Orbiter (camera seat)
The Orbiter camera seat is a seat for a cameraman that swivels at a low working height. The orbiter is characterized by a partial separation of the camera and the movable/swivelling seat. This ensures that the natural vibrations of the camera operator are absorbed in the seat and are, therefore, transferred to the camera to a very small extent. This is especially important with telephoto lens with up to x101 zoom, where vibration resistance is vital for stable pictures. The swiveling seat is not mounted on the centre camera column (which would increase vibration), but it rotates with the camera as the camera pans. The name ‘Orbiter’ was chosen because the cameraman is in orbit around the camera, and because orbital means ‘concerning an eyeball’, and the camera is an electronic eye.
The Orbiter system is the most successful camera seat worldwide, in terms of sales. During the European soccer championships at UEFA EURO 2004, 2008, 2012, as well as the FIFA world and confederations cup 2005 + 2006 and 2009 + 2010, FIFA and UEFA used the Orbiter system exclusively for their competitions. Production companies for German Bundesliga use the Orbiter 500 ultraflat for all cameras at the sideline to minimise sight restrictions. Since 2011, the Orbiter 270 stadium is used at camel races, mounted on top of 4WD vehicles, providing live footage from camel races transmitted by wireless links. Since 2011, Orbiter.tv has been developing a customised version for videotaping spacecraft launches by Arianespace in French Guiana, handling a number of different camera types including high speed cameras for analysis.
Early after its launch, a Chinese 1:1 copy and a Dutch partial copy of the Orbiter appeared at TV business fairs.
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