One Of My Favorites

On January 18, 2014 - TV History

One Of My Favorites

Here’s a bank of RCA TK11s at Television City going through the registration process. They are probably am out of range grey scale chart. No, there are not 10 lenses per camera…only four, but there are six small “face lights” on the front of each unit. Even with the best overhead lighting, there are always shadows and to help eliminate the chin, nose and eye shadows, these custom light racks were installed to help brush them out on close up and medium shots. Unlike their brethren in NY, who opted for the cue card/gaffer tape viewfinder hoods, the west coast cameras at CBS and NBC had custom viewfinder hoods built in their own shops. Go figure.

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6 Comments

  1. Mike Clark January 19, 2014

    thinks the the talent is wondering “which is the ‘taking’ lens???” or “do I get a blindfold and cigarette?”

  2. John Roger Bolin January 18, 2014

    2 cranes and 2 peds-now that’s TV.

  3. Val Ginter January 18, 2014

    I shot a cable interview once with Lilian Gish around 1974, and she demanded a light on the floor to illuminate her eyes. She said Griffith did that when she was a girl, and it always worked.

  4. Art Hackett January 18, 2014

    I wonder when the last time was when you could find an entire studio of cameras with all turret lenses and no zooms?

  5. Albert J. McGilvray January 18, 2014

    We had this discussion before. Is the cameraperson on the left a woman wearing slacks?

  6. Andrew Palser January 18, 2014

    The face lights surely would have produced extra heat, causing further adjustment issues.