ELi5 How a cameraman at a sports event able to track a fast moving ball with such a great focus on it?

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ELi5 How a cameraman at a sports event able to track a fast moving ball with such a great focus on it?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

These days there’s all sorts of electronic gadgets to help with that, but in the end it comes down to practice and experience.

SOURCE: in another life I used to work with video production, and although not my main role, I was camera operator for a few years.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The viewfinder shows a different image than the camera is sending to the audience. The camera operator sees a wider field, with lines showing where the broadcast image is in the field of view. If someone misses a change in direction, the director cuts to a different camera, so you only see the times they do the right thing.

Anonymous 0 Comments

They have insane autofocus system. Any modern pro dslr or mirrorless camera can lock onto the subject and follow it, no matter the speed and or movement. It is called continuous auto focus. With the right settings. Exposure settings, the photographer can easily capture, “freeze” the action whenever it is needed

Anonymous 0 Comments

Lots of practice and many cameras. With enough skilled camera operators, someone is bound to get a good shot.

Anonymous 0 Comments

They use parfocal “box lens”. Those big, rectangular lenses are for this job. They set the focus on an object, and it stays even if they zoom in or out. This video explains it really well: https://youtu.be/RkTaMyatsTo

Anonymous 0 Comments

I work in sports. Not as a camera operator but as a Technical Director. It mostly comes down to experience and practice. But camera operators understand the sport and the body language of the players. Players movement, direction and position are just as helpful at tracking the ball as the ball itself.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

It all comes down to having a parfocal lens. A parfocal lens enables the camera operator to quickly zoom in and out without losing focus. It also needs a motorized aperture and focus remote control.

[Here is a great video explaining how this is possible.](https://youtu.be/RkTaMyatsTo) There is actually more to it aside from the lens.

Anonymous 0 Comments

I have actually worked as a cameraman at hockey matches that got aired on local tv. This was over a decade ago.The way to make sure we had the tiny puck in the shot was mostly educated guesswork. The viewfinder on the camera’s we used could hardly show the tiny puck. We all wore headsets to hear the directors instructions. He assigned some camera’s an (easier) medium shot in which you have a broader view and the more experienced operators were assigned the close ups. Getting the close ups was hard. You focussed on a player that had the puck and when he swung to hit it you just guessed where it went. Sometimes you’d lose the puck entirely and then the director would instantly cut to the medium shot, allowing you to do a quick zoom out, find the puck and get a close shot again. It was hard work that required a lot of concentration and experience. Keeping a ball in focus works the same way.

Anonymous 0 Comments

I heard that the golf ball image was showing the negative on the operator’s camera meaning that it appears gray instead of white which made it easier to follow.