You may think this is an odd addition to a classic camera collection, but I think it’s quite an interesting addition. This is the Sony BVP 360. It has no special background or history…however, it is special in another way.

It makes the perfect bookend to a collection that starts with the 1947 RCA TK30. Why? The TK10/30 series was the first to use the image orthicon tube, which set the pace for all tubes thereafter. The Sony BVP 360 was the last commercial camera made with imaging tubes. The BVP 370 was Sony’s first studio-sized chip camera.

I thought it would be fitting to have a collection that could reflect almost the entire spectrum of post-Iconoscope, tube camera history…from the first major commercial models to cameras that are on the air this very minute. There are still some in use even now, especially at production houses. The BVP 360 uses a trio of 2/3″ Saticon tubes and was introduced at the 1985 NAB show. That same year, RCA debuted its CCD-1S model, but the end was near for the beloved “Victors.”

I originally dressed it to pay tribute to the CNN era of television news because that’s where the camera came from. From the network’s earliest days, CNN showed cameras in the wide shots of its studio sets in breakaways and rejoins. It was a constant reminder that CNN was in the business of television news, and this was just a part of how it is covered and presented. To CNN’s credit, the network shows the process of the studio presentation.

Since then, as you see, I’ve redressed her with an NBC look, but below are a few pictures with the CNN dressing too. Enjoy.