Sony has had early UK success with its new£125,000 F35 digital cinematography camera.

Independent dealer BPS has sold three units to equipment rental company Take 2 Films, while cinematography and kit hire outfit Rogue Element Films has bought a single unit of the CineAlta shooter, this time from BandPro in Germany.

BPS UK managing director John O'Reilly is convinced the deals will be the first of many.

He said: “Take 2 Films came to us for a demo, which we arranged in conjunction with Sony dealer Top-Teks. They immediately placed an order for three cameras and expressed an intention to order another seven later in the year.”

Dan Mulligan, managing director and cinematographer at Rogue Element Films, said there was already lots of interest in the camera. “35mm image processing and lenses with the resultant depth of field are something that productions will see as extremely beneficial in terms of mood and use,” he said.

The F35, launched in April 2008 at NAB, is a 1920 x 1080p HD camera with a single Super 35mm CCD image sensor that records 10bit 4:4:4 at variable frame rates of 1-50fps. It records to dockable HDCAM SR tape recorders and provides over and undercranking capabilities.

The addition of a PL (positive lock) lens mount that works with most 35mm cinema lenses means the camera is particularly suited to cinematographers who are used to 35mm film.

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