HD film maker still values the past

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August 15, 2008

For immediate release

HD film maker still values the past

It’s not difficult to pick out the new TV camera against the old in this photo taken at Omnicron Productions’ Auckland studio recently.

From left; Ondrej Havas, founder of Omnicron, Systems Manager, Eddie Burrow and David Colthorpe from Sony, pose with Omnicron’s new $80,000-plus High definition camera, along with an old NZBC black and white camera which Ondrej bought on Trade Me.

The old camera was one of the first to arrive in New Zealand and was retired from duty in the 1960’s. It now attracts a lot of attention from visitors to the company reception. It weighs over 40kg, used valves not transistors, has no zoom lens and produces 400 lines of resolution. The 2008 version produces 1080 lines and has its own onboard computer more powerful than most laptops in the 2008 version.

“Technology is moving so fast now,” said Ondrej. “We’ve invested about $250,000 in HD equipment in the past year, including this new camera.

“I’d like to see an industry effort to preserve some of our outmoded equipment and create a museum, or archival display somewhere. Too much of our history is being buried in landfills.”

Omnicron is the first private NZ film production company to have capability to film and edit High Definition TV footage

Although HD is already in limited use in NZ, the Olympics coverage is introducing it to more viewers.

Ondrej said a fundamental of the industry is to stay ahead of client expectations in terms of quality. HD, he said, is fast becoming a standard requirement.

“There is no arguing with the difference,” said Ondrej. “Previous technology gave us television footage. HD almost gives us real life.

“But I also think we need to keep records of our past. They are so easily lost as we focus on the latest and best technology.”

ENDS

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