See Polecam at NAB2009, booth C7642, Las Vegas Convention Center, April 20-23
Making a temporary break from their informal no-fuss go-anywhere routine, the Polecam team will be demonstrating the world's longest-reach easy-transit camera rig in long sleeves at the 2009 NAB Convention.
"The sleeves are for the Polecam, not for the staff," explains company founder and Managing Director Steffan Hewitt. "We will be launching a brand new series of five Poledom sheaths which give producers control over the rig's visibility. Most camera operators prefer the low visibility of a black Polecam rig. Like many Polecam innovations, this is in response to feedback from existing and potential users. We were recently asked by a producer from a church television channel if we could supply a white version. The most cost-efficient way to do that is with a pull-on-sleeve which gives operators the freedom to revert to the black unsheathed style when the rig is required to blend in with a relatively low-light environment. A total of five versions will be available: Arctic White, Desert Camouflage, Fluorescent Orange, Jungle Camouflage and Urban Camouflage. Fluo Orange was an afterthought but has obvious healthy-and-safety advantages if used in a hard-hat location or an airfield.
Manufactured from high-strength rip-stop nylon, Poledoms are designed for use both on the standard five section Polecam, with a 6 metre lateral/vertical reach, and the new seven-element Seventh Heaven Polecam which has an unprecedented 8 metre reach. Polecam itself is unique in requiring no stabiliser stanchions, rigging or cabling on the exterior of the boom; all cables can be routed inside the carbon fibre tubes. This means Poledom sleeves can be fitted and removed quickly yet retain the full dynamic manouvreability of the unsleeved Polecam, unlike any other crane on the market today.
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 sequences of a windsurfer in action, shot from a tracking boat or jet ski. Steffan improvised a rig comprising a miniature camera on a carbon-fibre 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 range of additional options including underwater and 3D pan/tilt heads. Polecam Ltd is active globally from its base near Bedford, England.
