Production sound mixer, Lee Smith, lives and works within East Africa and explains why he choose the Cantar X3 to survive to the hard, hot and dusty work places he finds himself in.
His love for the Cantar began around 12 years ago when he purchased his first Cantar, the X1. “Build quality was my main reason. My living and working conditions present many difficulties, requiring a machine that can stand up to the hard, hot and dusty work places I find myself in. Even with all the preparation you do, the unexpected will often happen.”
It was the dry season and also very hot. The trip by horseback was about an hour and a half to the village. We then shot all day until it was time for the horse ride back to the main road. About 20 minutes into the journey the heavens opened. My X1 was in its bag and I only had a T shirt on top. I placed the Cantar under the T shirt however it was soaked through. On arrival at the hotel back in Addis I removed the batteries and dried the Cantar with a hair dryer.
I was very concerned about what would happen when I turned the X1 on. With a prayer I refitted the batteries and turned her on. She fired up and showed no problems –a testament to the build quality and design of the Cantar.”
All things move forward and eventually Lee was looking to progress forward from his X1. To him there was no doubt – it had to be the Cantar X3.
Lee is used to working from his bag, so the X3 design was an important factor for him. “The way the inputs and controls are placed make working with the Cantar so wonderful”.
Lee Smith’s X3 is used for all types of work, from long form to documentaries. Recently he added a Cantar Mini recorder to his kit to replace some aging equipment: “The Mini gives me all the quality of the X3, and again, the screen is brilliant.“