When looking for a hand-held mobile studio that was feature-filled and could handle HD, Tony Pronko, Engineer at C-SPAN in Washington DC, stopped looking when he found the HS-2000.
A lot of the high definition footage that is shot for C-SPAN requires that a field crew be on-location, and many sites do not easily accommodate for a professional production crew. Having equipment that is not only compact, but can easily be set up and taken down is one issue on a list of things Tony had to consider. Fortunately, he found that the HS-2000 was just right for what they needed- a super portable unit that has a lot of features in one box.
Tony: “A big selling point was the built-in LCD monitor… that’s one less box to carry. And the intercom is another system that we don’t need to take out [on a shoot]. The tally is [also] a great bonus we don’t currently have.”
Typically, the field technicians that acquire footage for the non-profit news channel have a remote two camera set up for live or taped events. The crew uses the Panasonic P2 for solid state recording (with DVC Pro TD tape occasionally,) and Sony HD robotic cameras. While it was good that the mobile studio travelled easily, most importantly, it met their standards for a remote HD broadcast.
Whether it’s a congressional hearing, a round table discussion or even just an author speaking at a book store, Tony told us that now they are able to send out as little as two techs for these events, simply because the portability of the unit allows for it.
Tony: “One person handles the video switching and audio, and the second person does camera robotics… it’s [now] used exclusively on location or in the field. We use [the HS-2000] live if our air schedule allows for it and if there’s a means for live transmission.”
We asked what Tony found appealing overall about the HS-2000, here’s what he had to say:
“Size, features, price, weight and video quality.”
For video production professionals like Tony and the C-SPAN field techs, the HS-2000 is easily an asset to any portable production arsenal.
For more info about the HS-2000 HD Mobile Studio, please visit:
http://www.datavideo.us/products/mobile-studios/hs-2000-mobile-studio.html