Power to the People

You can have the best camera kit in the world but if you can’t power it because your batteries have failed you, then you are really stuck. This article explores the battery standards which exist today and how to make the most out of every type of technology.

Sustainable Film Competition

CALLING ALL SUSTAINABLY MINDED FILMMAKERS! 2023 was a difficult year for our industry, to get 2024 started on the right note, VMI and Sustainable Film are offering 2 productions the … Read more

VMI Price Match – You won’t hire it cheaper. Full Stop.

Find a better price elsewhere?  Just send us a competitor’s quote and we will match it.  You will also help to save the planet, since we are the only Albert Certified Carbon Neutral rental company.

VMI Price Match commitment – we will price match against any other UK Rental company, subject to availability.

Shooting Anamorphic in Full Frame and S-35

Everyone appreciates the cinematic quality of shooting anamorphic.

With the popularity of Full Frame, it made sense for VMI to make more options available for capturing in both anamorphic and Frame. This is a new article to explore these options.

VMI Open House Event… In Pictures

With the degree of weirdness for 2023 being off the weirdness scale, we decided to host an ‘Open House’ in September for our clients and it was a great success with lots of new and existing kit on show. Here is the story… in pictures!

VMI Publishes Sustainability Film

VMI publishes a short film to show our approach to sustainability and how we have reengineered our business to become an Albert-approved Carbon-Neutral rental company since 2022. We know that … Read more

VMI Supports RA Futures Programme

VMI continues to support the RA Agency Futures Program by offering space and equipment to aid training to help them with their aim of identifying and developing black female talent … Read more

The VMI Value-added Factor

Seriously, why choose one rental company over any other? We think that exemplary customer service, delivered entirely carbon-neutrally and which is competitively priced are our value-added-factors. Ready why here:

5 years of Wellness Days at VMI

As a monthly treat, VMI arranges for a masseuse to visit VMI in Acton on the last Tuesday of the month to give a personal massage to consenting staff. It … Read more

VMI Website History – 1995-2023

Few will realise that VMI’s website is now on its 5th version and thanks to Google’s cache facility, we can share some of these versions with you to show you how our website has evolved.

Vintage Lenses are Still Cool

To reflect that VMI’s wide range of vintage and vintage-look lenses, we have redefined the vintage category on our website to now includes 14 different types of sets of Vintage/Vintage-look … Read more

Bristol’s 1st EV arrives

The supply chain issues post-COVID has meant that Bristol has been waiting a full year for their first of two EV to arrive with their electric van expected to arrive … Read more

End-of-8K-TVs

Is This the End of 8K TVs?

8K TVs are so power-hungry, that they are now about to be banned from the European Union, so does this mean that the quest for higher and higher resolution monitors will now cease?

My private 4K TV is in the A+ efficiency category but 8K sets are currently classed as G, so is 8K doomed?

It all started with a comment…

It all started with a comment back in 2018: Like many companies, VMI regularly engaged in customer questionnaires seeking feedback on product and service and like any company there will … Read more

How A Supportive Team Say Farewell

Many people have described working at VMI as feeling a bit like being in a family (without the seasonal discord bit at Christmas…). Well, we think that this is quite … Read more

Sustainable Dog

There has been a lot of research demonstrating the positive impact that pets can have on staff, just by being in the workplace.  So if you visit VMI in Acton, … Read more

Mid-range cameras don’t mean compromise

At VMI we’ve noticed a recent trend among filmmakers and wondered if you agree? We’ve spotted that a significant number of productions are ‘trading down’ from using traditional top of the range cine-cameras…

Bristol Solar PV cuts power use by 56%

Amazingly, Bristol’s Sola PV installation has cut their power use by more than half (56%), though the pictures tell the full story though!(Data from Octopus energy readings taken 25-April – … Read more

VMI is Infinity’s Prime UK Rental House

VMI has a long-standing relationship with Infinity Photo-Optical who makes the Infiniprobe TS160 probe lenses. Barry Bassett, VMI’s Managing Director, has been recognised as being their ‘Nelsonian Award’ winner back … Read more

Company Food Poll

What kind of company polls their staff to see what food they would like to eat for catered events? We do! In February 2022, we polled the entire VMI staff … Read more

VMI Donates Lights for Student Training

VMI has partnered with Bristol-based college, boomsatsuma, donating a range of lighting equipment for BA Hons Filmmaking Production and Post-production degree student skills development, Jan 2021. Degree students based at … Read more

VMI is a certified Great Place to Work!

