Vinten Vantage adds flexibility to PTZ camera and lens choice

Vitec’s Neil Gardner at IBC 2016

Vinten is focusing on the PTZ product arena with a robotic head that can be used with a relatively free choice of cameras and lenses for better quality and flexibility. Talking to Neil Gardner, Vitec’s robotics and automation product manager, SVG Europe was keen to establish the extent of camera and lens options that can be used with Vinten Vantage.

“For the camera, we can control the camera and any function within that camera if it has a LANC port, which is most at this level,” he says. “When it comes to servo lenses we can control the Canon and Fujinon ENG lenses, and the Canon Cinema EOS servo lens. But we have also brought out a bolt-on lens drive, so you can take a manual lens from any manufacturer and can control that as well; the choice is almost unlimited.”

How does the LANC tie in with the controller?
When the camera is connected, it reports back the functions that the camera has, and the system dynamically populates the user interface to list the functions that it has so you can control that with a range of controllers directly. It also gives you control over any built-in servo lenses so there is total control over the camera’s systems.

VR capability is also a requirement for some PTZ applications. Where do you see that going in the future?
One of the biggest innovations is the inclusion of tracking-data output to allow you to integrate it with any VR system. We certainly see this as important in a traditional market, such as green-screen weather rooms, which is absolutely dependent on VR.

What are your target markets for the new solution?
A lot of companies like the idea of PTZ but want to get away from the limitations of the built-in camera and lens. So they see this as a solution both for standard broadcast studios where they want that choice of lens and also for small installations.