Q-Ball remotely controlled camera equipment from Camera Corps captured all the action from the world’s news media as they gathered in London to report on the birth of the new heir to the crown in the UK.
BBC Television positioned the system to capture high-definition footage of the entrance to St Mary’s Hospital on 22 July, and of reporters, television camera crews and photographers covering the event. Images both of the hospital entrance and the assembled newsmedia were televised live and recorded for subsequent broadcast.
“Camera crews attending this type of event traditionally find themselves working in conditions comparable with a rugby scrum,” explained Camera Corps’ managing director Laurie Frost. “Q-Ball gave the BBC crew much greater freedom in where the camera was positioned. The pan/tilt/zoom head was mounted on a lamppost, ensuring stability and a clear field of view. The system was then operated not from the roadside but from the much more professional environment of a satellite news vehicle where the video output could be viewed under control-room monitoring conditions. The Q-Ball with its integral pan/tilt/zoom/focus system is suitable both for indoor and outdoor use so was fully able to contend with the 30°C summer day which, by British standards, constituted a heat wave.”
The Q-Ball is housed in a cast aluminium sphere of similar diameter, with a head comprising a 1080i camera with 10:1 zoom optics plus a fully rotatable pan and tilt head in a weatherproof case. It is possible for the operator to vary the camera angle during live shooting with full control of vertical and lateral rotation acceleration.
