Moo TV, a video production and creative services company in Madison, TN, recently purchased eight Hitachi Z-HD5000 studio and field HDTV cameras to provide video support and big-screen multimedia presentations during concert tours and other live events.
Moo TV provides live multi-camera production, specialized personnel, and digital content creation services to top country artists, including the Zac Brown Band, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert and Alan Jackson.
The first four Hitachi Z-HD5000 HD cameras were purchased late last year for use on Zac Brown’s annual holiday tour between Christmas and New Year’s Day, including a sold-out New Year’s Eve concert at Philips Arena in downtown Atlanta. The second four were purchased for Toby Keith’s “Live in Overdrive” concert, which has a busy, national concert schedule this year through next. All eight cameras were purchased because both Zac Brown and Toby Keith wanted to upgrade their concert’s live video and multimedia presentations from SD to HD.
Due to the tight turnaround, some equipment — such as sled supports used to stabilize imaging with longer lenses — was not readily available from the factory, and Hitachi proactively sent loaners to Moo TV. While the lenses on the Z-HD5000’s are SD, Young says the cameras still give them a dramatic improvement in picture quality. During a live show, some cameras are positioned on tripods at the front-of-house, while others serve as handhelds carried around the venue.
