Just arrived back from Manchester from BVE North, by all accounts the show was well attended, everyone had lots to see and some new camcorders as well.

Kris Hill from JVC lent me a GY-HM600 for the show and once again it performed like a dream, I genuinely think this is the best 1/3″ camcorder on the market today, I used a Minima LED camera light but that was only to lift shadows off faces, the 600 did not need the light and I forgot it was set to -6Dbs.

Me interviewing David Young from Sony about the very impressive PMW-F55 camcorder, Sony were not expecting to get a 55 for the show so we were all delighted when one turned up. The F55 will be an ARRI killer if Sony get the marketing right, I was told Sony will have pricing for both the F5 and F55 at the end of November.

Canon had the biggest C500 on their stand…made from ice, the ice sculptor was an amazing chap and did the camera proud, as usual Canon always turn up to the bigger shows with a new idea and a new stand. I had a look at the C100 and then got a brain wave…more about that tomorrow.

Holdan had a lot of new toys on offer from a reporters LED lighting kit to the new Panasonic AC90 that I dismissed when it first came out as a bit domestic but a second glance tells you that its far from domestic.

I have produced a show special talking to some of the major players at BVE North and hope to have it edited by the weekend but I am afraid paying work comes first so I won’t be able to start the edit till Friday.

I must thank Kris Hill from JVC for giving me the use of a GY-HM600 for the day it was perfect for this type of run and gun work.

All photographs were taken by my wife Susan (Apart from the Panasonic AC90 pic) with a Canon EOS 600D and a 17-55 f.2.8 lens. Unlike most photographers I do not copyright my work so if you want to use any of the pictures above all you have to do is make sure you link them to HD Warrior.