Getting started in the UK??
 

Hi Guys,

i've recently moved to london from ireland with the aim of starting to work in the industry. Camera operating is the dream and i was hoping some of ye might have some advice for getting started over here as i have no contacts here yet.

basically i'm just wonderin about joining unions, getting insurance, should i be setting myself up as a company for tax reasons, ect. i see that to rent equipment they want a lot of info like this from you.

i have no equipment so i'll be looking to rent until i get some of my own, anyone have any opinions of the different rental houses here?

any advice would be greatly appreciated.
thanks,
james.

Hi James.

There are plenty of rental equipment suppliers in London. I have only rented once but from a company in the Manchester region.

If I rent again (I bought new kit) my preference is to see if they are an official distributor of the main manufacturers (Sony, Panasonic etc). IMHO it says to me they are at least reputable and give consideration to their reputation and to their customers.

Ask if they supply any of the independents or have any testimonials you can check out.

Renting can be hit and miss in many cases, but if you find one who delivers well maintained kit on time at a reasonable price then I would recommend you go and by a Lottery Ticket immediately.

Good luck with your venture in London and welcome to the UK.

:)

The UK union is BECTU. Home - BECTU

They have some insurance schemes, the best of which is the public liability, the saving on which could cover the cost of the membership subs.

There are numerous rental houses in London, it really depends on which market sector you're working. However, they usually expect you to have your own insurance cover - either production or your personal equipment insurance.

Hi James,

To rent gear you'll need sponsors of some kind. I use ProCam in Battersea who are very good, but i do it through my mate's company. For obvious reasons they don't just hand over expensive gear to strangers. You'll need references, insurance etc.

Most rental houses are fairly Sonycentric in England, though there are a few Panasonic's about especially at the higher end.

Good luck.

thanks for the info.

i've decided that its probably for the best if i get my own gear together so i'm going to try and hunt down a second hand ex1. i'm also goin to make contact with BECTU and see what needs to be done to get my setup legit. thanks also for pointing me to ProCam because i live in Clapham so i'll call up there some day next week and have a chat with them.

An EX1 is an expensive place to start your career.
I'd recommend a tape based camera. Then you could add a NanoFlash at a later date.

The EX1 can be a nightmare of a camera if you get it wrong. The autofocus is useless, far red problems, expensive media. My Z1 is so easy in comparison and it's still going strong on a year long hire out.

An EX1 is my main camera, great kit, but I wouldn't have coped properly with it earlier in my career in a fast paced environment.

You work freelance and you get a gig, how are you going to give the rushes to your client? You'll need a laptop or something. Very few clients will want to deal with BPAVs etc. etc.

Do you have any proper experience? Just because you own a nice camera, I wouldn't use you if you have never used it before.

Fair points Duncan. you may be right. i have only used and ex1 once but have a lot of experience (in college not in the real world) with the z1. maybe i'm tryin to run before i can walk so to speak. i was just concerned that the z1 was startin to become outdated by the newer tapeless cameras. the expensive of the ex1 is probably too much aswell if i factor in a laptop and cards. thanks for the advice.

The Z1 still produces great pictures, it doesn't matter if it's tape or not.

The kind of work you'd be getting at first probably won't demand super high quality, and if it did there would be a budget to hire anyway.

Between those cameras is the Z7 which has both HDV tape and flash memory recording.