
--
Anton/Bauers Dionic XT batteries and a Sachtler flowtech100 carbon-fibre tripod played starring roles in the production of Series 1 of The Americas With Simon Reeve, currently airing on BBC Two. As director of photography for the program, renowned cameraman Jonathan Young relied on the Dionic XTs and flowtech100 to capture stunning imagery in rugged, remote, and challenging locations, from the icy wilderness of Alaskas Denali National Park to the steaming jungles of Costa Rica.
The Americas is the latest in Youngs long-term collaboration with Reeve, a well-known British author, adventurer, and TV presenter. The two-series program traces Reeves journey from the top to the toe of the Americas, with Series 1 covering North and Central America. Currently in production, Series 2 will continue the story down through South America and will air in 2020.
This program is Simons most ambitious journey yet, and he explores parts of the Americas few outsiders or even locals get to see. On this shoot, we had every extreme of temperature and location that its possible to encounter in a single filming assignment, said Young. We pushed our equipment to the limit, and naturally, we expected something to break or fall apart. But the Dionic XT batteries and flowtech100 tripod performed flawlessly throughout, whether we were shooting in -20 degrees Celsius in Alaska or 35 degrees and high humidity in Costa Rica. Once again, the Anton/Bauer and Sachtler gear surpassed my expectations.
Young shot most of The Americas With Simon Reeve Series 1 using several different Sony cameras such as the PXW X500 and the FS5, all utilising Canon lenses. With its lightweight yet sturdy carbon-fibre construction, the flowtech100 tripod combined with a Sachtler Video 18 S2 fluid head to provide stable support and smooth operation for the camera payload, which often exceeded 15 kg.
For the Alaska portion of the shoot, the crew travelled to the head of the Ruth Glacier in Denali National Park in a small plane. The planes weight restrictions and limited space meant Young could only carry one tripod on the trip, but the flowtech100 covered all of his needs - accommodating cameras ranging from a small Sony A7S DLSR (used for shooting the aurora borealis) on up to the larger and heavier cine cameras.
This was my first shoot with the flowtech tripod, and it absolutely blew me away, Young commented. Initially, I had doubts about its performance at low temperatures because Ive seen other carbon-fibre equipment become brittle or crack in extreme cold. That did not happen with flowtech - it held up beautifully with no stiffening or brittleness.
Young was also impressed with flowtech100s fast and easy setup, ruggedness, and lightweight, all of which were critical not only on the glacier but also on shoots in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Costa Rica. One location, the ancient Maya site of Yaxchil n in Mexicos Chiapas state, required the crew to travel up the Usumacinta River, hike through the ruin complex, and then climb 400 feet up rough stone steps to the top of the largest temple.
Not only is the flowtech light enough to be carried easily over long distances, but its extremely fast and easy to set up on uneven ground. With just three speed brakes to lock, I could even deploy it with one hand, and each leg could adjust automatically to a different height, such as multiple steps on the temple, Young says. Time really is of the essence in many cases, such as wildlife shots. In the Costa Rican and Belizean jungles, for instance, when we were using a long lens to shoot macaws or toucans, we had to be ready to set up the instant we saw the birds circling. The flowtech100 made it possible.
Young used the same Dionic XT batteries for The Americas that he had employed for his previous Reeve project, The Mediterranean With Simon Reeve, which aired on BBC Two in 2018. The batteries reliably powered not only the cameras but also a SmallHD 702 monitor and, in some instances, a Teradek wireless transmitter as well.
I am incredibly impressed with the Dionic XTs. After over a year of hard use and regular charging, youd expect batteries to start showing their age. But I have not noticed a drop-off of performance with the Dionics, Young said. These batteries are seriously rugged - theyve flown around the world and theyve been hand-carried in a Peli case, snapped on and off cameras countless times, carried in coat pockets - and theres barely a mark on them.
Just as with the plane flight in Alaska, weight was a serious factor on the Yaxchil n shoot. The Dionic XTs long run time meant the crew was able to carry fewer batteries on the rugged approach to the site. The batteries ability to operate effectively in extreme heat, not only in Mexico but also in Costa Rica, was another critical factor.
With the Dionics, we were able to calculate our battery requirements down to the minute to ensure we could climb to the top of the temple, filming as we went, with a safety margin to get back down again. And all we needed was one Dionic XT mounted on the camera, plus a spare, to get us through at least four hours of hard, nonstop shooting. It made a big difference on a hot day with a big, strenuous hike, Young said.
He added, Anton/Bauer has put so much thought and effort into the use of the Dionic XTs in extreme environments. Ive now used them on both ends of the temperature spectrum, and theyve never overheated or let me down in any way. Heat can be a batterys worst enemy, but in the Costa Rican jungle, where we were dealing with both heat and humidity, there was no fluctuation at all in the Dionic XTs performance.
The combination of the Dionic XT batteries and flowtech100 tripod enabled Young to capture stunning and unforgettable moments for The Americas With Simon Reeve - fleeting images that change rapidly and then disappear. In one example, Youn
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
03/04/2026
Michigan's Fab Five will reunite for an alternate presentation of the Mich...
