camera is inherently unstable.
What is considered a specialism one
year is, via the remorseless wings of
technological progress on the one hand
and the tendency for all productions
towards visual homogeneity on the
other, the following year's mainstream.
So, 4K is mundane enough to no
longer be considered specialist, but
one of the big stories from NAB on
the camera side of the industry was
exactly how much 8K equipment was
out and about.
Given that 8K broadcast cameras
from both Hitachi and Ikegami are
closely tied in to the NHK Tokyo 2020
Olympic effort, they can certainly
be considered specialist in 2015.
Indeed, both are prototypes, though
Hitachi was keen to point out that
its SK-UHD8060, an 8K camera with
a 33-million pixel CMOS sensor,
could be put into production straight
away if there were enough clients
out there with deep pockets and an
infrastructure that could use it.
The unit weighs about 6kg and
works with a 12-inch 4K viewfinder,
which is impressive in itself. Power
consumption is unsurprising a bit
hefty and up around the 60 watts
mark, while it uses 40Gbps fibre
optic cables to transmit 8K, 4K and
2K video feeds simultaneously and
features an onboard 8K RAW SSD
recorder capable of holding about 40
minutes of footage. This
is admirable flexibility
from the company, and
reflects the broadcast
reality that 8K will no

Hitachi's SK-UHD8060 camera

doubt be on the
slow side to roll
out and be part of
a multi-format ecosystem
when it does.
Ikegami, meanwhile, highlighted
the progress that has been made
with the format. The company
introduced the world's first
generation 8K UHDTV camera
with NHK in 2002 when it looked
more like a refrigerator with a
lens attached than anything.
Second generation (2004) and
third generation (2010) units have
refined the technology considerably
though to the extent that the current
fourth generation SHK-810 is a tenth
the size and weight of the 2002 model
and something that could fit into
a current broadcast chain without
causing too many alarms (indeed, the
unit has the same control layout and
ergonomic style as the company's
existing broadcast camera systems).
At 9kg it's portable but hefty
(Blackmagic's Ursa, for instance,
raised eyebrows when it was
introduced and that was only
7.4kg), but handheld / shouldermount operation of an 8K camera is
something of a watershed and you
can only imagine the fifth generation
models which will be

DJI's new Phantom 3

introduced before 2020 will extend the
usability even further.
Given RED's track record in all such
matters pertaining to resolution, seeing the company forge ahead towards
an 8K future is hardly surprising, but
all the same the NAB announcement
that it was planning on releasing an 8K
full frame sensor upgrade for its Weapon camera took some people aback.
That it was going to be capable of
75fps and could be pre-ordered there
and then for delivery later in the year
was, perhaps, even more astonishing. But certainly those making plans
for 8K tests around future events, Rio
2016 for instance, will be cheered to
know that there will be more available
on the market than just a few
prototypes.
Expect the other
high-end camera manufacturers to be there or

thereabouts
come IBC.
NAB
though
was undoubtedly the year
of the drone, the zeitgeist friendly
and buzzword compliant aerial
filming platform of choice for an
increasingly large part of the
industry. From curio to specialist
service to commoditised system
and a legitimate target for
production investment has been
an astonishingly short journey for
the UAV, with each stage taking
roughly a year. And it's the wealth
of models available at the prosumer
end that are starting to really drive
the market as it expands thanks to a
surprising wave of deregulation .

Red's
Weapon Dragon

DJI's new Phantom 3 probably
illustrates the progress in the field
better than anything. Available in two
options - an HD Advanced and 4K Pro
version - it means that productions
have access to a system that would
have been financially out of reach only
a couple of years ago, as well as being
a lot more difficult to fly.
The new Phantoms use a visual
positioning system which relies on
a downward facing camera rather
than GPS to enable them to hold their
position indoors and take-off and land
with single-button operation. The
company's Lightbridge technology
meanwhile throws 720p HD up to
1.6km to the pilot with almost
http://www.inbroadcast.com https://www.dji.com/product/phantom-3 http://www.red.com/products/weapon-dragon http://www.hitachikokusai.com/Products/BroadcastandProfessionalCameras/BroadcastandStudioProductionCameras/index.html
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