VMI has always striven to be a place that people enjoy working in and a recent independent audit by organisation, GreatPlaceToWork, has confirmed that 96% of VMI’s workforce judge VMI … Read more

VMI E-Bike Scheme Launched

VMI launched the BLIKE scheme as an alternative to the existing Cycle-to-Work scheme, to personally lease E-Bikes as a healthier and cost-effective way of commuting.

Latest BECTU Guidance Adopted

Jason Henwood, working with the Bectu Camera Branch, has published the latest guidance document detailing policies and and recommendations to help camera assistants, producers and rental companies to adopt more sustainable working … Read more

Celebrate the World achieving Net Zero!

Celebrate the world achieving Net Zero and not surpassing 1.5°C global temperature rise and 20 years of Net Zero as a company thriving within the green economy. …well, there’s nothing … Read more

True Net Zero Achieved

We aim to reach Net Zero emissions in Scopes 1, 2 & 3 by 2030. This means that we will have reduced our emissions as far as technology allows and … Read more

Address Scope 3 Emissions

As with many companies auditing their emissions, we know that Scope 3 can be tricky. But by 2026 it is our goal to have all upstream & downstream Scope 3 … Read more

Cut Emissions by 50%

We will have cut our emissions by half by 2025 compared to 2019. Our plan is to create less than 62,500KG this year (and/or less than 2KG/employee). We will have … Read more

Full Transition to EVs

We plan on transitioning all of our vehicles to electric by the end of 2024. This will save approximately 37,000 KGs of CO2e (when compared to our 2019 transport emissions) 

Data Centre Power Audit

We’re auditing all of our data centres to make sure that our hosts all use 100% renewable electricity. 

Cut Packaging 10%

We plan to cut a further 10% of our packaging and the packaging we receive. Even if packaging can be recycled, it’s better if it can be eliminated in the … Read more

VMI wins National Climate Award

VMI won a national award being crowned “Hero of Net Zero” by the UK Government at the international COP26 climate summit in November 2021 for its work on sustainability. More … Read more

RA Futures Programme

We supported the RA Agency Futures Program, identifying and developing black female talent in the scripted camera department, by offering space and equipment. To find out more about RA Agency … Read more

Electric Vehicle Charging

Our Acton and Bristol Branches now have charging stations to allow us to use electric vehicles to transport your goods and so that our staff can commute via electric vehicles. … Read more

VMI Shortlisted for Park Royal Business of the Year award 2022

For the third year in as many years, VMI has been nominated as a finalist for the West London Business Awards. VMI has been shortlisted as one of three companies for the Green ‘Race to Zero’ Business of the Year but what is really surprising is that also, for the first time, we have been also shortlisted as one of three companies in the category of Park Royal Business of the Year.

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New generation of Auto Focus lenses now available with E and EF Mounts

Auto Focus is here to stay and whilst this is not a panacea to force all focus-pullers to retrain, the increased adoption of Full Frame (which necessarily makes focussing more critical than S-35 or APSC formats) and the enhanced development of the technology, makes this functionality more useful and as a result, we are noticing an increased interest in it.

VMI Are Recruiting!

