Belgium’s Alfacam has bought ten HD OB trucks from Thomson in a deal worth EUR50-55 million. There will be four large EUR7.5-8 million OBs with double expanding sides, capable of carrying 30 cameras, similar to its newest, two-week-old truck, which has been used for car and horse racing before coming to IBC, writes David Fox.
There will also be six smaller, 12-camera EUR4 million OBs without expanding sides. It has ordered 48 LDK8000-200 (slo mo) cameras and 80 LDK8000s, to add to the 100 or so it already owns. It hopes to have 225 HD cameras in use at the Olympics (including eight Sony 1500s and four Sony Super SloMo cameras).
On this September weekend, Alfacam had all of its trucks out, with OBs in Brazil, France, Egypt, Italy, Holland, Portugal, and Belgium, plus five across the Middle East. When deliveries of its latest 10 are complete in March it will have 24 large HD trucks, plus 10 SNG and sound vans. “We have a huge demand. It is to fulfil our contractual obligations for Beijing but also you can’t drop your existing clients during the Olympics,” explained Gabriel Fehervari, CEO, Alfacam and Euro1080. “Obviously, we are selling our old ones after Beijing.”
Alfacam will have somewhere between have 15 to 20 trucks in Beijing for 10 weeks, hence the scale of its current spend. The company has also invested in more wireless camera systems – from Thomson and Gigawave – for its EuroLinX subsidiary, with six new motorbikes for use on cycle racing, marathon races and similar events.
