Polecam No. 600 installed at Royal College of Surgeons

Polecam has announced the sale of its 600th Polecam rig to the AV Team at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in London, where it will be used in their training facilities to advance the production capabilities, improve observation of medical procedures, and raise the level of resolution for live, recorded and replayed material.

“The sale of our 600th rig to the Royal College of Surgeons of England marks a significant milestone in Polecam’s history,” said managing director Graeme Chapman. “What started out as a light portable alternative to film walruses in the Arctic is now being used in the most prestigious medical training facility in the UK. Whether it’s the Games in Rio next year, the training of future surgeons or the current Rugby World Cup in the UK, Polecam will be there.”

The rig has been delivered as complete turnkey system including tripod & dolly, full Polecam medical rig with CC HD Minizoom and remote lens controller all through a slip-ringed head allowing 360 degrees of pan. This can be particularly useful when looking down vertically as orientation can easily be lost with inexperienced operators.

Steffan Hewitt is the designer of Polecam and a director of Polecam Systems. He has had wide experience in the medical use of Polecam. “The beauty of this Polecam set-up is that the style of shooting does not require fully trained camera operators. They are not looking for nice sweeping shots with a pull focus over the instruments. Quite the opposite. It’s about getting the camera in the right place, which is often difficult if it is mounted up in the lighting rig or hand held by a cameraman. Theatre technicians are becoming quite adept at Polecam and even enjoying it.”