Strip Camera

Sports Illustrated’s famed photographer, Heinz Kluetmeier, has been touring the moat and recording the action at Beijing’s National Stadium with a digital strip camera. The camera, operated by a laptop, comes with its own technician, who stands beside the photographer.

How does the camera work? In simple terms the ‘film’ travels at the same speed as the runner as it is exposed in multiple vertical strip exposures. The background is blurred and the subject is captured in a series of thin vertical pictures that constitutes one photograph on one piece of ‘film.’

The technology has been around been around for decades. The most notable photograph captured in recent history is of American runner Marion Jones at the Sydney Olympics by Sports Illustrated’s Bill Frakes and David Callow who used a film version of the camera.

Keep an eye out for Kluetmeier's work in the next edition of SI.

-Lucas