Iconix tech drives Broadcast Sports in-car coverage for top racing events

POV camera provider Broadcast Sports has been making heavy use of the Iconix HD-RH1F camera system to capture high definition in-car racing video for NASCAR, IndyCar Racing and the American LeMans Series.

Broadcast Sports, one of the first outdoor broadcast companies to employ POV cameras for auto racing, provides live feeds of POV racing footage to television networks including NBC, ESPN, Fox Sports and the Speed Channel. Emmy Award-winning technical engineer Neil Ojason has worked with Broadcast Sports for more than 17 years, pioneering the design and installation of POV cameras within the racing environment.

“When I first read about the Iconix, it sounded like a perfect fit for the type of work we do,” Ojason says. “We bought an early model as our test mule and the camera performed very well. We really like that it’s a remote head platform that comes in a very small package-there are no competitive products out there that deliver the performance and flexibility of the Iconix.”

Featuring a camera head about the size of a golf ball, and weighing a mere two ounces, the remote head system of the Iconix HD-RH1F can keep pace with larger HD video cameras, yet is versatile enough to offer 35 different format and frame rate combinations. “Right now the Iconix is the most stable and flexible platform that I’ve seen for POV work,” Ojason adds. “Kudos to Iconix for making a camera that can be reconfigured to a number of different aspect ratios and frame rates that meets so many different production needs.”

Broadcast Sports uses the HD-RH1F to capture a variety of shots that would be difficult or even impossible to achieve with a larger camera, including speed shots taken from low to the ground right along the raceway, and pit overhead views that capture the entire car along and crew operation within the pit area. Ojason acknowledges that the work is not without risks.

“We have totally destroyed two Iconix camera heads that were run over by cars that spun out of control,” Ojason explains. “However, in doing so, we captured two of the best racing shots of the past season. In the opinion of the networks we were shooting for, it was well worth the price of the camera and cable for the value of the shots we gained.”

“Our intent is never to interfere with the sport in our coverage,” says Ojason. “But if we have cameras that are small, light and out of the way, we can get very close to the action-and that is why we rely on the Iconix RH1F.”