Israel’s Sport 5 TV channel used a Polecam to provide live coverage of the recent international football match between Israel and Hungary at Ramat Gan National Stadium in Tel Aviv.
The Polecam, operated by specialist Youval Ronan, was used in three situations during the game. The first was as a studio crane for the pregame discussion panel. Then, the Polecam was moved to the edge of the playing field, where it was used during the match with a Toshiba HD camera; an SD output was fed to the OB vehicle. When the game ended, the Polecam was moved again to the studio area for postgame coverage.
The Polecam is a lightweight, portable jib arm with a remote joystick controlling a high-precision pan-and-tilt head. A single operator can handle the system, which has a 5ft to 20ft reach. The complete system, weighing 77lbs, can be packed into two bags for quick movement and setup at various locations in the stadium. Rig time is about 10 minutes.
Created in 1998 by extreme sports cameraman/director Steffan Hewitt, Polecam can be attached to the body with a harness or used on a tripod. The rig comes complete with five universal, custom-wound carbon fiber sections (one as spare) each measuring more than 3ft in length and 1.6in in diameter. A counterweight arm protrudes 3ft to the rear and contains the counterweights, 10A/h batteries, camera CCU and interface unit.
