{"id":39368,"date":"2016-11-03T08:32:16","date_gmt":"2016-11-03T12:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eyesofageneration.com\/?p=39368"},"modified":"2016-11-14T16:24:09","modified_gmt":"2016-11-14T21:24:09","slug":"ellerbee-classic-camera-census","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.eyesofageneration.com\/?p=39368","title":{"rendered":"Ellerbee Classic Camera Census"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the world’s first and only count of the remaining studio size television cameras from the Golden Age and beyond.<\/p>\n

Over 60 years of history is represented in this survey. The sad news is, there are very few that have made it. Included in the census are the RCA, Norelco, Marconi, GE and Dumont studio size cameras, and for the first time, I’m adding the Ikegami line to the list.<\/p>\n

Also for the first time, I am attempting to count cameras on a worldwide basis. Most cameras are in the US, but thanks to Dicky Howett in England, we have a more comprehensive count on cameras abroad. I have now included the RCA and Marconi cameras at Dicky’s Golden Age TV Recreations prop house and some others in UK museums, at the BBC, and in Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

No ENG, or shoulder-mounted cameras are included, nor are Sony or Ikegami cameras.\u00a0Fortunately, two compete TK41 camera chains have been found since our last update, as have a few TK41 camera heads. A few more GE and Marconi cameras have surfaced and so have a few early RCA black and white camera heads. A large number of cameras from History For Hire have been added too. Since our last update, a few collections have been sold and a few added to. I am also happy to report that a very rare 1939 RCA Iconoscope studio camera has surfaced to join Steve McVoy’s field version of the 1939 RCA Iconoscope camera. That makes a grand total of 324 RCA cameras left.<\/p>\n

I’m sure there are others out there, but my bet is, less than 50 more than the 459 total cameras listed here. I have tried to be as inclusive as possible and have been in touch with not only private collectors like myself, but all of the major museums and archival sources that I know of including the sources below. If there are collections or sources that you would like me to know about for inclusion in the list, please feel free to contact me.<\/p>\n

THANK YOU ALL for Participating! \u00a0Bobby Ellerbee<\/p>\n

SPECIAL NOTE: To see some great charts and tables that show when certain cameras were manufactured, please see in this same section (Archives), TOTAL COLOR CAMERA COUNT by Lytle Hoover.<\/p>\n

ABBREVIATIONS:
\nSSM = Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History; information provided by Elliot Sivowitch (curator and “great grandfather” of all Television collectors)
\nMBT = Museum of Broadcast Technology in Woonsocket, R.I. (curators, Paul Beck and Tom Sprague)
\nMBC = Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago (curator, Bruce DuMont)
\nNEW = The Newseum in Washington, DC (curator, Carrie Christofferson)
\nVM** = Virtual Museum Page on Old Radio.com (curator, Lytle Hoover)
\n**For clarity, to avoid double counts, the cameras on the VM site have been included individually in the counts below
\nUCLA* = University of California at Los Angeles, Television Archives (curator, Dan Einstein)
\n*see other cameras at end
\nPIC = Private Collection, owner wishes to remain anonymous
\nETF = Early Television Foundation, Hilliard Ohio (curator, Steve McVoy)
\nUN = University of Nebraska College of Jrl. and Mass Comm. Lincoln, Nebraska
\nHFH = History For Hire, the top prop shop for TV equipment in Los Angeles
\nMRT = Museum of Radio and Technology, Huntington, W. Virginia
\nSM = Schenectady Museum, a major repository of GE archives
\nHFM = Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan
\nMBC = Museum Of Broadcast Communications, Chicago, Illinois<\/p>\n

