A professional video camera (often called a television camera even though its use has spread beyond
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
) is a high-end device for creating electronic moving images (as opposed to a
movie camera
A movie camera (also known as a film camera and cine-camera) is a type of photographic camera that rapidly takes a sequence of photographs, either on an image sensor or onto film stock, in order to produce a moving image to project onto a movie sc ...
, that earlier recorded the images on
film). Originally developed for use in
television studios or with
outside broadcast trucks, they are now also used for
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
s,
direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...
movies (see
digital movie camera), corporate and educational videos, wedding videos, among other uses. Since the 2000s, most professional video cameras are digital (instead of analog) professional video cameras.
The distinction between professional video cameras and movie cameras became much smaller as HD digital video cameras with sensors the same size as 35mm movie cameras - plus
dynamic range (
exposure latitude) and color rendition approaching film quality - were introduced in the late 2010s. Nowadays, HDTV cameras designed for broadcast television, news, sports, events and other works such as reality TV are termed as professional video cameras. A
digital movie camera is designed for movies or scripted television to record files that are then color corrected during
post-production. The video signal from a professional video camera can be broadcast live, or is meant to be edited quickly with little or no color or exposure adjustments needed.
History
The earliest video cameras were mechanical
flying-spot scanner
A flying-spot scanner (FSS) uses a scanning source of a spot of light, such as a high-resolution, high-light-output, low-persistence cathode ray tube (CRT), to scan an image. Usually the image to be scanned is on photographic film, such as motion ...
s which were in use in the 1920s and 1930s during the period of
mechanical television
Mechanical television or mechanical scan television is a television system that relies on a mechanical scanning device, such as a rotating disk with holes in it or a rotating mirror drum, to scan the scene and generate the video signal, and a si ...
. Improvements in
video camera tube
Video camera tubes were devices based on the cathode ray tube that were used in television cameras to capture television images, prior to the introduction of charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors in the 1980s. Several different types of tubes ...
s in the 1930s ushered in the era of
electronic television. Earlier, cameras were very large devices, almost always in two sections. The camera section held the lens and camera tube pre-amplifiers and other necessary electronics, and was connected to a large diameter
multicore cable
A multicore cable is a type of electrical cable that combines multiple signals or power feeds into a single jacketed cable. The term is normally only used in relation to a cable that has more cores than commonly encountered. Not all cables with mu ...
to the remainder of the camera electronics, usually mounted in a separate room in the studio, or a remote truck. The camera head could not generate a video picture signal on its own. The video signal was output to the studio for switching and transmission. By the fifties, electronic miniaturization had progressed to the point where some monochrome cameras could operate standalone and even be handheld. But the studio configuration remained, with the large cable bundle transmitting the signals back to the
camera control unit
The camera control unit (CCU) is typically part of a live television broadcast chain. It is responsible for powering the professional video camera, handling signals sent over the camera cable to and from the camera, and can be used to control ...
(CCU). The CCU in turn was used to align and operate the camera's functions, such as exposure, system timing, video and
black level
Video black level is defined as the level of brightness at the darkest (black) part of a visual image or the level of brightness at which no light is emitted from a screen, resulting in a pure black screen.
Video displays generally need to be cal ...
s.
The first color cameras (1950s in the US, early 1960s in Europe), notably the
RCA TK-40/41 series, were much more complex with their three (and in some models four) pickup tubes, and their size and weight drastically increased. Handheld color cameras did not come into general use until the early 1970s - the first generation of cameras were split into a camera head unit (the body of the camera, containing the lens and pickup tubes, and held on the shoulder or a body brace in front of the operator) connected via a cable bundle to a backpack CCU.
The
Ikegami HL-33, the RCA TKP45 and the Thomson Microcam were portable two piece color cameras introduced in the early 1970s. For field work a separate
VTR was still required to record the camera's video output. Typically this was either a portable 1" reel to reel VTR, or a portable 3/4"
U-matic VCR
A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the recording. ...
. Typically, the two camera units would be carried by the camera operator, while a tape operator would carry the portable recorder. With the introduction of the RCA TK76 in 1976, camera operators were finally able to carry on their shoulders a one piece camera containing all the electronics to output a broadcast quality composite video signal. A separate videotape recording unit was still required.
