Camera operator

The cameraman or swivel moves the camera in the film art according to the requirements of the cameraman or the director .

There can be two reasons for this position when recording a movie :

• The cameraman wants to concentrate on other things, such as lighting, rhythm or special effects
• The construction-related conditions of the camera or the location require special training. The keywords here are underwater photography and steadicam .

While camera operators are still common in the art of film today, the professional title of photo assistant has established itself in photography .

Camera operators, on the other hand, were widespread in the early days of photography ; they operated the camera , changed the photo plates and mixed the emulsions , put the large and heavy cameras on tripods and adjusted the focus if necessary.

In the first decades of photography, outdoor shots often required a large crowd of employees, as is still common today for larger film productions. The photographer only selected the subject and the camera position, while the camera operators handled the entire technical process. It was not until the end of the 19th century that the custom prevailed that the names of the camera operators were mentioned in connection with the photographs taken. In the middle of the 19th century, the large portrait studios also employed numerous camera operators who took the pictures largely independently according to the photographer's specifications.