Even though they were introduced to the market in the 1980s, you can blame the World Series of Poker and ESPN’s Trick Shot Magic for their exponential rise in popularity. The subject at hand is the versatile lipstick camera, also known in the surveillance and security biz as micro cameras and spy cameras. Often measuring less than two inches in length and weighing mere ounces, these remarkable cams enjoy a wealth of legitimate (and illegitimate) applications, ranging from the hidden cam in your bookcase to the skydiver’s helmet-cam.
And now, driven by the national thirst for sports and even more radical camera angles, we’ve got dashboard cams in NASCAR races, cams in the penalty boxes at hockey games, and those wonderful “hole” cams that reveal your pocket aces at the World Series of Poker. Assuming that they can work out a few minor “shock absorbing” details, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see “tackle cams” in an upcoming NFL broadcast.
Where No Camera Has Gone Before
Over the last few years, the quest for more zing on the I-Mag has logically introduced lipstick cams to our industry. Lighting and production designers have embraced the technology — given the appropriate concert or event at hand. These cams offer perspectives that the audience simply can’t get from their vantage point, and their small size makes them literally inconspicuous on stage. You can’t hide a cameraman inside the drum kit, but you can clamp a lipstick cam to the snare drum for a very unusual and dramatic shot.
Today, you’ve got lipstick cams mounted on guitar necks, inside pianos, looking straight up from the footlights and looking down from the truss through the fog — just to name a few classic shots. But, exactly what are these gadgets, and how do they stack up against the full-blown studio cams?
The Inner Workings
Lipstick cameras work their magic by physically separating the lens and the image sensor from the electronics that process the picture. The “lipstick” portion of the camera is simply a miniature tubular container for the CCD (Charge Coupled Device) and the lens. Using a small umbilical cable, typically a meter in length, data is sent to a separate, compact CCU (Camera Control Unit) which processes the video into a signal that can be switched, mixed, recorded, and ultimately placed up on the I-Mag.
Without the burden of the associated processing electronics, the result is a very tiny package that’s easy to mount in a variety of tight locations, either via custom-designed rigs or manufacturer-supplied clamps. If you’re going to do the full stealth routine, remember that the CCU also needs to be hidden, but the meter-long umbilical usually provides enough latitude. For example, for the “World Series of Poker,” the lenses are flush-mounted in the poker table’s railings, and virtually invisible to the viewer. The small CCUs, typically the size of a paperback book, are hidden under the table and connected to the main switcher via coax. Similarly, for ESPN’s “Trick Shot Magic” and “9-Ball” pool tournaments, the lenses are flush mounted in the corner pockets, the CCUs are hidden under the table — making that shot of the 9-ball in the corner pocket nothing less than spectacular.
One Step Up
Lipstick cams vary greatly in size, quality and resolution — from (way below) standard definition, all the way to high definition. Many have interchangeable lenses, and many offer more “professional” image processing controls on their CCUs. Prices run the gamut from $300 (composite video, standard definition) up to $8,000 (SDI video, high definition) — but it all depends on your point of view, and what your production goals are. A few sample lipstick cams are shown (in proper scale) in the accompanying figure — from the SD Toshiba IK-M44H to the HD Iconix Studio 2K.
One common factor, however, is that lipstick cams are fixed in place, and once mounted, the cam ain’t going anywhere soon. This is why many staging professionals have opted to take one step up — to a more versatile remote-controlled pan/tilt/zoom camera such as the Sony BRC-300 or the Panasonic AW-HE100. They’re not stealthy, and you can’t mount them on a guitar neck. However, they’re still quite small and compact, and once mounted in the truss or down at stage level, you’ve got 1000 camera angles at your fingertips — rather than just one.
Combined with versatile remote controllers and “shot boxes,” you might not even need to hire an extra cameraman. One person can program and run multiple pan/tilt/zoom cams from a single remote controller.
Check the Specs
When considering the use of a lipstick or pan/tilt/zoom cam, please keep a few important factors in mind. Check the specifications closely, the number of lines of resolution that it outputs and whether or not you can genlock the camera. If you’re combining low-resolution lipstick cams with standard or high-definition studio cameras in your production, consider what the “switch” between cams will look like on the LED or projection I-Mag screen. If it’s acceptable to switch resolutions (and the resulting image quality), then go for it. If it’s not acceptable, ensure that you match resolutions — going all hi-def or all standard def throughout the camera chain.
Another important factor is camera matching. The guys that tweak and “shade” the cameras for a show take remarkable pride in balancing camera video for white levels, color, gamma and more. If studio cams 1, 2, and 3 are perfectly balanced but the lipstick cam looks like its shooting an entirely different event, by all means ensure that you choose a lipstick cam with a versatile CCU — with controls capable of matching its video output to your other cams.
Finally, consider what format the camera outputs. Most low-end lipstick cams output composite or component video, but rarely SDI. If your signal path is all-SDI, you’ll need to insert a converter in between the camera’s CCU and your switching and routing electronics.
From the Pros
Jim Case is the general manager of The New Trend, a Stockton, Calif.-based rental and staging company. They specialize in live-switched corporate and entertainment events, such as the outdoor concert series at California’s Ironstone Vineyards. “For corporate events, we’ll put the lipstick cameras on top of the truss, shooting down at the lectern,” explained Case. “It’s a high-tech way of substituting for the overhead projector. The presenter can write his notes, and we can share them with the audience.”
Case is also fully aware of the cautions. “The drawback, especially with the little ones, is lower quality — so that when you switch to them, you can see the difference,” said Case. “But when you absolutely need to get a camera into a certain location and the point-of-view is more important, there’s just no substitute for these cams on the job.”
Chris Mitchell is chief engineer for Los Angeles-based XL Video, the staging company behind such remarkable tours as The Who, Kings of Leon and Jack Johnson. For Mitchell, the lipstick cameras have their place, but the pan/tilt/zoom cameras have a much bigger impact. “Compared to the lipsticks, I’ve seen a more dramatic evolution with the pan/tilt cameras,” said Mitchell. “With a small step-up in camera size, you don’t get the stealth, but you’ve increased the versatility. We mount them on mic stands, on the ground, and we hang them with truss clamps. You can pan them when the singer moves, and with their remote control capabilities, the director can simply reach over, press a button and change the shot.”
The bottom line? It just depends on your point of view — quality, resolution, versatility, or stealth.
