Champions League handball final relies on Antelope LMC

Together with Cologne-based production specialist WIGE, LMC provided two Ultra Slow Motion systems at the VELUX EHF Champions League Final in Germany as SG Flensburg-Handewitt triumphed for the first time. As in 2013, LMC´s Antelope MkIIs was deployed using Fujinon´s 101x HD lens. Top handball director Henrik Saabye positioned the MkIIs in the upper left corner of the field to get great playing action as well as up-close emotions from the reverse angle position.

Nikolai Bonstedt, who triggered the system said, “I have worked many times with Henrik, but at this year’s final we shot probably the highest quality footage ever. We had great emo clips which we played out during breaks and we moved the camera to a ceremony position which gave us the chance to get the trophy shot as well as more emotional shots.”

The Antelope MkIIs is the latest version of LMC´s Broadcast Ultra Slow Motion based on the chipset of the Vision Research V642. It can shoot up to 2,500fps in native 1080i and even in poor stadium light (as in Cologne) very high frame rates without any interpolation or up-converting are possible.

The Antelope technology was easily integrated into WIGE´s OB environment. “The new HD ONE which can handle up to 24 cameras and seven EVS was the perfect choice for this production” says Sebastian Wutschik, Head of Broadcast at WIGE Broadcast. “LMC has always been a great partner when it comes to Ultra Slow Motion”.

At the Final Four WIGE used the PoleCam PICO for the first time. “To have such a new technology at such a big event is not always an easy thing to handle,” says Wutschik. “But it really delivered fantastic images we have never seen before — both live and replay.”

The PoleCam PICO is LMC´s newest product. The POV-style Ultra Slow Motion, attached to PoleCam’s Jib, shoots up to 350fps in native HD. It received praise at the Grand A-League Final in Australia as well as at the Omega Ladies Masters in Dubai in 2013.

“We keep making the system better and better,” says Christian Schreiber, Technical Manager at LMC. The PoleCam PICO provides both permanent live and replay channels and its telemetry is remotely controlled from the OB truck. It runs on fibre and can go into any position not just because of its small size but also because of the freedom to fly the remote controlled pan and tilt head during the shot.

The movement of the jib and the smooth ‘flight’ of the camera creates not just totally new vantage points but also adds another dimension to the shots. “The Antelope PICO is a great camera for all kinds of shooting,” says Steffan Hewitt, Director of PoleCam. “It can be used in sports, but also wildlife productions and commercials can benefit from the small high speed camera” he adds. The PoleCam PICO recently filmed quadruple Formula One world champions Red Bull Racing for high-speed ultra motion analysis of a Formula One pit stop.