The extraordinary design ingenuity that has gone into the design of the current Mini DV cameras, and the subsequent quantum leap in picture quality has meant that all of a sudden, these cameras are now being taken very seriously by professional cameramen. Especially by those of us at the sharp and dangerous end of Xtreme sports production.
In the right hands, and used in the right way, both the Sony VX 1000 and the Canon XL-1 DV cameras are very capable of producing some of the most dynamic camera images out of challenging situations that previously would have been otherwise positively dangerous.
Television sports demands dramatic, action filled pictures and this new breed of small cameras, at almost expendable prices, mean that the ever-demanding audience can anticipate more and more of the 'in-your-face pictures" that bring sports action crashing into your living room.
A good example of their application is in the sport of global offshore ocean racing, that I am currently involved in shooting.
There are probably very few locations in the world more difficult to film in than on the exposed deck of a modern sailing yacht, with a full racing crew, in big seas. The engineers from Arriflex and Sony would turn white with fear if they ever saw the environmental conditions that we have been using their professional cameras in, since the beginning of the America's Cup series in Freemantle in 1985.
With the full size professional Betacam for example, it just isn't practical to operate it in an underwater housing on board a racing yacht - it is too big, too difficult to handle, and it would definitely be a major accident just waiting to happen.
And yet we regularly shoot television programs at sea with huge Pacific waves crashing over the bow, the deck pitching and bucking, and no safe place for a cameraman and a thirty pound television camera to operate from. It is no place for either the inexperienced amateur, or the faint hearted professional.
All of a sudden the little mini DV cameras came along that now makes things a lot more reasonable - a little to late to save some of us with receding hairlines however !
Now we have the convenience of a small, high quality camera that we can literally wrap up in plastic and fly around the deck, with one hand holding the camera and the other holding onto the boat. Absolute luxury ! And with a good wide angle lens attached, an experienced cameraman doesn't even need to look thru the viewfinder.
A good sailing cameraman can actually anticipate the most photogenic elements of the drama on deck, and can easily maneuver the mini camera to a point where it is literally in the middle of all the action.
One other huge advantage of these small cameras, is their initial cost or the cost of replacement if things actually do go wrong.
For almost fourteen years I have succeeded in actually staying on the boat every time I have gone to sea with the most expensive, full size versions of the professional Sony Betacam. But recently, whilst filming my fifth Kenwood Cup Regatta in Hawaii for E.S.P.N., I had the misfortune to suffer an accident with my own safety line on board the South African racing yacht "Ain't Misbehavin' " in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
One second, I was standing safely on the stern of the boat, the next I was disappearing head over heels into the sea, with the safety line in one hand and a mini VX 1000 television camera in the other.
The good news is that from personal experience, I can tell you that even in big seas, you can actually swim with a VX1000. You would almost certainly drown trying to do that with a full size Betacam. The camera will definitely never work again, but you do need it for evidence to claim the free beers when you get back to the yacht club !
The other good news is that you can replace a VX 1000 from your local camera store for a reasonable price by the end of the same afternoon, ready for a similar shoot the following day. Try doing that with a Betacam !!
What is truly significant, is that recently the camera team from Channel Sea Television were awarded an Aegis Award for Cinematography, for their film of the 1997 Trans Pacific Yacht Race. 100% of all the images shot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on nine different racing yachts, were shot on VX1000 mini DV cameras.
So for both the film makers and the viewers, the convenience of these small but truly remarkable cameras make it a win - win situation. Certainly the television audience can expect to see even more creative, dynamic, action-shots from the very heart of the sporting events we are hired to cover.
©Laurie Gilbert
