Power your ENG camera with the right accessories

Like all technologies, the capabilities of professional camcorders are advancing at an impressive speed. No matter what tape format it is recorded in, whether they are standard or high definition, today's cameras are lighter, have higher power capacity and a much higher resolution than before.

But experienced videographers still add a lot of accessories to your camera to give it an edge and thus separate it from the herd. These accessories provide the ability to record video and audio better and faster and more creatively, which will make that story you want to tell more alive, more intrigued and, in the long run, seen.

Typically referred to as ENG (Electronic News Gathering) cameras, professional camcorders are used both for non-news production and for collecting real news. In fact, these camcorders are used for three different applications: the production of news packages, live shots via microwave or satellite, and electronic field production (EFP). Thus, while each application may require a different set of accessories, most of these accessories are shared in each of these functions.

The most common application of the ENG camera is basic news gathering. For this application, a videographer, or a producer/reporter, records a story on tape, visualizes the camera footage, writes a story, and edits to air that day on the station's newscast. In this case, ENG camera operators will want to have accessories that allow them to move quickly, get the best images and sounds with the least weight and at the fastest speed possible. Budgets are also more limited with this app. Teams of technicians must do a lot with little.

During a typical live recording, a single videographer's camera is connected to a microwave or satellite truck which, in turn, sends the images back to the station for a real-time report. Typically, a reporter presents a current or recent news event from the scene and enters a news package that he or she has previously recorded, written, and edited. Here, ENG camera operators look for accessories that provide the ability to send and receive audio, video, and communications to and from the station with the least work and highest quality.

VET is the most complex end of videography with an ENG camera, ranging from local stories, for news networks or for television magazines, to corporate and industrial videos. Here, technical production teams are typically larger and include, in addition to the cameraman, a sound technician and a producer, among others. More accessories are used with this app. For example, lighting packages can range from a three-point portable equipment to an entire lighting van. In more complex productions, multiple cameras are used with a mobile switch in a production truck.

So what accessories should your ENG camera "have"? For TV and Video readers, some video professionals from each field participated in an informal survey and revealed which accessories they would never leave at home.

The era of the five-pound "brick" battery is coming to an end. Anton/Bauer, who revolutionized the world of electronic news collection with the introduction of the NiCad "Gold-Mount" more than 30 years ago, is moving towards a "hybrid" technology, with smaller, lighter batteries. Other manufacturers are approaching lithium-ion batteries that also provide a lot of energy with little weight. IDX's PowerLink lithium-ion batteries can be placed in pairs, and provide more than four hours of charging for less than two pounds of weight.

Since professional camcorders often require a good weight at the back to counteract the weight of the front lenses, lighter batteries allow you to add accessories to be mounted back, including wireless microphone receivers, multiplexers for live shots and shootings with several cameras e, even, for wireless video transmitters.

It is only necessary to have a wireless microphone. Lighter batteries, combined with today's lightweight, cheap, UHF, frequency-agile and wireless transmitter/receiver sets, allow a second wireless receiver to be mounted on the camera. Lectrosonic's new UCR-100 series is already receiving very good feedback from users in the field.

Almost all camcorders have a permanently attached directional or "bayonet" microphone. Daily newscasters often replace the manufacturer's microphone with a bayonet microphone, fitted with windshields. This combination adds depth to the natural sound and can achieve acceptable sound for a field interview, where you can't afford a reporter or producer with a handheld microphone. The Sennheiser ME 66 and ME 67 are popular for this application.

If you don't have the luxury of a sound technician to monitor your audio, invest in custom-made hearing aids. This cheap article will give you an idea of the type of sound you are recording.

Of course, a good tripod is indispensable to achieve broadcast quality results. Look for one that is durable and consistent. Most of the professional news and recording cameramen who responded to our survey cited the Sachtler 18 and 20 as the most reliable; its dial configurations for panning and chopping always produce the expected results, except in extreme cold or hot conditions.

His images begin in the lenses; therefore, this is not an area to skimp on. A universal truth is that a wide-angle lens makes anyone's job look much better. If you can't afford it, a wide-angle adapter is an accessory that shouldn't be missing from your suitcase. Add it to your computer if you want that wide-angle tone or when you need to carry the camera on your shoulder for a long period. Do you need to record from a mobile platform, such as a helicopter, train, or car? Gyro-stabilized lenses are common in home camcorders and Canon recently began offering this option as an adapter to most of its IF+ series lenses.

Most cameramen survive with the 3600K and 5600K filters to achieve a natural color balance. For the more subtle variations, glass filters have been the secret weapons of the high-flying cameraman. If you want to add filters, take out the checkbook, because it can be very expensive to complete a collection. However, today you can quickly and beautifully add more filter effects in post-production, even in mid-level non-linear news editing rooms. One filter that many videographers do keep in their suitcases is the "soft-effect" filter, which helps you soften your images.

A battery light is indispensable for news work and useful for VET, as well as filling in the eyeshadows of an interviewee. A "dichroic" filter swings the light outdoors. However, most battery lights tend to be rough, so many experienced cameramen cut a piece of opal filter to blur theirs, unless the filter obscures it too much for situations that require the full blow of lighting. The latest lights have diffusers included for maximum flexibility. Anton/Bauer's so-called "Automatique" turns on its light when you activate the VTR, maximizing battery life.

Getting a live image on the air means much more than sending a video signal and audio channel from the camera to the truck. At best, various audio and video signals are going to go back and forth from the camera. The reporter needs a way to observe the video that is off the air (return video) and needs quality IFB material from the director and producer at the station. The camera operator also requires two-way communication with the material room and control room. Many times, the camera's iris control and color settings (via remote control board) require quality multi-camera images for sports, major news events and national morning program specials.

Traditionally, a multi-core cable or a thick bundle of tied video and audio cables, typically called "the snake," is used to transport those signals between an ENG camcorder and the live-stream truck. Both the multicore and the "snakes" are heavy, unstable and fragile. Now, several companies offer accessories that "multiplex" or combine these signals into a single cable, much like triax but naturally without triax hardware. Until very recently, multiplexing technology was a camera-mounted multiplexer that combined those signals into single 75-ohm coaxial cable. However, this system was limited by distances and, as a copper-based RF system, was also prone to electrical and electromagnetic interference that could affect the recording without warning.

Today, a camera-mounted fiber optic multiplexer, known as CopperHead, is available to send all these signals over a single, highly reliable cable, impenetrable to RF interference and almost limitless, as far as distances are concerned.

No matter if you are recording news, special, sports, corporate or industrial videos, your ENG camcorder is your highest investment and your most important tool. But remember, accessories will give you the edge and allow you to deliver well-recorded, interesting and creative video.