Ever See One Of These In Person?

This is the RCA TK44 prototype camera in action at the 1967 NAB. It used an Isocon tube in the luminescence channel and three lead oxide tubes in the chrominance channels. The TK44A dropped the luminescence channel and replaced the lead oxide tubes with Plumbicons and new optics. It cost $74,800 and in January of 1969, the first four were shipped to WBAP in Dallas/Ft Worth for use in their new mobile unit.

There may have been a mock up of this camera made for static display in another part of the ’67 RCA exhibit, but sadly, neither were saved. Actually, none of the RCA prototype cameras exist. I was told by Lou Bazin, (who was the main development engineer on the TK44A and B, TK45, TKP 45, TK76 and many others), that once a camera went into production, the prototypes were picked over for parts in use on other projects. A TK48 was built, but was trashed along with a lot of trade in cameras and new, unshipped and unfinished cameras at Camden when the sale to GE went through and the broadcast division closed.

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Zoomar And The Right Wing Conspiracy

As mentioned in the post below, Zoomar lenses were in use at CBS Studio 50 in the 1950s and here is an RCA TK11 fitted with one. As for the “right wing conspiracy”, well…take a look behind Ed. In essence, there was no right wing to this stage as it was very shallow and there was no room to store props there. Sullivan’s long time stage manager Eddie Brinkman, came up with a dual purpose solution. The scaffold you see here doubled as a quick access prop storage platform as well as a camera platform. Out of sight is the third story home of one of the six cameras that were in use on this stage which at the time was also home to ‘The Jackie Gleason Show’ and the Gleason produced ‘Stage Show’ that starred Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey.

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In The Beginning…ESPN

On the right is ESPN’s first remote truck, pictured here at Compact Video in Burbank around 1979. The unit was called “140” and looks to be equipped with either Hitachi or Thomson cameras. The photo on the left is also from the early days and the camera on the pickup is probably hooked up to “140” at what may be Iowa State. Thanks to David Sturtevant for the photos.

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Beatles 50th Sullivan Anniversary Count Down…12 Days

Here’s the HUGE SURPRISE I promised yesterday! Who knew that CBS had sent one of their early hand held video cameras to Miami to get shots for the February 16, 1964 ‘Ed Sullivan Show’? I just found this awesome photo a few days ago and it is the first time I have ever seen one of these cameras used on anything other than space shots. I’ve never even seen one of these prototype cameras in use at a sporting event. This photo was taken at the morning sound check which was followed by a dress rehearsal and finally that night’s show. This is one of about 6 cameras Ikegami built in a partnership with CBS Engineering around 1962. Unlike the RCA/NBC portables, I think this has an Image Orthicon tube and not a Vidicon.

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Jerry Lewis, Creator Of Motion Picture Video Assist

Although we have been here before, this is a new photo that shows and RCA Vidicon camera mounted just above the optical viewfinder on this Mitchell 35 BNC camera. Lewis started using this process in 1960 while shooting ‘The Bellboy’, but I think this photo is from the 1963 set of ‘The Nutty Professor’. By 1968, a beam splitter was incorporated into this dual camera arrangement that let both cameras see the same view. Director Blake Edwards was the first to use the beam-splitter single-camera system invented by engineer Jim Songer in the 1968 film ‘The Party’.

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The Baughman Pedestal

This is my favorite light weight camera support…The Baughman Portable Pedestal made by the E J Baughman Company in El Monte CA. This is the earliest version that had a smaller central column that was only adjustable with a wrench and debuted around 1955. Soon after, the center column became a much thicker chrome plated item with a quick release lever and another version featured a hydraulic pump and handle. This photo shows Jack LaLanne at KTTV in Los Angeles where he moved his show in 1957 from it’s original home at KGO in San Francisco where it started in 1953.

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Television In Simpler Times…

Covering the Inglewood Christmas parade November 23, 1962, here’s a KTTV RCA TK30 equipped with a Taylor Hobson Varotal Field Lens. Having been the Los Angeles Dodgers station since their move there in 1958, the station had a lot of remote equipment and a staff experienced in putting cameras together on top of trucks and stadium bleachers. FYI, the light colored top part of the camera is the removable viewfinder that attaches easily to the bottom darker part. On top of the TK30 viewfinder is a leather strap handle for easy carrying and although most don’t know it, RCA made a carry handle top for the TK30 camera body as well that would make getting it to the top of this truck a lot easier.

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In Preparation For A HUGE Surprise!

