Have you been watching the Olympics and wondered how they got such beautiful and smooth diver shots? The DiveCam is responsible for grabbing those pictures, and it works quite well, being powered by the same force that the diver uses – gravity.
The DiveCam is a camera that sits on a vertical mount the same height as the diving platform, and the camera is released at the same time as the diver leaves the platform. Gravity works the same on both diver and camera, and so the DiveCam follows the diver in sync all the way into the water.
The DiveCam was originally dreamed up by NBC's David Neal, and he took it to Garret Brown, inventor of the Steadicam. Brown added safety stops and remote tilt and pan controls, allowing the cameraman to keep the camera centered on the diver during the run.
So there you have it – the camera shots are taken by literally dropping a camera over the edge to follow the diver into the water. I love it when technology works well on a simple premise.
via
