Camera Upgrade Comes Into Focus for Weigel

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A television station owned by the parent company of the MeTV Network and The CW Network affiliate in the nation’s third-largest market recently signed off on the acquisition of several camcorders to improve the quality — and flexibility — of its broadcast operations.


The equipment is now in place at the Weigel Broadcasting stations serving a market to the north of Chicago, where it owns the CBS affiliate.

As such, several GY-HC900 and GY-HC550 CONNECTED CAM camcorders have been purchased from JVC Professional Video, a division of JVCKENWOOD USA Corporation.

They’ll be put to use at “CBS58” in Milwaukee, WDJT-TV; “The M” WMLW-TV; MeTV Network O&O WBME-CD; and “Telemundo Wisconsin,” WYTU-LD.

“We have been using JVC for over a decade in the field and have been very happy,” says Steve Percefull, Weigel’s chief engineer for its Milwaukee operations. “We have the GY-HM650 ProHD Mobile News Camera and GY-HM790 ProHD Solid State Media Camcorder, as well as GY-HM850 and GY-HM890 ProHD Shoulder Camcorders in our inventory. We have tried other manufacturers’ cameras over the years, but have to use adapters to use SD cards, which became problematic. This time around, when I was buying cameras, I wanted something easy and user-friendly.”

The GY-HC900 has a full-frame and a two-thirds lens.

Aaron Frye, WDJT’s director of photography, was among the first to use the cameras at Weigel Broadcasting.

“I primarily use our new JVCGY-HC900 for field anchoring and to shoot news stories,” he says. “The GY-HC900 has a nice depth of field and the colors really pop; it’s a great upgrade from our previous cameras.”

Additionally, the station purchased the GY-HC550s to replace aging cameras in the Multimedia Journalist (MMJ) kits, which are used by photographers for multi-camera shoots.

Percefull has been impressed with the ruggedness of both the GY-HC900 and GY-HC550.

While Weigel uses the JVC CONNECTED CAM camcorders for traditional live stand-ups, the GY-HC900 and GY-HC550 both offer a wide range of live streaming capabilities. Included among these is direct streaming to Facebook Live and YouTube Live.