Cameras

[Jonathan Dods]

I need to get a remote control, mobile camera for our organ. We already have a camera and a display, but the camera is quite inaccessible, which makes moving it a pain. Does anyone have any experience of buying camera systems you can pan/tilt, zoom and focus remotely?

[innate]

Interested to read the responses to this. My experience in theatres is that modern digital CCTV has a noticeable delay due to conversion into the digital domain.

[Contrabombarde]

I read somewhere that there is a room full of old cathode-ray TVs in the innards of Sydney Opera House serving as spares for if/when the main screen break down for precisely this reason - whereas with analogue TV systems the picture is instantly displayed on the screen, there is often a processing delay with digital CCTV systems.

 

It can't be beyond the wit of man to overcome - I'd have thought movie or broadcasting studios for instant would want as instant feedback as possible, but there again, I suspect that broadcast-quality cameras and screens bight be beyond the resources of the average cathedral music department. I hope I'm proved wrong!

 

However, what you describe surely doesn't necessitate a completely new system - can't you knock something up that allows remote control of the existing camera, rather than ditch it and buy a slower digital model that has built in movement?

[Jonathan Dods]

The set up we have is digital. The time delay is noticeable but not terrible. I got the impression that delay was unavoidable with new systems, but I'd be interested to hear if it can be overcome.

 

Perhaps we could buy or rig up something to physically pan and tilt the present camera, but not to zoom and focus, as these are little mechanical controls on the lens.

 

So has anyone installed a system recently, or should I be raiding junk shops and dusting down my GCSE electronics?

[John Robinson]

The CCTV cameras used for security surveillance seem to have remote control panning, tilting and zooming. I think that modern cameras are likely to have auto-focus too. How expensive, though, I have no idea.