Electronic news-gathering
Electronic news-gathering (ENG) or electronic journalism (EJ) is usage of electronic video and audio technologies by reporters to gather and present news instead of using film cameras. The term was coined during the rise of videotape techn ...
(ENG) cameras replaced the
16mm film cameras for TV news production from the 1970s onwards because the cost of shooting on film was significantly more than shooting on a reusable tape. Portable video tape production also enabled much faster turnaround time for the quick completion of news stories, compared to the need to chemically process film before it could be shown or edited. However some news feature stories for weekly news magazine shows continued to use 16mm film cameras until the 1990s.
At first all these cameras used tube-based sensors, but
charge-coupled device
A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a ...
(CCD) imagers came on the scene in the mid-80s, bringing numerous benefits. Early CCD cameras could not match the colour or resolution of their tube counterparts, but the benefits of CCD technology, such as introducing smaller and lightweight cameras, a better and more stable image (that was not prone to image burn in or lag) and no need for registration meant development on CCD imagers quickly took off and, once rivaling and offering a superior image to a tube sensor, began displacing tube-based cameras - the latter of which were all but disused by the early 1990s. Eventually, cameras with the recorder permanently mated to the camera head became the norm for ENG. In studio cameras, the camera electronics shrank, and CCD imagers replaced the pickup tubes. The thick multi-core cables connecting the camera head to the CCU were replaced in the late seventies with
triax connections, a slender video cable that carried multiple video signals, intercom audio, and control circuits, and could be run for a mile or more. As the camera innards shrunk, the electronics no longer dictated the size of the enclosure, however the box shape remained, as it is necessary to hold the large studio lenses,
teleprompters,
electronic viewfinder
An electronic viewfinder (EVF) is a camera viewfinder where the image captured by the lens is displayed on a small screen (usually LCD or OLED) which the photographer can look through when composing their shot. It differs from a live preview ...
(EVF), and other paraphernalia needed for studio and sports production. Electronic Field Production cameras were often mounted in studio configurations inside a mounting cage. This cage supported the additional studio accessories.
In the late 1990s, as HDTV broadcasting commenced, HDTV cameras suitable for news and general purpose work were introduced. Though they delivered much better image quality, their overall operation was identical to their standard definition predecessors. New methods of recording for cameras were introduced to supplant
video tape
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassett ...
, tapeless cameras. Ikegami and
Avid introduced EditCam in 1996, based on interchangeable
hard drive
A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magne ...
s. Panasonic introduced
P2 cameras. These recorded a
DVCPro signal on interchangeable
flash memory media. Several other
data storage device recording systems were introduced, notably
XDCAM from
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
. Sony also introduced
SxS (S-by-S), a
flash memory standard compliant to the Sony and
Sandisk
SanDisk is a brand for flash memory products, including memory cards and readers, USB flash drives, solid-state drives, and digital audio players, manufactured and marketed by Western Digital. The original company, SanDisk Corporation was acquir ...
-created
ExpressCard standard. Eventually flash storage largely supplanted other forms of recording media.
In 2000s, major manufacturers like Sony, Philips introduced the digital professional video cameras. These cameras used CCD sensors and recorded video digitally on
flash storage
Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both use ...
. These were followed by digital HDTV cameras. As digital technology improved and also due to
digital television transition, digital professional video cameras have become dominant in television studios, ENG, EFP and even in other areas since 2010s. CCD sensors were eventually replaced by
CMOS sensor
An active-pixel sensor (APS) is an image sensor where each pixel sensor unit cell has a photodetector (typically a pinned photodiode) and one or more active transistors. In a metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) active-pixel sensor, MOS field-effec ...
s.
Chronology
* 1926 to 1933 "cameras" were a type of
flying spot scanner using mechanical disk.
* 1936 saw the arrival of RCA's
iconoscope camera.
* 1946 RCA's TK-10 studio camera used a 3" IO –
Image Orthicon tube with a 4 lens turret. The RCA TK-30 (1946) was widely used as a field camera. A TK-30 is simply a TK-10 with a portable camera control unit.
* The 1948 Dumont Marconi MK IV was an Image Orthicon camera. Marconi's first camera was shown in 1938. EMI cameras from the UK were used in the US in the early 1960s, like the EMI 203/4. Later in the 60s the EMI 2000 and
EMI 2001.
