Accelerating Interest In Camera Corps Robotic Television Cameras

Camera Corps has reported accelerating interest in the production efficiency of robotic television cameras.
The company's Q-Ball Pre-Set weatherproofed compact remote pan/tilt/zoom camera, launched at IBC last year and now in production, was demonstrated alongside the established Q-Ball and the new SIMPLY SMPTE long-range electro-optical camera link.
"Remotely controlled cameras are being specified for an increasingly wide range of projects," commented Camera Corps' Technical Director Jim Daniels. "A sensibly configured system allows a four-person production team to control up to 96 cameras. That includes real-time joystick control of all the normal camera parameters plus white balance, black balance and genlock timing. The cameras can be connected back to base by up to 150 metres of HD-SDI video cable. Using our new SIMPLY SMPTE link extends this to 5 kilometres for a mix of cameras or 8 kilometres for the Q-Ball or Q-Ball Pre-Set. The ability to store and recall Q-Ball Pre-Set camera settings makes the actual programme production even more efficient. Up to 18 shot settings can be rehearsed and stored, each setting comprising pan, tilt, zoom and focus and all held in non-volatile RAM within the robotic head itself."
"Q-Ball robotic systems have proved very popular with broadcast equipment rental companies in many countries," added Camera Corps Managing Director Laurie Frost. "We are now experiencing a lot of interest from production companies who have hitherto rented our cameras or can see the advantages of investing in their own. IBC attracted promising leads from Africa, Australia, the Middle East and South America. We also had discussions with existing and potential clients from Britain. Our new DS-1 digital stills head attracted a lot of attention following its use at the London Olympics by photographers from Associated Press, Getty and Reuters. The head, which was designed in co-operation with Canon, allows a D-SLR camera to be mounted practically anywhere. Operated remotely, it delivers shots from angles hitherto almost impossible for a photographer to get without risk of injury or without disrupting the subject. The SIMPLY SMPTE opto-electric link also did well at IBC, attracting a 'What Caught My Eye' award from the editors of the IBC Daily newspaper.
Based on the site of the former Brooklands motor-racing track near London's Heathrow airport, Camera Corps (part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company) specialises in providing high-volume support services for reality television programmes as well as very large-scale sports and stage events. Camera Corps has achieved a pre-eminent reputation for its ability to acquire exciting and unusual television content from exceptionally challenging environments.
www.cameracorps.co.uk