May 8, 1945, Victory In Europe Day
May 8, 1945, Victory In Europe
To celebrate the defeat of Germany, and it’s Axis ally Italy, WNBT broadcast hours of live news coverage and celebrations on the end of World War II in Europe with remotes from around New York City. Here, we see an RCA Orthicon camera atop the marquee of the Astor Hotel in panning the happy crowd below.
Although a step up from the Iconoscope cameras, the first Orthicon cameras still had the ground glass, optical viewfinders and the right hand pan handle was the focus demand, which would carry over into the TK40s and 41s. The focus demand on the body of the camera’s right side did not come along until the Image Orthicon RCA TK30 and TK10 which had a four lens turret and five inch electronic viewfinders. Interestingly, some of the fist TK40 prototypes had the side mounted focus control, but TK40 operators liked the dual handles and right grip focus demand better with a camera that size.
Many of our international friends still have their cameras set up with the focus demand on the right and zoom on the left. In the US, our cameras are mostly set up with zoom demand on the right and focus on the left. This shift came about with the introduction of the cable drive Varatol zoom lenses from Rank Taylor Hobson. With the back focus correctly set, cameramen could get more dynamics with the zoom demand and that was more easily done with the right hand with minimal help from the cable driven focus demand, so that assignment went to the left hand.
Look at the tripod! Could handle a 105mm canon recoil.
I wonder how many people actually saw that broadcast? Not many at that time, I’d guess.
BTW, most of those CBS Norelcos were modified to run on two TV-33 cables because CBS had so many miles of the stuff left from the B/W Marconis!
My first zoom was controlled with a push rod right through the middle of the TK-30! Flash forward a few years to the CBS bureau in DC. Norelco PC 60/70s with electronic lenses. Pan handle was on the left and the grip at the end rotated to operate the zoom. Focus was controlled from a small box with about a 4″ diameter wheel mounted midway up the pan handle!
What a great picture! Check out the Statue of Liberty in the background… And ya, that multi core cable must be a drag to strike!!
I actually worked a camera for Hockey with a zoom control on the left, and focus control on the right. A truck from Hamilton, Ontario (CHCH) had it in their inventory. Lens was French made, Angenieux.
He looks like a Nabet engineer.
Interesting photo. Didn’t even know the end of the war was even televised, first I’ve heard of it.
Look at the size of that cable. That’s for black-and-white. Now we do 1080 P color on CAT-5/6!