Hayfisher using Panasonic P2 for motorsport and more

Prominent UK-based independent film and TV production house Hayfisher specialises in live event TV broadcasting and has facilitated thousands of hours of predominantly motorsport-oriented programming since it was established in 1979. The company has enjoyed long and close cooperation with broadcasters including Channel 4, ITV and Sky.

The relationship with broadcast equipment sales and maintenance company Top-Teks and manufacturer Panasonic originally started when Hayfisher commenced DVCPRO50 video encoding. Later, Hayfisher migrated to a P2 production workflow and throughout these developments, continued to work closely with Panasonic and Top-Teks to ensure its needs were met.

“We have a first class working relationship which I believe has been of benefit to both parties and I genuinely think it will continue this way,” explains Richard Hay, director at Hayfisher.

Having initially started with DVCPRO50 cameras, Hayfisher later acquired ten AJ-HPX2100 cameras and, more recently, ten AJ-HPX3100 cameras. Over time, additions to the inventory have meant that workflows for live and post work have been enhanced.

“With 17 professional broadcast cameras, 225 cards, five card readers, a laptop, two HPG24s and a couple of P2 gears, we work with quite a lot of P2 equipment,” says Hay. “I’m very pleased with how it has performed to date and I truly value the support from Panasonic. On the very rare occasions when there has been a problem the warranty system has proved outstanding.”