* In 1950 the arrival of the
Vidicon camera tube made smaller cameras possible. 1952 saw the first Walkie-Lookie "portable cameras". Image Orthicon tubes were still used till the arrival of the Plumbicon.
* The
RCA TK-40 is considered to be the first
color television camera for broadcasts in 1953. RCA continued its lead in the high-end camera market till the (1978) TK-47, last of the high-end tube cameras from RCA.
* 1954 RCA's TK-11 studio camera used a 3" IO – Image Orthicon tube with a four-lens turret. The RCA TK-31 (1954) was widely used as a field camera. A TK-31 is simply a TK-11 with a portable camera control unit. There is some commonality between the TK-11/TK-31 and the earlier TK-10/TK-30.
*
Ikegami introduced the first truly portable hand-held TV camera in 1962.
*
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
' line of
Norelco
Norelco is the American brand name for electric shavers and other personal care products made by the Consumer Lifestyle division of Philips.
For personal care products marketed outside the United States, Philips used the Philishave trademark ...
cameras were also very popular with models such as PC-60 (1965), PC-70 (1967) and PCP-90 (1968 Handheld). Major US broadcaster
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
was a notable early customer of the PC-60 and PC-70 units.
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
/BTS-
Broadcast Television Systems Inc. later came out with an LDK line of camera, like its last high end tube camera the LDK 6 (1982). Philips invented the
Plumbicon pick up
video camera tube
Video camera tubes were devices based on the cathode ray tube that were used in television cameras to capture television images, prior to the introduction of charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors in the 1980s. Several different types of tubes ...
in 1965, that gave tube cameras a cleaner picture. BTS introduced its first handHeld
Frame transfer CCD
A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a ...
-
Charge-coupled device
A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a ...
-CCD camera the LDK90 in 1987.
* Bosch
Fernseh
The Fernseh AG television company was registered in Berlin on July 3, 1929, by John Logie Baird, Robert Bosch, Zeiss Ikon and D.S. Loewe as partners. John Baird owned Baird Television Ltd. in London, Zeiss Ikon was a camera company in Dresden, D.S ...
marketed a line of high end cameras (KCU, KCN, KCP, KCK) in the US ending with the tube camera KCK-40 (1978). Image Transform (in
Universal City, California) used specially modified 24 frame KCK-40 for their "Image Vision" system. This had a 10 MHz bandwidth, almost twice
NTSC
The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...
bandwidth. This was a custom pre
HDTV
High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...
video System. At its peak this system was used to make "
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl" in 1982. This was the first major high-definition analog wideband videotape-to-film
post production
Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments.
Th ...
using a
film recorder for
film out.
* In the 2000s, major manufacturers like Sony, Philips introduced the
flash storage
Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both use ...
based digital television cameras. Since the 2010s, these digital cameras have become most widely used of all other systems.
Usage types
Most professional cameras utilize an optical
prism
Prism usually refers to:
* Prism (optics), a transparent optical component with flat surfaces that refract light
* Prism (geometry), a kind of polyhedron
Prism may also refer to:
Science and mathematics
* Prism (geology), a type of sedimentary ...
block directly behind the lens. This prism block (a trichroic assembly comprising two
dichroic prism
A dichroic prism is a prism that splits light into two beams of differing wavelength ( colour). A trichroic prism assembly combines two dichroic prisms to split an image into 3 colours, typically as red, green and blue of the RGB colour model. T ...
s) separates the image into the three
primary color
A set of primary colors or primary colours (see spelling differences) consists of colorants or colored lights that can be mixed in varying amounts to produce a gamut of colors. This is the essential method used to create the perception of a ...
s, red, green, and blue, directing each color into a separate
charge-coupled device
A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a ...
(CCD) or
Active pixel sensor (CMOS image sensor) mounted to the face of each prism. Some high-end consumer cameras also do this, producing a higher-resolution image, with better color fidelity than is normally possible with just a single video pickup.
