In Broadcast - December 2013 - 28

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 26 - DECEMBER 2013

N E W S

InREPLY

SeeSense Talk Miniature Camera Solutions
SeeSense, MD, Nigel Paine fields the
InBroadcast questions on minicams,
modifications, and dynamic range...

28

InBroadcast: How is your
company changing to meet client
demands?
Nigel Paine: SeeSense is a
distributer of miniature camera
solutions and a prime distributer
for Toshiba ICS. We recognise that
our market is a varied, specialist
and demanding one, and that a
ﬂexible bespoke service is required.
Being small enough to care and big
enough to cope springs to mind.
Customers also now demand value
for money which doesn't come
from supplying a cheap camera; it
comes from supplying the correct
camera system to customers'
requirements at the right price!
We received repeated requests
for wide-angle lens solutions to ﬁt
the Toshiba IK-HR1S HD miniature

camera so we modiﬁed the front to
CS-mount. Customers now ﬁt good
quality, compact and HD CS-mount
lenses on to the modiﬁed camera
making the combo cheaper than the
original. In order to accommodate
customer requests our range has
steadily expanded. HD solutions
now include lower cost cameras,
ultra-miniature remote head cameras
(the smallest one we know of ﬁts on
your thumbnail) and compact high
speed (slo-mo) camera systems. We
also offer compact thermal imaging,
short wave infra-red (SWIR) and IR
sensitive cameras for specialist
applications.
InB: What criteria does the market
use to make decisions for your
services?

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NEW Fujinon TF4XA-1
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HR1S is very popular and we intend
to introduce a similar remote head
version along with a compact HD IR
sensitive example for wildlife ﬁlming.
NP: The Broadcast market leans
two ways in what it expects from
minicams; either cheap "sacriﬁcial"
cameras or those providing stunning
high quality innovative images
that cannot be obtained from a
conventional camera. In general
our market is looking for quality
products with good technical advice,
prices and after sales service. Our
record of 82% returning customers
shows that this is something we do
our best to provide.
InB: Which territories are showing
particular activity?
NP: SeeSense sees itself as a
European distributor. We always see
a lot of activity in the UK market
because the people there are very
innovative and are good at pushing
boundaries. Now that our name is
better known around Europe we
are also getting increasing interest
across the continent especially at
the peripheries including Turkey,
Spain, Portugal and Iceland.
InB: Any innovations ahead that
you can discuss?
NP: The basic Toshiba HD camera
range works straight from the box
and provides superb colourimetry
which makes them popular in
the Broadcast market. We are
continually looking at ways to better
match them to larger professional
cameras. We are unsure whether
Toshiba will make a move into 4K
for Broadcast. If you "up" the light
output whilst still maintaining the
detail in the dark areas, the acuity
of the viewers' eyes increases
dramatically and better resolves
the projected resolution. Our view
is that the best pictures are all about
"dynamic range" and getting this as
high as possible is our aim. Our CSmount version of the Toshiba IK-

InB: Give some examples of your
services in action
NP: Our range of products is
very versatile. The Toshibas
have been used in programmes
involving cars, boats, aeroplanes
and even tanks. Equally important
are wildlife and reality TV not to
mention a diverse range of sports,
concerts and other such events.
We even use them in lightweight
3D rigs for major live sports events.

Modiﬁed Toshiba IK-HR1S
camera showing the modiﬁed and
unmodiﬁed fronts

We are very proud of the fact that
Seesense supplied a special camera
system for the making of AGB
Film's "Kangaroo Dundee" wildlife
documentary for BBC Natural World.
They wanted to be able to insert
an HD miniature camera into the
pouch of a Kangaroo so as to view
the development of a young joey,
also named Nigel! The images
obtained from the "Joeycam system"
comprising Toshiba IK-HR1S, Fuji
lenses and specially adapted Rosco
lightpad were absolutely stunning.
The programme has now won three
awards including this year's Teton
Award for Best People and Nature
Programme at the Jackson Hole
Wildlife Film Festival - the wildlife
ﬁlm Oscars.
InB: Thank you for taking time
to answer our questions.

AVAILABLE VERY SOON

TUNE UP

UPGRADE your IK-HD1 with a
IK-HD2
"IT WORKS STRAIGHT FROM
THE BOX"
00 44 7967 445829

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00421 917 163367

www.seesense.eu

Filming Ella the kangaroo with Toshiba IK-HR1S camera

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In Broadcast - December 2013

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