A Real Oddity…The EMI 10678

A Real Oddity…The EMI 10678

From 1956, this camera used by the BBC is one of the oddest looking things I’ve ever seen. The metal lens hood covered the four turret lens with 3,4 8 and 12 inch Dallmeyer lenses. This is possibly a good idea for rainy days in the field, but not so much in the studio. The pickup tube was a 4.5″ Image Orthicon.

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15 Comments

  1. Bill Jenkin August 20, 2013

    The CPS Emitron tubes had a habit of ‘peeling’ on highlights if they were overexposed. The whole picture would peel to a white screen. Once started there was nothing you could do about it. They had just about cured this in the later versions of the camera.

  2. Bill Jenkin August 20, 2013

    In the studio the usual lens configuration was 2″ 3″ 5″ and 8″ lenses. The cameramen usually referred to them by the lens angle they gave. 9º, 16º, 24,º & 35º.

  3. Harry Richard Wirth August 20, 2013

    Looks like a prop out of a science fiction movie

  4. Tom Edwards August 19, 2013

    Interesting turret. No 50, 90 or 135mm lens. Three Inch (Approx. 75mm) Four inch (Approx. 100mm) and Twelve inch instead. Guess the BBC had their own way of doing things. About the only thing roughly the same as us is the eight inch. Those 4.5″ IO’s sucked up a lot of light.

  5. Alan Bayley August 19, 2013

    It was all very formal then, he was probably taking a shot from pos 1C.

  6. Charles MacDonald August 19, 2013

    wonder if the cover was to protect gearing for focus/aperture?

  7. Bill Jenkin August 19, 2013

    The cameraman is Jim Kinally.

  8. João Antonio Franz August 19, 2013

    Seems that the two B’s have fallen, haha

  9. Gary Rigsby August 19, 2013

    Wow. How much must that thing have weighed?

  10. Gus Polly August 19, 2013

    Did some B’s fall off the side, or is this camera “C”? 😉

  11. Donnie Thomas August 19, 2013

    Note… the 12 inch has a dent in it. LOL

  12. Terry Ricketts August 19, 2013

    These cameras were also used by Southern TV in the UK in the studio and on OBs.

  13. Troy Walters August 19, 2013

    ABN2 (ABC) Sydney Australia used 2 of these cameras in their studios alongside their Marconi MKIIIs

  14. Troy Walters August 19, 2013

    This is the CPS emitron tube used type 10764 http://www.golden-agetv.co.uk/img/equipment/130b.JPG

  15. Troy Walters August 19, 2013

    The pickup tube used in this camera was actually a CPS emitron (EMI version of the early 40s orthicon tube), details of this camera can be seen via this link http://www.tvcameramuseum.org/emi/cps10678/10678datasheet.pdf Interesting thing I learned of these cameras is they were used to shoot the early Doctor Who episodes from 1963-64.