VMI currently have the opening for a Senior Technician to join our busy camera rental facility in West London and are inviting applications now. Candidates must have a background in … Read more

VMI Retires all Tungsten Rental Lighting

Tungsten is the most traditional form of TV/Film lighting still in use today, having replaced expensive and dangerous Carbon Arc fittings. In reality though, tungsten lighting fixtures ought to be … Read more

Climate Crisis Employee Education

Engaging with all stakeholders on our climate crisis journey is integral to realising the change needed. One step in this is educating our team on the basics of Climate Change … Read more

toner-recycling

Print and Toner Recycling

All old ink and toner cartridges are disposed of in a responsible and sustainable manner with a new recycling bin installed by Lewis. We all know that these are very … Read more

Ethical Banking

We have reviewed our banking facilities and are pleased to be with the Cooperative Bank, who have the best ESG profile of all UK banks*. We continue to review all … Read more

Created Net Zero Roadmap

We’ve created our Net Zero Roadmap! We will reduce our emissions to the limits that technology and society set for us by 2030 and offset any residual emissions along the … Read more

VMI takes on three new Apprentices

From left: Jonah Mann, Josh Barker, Matt Fisher. Dominique Unsworth recently posted on Linked-in, “I remember when everyone I spoke to said it couldn’t be done, it wouldn’t work, our … Read more

Sustainable Travel Policy Implemented

We created a company travel policy, committing to not using airplanes for all European travel. Our policy promotes video conferencing, bike and rail travel, suggests road travel as Plan B … Read more

Lower Carbon Cleaning Products

We use  Splosh, who provide washing up liquid, cleaning products and hand-wash, to reduce plastic waste. Their products are refilled using pouches, which are sent back for refilling or to … Read more

First Carbon Audit Complete

VMI completed its first ever Carbon Audit. Since 2020 was such a peculiar year, we used 2019 as our base year from which all of our carbon saving measures will … Read more

Brand New VMEDIA on-line database V2

With so many different recording formats, memory card types, media sizes, compatibility issues and upgrade requirements, it can be a challenge trying to find compatible memory cards or SSDs for your camera or recorder.

However, Lewis has been extremely hard at work to make this easier for you with the VMEDIA Online Database V2 which is organised into the most popular brands and sortable by camera model, which gives details on compatibility, data rates and approximate recording times too

VMI Bristol Image

VMI Bristol is 6 years old

VMI Bristol celebrates six years since it was set up and in that time, Gary, Jon and the rest of the Bristol team have established it into a mainstream camera … Read more

Some S-35 zooms already cover FF (you just didn’t know this!)

This is an extremely brief article to help to explain a lesser-known but extremely valuable tip. In summary, film zooms designed to cover S-35 sensors, will also cover Full Frame as well IF used with a 1.5x extender and this is built into several zoom lenses already, such as the Canon Cabrio zooms.

Going viral with Venice in lockdown London

Enterprising young filmmakers Edoardo Forato and Fyras Slaiman hope their new short film In-Flu-Enza will catch the attention of producers and directors.  The period drama, set amid the 1920 Spanish flu outbreak, … Read more

5 years of renewable electricity

We have been powered solely by 100% renewable electricity since 2016 at all our sites. We are proud that in 2022, all of VMI’s gas and electric supplies of all … Read more

Macro and Micro Cinematography

We all love to see images of extreme magnification to show a world which we can’t experience with our own eyes but just like all cinematography, this is hard to do well.
The choice right lens for the specific shot is key and this article aims to explain the differences between Close Up, Macro and Micro photography/cinematography and in particular, to introduce the cinematographer to a relatively recent new type of lens, which are called Nelsonian Lenses made by Infinity Photo-Optical and which use microscope techniques to create unique images which are not possible using traditional optics.

Leitz Summicron-C 40mm T2.0

VMI Guide to Film Lenses

Article introducing the differences between film lenses and explaining the terms and factors which distinguish them.

2016 Film Zoom Lens Comparison Chart

A very useful chart including all current film zoom lenses in a table and compariring useful data including image coverage, front diameter, weight, min T stop etc.Compiled by Tom Fletcher and Gary Adcock and reproduced with kind permission from Tom Fletcher

Easyrig – all you need to know

This is a short article to explain the principles behind the Easyrig concept and to introduce the product range of models with advice to their suitability for various camera configurations.

