Hong Kong-based creative powerhouse Inventive has built a niche for itself in graphics design and commercials over the last 20 years. Whether providing production and post to clients in the theme park industry, retail or motorsports, Inventive’s creative team aims to deliver high-quality visuals, while also keeping costs down and maintaining efficient workflows in-house. Looking to diversify its portfolio, Inventive recently began work on the food and beverage show “The Romance of Dining in Hong Kong,” and Creative Director Joe Kam introduced the AJA CION camera into its production workflow for the project.   

In recent years, food and beverage shows have grown in popularity in Asia, with each program dishing out its own unique aesthetic. To differentiate “The Romance of Dining in Hong Kong” from the pack, Inventive decided early on that it would need to establish a cinematic look for the show. “Originally, we considered using film cameras, but quickly realized that it would be more expensive and require more time in post. Then, I showed everyone CION, and they were instantly impressed,” shared Kam. “The low light performance and shadow details were stunning, and you could see that there’s so much room to play within the color space, as well as details to pull out from dark areas of the image. It was a perfect match.” 

For each episode, Inventive’s crew shot three to four hours of footage at UltraHD 50fps in ProRes 422 which afforded them greater room to play with slow-mo in post. No matter the environment or rig, Inventive found CION easy to handle.

“CION has been a game changer for our team,” explained Kam. “When you’re shooting for long stretches like we do, it’s vital that you have a comfortable, lightweight camera you can move around easily. We’d tried other cameras, but CION was the most comfortable bar none; it’s great for both tripod and handheld shooting situations.” 

As a longtime AJA customer, Inventive has also used AJA KONA cards, IoXT, T-Tap and Ki Pro recorders in productions. Already familiar with AJA Ki Pro, Kam was pleasantly surprised by CION’s intuitive menu. He said, “CION’s UI is so straightforward, like Ki Pro; it was quick and easy to learn. I could simply change ISO, set the white balance and adapt other settings – all while the camera was still on my shoulder.” 

Lauding AJA’s continued support and commitment to its products throughout the years, Kam concluded, “There is nothing more important to us in a product than value and quality, and AJA consistently delivers that. CION is no exception, and its image quality alone is priceless. Whatever the product, AJA gear just keeps getting better and better, and we can’t wait to see what they have in store for the next CION firmware update.”  

View CION Footage from Inventive

About CION

Ergonomic and lightweight in design with unparalleled connectivity, the CION production camera is capable of shooting at 4K/UltraHD and 2K/HD resolutions. In-camera recording directly to the Apple ProRes family of codecs, including 12-bit ProRes 444, enables incredible image quality capture to cost-effective AJA Pak SSD media at up to 4K/60p, and offers compatibility with a wide range of post production applications. CION can also output AJA Raw at up to 4K 120 fps via 4 x 3G-SDI or up to 4K 30 fps via Thunderbolt™. 

About AJA Video Systems, Inc.

Since 1993, AJA Video has been a leading manufacturer of video interface technologies, converters, digital video recording solutions and professional cameras, bringing high-quality, cost-effective products to the professional, broadcast and post-production markets. AJA products are designed and manufactured at our facilities in Grass Valley, California, and sold through an extensive sales channel of resellers and systems integrators around the world. For further information, please see our website at www.aja.com.