F35 camera hits the highs at Take 2

The new high-end Sony F35 has been so popular with UK rental facility Take 2 Films, that it has already expanded its original three units to six, making it the largest supplier of the digital cinema camera in Europe.

Take 2 Films is one of the largest independent film equipment rental companies in the UK and has one of those credit lists that simply makes other companies jealous. Alongside a healthy list of features, just reading off the top of its television credits gives you Spooks, Ashes to Ashes, Waking The Dead and Poirot; all triple-A titles at the forefront of British television production which the company has worked on since its inception in 1999.

Long a specialist in 35mm and 16mm cameras, as well as establishing a Manchester office and one in Cape Town, it has over the past three years invested heavily in HD to meet the changing demands of the sectors it services.

“Take 2 Films rapidly evolved to meet the demands of production companies when working with a fully high definition workflow. The Sony HDW-750P was primarily acquired to meet these demands, but soon HD requirements rapidly progressed, and within a six-month period we acquired 21 Sony HDW-F900R camcorders,” explains the company’s Vince Wild.

“Sony has been our preferred manufacturer of HD equipment from the outset, and we have invested heavily in their products,” Wild continues. “As many within the industry are aware though, there has been a strong requirement to provide the cinematic shallow depth of field characteristics of film with high definition applications. This led to extensive use of the Pro35 Adapter allowing 35mm film style lenses to be used on B4-mounted HD cameras. An obvious progression was for Sony to develop a digital camera that employed these industry requirements and also be one that is user friendly to crews with a film-based background.”

This is exactly where the Sony F35 digital cinema camera comes in. Developed specifically for cinematographers – and indeed in close consultation with them – the F35 offers a compact and rugged design that is ergonomically very similar to film-type cameras, and also uses the same PL mount lenses. The Sony SRW-1 – an RGB 4:4:4 companion digital HDCAM SR recorder – can dock directly to the top or the rear of the camera, eliminating the need for the cumbersome cable-handling between the camera and recorder which has been an unfortunate feature of other manufacturer’s models (the camera handle is also flat on top, allowing for attachment to a Steadicam rig).

“The layout of its controls and interface panels will appear familiar and makes it intuitive with film crews,” says Steve Price, digital technician at Take 2 Films. “The weight of the body is just 5kg without the viewfinder and the camera has been designed to withstand the testing conditions encountered on locations. It also follows a workflow that emulates film, making it effortless for both crew and production alike.”

Take 2 Films originally purchased three Sony F35s, but due to the instant popular demand a further three complete kits have been purchased in a very short space of time. All were bought from Sony Specialist Dealer Top Teks based in Middlesex. “They have provided us with superb support and expertise,” says Price. “Sony themselves have also been very active in supporting us too; they have been immensely responsive and they constantly adjust both the physical attributes and the software, based on the feedback we have been supplying them. Price has been working on set with the F35 and crews from the outset, and has thus been able to relay ideas for improvements and requests directly back to Take 2 Films and Sony.

“Many advances have been made to further improve the camera system as a result,” he says. “And the F35 now has a workflow that fulfils the requirements for the most demanding filmmaker.” Two Productions that are currently using the F35 through Take 2 Films are the feature film Harry Brown, starring Michael Caine (the director of photography is Martin Ruhe and director, Daniel Barber) and the BBC’s eagerly-anticipated remake of The Day of the Triffids (DoP Ben Smithard, director Nick Copus).