2019 Camera Comparison Chart

A very useful chart including all current HD and 4K cameras in a table and compariring useful data including image size, latitude, pixel resolution power consumption etc.Compiled by Tom Fletcher and Gary Adcock with information gathered from numerous conversations with various cinematographers, colorists, colleagues and manufacturers. and reproduced with kind permission from Tom Fletcher

2016 Anamorphic Prime Lens Chart

Compiled by Tom Fletcher and Gary Adcock with information gathered from numerous conversations with various cinematographers, colorists, colleagues and manufacturers and reproduced with kind permission from Tom Fletcher. Click on the chart to … Read more

Alexa Mini or Amira – which should I choose?

This is a short article to highlight the differences and similarities between the two cameras in order to assist VMI clients in making sensible and informed choices about which system would be most suitable for a given project.

Achieving More From Your Production Budget

A guide to answering questions of How to compare rental prices from competing rental companies? What equipment to use? Whether to buy or hire? Or, if buying is considered, then when is the right time to buy?

Guide: How to Shoot Bullet Time

A VMI guide with video, courtesy of Stephen Roach and Jermaine Allen of Merchant Cantos showing just how easy it is to create unique ‘Bullet time 360″ videos for the ultimate ‘hero’ selfie.

Shallow DoF for Streaming

A shallow Depth of Field can reduce the bandwidth requirement of video, which is good for the internet.We wanted to test this theory and this article explores this idea and concludes that you can save around 10% bandwidth by shooting with a large sensor camera compared with a small sensor camera, as the shallow depth of field means that you capture only the bits that you want in fine detail and as background is defocused.

Employee Assistance Programme Set Up

All of our staff and their families can access confidential one-on-one advice on any subject, from mortgages to mental health, for which they need support.

Albert Sustainable Supplier

We’ve been recognised by Bafta’s albert initiative as a supplier going the extra mile to be green and support the production industry. By signing this declaration, we endeavour to work alongside … Read more

Jay Beats Cancer

We are so pleased that Jay Patel, who has worked with the driving team of VMI for almost 15 years, has managed to totally beat Pancreatic Cancer against the odds. … Read more

We’ve been super busy-busy

VMI has been busy-busy over the past 12 months and have supplied camera equipment for 17 drama series, 5 x Natural History Series, plus several features, promos, commercials,corporates and feature films. … Read more

Benchmark Year for Carbon Reduction

This is our benchmark year for carbon reduction. We audited our emissions and discovered we created 123,725KG of CO2e emissions in 2019. We measured Scopes 1 and 2 along with … Read more

Monthly Wellness Day

We offer a monthly ‘wellness day’ to staff, working with Lulabelle Wellness, giving staff an individual 15 minute gentle massage with a trained masseuse. This has been incredibly popular and … Read more

Cloud-based Company

We archive all documents electronically, to save printing and storage and set up a cloud-based HR system, where staff can access all company procedures and staff manuals. This ensures all … Read more

Film for Future, BECTU

We are proud to be founding members and continuing contributors of Bectu’s Film for Future. To promote best sustainable practices within the department, the Camera Branch’s Sustainability working group, has … Read more

Biodegradable Plastic Packaging

We switched to EPI biodegradable plastic to seal filters.

We tested this plastic ourselves to see how it degrades and found that it didn’t perform as well as we had hoped and plan to change to potato starch based tubing later in 2022.

You might be interested to note that this change was inspired by client feedback in our annual customer questionnaire survey.

Paper Labels to Seal Cables

We switched to paper adhesive labels to seal cables. These give us and clients a visible indication of whether cables require testing or not.  The labels are recycled paper for … Read more

Our First Electric Vehicle

VMI’s media rental arm, VMEDIA, offers the first solely electric delivery service from a camera/media company.  This means 100% of our VMedia deliveries will be electric! As a low-carbon service, … Read more

Free Fruit

We buy unlimited free fruit for staff to munch on. This really simple and popular decision has continued and encourages great eating and is much more healthy than the free … Read more

Recycled Paper Only

We only use recycled paper and we recycle all paper and cardboard waste that it produces. Faxes and emails are received and filed electronically, avoiding all printing of them.