03/04/2026
Avid will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (April 18-22, Booth N2226, Las Vegas Convention Center), demonstrating its Content Core platform and new AI-driven workflow c...
03/04/2026
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has announced the appointment of Nick Barthee as Chief Operating Officer.
The announcement follows MRMC's transition fro...
03/04/2026
Interra Systems has announced that Elite Media Technologies has selected its BATON file-based QC solution for media workflows. Elite Media Technologies speciali...
03/04/2026
Ateme has announced that Moldtelecom has deployed Ateme technologies across its streaming workflow, covering encoding, delivery, operations, and analytics.
Mol...
03/04/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate Framelight X, its content management platform, at NAB Show 2026. The platform connects capture, ingest, editing, and publishing in...
03/04/2026
Encompass Digital Media and Techex have announced a cloud-native Master Control ...
03/04/2026
Live Vertical Video automatically track the action on the court via AI technology and delivers a fully optimized, 9 16 live feed for viewers...
03/04/2026
As the Illini make their first trip to college basketball's biggest stage si...
03/04/2026
After last summer's Softball National Championship victory and last week'...
03/04/2026
The University of Arizona's Men's Basketball team has only loss twice th...
03/04/2026
Eight games across four tournaments will be played in three venues; accommodatio...
03/04/2026
The Ottawa Senators and Bell Media have announced a long-term rights extension for regional Ottawa Senators games on TSN and RDS. TSN Radio 1200 remains the exc...
03/04/2026
Massive production in Phoenix running out of Flagship Mobile unit, Features 50+ ...
03/04/2026
Iconic guitar pedals now available in plug-in form
Guitar effects experts Electro-Harmonix have teamed up with MixWave to turn a collection of their most pr...
03/04/2026
New multi-band AUv3 plug-in announced
Fred Anton Corvest (FAC) offer an extensive range of AUv3 plug-ins and iOS/iPadOS Apps, and their multiband effects pr...
03/04/2026
Just 84 units to be released in the US
Experimental synthesizer and sound-machine extraordinaires SOMA Laboratory have revealed an upcoming special-edition ...
03/04/2026
Emulates the input section of an Ampex 350
One of the latest arrivals to the Iconic Instruments range delivers a new tube preamp plug-in inspired by the cir...
03/04/2026
New York April 2, 2026 TelevisaUnivision, the world's leading Spanish-la...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
CVP, one of Europe's leading suppliers of professional video and broadcast solutions, today announces the launch of its new German operation and the formati...
03/04/2026
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) today announces the appointment of Nick Barthee as Chief Operating Officer, strengthening its leadership as the company conti...
03/04/2026
Net Insight introduces programmable Trust Boundaries that make live media interconnection predictable as traffic moves between facilities, networks and cloud en...
03/04/2026
Winning in the new media economy: Avid showcases AI-powered, connected intellige...
03/04/2026
NUGEN Audio CEO Dr. Paul Tapper to Lead Presentation About Dialog Intelligibilit...
03/04/2026
NAB Show 2026: PlayBox Neo Highlights Workflow, Security, and IP Advances
Brie Clayton April 2, 2026
0 Comments
PlayBox Neo will showcase the latest i...
03/04/2026
For Taku Hirano, Everything Is Connected From touring and composition to teaching and instrument design, the in-demand percussionist sees it all as one body o...
03/04/2026
Berklee Honors Humberto Ramirez with Master of Latin Music Award The alumnus and acclaimed trumpeter is honored for his influence as a performer, composer, an...
03/04/2026
VIZ Media Lands Rumiko Takahashi's MAO, Sets April 4 Premiere on Hulu in the...
03/04/2026
Back to All News
Competition Heats Up with Intrigue and Spices: Netflix Unveils...
03/04/2026
Back to All News
Radioactive Emergency Ranks #1 On Netflix's Global Top 10 ...
02/04/2026
HBO and NFL Films have announced Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Seattle Sea...
02/04/2026
Haivision has announced the Makito ONE, a single-blade video encoding and decoding platform, at NAB Show 2026. The platform combines dual-channel video encoding...
02/04/2026
Telestream has introduced UP.Lens, a cloud-based multiviewer and monitoring serv...
02/04/2026
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C5220, April 19-22, Las Vegas Convention Center), marking the company's 60th anniver...
02/04/2026
Net Insight has introduced programmable Trust Boundaries, a feature integrated i...
02/04/2026
Bitmovin has announced support for SGAI (Server-Guided Ad Insertion) in its playback products, using HLS interstitials. SGAI combines elements of client-side an...
02/04/2026
Riedel Communications' SimplyLive RiMotion R12 replay system is supporting B...
02/04/2026
LTN, a managed IP video transport company, and Ateme, a video compression and de...
02/04/2026
Harmonic has announced that TDF, a broadcast infrastructure operator in France, has deployed Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor and ProStream X Video S...
02/04/2026
Eluvio and the United Rugby Championship (URC) have announced first-year results...