Pro video blog…Produced by Philip Johnston DoP/Editor

Ikegami_HDK-97ARRI

Ikegami are still going strong I am glad to report, the ARRI influence is obvious and I think it looks cool, love the blue highlights, but ARRI have also developed the Super 35mm front end which must give this camera some wonderful footage.

Ikegami HDK-97ARRI cameras capture the action at PUR & Friends Mega Concert

Neuss, Germany, February 5, 2015:  TV Skyline, one of Europe’s largest and most successful mobile television production companies, chose Ikegami HDK-97ARRI cameras to broadcast the recent PUR & Friends 2014 annual concert from the massive Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen. Working in partnership with Neoxfilm, TV Skyline captured the performance for transmission by executive producer, Sky Germany.

David Kirk “The HDK-97ARRI is based on the Ikegami HDK-97A docking camera head and incorporates extra features developed for digital film-making. These include a larger Super 35 sensor which delivers cinematic depth of field, clean highlights, extremely low noise and very natural skin tones. The HDK-97ARRI is fully compatible with our HDK-97A infrastructure, using the same base station, CCU and cable interfaces, so everything connected together very easily.

“Intercutting between the HDK-97A and HDK-97ARRI cameras in our coverage of the PUR & Friends concert allowed us to combine the realism and immediacy of a high quality outside broadcast with the extra impact associated with digital cinematography.

“Particularly impressive was the HDK-97ARRI’s dynamic and low-noise rendering of the performers’s high-contrast clothing, from dark areas of clothing through to very vibrant highlights. The client producer was also delighted so we have high hopes of winning the contract to televise PUR’s 30th anniversary concert this year.”

“Selecting Ikegami’s HDK-97ARRI Super 35 cameras was a key element of the creative realisation,” adds Neoxfilm’s Creative Director Marc Schütrumpf. “We relied on early planning and arrangements, choosing the right lenses and optimal camera positions. By maintaining a constant lens aperture, the depth of field could be permanently kept shallow. By using the optimum focal lengths, we were able to generate a cinematic look that brought the PUR concert at its most impressive into every viewer’s home.”

Jointly developed by Ikegami and ARRI, the HDK-97ARRI is a broadcast-style production camera with digital cinema characteristics enabling a large format sensor to be deployed in multiple camera operation. Centered around ARRI’s Super 35 CMOS sensor and its associated support circuitry, the system provides cinematic qualities including natural colour rendering, exceptional dynamic range and progressive frame rates such as 23.98p. Broadcast-grade distribution can be performed using the latest Ikegami technology, via fibre transmission using up to 2 kilometres of SMPTE hybrid fibre and cable.

The ARRI large-format front end is famed for its film-like organic look, characterised by extended, clean highlights, an extremely low noise floor, natural skin tones, excellent colour separation and a cinematic depth-of-field. Employing large pixels and a custom-designed read-out architecture, it delivers exceptionally wide dynamic range. ARRI’s stainless steel lens mount system ensures super stable flange focal depth between lens and sensor.

The HDK-97ARRI is housed in a docking style camera head from Ikegami’s successful Unicam HD camera series. Powered by Ikegami’s latest 3G FPGA-based DSP, the camera provides complete real time control of all grey-scale, colour, and detail functions. A new 3G transmission system transports video from camera head to CCU, as well as 3G transmission from CCU to camera head. The camera head supports return video in HD, two channels of prompter video in SD, and (when using the CCU-970M) one channel of prompter video in HD. Other signals transported via the camera cable include two channels of intercom, two channels of programme audio, two channels of microphone audio, genlock phase control, camera control, and external auxiliary data. Ikegami’s powerful 200-series remote control system enables video operators to manage multiple cameras using OCP, MCP, and network hubs.

Ikegami-HDK-97ARRI-camera-at-the-recent-concert

author

Having been working in the video business since 1988 I have amassed a great amount of knowledge of both the kit and production values over the last 30 years.

2 thoughts on “Ikegami HDK-97ARRI cameras used to capture PUR & Friends Mega Concert

  1. I really hope that Ikegami are still going strong today but the HDK-97ARRI was introduced in spring 2013 already, and it was in September 2013 when Ikegami stopped the production of camcorders, concentrating on cameras without internal recording capability like the HDK-97ARRI. So this camera is nothing new in 2015. It still is a dream of many shooters for sure!

    HDW : I get emails all the time from companies Bernd and this one flew in from Ikegami who although expensive cameras they do have a reputation of being one of the best. I have now added the info about the concert as this was partly the reason the email was sent. Ikegami have been left on the ringside during the influx of good camcorders less than £10K.

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