Videokarma.org TV - Video - Vintage Television & Radio Forums

Videokarma.org TV - Video - Vintage Television & Radio Forums (http://www.videokarma.org/index.php)
-   Early Color Television (http://www.videokarma.org/forumdisplay.php?f=36)
-   -   Alice Cooper shot on an RCA TK-42 camera (http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=110131)

Aussie Bloke 04-28-2007 02:33 AM

Alice Cooper shot on an RCA TK-42 camera
 
I've been browsing YouTube for Alice Cooper videos (I'm a big fan of him) and found a few clips of him performing live in Detroit 1971 on a show called "Tubeworks", interesting thing about these clips is I saw some TK-42s in the background and the pictures look a little similar to a TK-41 except it halos more easily due to the vidicon tubes being colour filtered and the orthicon tube being fully exposed like a B&W IO camera, I found the footage very interesting to watch as I always wondered what sort of pictures a TK-42 gave opposed to a TK-41. I would have to agree that the pictures on a TK-41 are more superior to that of a TK-42 but looking from a video artistic point of view I find the pictures on the TK-42s very interesting.

Anyways here's the link to the video clips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRHFIVJtqpc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HONXAKYyai8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bJfPU5A4xU

Cheers
Troy

jonman 04-28-2007 04:46 PM

I remember watching that when it was originally on. Thanks for the link. I am also a longtime Alice Cooper fan. Saw him live back in 72 if I remember right. It was the Killer tour. Grreat bill, also playing were Dr. John and Edgar Winter's White Trash.

Dave A 04-29-2007 12:00 AM

Having spent my formative television years behind a TK-42 (1969 to 1973) I can say with authority and hindsight that it was the worst insult to color television ever.

Remember that it had 4 tubes. One 4" IO and three 1" vidicons for the color smear. That means that the light was divided by 4 for each tube...25% each via the optics. Even the venerable TK-40 and 41 had three tubes to share the light. 300 footcandles on the set was our standard.

The resulting picture was quite sharp with the big IO as luminance but the RGB from the vidicons was as dull as it could be. If you knew what to look for, you could see some halo, but it was the least of the problems. Registering the camera on a chart was fun. Try to find the G signal mush over the very sharp IO.

It came with an "orbiter" button on the back which would electronically rotate the image field slightly to prevent a tube burn if pointed at a bright light for a length of time. Earlier B&W cameras had the same, but were mechanical. If you burned a tube, you would point the camera at a white card and open the iris and let it cook for a half hour or so to equally burn out the spot. This did not help tube life.

The 42 had the zoom/focus control directly built in to the back of the camera as huge hand controls that would be better suited to closing the watertight doors on a submarine. There was no chance of a good zoom because the "feel" for the controls was too close to the center of gravity. Any move you made that close is like shooting skeet with a shotgun with no stock.

The later TK-43 corrected this with outboard controls on panhandles. But not enough to get NBC to buy them. They skipped them and held on to the TK-41's until 1971 or so when the TK-44 arrived. My station in Rockford, IL held on to the 42's until 1977 when new owners bought TK-47's.

I might have some 3/4" footage from this camera I can post as soon as I find it, transfer it to the computer and catch a screen shot. I have some VHS also, but that is not a good reproduction of the color due to VHS limitations.

Scarred for life by this camera,

Dave A


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:57 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
©Copyright 2012 VideoKarma.org, All rights reserved.