As James White took a toss from Tom Brady to score the winning touchdown in Super Bowl LI, the people at Marshall Electronics couldn’t have been happier. Not because they are New England Patriots fans, but because their pylon cam was in the perfect spot for the final play in the largest Super Bowl comeback of all time. As Joe Buck watches the replay he says, “It looks like a good touchdown to me.” The angle from the pylon was just about the best they could get, in a place where a cameraperson couldn’t be.
That’s the beauty of point of view (POV) cameras. They shoot from locations that were previously off limits. Whether it’s in the pylon, behind the backboard, or under the cars on a racetrack, POV cams enhance a viewer’s experience. Imry Halevi is the Director of Multimedia and Production for Harvard Athletics, he works POV cameras into broadcasts as often as he can.
“POV cameras put you in places where you can’t go as a spectator,” Halevi said. “It is always surprising to the people watching from home, they don’t expect to be put in that spot.”
Halevi is constantly searching for new places to put cameras. So far, Harvard has utilized cameras inside a hockey penalty box, on the corner flag in soccer, and submerged for a water polo tournament.
Tod Musgrave is Marshall Electronics’ Director of HD/4K Cameras and Broadcast Systems and he says that one of the company’s main goals is an immersive experience. “Adding unique point of views increases the production value,” he said. “You can’t have a cameraperson in those areas, you see the ball up until it hits the lens.”
Marshall has spent years creating broadcast quality POV cameras. “You’re not going to get what you’re going to get out of a $20,000 camera but you’re going to get darn close,” Musgrave said.
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Affordability is one of the reasons why Halevi chose Marshall Electronics. Having smaller, cheaper cameras allows him to take chances, like submerging a camera for the entirety of a 10-hour water polo tournament for the broadcast on the Ivy League Network and ESPN3. The CV502-WPMB is rated IP67, which is the highest level of protection on the IP scale. Even that only guarantees protection from water immersion for 30 minutes.
“We really wanted this camera to be underwater for 10 hours and based on the specifications we knew it might not make it,” Halevi said. “It was important to us so we just did it. The camera worked perfect the whole day.”
Another key reason why Halevi chose Marshall is the ease of use. A wide variety of cameras makes training the students who run the broadcasts easier. “You connect the HD-SDI cable and you connect the power and you’re good to go,” he said. “It sounds easy and it sounds obvious, but it’s not. We went to several camera manufacturers before Marshall and we haven’t looked back since.”
Looking to the future Marshall is focusing on adding high dynamic range (HDR) to its cameras. HDR takes multiple exposures of light and dark areas and combines them to better represent how the human eye perceives light and color. In addition, Marshall is working on introducing cameras capable of 4K video while filming at 60 frames per second (FPS). The higher FPS is crucial for fast-paced sports.
Halevi will likely be one of the first people in line for their new products. As for where those cameras will be going?
“Everywhere,” Halevi said. “I want cameras everywhere.”