Repositioning African Markets with Digital Devices
Canon, a global leader of digital cameras, through its Central and North Africa operations is seeking to reposition African markets and address their peculiar challenges in the areas of broadcasting, security and film production, writes Emma Okonji
The Just concluded CABSAT 2018 technology exhibition show in Dubai, United Arab Emirates(UAE), where global technology players showcased their latest digital devices in film production, television broadcast, radio and satellite communications, was an avenue for the Canon Central and North African operations to focus attention on the peculiarities of the African digital markets in the areas of broadcasting, security, and film production, with a view to addressing the common challenges of the various markets and their diverse cultures.
Established in 2016 to create a dedicated market in Africa, the Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA) seeks to address the challenges in the African markets, Nigeria inclusive, using its diverse digital camera products.
The Director, B2C Sales and Marketing, CCNA, Mr. Somesh Adukia, who spoke with THISDAY in Dubai, said the Canon’s continued participation in CABSAT exhibitions would offer the company the opportunity to attract African investors to its range of products that cut across broadcast, security, cinematography and film production cameras.
“We have made three workflow situations that are suitable for different verticals such as filmmakers, news agencies and security companies and we plan to meet the needs of the African markets, through our digital technology cameras,” Adukia said.
About CABSAT 2018 CABSAT is the leading platform for the broadcast, production, content delivery, digital media and satellite sectors across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA), and plays a critical role in delivering industryshaping dialogue, uniting over 250 creative visionaries, technological disruptors and industry influencers for active debate and discussion.
The MEASA market offers significant opportunities for innovators looking to exploit new growth channels outside of traditional platforms. The content congress engages a unique cross-section of senior industry stakeholders and up-coming influencers to share forward looking insights into how to adapt traditional broadcast models, the benefits of disruptive thinking and the future of broadcasting not only for the region, but worldwide.
The CABSAT 2018 was a three-day event which held from January 14-16, with over 13,000 attendees from 130 countries from the broadcast and satellite industries.
In its 24th edition, the conferences and exhibition areas are divided into focused technical, strategic and creative sessions for engineers, decision-makers and content creators.
Latest Canon digital cameras At CABSAT 2018, Canon was able to delight participants with its Cinema EOS series products, which range from C100 to C700, targeting new areas of imaging expression for Canon, building on the company’s 80-year history of innovation and expertise in the field of optical and imaging technology.
Canon’s digital cinema cameras offer not only high image quality, but also superior mobility and expandability to meet the strict needs of professionals working in the motion-picture and commercial production industries.
Prominent among the products on display at CABSAT 2018 conference, was the Canon EOS C200, which is a professional 4K/UHD/50P camera, offering flexibility and ease-of-use for single-user operation.
The EOS C200 features Canon’s 4K Super 35mm CMOS sensor with an effective pixel count of 8.85MP, along with the newly developed Dual DIGIC DV6 image processors. As a result, it can deliver Cinema RAW Light recording at 4K DCI 50P internally to a CFast 2.0TM card. It can also deliver 4K UHD recording at 150Mbps, and 2K or Full HD at 35Mbps to SD cards in MP4 format.
ME200S-SH is a compact professional multi-purpose video camera featuring Canon’s renowned Dual Pixel CMOS Autofocus system. Ideal for use across a wide range of applications from broadcast and cinematic productions, to scientific research and wildlife documentaries, the ME200S-SH is capable of capturing professional, high quality Full HD images even in low or difficult lighting conditions.
The cameras come with endless imaging possibilities; ultimate control, providing smooth, fast, high-performance continuous autofocus; excellent image capture from daylight to near-darkness, offering an equivalent ISO range of 320 - 204,800, and the ME200S-SH is a versatile tool for difficult or low light shooting scenarios such as in sports arenas or when capturing nocturnal wildlife.
4k shooting software Canon used the platform to showcase its 4K shooting software, which addresses the demand for 4k content across the web and in TV content.
