Freelancers like myself do not care to stick labels onto our camcorders as they have a better secondhand value if they look pristine. If you have not bought a camcorder for a while you will not have noticed the amount of easy smear plastic thats making it’s way into the market place. Sony use a strange plastic on the PMW-350 that smears very easily, you can wipe it clean at the end of a shoot but I am no fan of this type of plastic coating.

Most camcorders have a vacant space on the “tape/memory slot” side of the camera, I cannot imaging trying to scrape off a sticky ident label after a year in fact I have no doubt that it would damage the plastic.

My solution is simple…as always this is an idea waiting to happen, a side plate that is made of the same material as the camera body that you choose to screw on if you plan to use an ident label ie. BBC NEWS, SKY NEWS etc. How easy would it be for Sony, Panasonic, JVC to supply such a plate in the camera box that you could choose to use or not use depending on your type of work.

The screw holes on the camera body would be produced as part of the production line so all you have to do is screw your plate on and your away…how simple is that idea and it looks more professional.