Camera operator Martin Mueller recently used a Polecam camera support system mounted on a small tripod at the back of a snowmobile for unique POV sequences to show TV viewers how cross-country skiing works. Mueller’s rig reached more than 130m/h on downhill runs to give TV viewers a first-person experience of cross-country skiing. The footage was broadcast on Germany's second TV network, ZDF, during the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship in Liberec, Czech Republic.
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships have been held since 1925. Championship events include cross-country skiing, ski jumping and a combination of the two.
Polecam was established in 1998 by extreme sports cameraman/director Steffan Hewitt. While directing a series of windsurfing kit commercials in Hawaii, he needed to obtain close wide-angle front shots of a windsurfer in action, shot from a tracking boat or Jet Ski. Hewitt improvised a rig comprising a miniature camera on a carbon-fiber windsurfing mast. Returning to Britain, he developed a lightweight go-anywhere rig with a remote joystick controlling a high-precision pan-and-tilt head.
Polecam is now supplied in HD and SD versions with a variety of options, such as underwater and 3-D pan/tilt heads. The company will exhibit at the NAB show in Booth C7642.
