The BBC’s Natural History Unit has doubled its stock of Red cameras with the purchase of seven Epic Dragon devices.

The cameras have been added to the NHU’s existing stock of Red Epics, which were recently upgraded with Dragon sensors to allow the cameras to acquire 6K footage.

The new cameras were purchased through CVP and will be used on several new landmark BBC NHU series.

Towards the end of last year, director general Tony Hall announced 11 commissions designed to showcase the “strength and key role” of the NHU. He described the programmes as “the most ambitious range of natural history we’ve ever commissioned”.

The Red Epics were used to shoot Life Story, the first NHU production to be shot at 4K.

Ahead of the programme’s TX in November, NHU creative director Mike Gunton told Broadcast that shooting at higher resolutions than HD relieved some of the pressure on cameramen by increasing the flexibility in the edit.

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