Bad news for ENG cameramen

[Marco Leavitt]

And i thought news stations couldn't possibly cheap out any more.

Swiss TV Station Replaces Cameras with iPhones and Selfie Sticks

[David Heath]

There's a time and place for everything, but nobody seems to be suggesting it's the start of a wholesale shift, certainly not for the major channels:

Since the station is only on air for a few hours each day, this move to iPhones will allow reporters to capture and share much more content for online channels.

A similar experiment was conducted in the US by Charlotte’s Fox46 back in 2014, but they pulled the plug due to the quality of the result. “Plagued by technical problems and relying on journalists with little experience, it had an amateurish quality,” the station reported afterward. “Viewers turned away.”

[John Nantz]

the iPhone is an amazing package, almost Dick Tracy size.

With regard to the article mentioning the lunar eclipse, actually, my son-in-law took pictures and a video of the recent red moon event using his new iPhone 6s through the eyepiece of his 10” Celestron telescope and the results were darn good.

A local arts college has two courses in videography and the “camera” they specify is the iPhone.

It’s bang-for-the-buck, and they’re nice, but it’ll be quite a while before the BBC approves ‘em.

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by John Nantz

It’s bang-for-the-buck, and they’re nice, but it’ll be quite a while before the BBC approves ‘em.

Time and place for everything, and most big broadcasters (including the BBC) already make use of not just iPhones but webcams and you name it what else - if the situation demands. And there are times when such may be most appropriate, especially in the field of news.

But to go over to such 100%? Even for a low budget news channel? The US experiment previously linked to just about says it all: “Plagued by technical problems and relying on journalists with little experience, it had an amateurish quality,.....Viewers turned away.”

Does that surprise anybody?

[Andrew Smith]

I'm just waiting for a lion to escape from a visiting circus to escape and their star reporter gets sent along with an iPhone to grab footage. What could possibly go wrong?

:-)

Andrew

[Steven Digges]

Escaped lion? I know a dentist they should arm with an i-phone to go after that shot.

Steve

[Gary Nattrass]

The cellular network is already being used via WMT boxes that have six sim cards in them, plug in your SDI camera and bingo you can broadcast.

The downside is that the pictures and sound are delayed and for live work a 3 sec cue is a long time although we did have one occasion when I was at BBC Scotland where the delay was nearly 10 seconds.

As for a single i-fone well the picture quality is quite amazing for such as small device these days but the small chip limited lens and low light capabilities make it only useable under certain conditions. That linked with an on camera microphone makes me laugh at how 1/3" and 1/2"chip ENG cameras were not de facto just over five years ago!

I wonder if a twin sim phone could be used to provide sound and pictures and a reverse vision feed and IFB / 4 wire for a stand up journalist as 4G is well capable of the speeds needed if it works! ;0)

[Marco Leavitt]

There are stations in my market using DVX100s, so I guess an iPhone might be an improvement.

[Paul R Johnson]

Had a call from a well know local tv presenter, and I agreed to meet her for a location recording for her local evening news programme. I set up the interview she needed to do with the star of the show, and seeing no camera equipment, she handed me her iPhone and that was it! Oddly when broadcast it didn't look that bad at all, apart from the thin sound. Two feet away was a tape based proper camera we were using for something else. I offered to use that, but their studio system is totally solid state, no tape at all. My camera isn't that old!

[Gary Nattrass]

The Rode smartlav is designed for this type of application but I bet most will still use the mic in the phone.

[Brian Drysdale]

"Click" the BBC tech show, made one programme that was entirely shot on mobiles:

Technology TV programme Click made on mobiles - BBC News

[Gary Nattrass]

I seem to recall it took forever to match it all together in post but at least some proper cameras are getting new technology too Panasonic Integration

[Brian Drysdale]

Yes, I recall the editors weren't happy with the speed of tablet editing. I've only played with one such App on an iPad and it was decidedly clunky compared to the professional NLEs. Although, the variable frame rates found on smart phones and iPads cause problems for these NLEs.

[Gary Nattrass]

Originally Posted by Brian Drysdale

Yes, I recall the editors weren't happy with the speed of tablet editing. I've only played with one such App on an iPad and it was decidedly clunky compared to the professional NLEs. Although, the variable frame rates found on smart phones and iPads cause problems for these NLEs.

I just started with final cut pro X and I am struggling as I am so used to FCP7, I just did a promo for our charity and was quite impressed at how well the i-fone clips integrated with the P2 interview and pres footage.

Henry Dancer Days Promo 2015 - YouTube

[Brian Drysdale]

I gather Android clips don't work so well with FCPX.