Above is a shot of then Senator John F. Kennedy at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago being interviewed by CBS in August of 1956. Although RCA made a great mini cam which NBC used in the 1952 conventions, CBS would not buy them, and we all should now know by know about all the bad blood between them over the color system battles.

This camera in the Kennedy photo is most likely a prototype made by the French company, Intercontinental Electronics. The camera was four pounds and came with a thirty two pound back pack. The battery to power unit and broadcast the signal, which could go almost a mile, weighed over ten pounds.

CBS also used the unit at the Republican convention in San Francisco that year along with a three pound “vest pocket” camera made by Lockheed Engineering. Those items are seen in the second photo along with a Dage Porta Camera in the lower middle.  The big camera is the RCA TK10, on the left is the Intercontinental Electronics camera and back pack and the man with the tiny camera is the legendary Sig Mickelson…the first president of CBS News. Enjoy and share!

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