Oskar Barnack: Ruderregatta (Kaiserregatta) (1914)
One problem with filming sporting events is that the camera has to be everywhere: at the start and finish line in running competitions, at the goal on one side and a little later at the goal on the other side in ball games. The use of multiple cameras whose footage was edited together was extremely rare (see Journal 8). In most cases, the operators of the early years were alone with their heavy and barely movable cameras; they therefore had to decide early on on a point of view that only allowed a single view of the sporting action. Unless, of course, they moved the camera themselves by placing it on a vehicle. Such shots formed their own genre at the end of the 19th century: phantom rides - see. The precision mechanic Oskar Barnack, who later developed the Leica for Leitz, made use of this idea. Around 1913, he had built a lightweight film camera for himself, with which he was more mobile than other operators. He recorded part of a rowing regatta from the referee's motorboat. The camera moved with the moving athletes. Its image showed the race of the foursome with coxswain during the race much better than the spectators on the banks of the Main could see. Unfortunately, the referee obstructed the camera's view several times. And it also failed to capture who won the race. Capturing everything at a sporting event is not easy.
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