In both single sensor
Bayer filter
A Bayer filter mosaic is a color filter array (CFA) for arranging RGB color filters on a square grid of photosensors. Its particular arrangement of color filters is used in most single-chip digital image sensors used in digital cameras, cam ...
and triple sensor designs, the weak signal created by the sensors is amplified before being encoded into analog signals for use by the viewfinder and also encoded into digital signals for transmission and recording. The analog outputs were normally in the form of either a
composite video signal, which combined the color and luminance information to a single output; or an R-Y B-Y Y
component video
Component video is an analog video signal that has been split into two or more component channels. In popular use, it refers to a type of component analog video (CAV) information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals. Compo ...
output through three separate connectors.
Studio cameras
Most
television studio cameras stand on the
floor, usually with
pneumatic or
hydraulic
Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...
mechanisms called
pedestals
A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...
to adjust the
height
Height is measure of vertical distance, either vertical extent (how "tall" something or someone is) or vertical position (how "high" a point is).
For example, "The height of that building is 50 m" or "The height of an airplane in-flight is ab ...
and position in the studio. The cameras in a multiple-camera setup are controlled by a device known as a
camera control unit
The camera control unit (CCU) is typically part of a live television broadcast chain. It is responsible for powering the professional video camera, handling signals sent over the camera cable to and from the camera, and can be used to control ...
(CCU), to which they are connected via a
triax, fibre optic or the almost obsolete
multicore cable
A multicore cable is a type of electrical cable that combines multiple signals or power feeds into a single jacketed cable. The term is normally only used in relation to a cable that has more cores than commonly encountered. Not all cables with mu ...
. The CCU, along with
genlock
Genlock (generator locking) is a common technique where the video output of one source (or a specific reference signal from a signal generator) is used to synchronize other picture sources together. The aim in video applications is to ensure the ...
and other equipment, is installed in the
central apparatus room
In broadcast facilities and television studios, a central apparatus room (CAR, pronounced "C-A-R"), central machine room, or central equipment room (CER), or central technical area (CTA), or rack room is where shared equipment common to all techn ...
(CAR) of the television studio. A remote control panel in the
production control room (PCR) for each camera is then used by the vision engineer(s) to balance the pictures.
When used outside a formal television studio in
outside broadcasting
Outside broadcasting (OB) is the electronic field production (EFP) of television or radio programmes (typically to cover television news and sports television events) from a mobile remote broadcast television studio. Professional video camera ...
(OB), they are often on tripods that may or may not have wheels (depending on the model of the tripod). Initial models used
analog
Analog or analogue may refer to:
Computing and electronics
* Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable
** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals
*** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...
technology, but are now obsolete, supplanted by
digital models.
Studio cameras are light and small enough to be taken off the pedestal and the lens changed to a smaller size to be used handheld on a camera operator's shoulder, but they still have no recorder of their own and are cable-bound. Cameras can also be mounted on a
tripod
A tripod is a portable three-legged frame or stand, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The three-legged (triangular stance) design provides good stability against gravitational loads ...
, a
dolly or a
crane, thus making the cameras much more versatile than previous generations of studio cameras. These cameras have a
tally light
In a television studio, a tally light is a small signal-lamp on a professional video camera or monitor. It is usually located just above the lens or on the electronic viewfinder (EVF) and communicates, for the benefit of those in front of the cam ...
, a small signal-lamp used that indicates, for the benefit of those being filmed as well as the
camera operator, that the camera is 'live' – i.e. its signal is being used for the 'main program' at that moment.
ENG cameras
ENG (
electronic news gathering) video cameras were originally designed for use by news
camera operators. While they have some similarities to the smaller consumer
camcorder
A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an articulating screen mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right side, hot-swa ...
, they differ in several regards:
* ENG cameras are larger and heavier (helps dampen small movements), and usually supported by a
camera shoulder support or shoulder stock on the
camera operator's shoulder, taking the weight off the hand, which is freed to operate the
zoom lens control.
* The camera mounts on tripods with
Fluid heads and other supports with a quick release plate.
* 3
CCDs or
CMOS active pixel sensors are used, one for each of the
primary color
A set of primary colors or primary colours (see spelling differences) consists of colorants or colored lights that can be mixed in varying amounts to produce a gamut of colors. This is the essential method used to create the perception of a ...
s
* They have
interchangeable lenses.
