Re: Vinten Forests Sprout at Olympics
 

We can thank Garrett Brown for that one among others. Not just the Steadicam.

"I watched a bit of the beach volleyball and didn't notice any tripods at all."

Yeah I didn't notice any tripod when I was watching the ladies beach volleyball either. ;-0

Re: Vinten Forests Sprout at Olympics
 

What I remember from the background of the '96 Olympics was the dive cameras were pretty much just on a rope & pulley. Someone would pull the camera up to the dive platform & let go when the divers jumped.

Guessing it is a little more complex than that... :-)

Re: Vinten Forests Sprout at Olympics
 

They had cameras out there? Every time I watch beach volleyball I think I'm just having a really good dream. :-o

Re: Vinten Forests Sprout at Olympics
 

No, I'm pretty sure it's the same setup as they had before. Gravity is Gravity. It might be smaller since smaller HD cameras have been invented since then, but it's still the same pulley and rope setup.

Re: Vinten Forests Sprout at Olympics
 

I think people may be reading a bit too much into seeing so many Vintens on the Olympics. True, I've only seen one non-Vinten head (a Cartoni), but it makes sense. I've been doing some broadcast work since 2007, and in that time, I've never pulled a head off of an Outside Broadcast truck other than a Vinten.

Usually for the heavy stuff it's paired up with Mitchell mount sticks from Matthews, but I've seen Vinten sticks too. Lightweight rigs will usually be Vinten heads on Vinten sticks.

I'd imagine Vinten is popular in Britain, but even here in the US, Vinten runs the broadcast market.

Re: Vinten Forests Sprout at Olympics
 

BBC have a feature today that goes (briefly) behind the scenes, and shows the dive cam amongst others:

BBC News - Filming the Games from every angle

This may be unavailable to non-UK viewers.

Re: Vinten Forests Sprout at Olympics
 

can anyone tell me what camera are they using at the olympics?

Re: Vinten Forests Sprout at Olympics
 

Most of the OBV camera's I saw on TV were Grass Valley LDK-8000's.. However I also know of a company which has sent an OBV with Sony HDC-1500's there..

Re: Vinten Forests Sprout at Olympics
 

All the hard camera would be Vinten heads - Vector 70/700, 750, 950 or 75. There's no substitute when you're using long lenses. But for handhelds, I'm sure there's a fair bit of Sachtler. There are already rental companies selling off their post-Olympic gear - lots of Sachtler tripods for sale.

Re: Vinten Forests Sprout at Olympics
 

I think you've all missed the critical point. They're Vinten because here in the UK, Vinten are the market leader - by a long, long way. In pro video mounts, Vinten, being British (and about 40 miles from here) are what so many individuals and small and large firms use. The Broadcasters have always used Vinten - and even with the odd experiment with other brands, always default to Vinten. I have 6 different types of camera support made by Vinten from brand new to quite old, and a Libec that never comes out of the case, and a Manfrotto that gets occasional use supporting a GoPro.

In news pool situations you do see some Satchlers and the occasional Miller - but the rest will be Vinten.

We're a small country, and Vinten have real TV history here, so the huge majority of buyers wear their Vinten out and replace it with another Vinten without any thought whatsoever. You can also knock on their door and find most parts easily available (even if expensive). Everything else would be an import job. The BBC have been Vinten for ever - and it rubs off!

Other countries have Vinten as an import brand, so home grown ones will be more popular.