CONNECTING THE COMMUNITY: CANON PTZ CAMERAS PAVE THE WAY TO MORE ENGAGED FOLLOWERS

The Dawoodi Bohras community brings members closer together than ever, thanks to immersive, engaging live streams in 4K delivered by Canon PTZ cameras.

A milestone event

Established since the 1960s, the Dawoodi Bohras in London is a 1,000-strong community, which gathers regularly for various events including sermons, prayers, and recitals. The wider network comprises of nine communities around the UK, with more around the world.

After winning a bid to host international event, Ashara Mubaraka, for the first time in Europe, the West London community mobilised volunteers and prepared to welcome 18,000 members to Ealing. However, they lacked the necessary facilities. With all eyes on London, an upgrade was in order. At the 2022 Media Production & Technology Show, they tried out the new Canon PTZ range, before opting for the CR-N300, CR-N500 and the RC-IP100 Controller.

Client - The Dawoodi Bohras of London
Location - London, UK

The Challenge

The primary aim was to deliver a world-class imaging solution to cover the milestone 10-day event for an audience of 18,000. As a charitable organisation, Dawoodi Bohras relies on its volunteers who all have day jobs. Therefore, they needed an intuitive system that was easy to use and within budget. The community members in London wanted to go above and beyond to put on the best programming yet. That meant distributing a 4K UHD image across various giant screens throughout the venue, as well as online. Before they were using “cumbersome” camcorders on fixed tripods, which required lots of cabling and physical manoeuvring to get everything right.

The Solution

The Canon CR-N300 and CR-N500 PTZ cameras revolutionised their ability to capture and process video feeds in a professional way via Vimeo, which set a new standard for other nationwide communities to aspire to. The 4K UHD improved on-going image quality with great feedback from members in person and at home. In fact, online viewership grew because of the improved streams. In practice, the compact PTZs reduced cabling and were less distracting for both speakers and worshippers. They seamlessly integrated with third-party hardware to create an easy, reliable system that volunteers are now excited to try out.

“Using the Canon PTZs has revolutionised our ability to capture and process video feeds”