* The lens is focused manually and directly, without intermediate
servo control
Servo control is a method of controlling many types of RC/hobbyist servos by sending the servo a PWM (pulse-width modulation) signal, a series of repeating pulses of variable width where either the width of the pulse (most common modern hobby ser ...
s. However the lens zoom and focus can be operated with remote controls with a
television studio configuration operated by a
camera control unit
The camera control unit (CCU) is typically part of a live television broadcast chain. It is responsible for powering the professional video camera, handling signals sent over the camera cable to and from the camera, and can be used to control ...
(CCU).
* A rotating behind-the-lens filter wheel, for selecting an 85A and
neutral density filter
In photography and optics, a neutral-density filter, or ND filter, is a filter that reduces or modifies the intensity of all wavelengths, or colors, of light equally, giving no changes in hue of color rendition. It can be a colorless (clear) ...
s.
* Controls that need quick access are on hard physical switches, all in the same general place on the camera, irrespective of the camera manufacturer, such as Gain Select,
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
/
Black balance
Video cameras can possess a function called black balance which calibrates the signal for no light, just as they have a "white balance" function which gives reference to true white to the CCDs. Unlike white balance, black balance is not adjusted ...
, color bar select, and record start controls and not in menu selection.
* All settings,
white balance
In photography and image processing, color balance is the global adjustment of the intensities of the colors (typically red, green, and blue primary colors). An important goal of this adjustment is to render specific colors – particularly neu ...
,
focus
Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to:
Arts
* Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film
*''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore
* ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...
, and
iris
Iris most often refers to:
*Iris (anatomy), part of the eye
*Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess
* ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants
* Iris (color), an ambiguous color term
Iris or IRIS may also refer to:
Arts and media
Fictional ent ...
can be manually adjusted, and automatics can be completely disabled.
* Professional
BNC connector
The BNC connector (initialism of "Bayonet Neill–Concelman") is a miniature quick connect/disconnect radio frequency connector used for coaxial cable. It is designed to maintain the same characteristic impedance of the cable, with 50 ohm and 7 ...
s for video out and
genlock
Genlock (generator locking) is a common technique where the video output of one source (or a specific reference signal from a signal generator) is used to synchronize other picture sources together. The aim in video applications is to ensure the ...
in.
* Can operate an
electronic viewfinder
An electronic viewfinder (EVF) is a camera viewfinder where the image captured by the lens is displayed on a small screen (usually LCD or OLED) which the photographer can look through when composing their shot. It differs from a live preview ...
(EVF) or external
CRT viewfinder.
* At least two
XLR input connectors for audio are included.
* Direct slot-in for portable
wireless microphones.
* Audio is adjusted manually, with easily accessed physical knobs.
* A complete
time code
A timecode (alternatively, time code) is a sequence of numeric codes generated at regular intervals by a timing synchronization system. Timecode is used in video production, show control and other applications which require temporal coordinatio ...
section is available, allowing time presets; multiple-camera setups can be time code-synchronized or ''jam synced'' to a master clock.
* "
Bars and tone" are available in-camera (the
SMPTE color bars (
Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) Bars, a reference signal that simplifies calibration of monitors and setting levels when duplicating and transmitting the picture. )
* Recording is to a professional medium like some variant of
Betacam
Betacam is a family of half-inch professional videocassette products developed by Sony in 1982. In colloquial use, "Betacam" singly is often used to refer to a Betacam camcorder, a Betacam tape, a Betacam video recorder or the format itself.
Al ...
or
DVCPRO or
Direct to disk recording or
flash memory. If as in the latter two, it's a data recording, much higher data rates (or less
video compression) are used than in consumer devices.
EFP cameras
Electronic field production cameras are similar to studio cameras in that they are used primarily in multiple camera switched configurations, but
outside the studio environment, for concerts, sports and live news coverage of special events. These versatile cameras can be carried on the shoulder, or mounted on camera pedestals and cranes, with the large, very long focal length zoom lenses made for studio camera mounting. These cameras have no recording ability on their own, and transmit their signals back to the broadcast truck through a fiber optic,
triax, radio frequency or the virtually obsolete multicore cable.
Others
Remote camera
A remote camera, also known as a trail camera or game camera, is a camera placed by a photographer in areas where the photographer generally cannot be at the camera to snap the shutter. This includes areas with limited access, tight spaces where a ...
s are typically very small camera heads designed to be operated by remote control. Despite their small size, they are often capable of performance close to that of the larger ENG and EFP types.
