Video at sea

[hamza]

I'd like to know if it is possible to take a steady video of surface activity at sea. For example a sailing race. If yes, how?

[Skyman]

the short answer is yes and the long answer is not without a lot of money. many broadcast cameras and even some consumer cameras now com with image stabilisation systems. these are good to a point. if you have a long lens and can shoot from land that is the prefered option. a steadicam system would also work if the recording platform is mostly stable but they are big heavy expensive and awkward to use even on land. bolting a camera directly to a craft will give you a view as stable as the platform it is on so the bigger the ship and or the calmer the sea the more stable the shot will be. otherwise ultralight aircraft and helicopters have often been used. I know channel 7 in australia recently used almost all of the above to film the sydney to hobart yacht race which is one of the great ocean yacht races. they also used cameras attached to the sailors heads to get their shots.