Polecam would like to extend a big "Thank You" to all of the distributors, owner operators and suppliers involved with IBC this year and for making it such a great success. We look forward to seeing you all in the years to come.

The Great North Swim is the first in the next generation of sports events about to sweep the UK following our success in the event at the Olympics in Beijing.

The event on Saturday 13th Sept saw well over 2000 swimmers in 12 separate heats swimming a mile in the cool waters of Lake Windermere in the Lake District. Tom Paterson , using the latest High Def Toshiba camera head, was entrusted with covering the events from the main chase boat. His pictures were not only recorded for a Channel 4 film of the event but also beamed live to a big screen on the shore where thousands of spectators were watching.

"I was most concerned before the event with the danger of splashing the camera but, on sound advice from both Steffan and John Gillan, managed to encase it in a plastic bag containing silica gel as well as inserting the beads directly inside the camera body. My worries about dipping the camera into the water were unfounded due, partly to a nice calm day and to moving the centre of gravity slightly further forward which meant the pole naturally sat well up. Everyone was impressed with the quality and dynamism of what was produced especially sweeping moves and big foreground action shots. The Polecam really showed it's potential and will definitely be used for future events of this type."

Youval Ronen, the first Polecam owner in Israel, sent us this picture of a movie for the Israeli national water company. You can get in touch with him via e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

"The weekend of July 18th saw Sky Sports Fishamania hit the screen, with it came an opportunity to use Polecams ‘Fishface’ underwater housing.

The well-engineered unit housed my Toshiba HD camera and drew plenty of interest during the rig day.

Outputting HD1080i directly into the scanner via a wireless link, engineering control was available via the Polecam OCP unit with data passing down a standard 3-pin xlr cable. I believe a system allowing full wireless control is anticipated soon.

Operating the Fishface is great fun and although the water proved too murky to see below the surface, Director Mike Allen used the Polecam intelligently, making good use of the ‘half in half out’ shot.

The water to air, (and vice versa) transition proved particularly popular in and out of commercial breaks.

The great advantage of Fishface is that it allows the operator to retain full 360-degree control of the head in the water as well as in the dry. The domed lens at the front of the housing clears water quickly, and, although a few drops remained this seemed to enhance the appeal of the development.

The Toshiba HD camera matched well with the other cameras despite the hugely variable weather conditions, bright sunshine to torrential rain and wind, in an instant!

The Fishface had a good day at Fishamania and I’m really looking forward to using it on the next job, with, (hopefully) some clearer water, Great Barrier Reef anyone?"

Chris Taber
07747043911