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RCA TK10 (left) – TK30 (right) Series:<\/strong><\/span>
\nBobby Ellerbee: 1 TK30, The Pat Weaver NBC Camera, presented to first President of NBC TV in appreciation for his achievements in programming. See the Ellerbee Collection for more.
\nBobby Ellerbee: 1 TK10, one of the original 8 bought and used at WGN in 1948
\nBilly Graham Museum: 1 TK30
\nChuck Pharis: 1 TK10, 7 TK30
\nAllan Weiner*: 1 TK10, 4 TK30
\nTom Long: 1 TK30
\nUCLA: 1 TK10, 1 TK30
\nSSM: 1 TK30
\nPIC: 1 TK10, 1 TK30
\nDicky Howett: 1 TK10, 1 TK30 (England)
\nSteve Selinger: 1 TK30A
\nETF: 3 TK30A (on loan with 1948 RCA TJ 48 remote truck from Ohio State Historical Society)
\nUN: 1 TK30A (serial # 24, originally owned by WOW-TV Omaha)
\nJulian Burke: 1 TK30
\nBill Kuhar: 1 TK30 used at CBS Studio 55 in NYC
\nEdwardo Suarez: 1 TK10
\nHFH: 3 TK30, 1 TK10
\nEd Sharpe: 1 TK30
\nVM – KFOR: 1 TK30
\nTotal TK10 and TK30 = 38 (Running Total = 38)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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RCA TK11- 31 Series:<\/strong><\/span>
\nBobby Ellerbee: 1 TK11-A-1
\nVM – Kennedy Library: 2 TK11 from WBBM Chicago (original Kennedy-Nixon Debate cameras) with thanks to the SSM
\nVM – Lloyd Scott: 1 TK11
\nVM – WHIZ-TV: 1 TK11
\nVM – Sarnoff Library (Courtesy of Dave Abramson): 1 TK31
\nMBT: 4 TK11\/31
\nChuck Pharis: 8 TK11\/31
\nJay Ballard: 1 TK11
\nAllan Weiner *: 2 TK11, 4 TK31
\nUCLA: 1 TK11 (from KTLA, donated by Steve Dichter)
\nMichael Aisner: 1 TK11 (from the Chuck Pharis Collection)
\nUCLA: 1 TK11, 1 TK31
\nSSM: 1 TK 11
\nJulian Burke: 3 TK11s
\nMBC: 1 TK31 (the remaining Kennedy-Nixon debate camera that was originally gifted Northwestern University)
\nDavid Johnson Collection: 1 TK31 (complete chain)
\nNBC: 1 TK31 (Rockefeller Plaza display)
\nRonald Purtle: 2 TK11A
\nETF: 1 TK31
\nJan Lowery: 1 TK 11A (purchased from Chuck Pharis)
\nUN: 1 TK 11\/31 (serial # 1420, originally owned by KUON-TV at UN)
\nJim Bragg: 1 TK11
\nEdwardo Suarez: 1 TK11
\nBill Howard, KOCO: 1 TK 11
\nHFH: 3 TK11
\nChuck Conrad: 1 TK11A (Serial # 1475, from KIIV Sherman TX)
\nDicky Howett: 1 TK11 (England)
\nEd Sharpe: 1 TK11
\nVM – WHIZ lobby: 1 TK11
\nVM – Bill Howard: 1 TK11
\nVM – WEWS lobby: 1 TK11
\nVM – Oklahoma Historical Society: 1 TK11 (from KETA)
\nTotal TK 11\/31 = 54 (Running Total = 92)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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RCA TK14 (left) and (right) TK15:<\/strong><\/span>
\nChuck Pharis: 2 TK15, 2 TK14
\nPIC: 1 TK15
\nAlan Weiner: 2 TK15
\nMBT: 1 TK14, 1 TK15
\nEd Sharpe: 2 TK14
\nTotal TK 14\/15 = 12 (Running Total = 103)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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RCA TK40 – 41 Series:<\/strong><\/span>
\nBobby Ellerbee: 1 TK41C (from KTLA: former ‘4th sister’ to the Red Skelton TK41A cameras now at UCLA)
\nEd Reitan: 1 TK40A (one of the first CBS Television City color cameras, Los Angeles)
\nKris Trexler: 1 TK41C (from KSTP)
\nMBC: 1 TK41C (from WGN)
\nUCLA: 3 TK41Bs (the Red Skelton, Red-E-O Video cameras were sold to KTLA; now archived at UCLA)
\nDavid Woods\/WCOV: 1 TK41C
\nChuck Pharis: 1 TK40 (“1952 earliest known RCA color camera. This is a 1 of only 2 prototypes built and used for testing by NBC on sports coverage. It bridges the gap from ‘coffin cameras’ to production model. RCA\/NBC later updated the viewfinder and some internals on this camera as it entered regular service at NBC Burbank when the TK40 production models arrived.)
\nChuck Pharis: 5 TK41 (one with complete chain, twin of Rick Wold’s new TK41)
\nMBT: Jay Ballard’s 1 TK41B and 1 TK41C on permanent display
\nAllan Weiner *: 1 TK40, 1 TK41
\nBob Ennis: 1 TK41C (from the Chuck Pharis Collection)
\nSteve McVoy: TK41C (no viewfinder…yet) Early Television Museum in Hilliard, Ohio
\nSSM: 1 TK41 (from WALB-TV, Albany, Ga.)
\nPIC: 1 TK41C
\nAxeman Army-Navy Store: 1 TK41 (on display at their Minneapolis store)
\nChalina Johnson: 1 TK41C (bought from Chuck Pharis)
\nLeonardo Ferraz: 1 TK41C (complete chain)
\nOklahoma State Museum: 1 TK40A twin of the MBT TK40A from WKY-TV, one of a pair (see MBT below)
\nMBT: 1 TK40A, one of a pair of the first 2 color cameras delivered to a local station WKY-TV; twin at OK State Museum
\nJulian Burke: 2 TK41C
\nRick Wold: 1 TK41C (complete chain, twin of new Chuck Pharis TK41)
\nJim Bragg: 1 TK41C
\nHFH: 3 TK41s from CBS
\nEd Sharpe: 1 TK41C
\nPIC: 1 TK41C (a former director in LA has one but wishes to keep his name private)
\nMBC: 1 WGN TK41 on display in Chicago
\nTotal = 36 (5 TK40s and 31 TK41s) (Running Total = 140)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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RCA TK42 – 43 Series:<\/strong>
\nBobby Ellerbee: 1 TK42
\nJulian Burke: 2 TK42, 1 TK43
\nChuck Pharis: 1 TK42
\nAllan Weiner *: 1 TK42 , 2 TK43s
\nTom Long: 1 TK42
\nJay Ballard: 2 TK42s
\nWAVY-TV: 1 TK 42
\nUCLA: 2 TK42s, 1 TK 43
\nDC Video: 1 TK42 with chain
\nEd Sharpe: 1 TK42
\nTotal = 17 (Running Total = 157)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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RCA TK60:<\/strong>
\nBobby Ellerbee: 2 TK60s
\nVM – J.F.K. Library: 1 TK60 (from Paul Beck with thanks to the SSM)
\nMBT: 9 TK60s
\nChuck Pharis: 5 TK60s
\nJay Ballard: 1 TK60
\nAllan Weiner *: 1 TK60
\nUCLA: 2 TK60
\nJulian Burke: 1 TK60
\nDC Video: 1 TK60
\nSSM: 1 TK60 (at Kennedy Library)
\nRobert Voll: 2 TK60
\nJan Lowery: 1 TK60
\nBob Blauvet: 1 TK60
\nBrian Summers (UK): 1 TK60
\nJim Bragg: 2 TK60s
\nHFH: 4 TK60s
\nEd Sharpe: 2 TK60
\nJames Patterson: 1 TK60 (Australia, oldtvgear.com)
\nTotal = 38 (Running Total = 195)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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RCA TK 44 (left) – TK45 (center) \u00a0– TK46 (right) Series:<\/strong><\/span>
\nBobby Ellerbee: 2 TK44s, 2 TK46s
\nVM – Bob Meza: 1 TK44 (Bob was the last engineer at NBC Burbank to work on the 44s)
\nJon Lessa: 3 TK44s
\nMBT: 3 TK44s, 4 TK45s
\nVM – WLIO-TV: 1 TK44
\nChuck Pharis: 3 TK44s, 2 TK45s, 1 TK46
\nJay Ballard: 3 TK44s
\nVM – Lytle Hoover: 1 TK44 (curator of the Virtual Museum at oldradio.com)
\nEd Sharpe: 2 TK44
\nDC Video: 2 TK45s, 5 TK46s
\nPIC: 1 TK44
\nRonald Purtle: 1 TK45
\nJan Lowery: 1 TK44
\nUN: TK44B (serial # 08043; original owner WOWT-TV, Omaha)
\nJohn Bolin: 2 TK44s
\nJim Bragg: 1 TK44
\nHFH: 4 TK44s, 2 TK45s
\nJoe LaRe’: 1 TK44
\nJames Patterson: 1 TK45 (Australia, oldtvgear.com)
\nVM: 1 TK44, Dennis Lamb
\nVM: 1 TK46, Carl Bergquist
\nTotal = 52 (Running Total = 250)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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RCA TK47:<\/strong><\/span>
\nBobby Ellerbee: 1 TK47
\nVM – Lytel Hoover: 2
\nEd Sharpe: 3
\nChuck Pharis: 2
\nJay Ballard: 11
\nLou Gordon: 4
\nTom Long: 1 TK47C Model
\nMBT: 5
\nJan Lowery: 1 TK47
\nBrian Summers (UK): 2 TK47
\nJohn Bollin: 1 TK47
\nJim Bragg: 2 TK47
\nHFH: 4 TK47s
\nJodie Peeler: 1 TK47 with chain (formerly of KCET-TV)
\nTotal = 40 (Running Total = 290)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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RCA 1939 Iconoscope:<\/strong>
\nMRT: 1 1939 Studio Camera, (Model MI-21081-A) Very rare field camera, recently acquired and on display.
\nETF: 1 1939 Field Camera. A very rare and historic camera. Steve McVoy has had this a few years and a great page of pre 1945 cameras on his site can be seen by clicking here
\nTotal = 2 (Running Total =\u00a0292)<\/strong><\/p>\n

