Nikon takes a giant leap forward in photographic development, with the introduction of a revolutionary new robotics solution that allows professional photographers to achieve shots that were never before possible.
Andy Murray GBR on Centre Court
4th Round Match
The Wimbledon Championships 2013
The All England Lawn Tennis Club
Picture by Bob Martin AELTC
Bob Martin, legendary sports photographer, made history at Wimbledon 2013 as the first photographer to trial a new fast action robotics system; the product of a collaboration between Nikon and Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC), a leading designer and manufacturer of quality motion control products.
Andrew Murray (Picture Bob Martin/AELTC)
Using Nikon’s award-winning D4 digital SLR camera; one of MRMC’s SFH-30 robotic heads quickly moves and rotates the camera from a position that would not normally be physically possible, allowing photographers to shoot difficult angles and in impossible locations.
Novak Djokovic SRB on Centre Court
4th Round Match
The Wimbledon Championships 2013
The All England Lawn Tennis Club
Picture by Bob Martin AELTC
The camera is then controlled and used to shoot images by a photographer from a remote location. The impressive latency of this system of less than 0.1 seconds makes this robotics system an ideal solution for shooting fast action sporting events.
By attaching a camera to the roof above Centre Court, Bob was able to capture images from a location that had never before been attempted at the event.
Bob also made history during the first week of the oldest major tennis championship, shooting with a new MRMC Polycam configuration, with three separate robotic heads being used in synchronisation. As the master head was controlled by Bob, two other robotic heads overlooking Centre Court moved at the same time to track the same subject, allowing Bob to capture the action from three separate angles, using a remote, with every release of the shutter.
Bob Martin says: I had some images in mind at Wimbledon before we set everything up; I was constantly hoping for sun so that I could capture the players on the grass with stunning shadows. Eventually the sun came out, so I’ve now got new, different images to add to add to my portfolio.”
Andy Murray GBR on Centre Court
4th Round Match
The Wimbledon Championships 2013
The All England Lawn Tennis Club
Picture by Bob Martin AELTC
Nikon is working with Bob Martin to trial the setup. He used a Nikon D4 camera, 200-400mm and 80-400mm lenses with the robotic system and MRMC Polycam configuration set up. Three Nikon D4’s were also set up in various locations to record time-lapse images, with each taking one picture every minute and feeding it directly to the Wimbledon iPad App giving viewers a unique Wimbledon experience in superior full-frame resolution.
Andy Murray beat Novak Djokovic
Men’s Final
Centre Court
Wimbledon Championships 2013
Picture Bob Martin/AELTC
Well done Andy!
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