Hitachi HDTV Cameras Improve Production Quality and Boost Volunteer Morale as Lighthouse Church Rebuilds after Hurricane

Lighthouse Churchs previous main building was significantly damaged when Hurricane Michael tore through Panama City Beach in 2018, completely destroying its auditorium. Worshipers met in the churchs much smaller childrens building until a new space could be developed. A year-long renovation project broke ground in 2020 to convert a former AMC movie theater into the churchs new home: a 37,000 square foot facility featuring an 850-seat auditorium, half-court basketball, and a child development center.

The relocation provided the impetus and opportunity for the church to implement a long-awaited upgrade to its video production capabilities. Prior to the hurricane, the church had used mobile phones and consumer-level camcorders, but they were not satisfied with the results. Our video capabilities were fairly primitive, explained Juili Bailey, Worship Leader and Creative Pastor at Lighthouse Church. Upgrading them had already been part of our long-term vision, but it hadnt been a financial priority for us. We were sort of stuck, as we didnt want to make the investment in upgrading until we could do it the way we wanted to do it. Then the hurricane reset every plan that we had.

Bailey wanted to ensure that the cameras and other equipment they purchased would meet not only the churchs immediate needs, but also longer-term goals. Video is a key medium for creating and reinforcing connection between the church and our members, so we wanted to move towards better quality, she said. We also wanted the option to broadcast our services on television in the future. We wanted to plan ahead now, as its often difficult to backfill and retrofit things later.

Tennessee-based systems integration firm AVLX designed and installed the video, audio, and lighting systems for Lighthouse Churchs new venue. AVLX recommended Hitachi cameras because of their quality, price/performance value, durability, and volunteer-friendly ease of use. The church purchased three Z-HD5500 broadcast camera systems, which are stationed on Cartoni tripods in fixed positions within the auditorium.

Lighthouse Churchs new location opened in June 2021 and now hosts roughly 1200 in-person attendees each Sunday. Video acquired by the Hitachi cameras feeds image magnification (IMAG) through Digital Projection 21000 lumen projectors to the auditoriums 12-foot by 7-foot Draper TecVision screens and is streamed to online followers via multiple platforms. The Z-HD5500s global shutter sensors enable the capture of flawless video without visual artifacts such as moir? patterns or flickering in the sanctuarys LED-rich environment, which features a 40-foot SquareV Zi3 LED wall as a digital backdrop.

In addition to significantly improving the video quality of the churchs productions, Bailey also notes how easy it was for the all-volunteer crew to learn to operate the cameras. Honestly, we have been shocked at how well the volunteers have taken to them, and the increase in quality that we got overnight, she said. Our area is more tourism-oriented than high-tech, so were not in a place where most people are dealing with technology in their jobs every day. Our technology volunteers were still able to get up to speed very quickly. The cameras have also given our volunteers a morale boost, as theyre putting out a result that they can be proud of and that they feel is a great increase in quality. It makes them excited to come and be on the cameras every week.

Lighthouse Church looks forward to growing its video operations even further, but is already more than satisfied with the Z-HD5500 cameras. The Hitachi cameras have definitely met our expectations and exceeded them, and we know theres plenty more that we can do with them, summarized Bailey. Our goal is to communicate fluidly and even beautifully. In 2021, video and other forms of technology are essentially the language that people speak. These cameras have allowed us to speak that language very well.