Tomorrow, I will be posting a hugely surprising photo…one that I am sure you have never seen. To prepare you, this post is about the CBS/Ikegami partnership on the development of an ENG camera that began around 1961. A year or so back, Dr. Joe Flaherty, who is still a Senior VP of Engineering at CBS told me the story that he was deeply involved in. In a nutshell, CBS wanted an ENG type camera for their remotes and news departments. Ikegami had made some progress in their efforts so CBS decided to team up with them on a development project. There were plans for a cabled and a wireless version but the best progress came on the cabled version and by 1962, CBS had a prototype in the field and you can see it in action below at the McDonald Douglas plant in St. Louis where the Mercury spacecraft was made. By 1964, this camera had a manual zoom lens and a different viewfinder but the camera body stayed about the same. A couple were built for use at the CBS O&O station KMOX in St, Louis and that would be the first station in the nation to have hand held news gathering cameras, but not a lot was made of it as CBS wanted a low profile on their R&D with Ikegami. The network also had a couple that were used occasionally in NYC but mostly they saw action at Cape Canaveral in the early 60s which was a good place for field testing. The b/w photos show the camera in 1962 and the color photo shows the modified version in November of 1966. I think the CBS cameras used small IO tubes, but I’m not sure. RCA had hand held Vidicon cameras that NBC used as far back as 1952 and updated versions in the 60s, but the hand held cameras didn’t really take off till the RCA color version…The TK76 was introduced in 1976. The problem with the late start for the hand helds was the color conversions in 1965. There were some good B/W hand helds but with color newscasts, the images looked out of place.

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The First Home Of CBS…485 Madison Avenue, At 52nd Street

This photo shows the building still under construction in April 1927. CBS Radio Network went on the air September 18 of that year with 18 stations and operated out of the office for the New York station at Steinway Hall on West 57th Street in Manhattan. Exactly two years later, September 18, 1929 moved into the top six stories of this building. CBS Radio studios 1 through 9 were located here. Around 1936, CBS Television studios 31 and 32 were added here and a year later, television added studios 41 through 44 at Grand Central Station at 15 Vanderbilt Ave on the third floor and that was it for television till around 1944 when about a dozen other locations were opened in theaters around the city. CBS also had radio studios at 49 East 52nd Street. Around ’63, plans were being made to move and corporate headquarters had plans on the drafting table for the “Black Rock” building at 51 West 52nd Street at the corner of Sixth Avenue. On July 25, 1964, the last radio broadcast from 49 East 52nd was “Farewell To Studio 9” with a long list of stars and clips that had come from that famous studio. CBS Radio newsman Steve Rowan was the last to broadcast from the 485 Madison location on July 25 and the first to broadcast from the new CBS Broadcast Center Studios on July 26…both programs were top of the hour newscasts. CBS television studios were also in the process of moving to the Broadcast Center including 31 and 32 at 485 Madison and 41 through 44 at Grand Central. Studios 53 to 56 at Liederkrantz Hall, 111 East 58th Street were also moving to the Broadcast Center. The corporate offices later moved to Black Rock which opened in 1965 at 51 West 52nd Street.

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Earliest Use And Photo Of The RCA TK40 & HF Cradle Head

In early August of 1953, RCA shipped the first four production models of the TK40 to the Colonial Theater in New York for field testing. They also sent the first and only engineering model of the Houston Fearless cradle head which you can see in this photo…the other cameras were mounted on the old friction heads. Notice this pan head is the narrow version later used for the B/W camera lines. It also has no locking or drag knobs. With the 3 cable connections, the wider head was developed for better support and extra room to thread the three cables through the pan head. On August 30th, NBC presented the first publicly announced experimental broadcast in compatible color TV of a network program which was “St. George and the Dragon” on the ‘Kukla, Fran, and Ollie Show’. This is a photo from the rehearsal of that presentation and is the first known photo of a production model TK40 and cradle head. Around October, three TK40s were installed in NBC Studio 3K. Shipments also went to NBC O&O stations in Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington as testing continued at the Colonial and in 3K and the January 1, 1954 NBC colorcast of the Rose Parade was the first color remote for the TK40s. The first shipments of TK40s to independent and non NBC O&O stations were made from Camden NJ on March 4, 1954. WKY in Oklahoma City was the first to receive them and three weeks later did their first color broadcast on April 8th. The March 54 shipment of TK40s coincides with the introduction of the Houston Fearless cradle head as you will see below.

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60 Years Ago, Houston Fearless Introduced The Cradle Head

In March of 1954, this ad appeared in all the trade magazines to announce the arrival of this new pan head. The MCH 1 was for monochrome cameras and the CH 1 was for the RCA TK41. Aside from a few of the first TK40s which came with friction heads, the CH 1 was the standard head for the RCA color cameras. During the field testing of the TK40 at the Colonial Theater, the one and only engineering model of the head was in use and was so efficient under the 350 pound cameras, RCA placed a rush order with HF so they would be available for the TK40 cameras they were shipping to their O&O stations, prior to the general release in March of ’54. The cradle head patent information I posted last week was filed later in March of ’54 after they had already been introduced. See the story above to see the engineering model in use at the Colonial.

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