[shuttertalk]

No, not 6 foot robots walking around taking pictures (unfortunately) but rather cameras controlled remotely via a wireless system, by an operator sitting behind a laptop. Take a quick look at the technology Reuters is using behind the scenes at the 2012 Olympics.

http://www.petapixel.com/2012/07/05/reut...-coverage/

In addition to taking and transmitting photos wirelessly, the robotic cameras allow photographers to control camera movement and lens zoom with a joystick. While the photographer is not physically present behind the camera, he still controls the shot remotely. This is no spray-and-pray or automated system.

Nice!

[NT73]

1984 is here and now. Big Brother is watching You.

A few years back, we had a guy taking Aerial Photos from a kite. He had a laptop on the ground and fired the trigger when he was pointing at what he wanted pics of.

[Toad]

...and don't forget the drones overhead firing Hellfire missles...

[Zig]

Ray makes a very realistic point, a "real and present" one perhaps. Given the alert-status of London since the bombings and a series of governments that behave somewhere between a pandering yet skint Florence Nightingale and a Gestapo mole, UK society is becoming more heavily surveilled at all levels, and you can bet it's at max saturation in our capital already. The Olympics I'm sure has ramped up the R+D and its firstfruits.
Now, I'm guessing our Ray is still a spring chicken like myself, which means we can remember the onset of increased nannyism and quite monstrous liberties taken by governments in the 80s, coupled with the spawning of a society of stunted, caged, increasingly illiterate and mute Bread and Circuses addicts. That we are now babied(despite earlier generations standing up to the point of death for the right to be free adults), means it is no surprise to find our spaces filled with the equivalent of baby-intercoms.
A bizarre outworking of having our images increasingly recorded by those above us, is that we ourselves are allowed to take fewer and fewer! Freedom of speech, of thought and of capturing a photographic image: all have been miraculously curtailed, yet not many public eyes seem to notice the pillars of freedom that support their lives being had away in front of their faces.
Allegedly.

[shuttertalk]

Another short video showing the robots in operation. These ones are being used by AFP and all use Nikon D4 bodies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eED6Uot0Yw

[matthew]

It really is amazing to see the amount of engineering and effort that goes into converting these hand-held cameras into ones that can be aimed and controlled by machines. But it also makes me wonder why there isn't an existing solution to this problem, perhaps one that already exists for filming herds of wild beasts from helicopters, or for taking high-resolution photos of buildings from something that's quickly flying past.

Interesting.

[NT73]

The CAA in England has a no fly zone over most of London and surrounding areas for the duration of the olympics.

It affects kites and model aircraft too. I am not sure about the regular aircraft flights, but they may be subject to restrictions too.

I guess it is to do with security. I believe there are surface to air missiles housed on some rooftops. (They are ours I hope)
Found a link.
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/905052-olymp...y-tightens

[shuttertalk]

But it also makes me wonder why there isn't an existing solution to this problem, perhaps one that already exists for filming herds of wild beasts from helicopters, or for taking high-resolution photos of buildings from something that's quickly flying past.

I think there are UAVs and remote controlled gliders and rigs used for movies... but must be pretty expensive for hobbyists.