Pro Motion Hire Grows Market-Leading Fleet of Sony PMW-500 XDCAM into the UK

Pro Motion, which provides pre-production training and rental services, increased its rental stock through Sony specialist dealer CVP after seeing strong and consistent demand for the camera since its launch at IBC 2010. Maintaining its reputation for investing the latest broadcast technology, Pro Motion was one of the first UK rental companies to place orders for the PMW-500 and has supplied the camera for productions including Maverick’s “Neighbours From Hell” (Sky) and Mentorn’s “Brixham Fish Town” (Sky Atlantic).

As one of the lightest (3.4 Kgs) and most power-efficient file-based cameras on the market, recording at 50Mbps and approved by major broadcasters, CVP has seen sales of Sony’s PMW-500 soar. “File-based makes up around half of our total sales and the PMW-500 is easily the most popular shoulder mounted tapeless camcorder. Since its launch at IBC we’ve seen great interest from rental houses and independent camera operators alike as broadcasters adopt the format and tapeless workflow becomes increasingly common,” commented CVP’s Darren Simpson. “The fact that freelance camera operators are investing shows just how confident the industry is in both the XDCAM format and the PMW-500.”

Duncan Martin, Managing Director of Pro Motion commented: “Substantial industry demand drove our purchase of the two new PMW-500s to add to our existing stock. Its native 50Mbps recording opens the camera up to such a wide production base and the fact you don’t need any extra kit is real dealmaker for many production companies. The camera ticks all the boxes for major broadcasters and we’re confident we won’t be short of jobs for our new purchases!”

Sony PMW-500’s latest firmware update further improves its power consumption, allowing for longer continuous shooting. The camera records to Sony SxS cards and benefits from the fastest workflow in the XDCAM product line-up, resulting in significant time and cost savings for productions, as well as the ability to turn around content quickly and easily.