November 30th, 2017 – Burbank, — Bexel, an NEP Broadcast Services Company, has greatly expanded its 4K and HDR capabilities with the purchase of five Sony PXW-Z450 camcorders, the first 4K shoulder-style cameras to join the Bexel rental inventory. Over the next year, Bexel will increase its investment to 20 of the Sony camcorders, which will see their first use for coverage of the upcoming events in PyeongChang, South Korea.

"With the growth of OTT services, many of our clients are stepping up production in 4K and UHD projects for a variety of nontraditional platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Facebook Live, and YouTube Live," said Tom Dickinson, vice president, technology, Bexel. "Many of these shows, particularly the unscripted ones, involve a fair amount of field acquisition work to which a broadcast-style ENG camcorder is better suited than is a cinema-style camera. Demand for high dynamic range, or HDR, continues to grow, and the PXW-Z450 will be HDR-capable later this year. As the world's first 4K 2/3-inch shoulder camcorder, the PXW-Z450 is the perfect solution for these productions, and it's the latest milestone in our ongoing investment in 4K and HDR technologies."

Joining Bexel's inventory of Sony 4300 4K cameras for studio productions, the PXW-Z450 camcorders are able to record 4K QFHD (3,840 x 2,160) at 50p/59.94p, as well as a variety of HD formats including XAVC Intra, XAVC Long GOP, MPEG HD 422, and MPEG HD 420. The PXW-Z450 is particularly ideal for live broadcast-style 4K productions, as it allows for the use of a wide range of commercially available B4-mount lenses without requiring an adapter. The new camcorders will gradually replace Bexel's current inventory of Sony XDCAM camcorders for use in multicamera productions.[sc name="news-footer"]