Chapter 3 The Video Camera and Support Equipment
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Professionals do not operate a camera with only one hand!
The right shoulder bears the brunt of the weight of the camera.
The right hand is positioned inside a strap holding it to the
zoom lens control. The left hand holds the focus ring of the
lens. Both hands should be on the camera when operating with
the hand-held technique. A stable picture is virtually impossible if only one
hand is used. Additionally, a $15,000 to $60,000 camera is very unlikely to
fall off your shoulder when held with both hands.
Production Note
If the lens is zoomed in on a person or object, the slightest shake or
wobble is amplifi ed. The resulting image is annoying to the audience. Any
shaking is less noticeable with the lens zoomed out further. Therefore,
always operate in the “zoomed out” position when hand-holding a cam-
era. To get a close-up, move closer to the object; do not use the zoom.
If it is absolutely necessary to hand-hold a camera, brace your-
self against a wall or tree, lean against a car door, or lie on the ground,
Figure 3-19. Hold your breath to get the shot while steady, but realize that
nothing will be usable beyond 5–10 seconds. You may see footage from
a major news event with reporters from other news organizations in the
background and other camera operators hand-holding their camera. There
are many hand-held shots in the news, but the edited footage frequently
cuts from one shot to another when reporting stories from the “fi eld.” The
editor cuts out all the shaking shots.
Goodheart-Willcox Publisher
Figure 3-19. The camera operator can make use of items in the field to help steady a hand-held camera.
A—One technique is to lean against a wall. This essentially makes the operator two legs of a tripod, with the
wall as the third. B—An open car door can provide tripod-like support to the camera operator. The open door
is one leg, the roof is another leg, and the operator’s legs are the third leg of the makeshift tripod.
A B