What Do These RCA TK41 Color Cameras Have In Common?
What Do These RCA TK41 Color Cameras Have In Common?
Above is a bank of TK41s at NBC’s Ziegfeld Theater in 1961. Below is a bank of TK41s at NBC Studio 8H in 1969. What they have in common is matching serial numbers…they are the same cameras!
A week ago today, I had lunch with SNL crane cameraman John Pinto, and this information was among the many historical gems from that conversation.
The first show the new TK41Bs broadcast was the debut of ‘The Perry Como Show’ on September 22, 1956. NBC had just converted the Ziegfeld from a live theater to a color television facility at great expense. Como left for NBC’s Brooklyn I in 1961, but color shows continued from the theater till 1963. Around spring of ’63, planing work began for 8H’s color conversion and after the new shows for the 62-63 season had completed, the physical work started.
There were four cameras at the Ziegfeld which moved to 8H. The 8H photo is on the set of ‘The Match Game’ in the first few months of 1969. This photo from our friend Bob Batsche is quite likely one of the last shots of 8H with 41s as the first four RCA TK44A cameras were delivered to WBAP in Dallas in mid 1969.
It looks like somewhere along the way the cameras were converted from the 3 cable system to the one cable arrangement.