Block cameras are so called because the camera head is a small block, often smaller than the lens itself. Some block cameras are completely self-contained, while others only contain the sensor block and its pre-amps, thus requiring connection to a separate camera control unit in order to operate. All the functions of the camera can be controlled from a distance, and often there is a facility for controlling the lens focus and zoom as well. These cameras are mounted on pan and tilt heads, and may be placed in a stationary position, such as atop a pole or tower, in a corner of a broadcast booth, or behind a basketball hoop. They can also be placed on robotic dollies, at the end of camera booms and cranes, or "flown" in a cable supported harness, as shown in the illustration.
Lipstick cameras are so called because the lens and sensor block combined are similar in size and appearance to a
lipstick container. These are either hard mounted in a small location, such as a race car, or on the end of a boom pole. The sensor block and lens are separated from the rest of the camera electronics by a long thin multi conductor cable. The camera settings are manipulated from this box, while the lens settings are normally set when the camera is mounted in place.
See also
*
Akai
Akai ( ja, 赤井, ) is a Hong Kong manufacturer of consumer electronics. It was founded as Akai Electric Company Ltd in Tokyo, Japan, in 1946. Grande Holdings in Hong Kong purchased the Akai brand, and now distributes various electronic produ ...
*
Ampex
Ampex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name AMPEX is a portmanteau, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence.AbramsoThe History ...
*
John Logie Baird
*
Betacam
Betacam is a family of half-inch professional videocassette products developed by Sony in 1982. In colloquial use, "Betacam" singly is often used to refer to a Betacam camcorder, a Betacam tape, a Betacam video recorder or the format itself.
Al ...
*
Broadcast Television Systems Inc. LDK Norelco- line of cameras
*
Digital cinematography
*
Digital cinematography cameras
*
Allen B. DuMont
Allen Balcom DuMont, also spelled Du Mont, (January 29, 1901 – November 14, 1965) was an American electronics engineer, scientist and invention, inventor best known for improvements to the cathode ray tube in 1931 for use in television receive ...
*
EMI 2001
*
Link Electronics Ltd
*
Fernseh
The Fernseh AG television company was registered in Berlin on July 3, 1929, by John Logie Baird, Robert Bosch, Zeiss Ikon and D.S. Loewe as partners. John Baird owned Baird Television Ltd. in London, Zeiss Ikon was a camera company in Dresden, D.S ...
KC- line of cameras
*
Film Chain
A film chain or film island is a television – professional video camera with one or more projectors aligned into the photographic lens of the camera. With two or more projectors a system of front-surface mirrors that can pop-up are used in a m ...
*
Grass Valley (company)
Grass Valley (formerly known as Thomson Grass Valley and Grass Valley Group) is a manufacturer of television production and broadcasting equipment. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, it was formed by the March 2014 merger of the original Grass V ...
LDK - line of cameras
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Hitachi SK- line of cameras
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Ikegami HL and HK -line of cameras
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Marconi Company
The Marconi Company was a British telecommunications and engineering company that did business under that name from 1963 to 1987. Its roots were in the Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company founded by Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi in 189 ...
EMI - line of cameras
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Multiple-camera setup
The multiple-camera setup, multiple-camera mode of production, multi-camera or simply multicam is a method of filmmaking and video production. Several cameras—either film or professional video cameras—are employed on the set and simultaneou ...
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Norelco
Norelco is the American brand name for electric shavers and other personal care products made by the Consumer Lifestyle division of Philips.
For personal care products marketed outside the United States, Philips used the Philishave trademark ...
PC line of cameras
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NTSC
The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...
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PAL
Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
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Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
KD - line of cameras
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RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
TK- line of cameras
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Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
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Video camera tube
Video camera tubes were devices based on the cathode ray tube that were used in television cameras to capture television images, prior to the introduction of charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors in the 1980s. Several different types of tubes ...
References
Bibliography
* Zettl, H. 2006 "Television Production Handbook", Thomson Wadsworth,
External links
{{commons category, Television cameras
Television's history through the eyes of its cameras. Over 3000 images and largest site of its kind worldwide.
Film and video technology
Japanese inventions
Cameras