Arri Alexa most rented camera of 2011 in Televisual survey

The Arri Alexa was the most hired model of the last 12 months, according to Televisual’s just-published survey of the UK camera hire market.

Televisual surveyed 25 leading UK camera rental companies, asking for their five most hired cameras of 2011 and the proportion of rentals each model received.

This information was used to create the top 10 most hired cameras of the last year, with models ranked on their popularity and frequency of use through rental channels.

The Arri Alexa topped the list, with Sony’s PMW-EX3 and Canon’s XF305 making up the rest of the top three.

Elsewhere in the top 10 there’s a much higher presence of large sensor models compared to previous years, and only one tape-based HD camera. There are no SD models.

It’s the sixth year in succession that Televisual has produced the top 10 rental cameras list and this year’s survey uncovers by far the most dramatic set of changes so far. It reveals a startling transformation in the type of cameras being used to capture footage across all genres of programming over the last 12 months.

The Arri Alexa came out of nowhere to place on top of the pile, while there are another four large sensor cameras in the top 10, including the Sony F3, Red One MX and Red Epic.

Well-established file-based HD cameras, predominantly used for broadcast projects, take up much of the rest of the top 10. Overall, file-based HD cameras are the most popular rental models, followed by large sensor models and then much further down the list are tape-based HD models. Nothing else really gets a look in.

As part of the survey, Televisual asked hire companies to list their proposed investments for 2012. This confirms the staying power of large sensor cameras, which look set to be ever more dominant over the next 12 months.

Canon is going to do very well indeed with its ‘Super-35mm equivalent’ C300, which will be purchased by virtually every hire firm taking part in our survey. Expect the C300 to be this year’s Alexa.

Then there’s Sony’s F65, which is also picking up reasonable interest and investment, as are the Red Epic and Red Scarlet. And back in the bread-and-butter world of file-based HD, hire firms are continuing to back the Canon XF305 and Sony PDW-800.

For the full results and top 10 rankings of the most hired cameras of the last 12 months, click here.