End of RCA Cameras: counting 292 known, remaining RCA studio cameras.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Norelco PC60 – PC70:<\/strong><\/span>
\nBobby Ellerbee: 1 PC60, 2 PC70s
\nNEW: 4 PC70s (CBS – Cronkite Studio cameras)
\nMBT: 4 PC60s, 6 PC60-70s, 4 PC70s (+ 1 PCP 70)
\nChuck Pharis: 2 PC-60s, 4 PC-70s
\nUCLA: 1 PC 70
\nAllan Weiner *: 1 PC70 + 2 PCP 70s
\nEd Sharpe: 3 PC70
\nMartin Perry: 1 PC60
\nHFH: 10 PC70s
\nDC Video: 2 PC70s with chains
\nJulian Burke: 1 PC70
\nTotal = 48 (Running Total = 340)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Marconi: Mark V – Mark VII<\/strong><\/span>
\nBobby Ellerbee: 1 Marconi Mark IV, 1 Mark VII (Sesame Street, Tele-Tape Productions)
\nGuy Spiller: 2 Mark VII
\nChuck Pharis: 2 Mark IV
\nUN: 1 Mark VII, original owner KOUN-TV at UN
\nChuck Conrad: 1 Mark IV head with 3 ccus (WFAA\/Dallas, Kennedy – Oswald)
\nJames Patterson: 1 mint condition Mark IV, 1 Mark VIII, Melbourne, Australia…OldTVGear.com
\nDicky Howett: 1 Mark II, 1 Mark III (see all his cameras in the Collections section)
\nGolden Age Television Recreations: 1 Mark ll, 10 Mark llls, 6 Mark IVs, 2 Mark Vs and 7 Mark Vllls
\n(this is the top UK TV prop house owned by Dicky Howett).
\nSpecial Note: In a conversation with Dicky Howett, he estimates there is 1 more Mark IV in Australia, 2 more in New Zealand and 4 more in British museums, including the BBC, for 7 more surviving Marconi cameras.<\/em><\/p>\n

