Inertia Unlimited Brings 4K Lens to Gophercam

NASCAR coverage on Fox is getting a clearer look at the action, thanks to a new and improved version of the Gophercam from Inertia Unlimited that is the culmination of six years of work, according to Inertia Unlimited President Jeff Silverman.

The new Gophercam from Inertia Unlimited features a 4K lens, although the imager is still only HD.

“It’s finally 98% perfect, with a 4K-resolution lens that is rather spectacular,” he says. The camera, however, is still capable of shooting only in 1080i or 720p.

“We’re waiting for someone with a 4K imager, as it would be foolish to design this with a lens that would go out of style,” he explains. “These new cameras made a huge splash at the Daytona 500, and it was awesome in the front stretch from the start of the race to the finish.”

Silverman says the camera is buried in the track, protruding a 10th of an inch above the surface, and uses mirrors and lenses to capture a 65-degree field of view. Each race on Fox will have at least one or two locations on the track for the Gophercam systems.

“Having a car run over the camera at 200 mph is like taking a sledgehammer to it, and no other cameras are designed for that,” he explains. “You can build a pretty big lens, put it into the ground, and hit it with a sledgehammer, and it will break. But here we have a lens that can take being smashed with a sledgehammer repeatedly.”

Silverman also says to look for additional innovations from Inertia Unlimited in the coming weeks and months.