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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- It had great AI motion tracking
- It’s iOS or Android compatible
- But it doesn’t have a tilt function
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Roaming the North Hall of CES I came across a gazillion AI tools. Most were over-hyped gimmicks. However, I did find the XbotGo Chameleon<!–> to be quite interesting and useful. As a sports photographer and videographer, I pay attention to tools and camera rigs that can help make my job easier. AI isn’t going to make everything easier in this craft, but AI that can easily track athletes for you is one of the first things on a sports videographer’s workflow wish list.
Also: CES 2025: The most impressive products you don’t want to miss
While on the job, I’m often asked how one can get started shooting sports videography for a favorite team or athlete. Usually, this question is asked with trepidation because individuals see that I’m shooting with a fancy Blackmagic 6K–> cinema camera or my Canon R5 C<!–>. Pretty pricey equipment, I know.
However, impressive video can be captured with your trusty smartphone. Granted, the image sensor won’t give you the same quality as a high-end camera, but it’s still quite nice thanks to all of the computational enhancements Apple and Google are putting into their software. Even video stabilization has improved, so why not give your phone a try for sports videography until you can upgrade to a bigger camera?
Also: The Best of CES 2025 awards are in, as selected by the CNET Group
Understanding all this, the XbotGo team decided to tackle the most challenging aspect of sports videography – motion tracking. When watching your favorite sporting event on television, you’re shown a wider shot to view the playing field and action – usually, with little panning or tilting of the camera. But notice how you never see any highlight reels published in wide, static framing. It’s usually a tighter frame and follows a particular player through the scene. Can this be done with a smartphone? Yes, with practice and proper tools to aid you.
I played around with this device in the XbotGo booth at CES and was quite impressed. The team explained its AI will lock on to pretty much any athlete you select with the ease of a few taps. You can even specify a jersey or uniform number to track. I watched this gimbal follow folks on the show floor quite effortlessly.
I argued that tracking pedestrians on the CES show floor should be pretty easy. AI shouldn’t be required for anyone to handle that task. The XbotGo team rebutted by showing the XbotGo Chameleon tracking objects on a large television screen. When you’re dealing with screen refresh rates and flicker, it’s always challenging for a camera to get a good exposure and focus. Yet, the XbotGo Chameleon locked onto and followed specific players with ease – even within a wide-angle perspective. It was impressive.
XbotGo Chameleon with an iPhone attached
Ant Pruitt / ZDNET
One problem with the XbotGo Chameleon
Even though most sports on a playing field are linear and require a lot of panning from side to side, there will still come a time when the videographer needs to tilt the camera up or down for an action shot. I did not see this as an option with the Chameleon. So this must be taken into consideration when composing your shots. If anything, you can utilize the zoom on your camera to compensate, but this won’t help with every shot – such as an athlete diving low or jumping high out of frame.
To the XbotGo team’s credit, they offer a smartphone handheld gimbal–> for a little more freedom with tilting.
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ZDNET’s buying advice
Getting into sports videography has its budget-friendly gateway – your smartphone. But for a modest $349 investment, you can step up your game (no pun intended) and get better-quality video of your favorite athlete or team using XbotGo’s sports videography gimbal.
Also: I tried smart glasses with built-in hearing aids at CES – and they worked surprisingly well
The Chameleon’s AI is great for tracking motion at up to 60 frames per second to make your favorite athlete the highlight of your video. Is this the best tool for sports videography? No. But I do appreciate that it enables anyone with a smartphone to get started.
As a parent who dealt with college recruiting and scouting, I understand the stress of promoting one’s child athlete to university sports teams. Most videos captured by parents are too wide and don’t really show off the athlete. XbotGo Chameleon changes that perspective. It’s also a nice option for the weekend athlete who just wants to record themselves for fun and social media. For a limited time, you can get the XbotGo Chameleon for $349 online today–>.
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Source: Robotics - zdnet.com