Total Mark ll is 5 worldwide Total Mark llls is 11 worldwide<\/strong>
\nTotal Mark IVs is 16 worldwide Total Mark Vll is 11 worldwide<\/strong>
\nTotal = 48 (Running Total = 388)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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DUMONT<\/strong>:
\nHFM: 1930s era Iconoscope camera from WWJ TV
\nAlan Weiner: 4 TA-12 complete chains
\nChuck Pharis: 1 124B studio camera with chain, 1 Electrocam with film camera attached
\nPCI: 1 studio camera
\nSSN: 1 studio camera chain
\nUN: 1 Pickup head 5098C and Viewfinder 5099B, original owner KOLN-TV, Lincoln
\nChuck Conrad: 5095A IO (thought to be from WFAA \/ KBTV Dallas)
\nSouth Carolina State Museum: 2 studio cameras (one ex-WNOK-TV, with chain; one ex-WCSC-TV)
\nTotal = 13 (Running Total\u00a0= 401)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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General Electric<\/strong><\/span>:
\nBobby Ellerbee: 1 PE 350, 1 PE 400
\nSM: 2, 1930s era Iconoscope cameras from WRGB-TV
\nRonald Purtle: 1 PE 250
\nDC Video: 1 PE 350 with chain
\nChuck Pharis: 3 PE 250, 2 PE 11 (5-lens cameras)
\nUN: 1 I\/O camera (no model) from 1953, original owner NTV network stations, KHOL and KHGI
\nUN: 1 color (no model) 1967, original owner KOLN-TV
\nETF: 1 PC 11 I\/O model, 1 PE 250
\nMartin Perry: 1 PE 250, 1 PE 400, 1 PE 15 (The PE 400 may be the first color camera used in the Goodyear blimp)
\nChuck Conrad: 1 4PC 121 A1 IO (KRLD Dallas TX), 1 4PC 14 A2 Videcon (SMU, Dallas) chalkhillmedia.org
\nJulian Burke: 1 PE 250, 1 PE 350
\nEduardo Suarez: 1 PC 11B
\nTotal GE cameras = 22 (Running total = 423)<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the world’s first and only count of the remaining studio size television cameras from the Golden Age and beyond. Over 60 years of history is represented in this survey. The sad news is, there are very few that have made it. Included in the census are the RCA, Norelco, Marconi, GE and Dumont […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_vp_custom_popup_image":0,"_vp_format_audio_url":"","_vp_album_images":[],"_vp_custom_thumbnail":0,"_vp_custom_thumbnail_focal_point":[],"_vp_custom_thumbnail_cover":0,"_vp_hover_thumbnail":0,"_vp_hover_thumbnail_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[683,724,703,709,692],"class_list":["post-39368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-cameras","tag-cast","tag-director","tag-engineer","tag-remote-truck"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.eyesofageneration.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.eyesofageneration.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.eyesofageneration.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eyesofageneration.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eyesofageneration.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eyesofageneration.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39368\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.eyesofageneration.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eyesofageneration.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eyesofageneration.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}