Video Devices’ PIX-E5 recording monitor helps capture Scandinavian landscapes

Since 2008, Björn Olin, founder of Helifilm, has been using drones to capture content for film and television productions. Today, Olin’s company is recognised as the premier supplier of aerial footage in Scandinavia, offering services to national and international film teams and providing access to its extensive image bank of Scandinavian content. Helifilm also provides material for the region’s premier broadcasts, including Nobel Prize festivities and royal events. To record and monitor all of the aerial footage he captures, Olin relies on the PIX-E5 recording monitor from Video Devices.

“The PIX-E5 is smaller and lighter than the competitor offerings, which has proven to be helpful as our drone setup has evolved,” says Olin. “The main reason we wanted a recorder on the drone was to improve quality. The Apple ProRes 422 HQ capture that we record from the PIX-E5 is superior to the internal codecs on the cameras we use. This is important, as our clips are often used in high-end productions where the availability of quality files for colorists and editors is crucial.”

The value that Olin puts into picture quality cannot be understated, which is why the PIX-E5 has proven to be invaluable. Helifilm’s work on various events surrounding the 2015 Nobel Prize provides an interesting example of how the PIX-E5 has improved the company’s productions.

“The Nobel Prize festivities were held in Stockholm on a midwinter evening where the sun sets before 3pm,” says Olin. “This required a low-light camera with full-frame optics that did not weigh much. The Sony a7S is exactly that camera, but the internal codec did not deliver the quality we needed. However, when used together with the PIX-E5, we were able to achieve a 4K recording system with a great codec-a royal deluxe system for drones! We received great reviews from a very happy customer; the footage was outstanding.”