With Canon, the ultra HD, 4K television is no longer a thing of the future – it’s here. And with streaming giants Amazon and Netflix making content available in 4K, the demand is set to grow.
Capturing footage in a higher resolution also offers an element of future-proofing. With multimedia and multiplatform viewing, the material needs to be produced at the highest quality – rather than film it in HD and try and upscale it to 4K, film it in 4K and downscale it to HD
Canon has a full range of cameras that are capable of shooting in 4K –from XF405 right through to the flagship EOS C700 to better support customers as the industry is progressing.
Canon African aspiring filmmakers As part of efforts to address African challenges through its digital range of products, Canon sponsored aspiring filmmakers who participated in a regional competition.
As part of its role in CABSAT and to serve the overall objective of supporting the filmmaking ecosystem in Africa, Canon created a unique experience to engage aspiring African filmmakers through an interactive challenge.
The “Canon African Filmmaking Challenge” started by asking aspiring filmmakers from Egypt, Nigeria and Morocco to submit a short narrative of their idea of a film that encompasses the topic “Live for The Story” in 60 seconds. Canon then chose one winner from each market to represent its filmmaking community and to work on their own version of the film using Canon cameras.
This is only possible in a highly dynamic world through the utilisation of technology to capture lively moments with high precision, and at top quality. By catering for that, Canon encourages people to be ready to capture and document stories they are creating every day, whether through film, through photography or through the news.
In addition, Canon seeks to further penetrate the African filmmaking scene, identify the main issues that are facing young filmmakers in the region and potentially become part of the solution.
Canon focuses mainly on highlightning human experiences through its technology.
At CABSAT 2018, Canon played the short videos created by the selected three aspiring filmmakers from Nigeria, Morocco and Egypt. The short videos were played to an audience made up of journalists and filmmakers influencers from each of the markets, who have positively influenced the lives of people through their strong social media presence.
The final results were announced after the winners emerged through public voting. The aspiring filmmaker from Morocco was adjudged the overall winner, while the aspiring filmmakers from Nigeria and Egypt, got the second and third positions respectively.
The first prize winner from Morocco will receive an all-new Canon 5D Mark iv Camera, while the other two winners from Nigeria and Egypt will receive 6D Mark ii Canon Camera each, to help them launch their professional filmmaking career.
African filmmaking discussion panel Another major highlight of the activities of Canon at CABSAT 2018, was the African filmmaking discussion panel, where industry influencers from Nigeria, Morocco and Egypt, discussed regional issues about filmmaking. The discussants were TY Bello from Nigeria, Omar Lofti from Morocco, and Injy Mokadem from Egypt.
The African Filmmaking discussion panel aims to bring Canon closer to the filmmaking community in Africa through tackling the main issues filmmakers face in the region. The overarching objective is to discuss the future of the filmmaking industry in Africa, revealing facts such as industry revenues, number of movies produced and the demand for popular culture movies within the African region.
The discussants spoke on the need to grow African passion and similarities in film production and how canon digital camera can help film makers tell more of the African stories. They also talked about homogeneity in the African cinematography, and the need to develop young African talent in film making and cinematography.
They stressed the need for stronger collaboration between filmmakers and Canon in such a way that the Canon digital products could help film and video creators to do their jobs better.
The need to unite African creators and remove language barriers to enable them work better, was also discussed. While Bello, the Nigerian photographer and song writer, specifically wants stronger regional collaboration among filmmakers, Mokadem, the Egyptian actress and television presenter, said she looked forward to a situation where the film industry in Egypt, which used to be the second largest contributor to Egypt GDP, after cotton, would become vibrant again through informed script writing that will tell the story of the lives and culture of the Egyptian people, beyond Egypt.
For Lofti, who is an actor and industry influencer in Morocco, he would like to see more development in the area of cinema theatre in Morocco where the film produced in Morocco, could be easily viewed and appreciated by the people. He said the shortfall in the establishment of cinema theatre in Morocco and Egypt, is impeding the growth of film production and cinematography in those regions.