Does the camera work on Strictly drive anyone else nuts? If its not zooming in on the top half of one of the dancers so you cant see what their feet are doing or only showing one dancer when you want to see how they are both dancing in sync, its wizzing around them top speed and I cant make head nor tail of what their doing. Why cant we just see the dance as front view, full body of both so we can see the feet as well as the top half and the entire dance? Drives me crazy, I feel like I miss half the dance! !

Because it is an entertainment programme and not a specialist programme for dancing nerds (or whatever the word is?).

haha! Dancing nerd, I know very little about dancing but all the more reason I want to see more of it. I get the camera has to follow them around to a certain extent but if they are doing a spin for example I want to see the whole thing, but the camera spinning round them- close up on their top halves at such a speed just confuses it. Its like its doing the work for them but I want to see them doing it.

Britain's got talent is an entertainment show but when there's a dance on there the camera doesn't follow them and wiz around them. At least you get to see it all.

I agree - the camera work spoils it for me too. I am not a dance expert but I would like to see the whole body, including footwork. The whirlycam makes me feel seasick!

The camerawork is designed to give extra energy to the dances (hence the spinning whilst they are) to make them look more dynamic.

Sometimes I think it complements the dances really well and something they go too OTT with it. I guess it's hard to get right every time when they have limited opportunity to block out all the camera work during studio rehearsals.

They do it to add some energy to otherwise dull routines and/or to cover up dodgy bits where the celeb looks really bad.

its appalling

it has been for many series

does whoever is in charge of the steady cam thing that twirls round the couples REALLY think that makes for good viewing

I also like to see FEET please! all the time

that's what they think they're doing, based on some line in their twenty years old film studies textbook.
When they actually get in the studio, they and the producer should actually think about what they're doing.
A higly active dance like Claudia's Charleston does not need confusing spinning and zooming camerawork, the couple is moving enough on their own.
Possibly even the cameramen think what they're doing is a bit sad. They're doing the stupid stuff they've been asked to do, but didn't necessarily think control would cut to all of it.
Ultimately it all comes down to the producer, the kind of idiot who thinks we're all idiots.
The really sad thing is that the control room has a maximum of 16 dances x 1m30s to get used to in order to plan the angles, and in the end they end up doing it like an improvising gibbon. I can only have contempt for people who work on a show for millions of viewers, that just can't be bothered to do it right.

But its a live show, we want to see a dull routine and dodgy bits so we have a better idea of how people are doing, that's the whole point.

Last night during Larua and Gio's dance the camera cut to him while they were doing a side by side step and we couldn't see Laura at all ... what was the point of that?? We don't want to see him solo, we want to see the non-professional. As for the camera work being there to spice up the dance and give it energy, well if they are dancing so bad that they bore us then again I would say let me know they are that bad so my vote has some substance. Yes, it is an entertainment show, but this has been argued since the very start, its a dance show too. Let us see the dance properly and slow down the camera rotations a little and show us the footwork.

It was terrible in Louise's dance especially. I don't want to see the back of Len's head, I want to see the dancing!

It drives me crazy. It's particularly annoying when you can't see their feet. The dancers should be clearly visible, head to foot, throughout the entire dance.

The steady cam was a bit manic at times. The camerawork is variable - which is a problem - for some dances it is good, in others it spoils the dance a bit.

It's a live show, but from rehearsals, they should have the pattern sorted out, then they just have to make adjustments for things like Pasha struggling to release Naga.

I'd like to see the full dance head to toe, too. I imagine the producers'/director's would like to prevent people from switching the channel when a duffer's being dragged around or a stony-faced presenter is stomping through some uninspired choreography.

Yes exactly! You could see Gio but not Laura and they were dancing in sync, why would we just want to see Geo on his own? Its really silly. I wonder if we could start some kind of petition and open letter to the BBC to change the way they film it. It really does spoil it

They do it to all the dances- not just the poor or non-dynamic ones. They did it to Jay's jive fgs!

And they make it harder for themselves by constantly changing angles mid move, when simply sticking to the perfectly good angle they had a split second before and a spilt second after would have been easier for the producer and nicer for us.

And it's not beyond a tv producer's capabilities to understand that we need to see the wider picture; they don't zoom in on Andy Murray's face during a rally do they? Or a gymnast's feet when she's on the beam? I know they'll say "but this is entertainment" but I watch for entertainment, and it still irritates me to death.

All I will say in their defence is, that as dodgy as it is now, the camera work was wa-a-a-y worse back in the first few series.

Yes! It feels as tho the producers are blowing raspberries at me.

it doesn't matter to me

Totally agree OP, especially during that brilliant Paso where I couldn't see if the male celeb had gone down on his knees or not.