Major Project saves 30,000KWH per year

Ealing Council has praised VMI’s environmental efforts by awarding VMI with an environmental award to recognise its effort to save energy in a new IT initiative.  The project managed to … Read more

Energy Usage Reduced

Over a 4-year period, VMI cut its energy use in Acton by 8% annually through smart energy-reducing measures. Having smart meters really helped us to monitor the effects of these … Read more

Conscious cooling

We have fan-assisted heat extraction which requires no refrigeration gases to cool our building. Overnight, the fans expel hot air collected in the ceiling space. However, as we are seeing … Read more

Satisfied Customers

We monitor the score that you give us for customer service every year and hope to always improve on this. We still read every comment that clients make on our … Read more

Water Meters Installed

We’ve installed water meters to monitor our usage with a goal of lowering our water and energy usage.

Home Working Introduced

Created a home-working provision to reduce commuting emissions and improve our staff’s work/life balance. This is available to all employees whose jobs aren’t dependent on being in the warehouse. [VMI … Read more

Water Coolers Eradicated

We eradicated bottled water deliveries, installing a mains-fed water cooler instead at our Acton base. This supplies ground-cooled filtered tap water fountain cutting transport emissions, plastic-creation and electricity consumption. 

Eco flooring

The floors of the warehouse are installed with Ecotiles, insulating the space. Made from recycled Tetrapaks, Ecotiles are 100% recyclable after their lifespan of 20 years, contain no toxic materials, … Read more

LED Lighting Installed

We installed LED lights through our London facility. These offer a better quality of light, are less tiring to staff than fluorescent, as well as reducing electricity by approximately 90% … Read more

Towel Waste Eradicated

We eradicated towel waste, having installed Dyson Blade hand driers in toilets in both VMI buildings. Hand dryers reduce our carbon emissions compared to paper towels by up to 70%.  … Read more

Eradicated Using Canned Air

We installed a compressor to distribute pumped, filtered air around the building. Before this, we were buying around 200 cans of pressurised air annually. We stopped this and installed compressors … Read more

Paid Internships Introduced

We introduced a paid three-month internship programme which provided significant camera training and a route into the TV industry for those with little or some experience. Over half of our … Read more

Introduce Cycle to Work Scheme

The Cycle to Work scheme allows staff to buy decent bikes without the large upfront pay out. We’re proud to be a part of it. Three of our London team … Read more

Introduce No-cost Flexible Deliveries

We introduce free-of charge non time-specific deliveries in order to create more multiple drop trips significantly reducing in our transport-created emissions.  

Commenced Client Surveys

Client Satisfaction Surveys – Your opinion is so important to us we introduced sending clients annual client satisfaction surveys, publishing these on our website. We read all feedback (good and … Read more

Web Guides Enhanced

Film technology changes fast. We offer free, continued professional development videos and guides to the industry. There’s a wealth of knowledge on our Learn & Help page and we’ve made … Read more

Began Producing Web Guides

We began producing web guides covering the transition to HD and then extended this to lighting, cinematography and other subjects in order to spread good practice and technological developments within … Read more

Noise Disturbance Minimised

We have always worked towards minimising noise disturbance caused by our business to neighbours. As we transition to electric vehicles this will improve even further.  

Began Running Workshops

We began running workshops to promote solid state production workflows to the industry.  [Solid-state workflow course given in Soho, circa 2004] 

Began using Tapeless Technology

We began promoting the environmental merits of tape-less technology reducing stock waste to begin early migration from tape-based production.  This included producing internet guides and also running workshops to help … Read more

Recycling of Old Batteries

All our batteries are retired from service and sent back to the manufacturer, either Anton/Bauer or Hawk-Woods for recycling. Anton/Bauer has partnered with Call 2 Recycle to recycle their batteries. … Read more

That's all!

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