LDK5 Cameras

[XDCAM]

Has anybody got a Idea of how many LDK5 Camera Channels were made & who still got any(Complete Chains) .Ill start at the time of this I have Two( complete in parts I hope). One is Ex BBC I hope to get one restored !

[NewVista]

The BBC bought LDK 5's too ? While spending fortunes on British made LINK cameras ? They seemed to have no coherent purchasing strategy. Just an out-of-control Govt quasi monopoly with endless fragmented bureaucracy and waaay too much funding.

[BrianSummers]

The BBC did indeed buy LDK5s for use on outside broadcasts. The use of Triax cable was a joy beyond belief after multi core cables. I don't have the exact dates to hand but they lasted over a decade on OBs and were excellent value for money. They also bought LDK25s ( the cheaper cable version) for use in studios. They also bought Link 109s, 110, 111, 120s, 125 and would have bought the 130 if Link had not gone bust.

You have to realise that the BBC, as a national broadcaster, was (is) big enough to purchase the best cameras from a range of different manufacturers to avoid accusations favouritism.

I have two LDK5s in the museums collection, one BBC and one Thames. Yes Thames thought they were excellent cameras too.

I don't have figures for how many were made, it would be nice to know.

Brian S

www.tvcameramuseum.org

PS. I have not done the LDK5 pages yet so no point in looking.

[NewVista]

LDK 5 sales ?

UK 12 ?
EU 100 ?
NA 70 ?
SA 30 ?
AU/NZ 12 ?
ASIA 75 ?

Tot 324 ?

A money loser for Philips no doubt but they must have made money on tube sales (to other mfgrs).

[NewVista]

Originally Posted by BrianSummers

... BBC, as a national broadcaster, was (is) big enough to purchase the best cameras from a range of different manufacturers to avoid accusations favouritism.Brian S

www.tvcameramuseum.org

.

BBC funded by TV/radio licenses http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC#cite_note-35 Cost: GBP125 per year.
They tried to pull this in Australia and nobody bought a license - it flopped.

[BrianSummers]

I think you are quite a bit low in your number estimate, a quick count up shows I can account for some 72 cameras purchased by the BBC alone, Thames and a lot of the independents had them as well,

Rather than a loss maker I would have thought the LDK5 were great success for Philips.

The design originates from Philips USA company, Norelco, as the PC100. Large Numbers were sold there as well.

Brian S

[Aussie Bloke]

I am very sure Australia would of had a lot more than 12 Philips LDK5 cameras as they were a very popular choice of camera when colour came into Australia in 1975. I know for sure Ripponlea studios where Countdown was aired used at least 3 LDK5s, SAS10 had LDK5s which I've seen in a 1970s Telethon on YouTube, TCN-9 used LDK5s according to info James has given in the camera count. I can guess at least 1/4 of all TV networks over Australia used the LDK5s.

[XDCAM]

Well in NZ I can account for a OB Van that had 4 and a TV Studio of 12 .I have power supply parts for 6 that where new NZ .(16) This is going to be an interesting camera count , as all that seems to be left is 4 Camera Channels in the world ! My 2 & Brians Who would think such a common Camera would be down to that number (Really !). Shows you that this is the last chance to save Broadcast Analoge Cameras & Gear . All of the modern Analoge gear from the Stations over here went in the skip (Complete Station ) so have not been saved .

[NewVista]

Combining these reports & extrapolating: Worldwide sales: 2500 - 4000 ?

What we know for sure: Pitcairn Island = 0 LDK-5

[XDCAM]

LDK5's Camera Channels in the world !
I've heard their are a couple of Heads in Austraila .
Austraila = 2
Nz = 2 Chains (Maybe more ?) Tracking Down still !
England = 2 TV Camera Museum
Holland = 1 marcelstvmuseum

Their Must be more Out there !!

[Geebax]

Originally Posted by BrianSummers

I think you are quite a bit low in your number estimate, a quick count up shows I can account for some 72 cameras purchased by the BBC alone, Thames and a lot of the independents had them as well,

Rather than a loss maker I would have thought the LDK5 were great success for Philips.

The design originates from Philips USA company, Norelco, as the PC100. Large Numbers were sold there as well.

Brian S

Yes, the LDK5 was quite a success for Philips, and there were a great many more than 12 in Australia.

The design was not however originated from Norelco, they simply received cameras made in Holland badged for Norelco. The design was wholly Dutch. Of the original two lab prototypes, we received one at our company in Australia because of our pioneering efforts with Phillips cameras. That camera went on to live a long and productive life at AAV Australia. It was eventually joined by another then an LDK25 for studio use.

Later, when the LDK15 was designed, another lab prototype was delivered to us for field appraisal, and was used to shoot local drama series alongside film cameras, surprising the locals by its remarkable flexibility.

The original prototype LDK5 (number two in the series) had a distinguished career, being used to shoot Paul McCartney's tour Wings Over Australia, the Bolshoi Ballet, Liberace concerts, John Denver, and many others. It was the first camera on location at the tragic collapse of the Westgate Bridge killed 35 workers in 1970, and was used by Kerry Packer for evaluation of the World Series Cricket as a television event. The coloured players uniforms and coloured cricket balls were tested in secret using this camera.

It spent most of its life in a special outside broadcast van with its younger brother and an Ampex AVR2 recorder. I spent several years wrangling that van as a one-man outside broadcast operation. I drove the van, rigged it, operated CCUs and the AVR2, then at the completion of the OB, packed it all up and drove it back to base. Later I would also edit the footage on a CMX300 computer editing system when we got back to base. It often made for very long days.

We had a special backpack made for difficult locations where the LDK5s could be split into lens and camera body, then each half was loaded into the backpack and I would then hoist it on my back and climb up scaffolds or other structural parts to rig the camera.

Geoff

[XDCAM]

Thanks Geoff for the info .Did you save the original prototype LDK5 (number two in the series)?I would still like to know how many where made .(Full Chains left) Around the World .

[Geebax]

Originally Posted by XDCAM

Thanks Geoff for the info .Did you save the original prototype LDK5 (number two in the series)?I would still like to know how many where made .(Full Chains left) Around the World .

I am embarrassed to say I do not know what happened to either of the LDK5s, but I have a nagging thought that they may have gone down to the TV museum at Moorooduc on the Mornington Peninsula, but I have a suspicion that museum is no more. It had some very rare equipment down there, including a Mole Richardson camera crane from Studio 9 at GTV9.

I am annoyed that the AVR2 that I lovingly tended to was offered to me for nothing when I left AAV Australia, but I had nowhere to keep it.

[J Ballard]

Hello-

The LDK-5 and its multicore version sold quite well in North America. The triax LDK-5 was the mainstay of ABC's OB fleet for many years.

Earlier, Norelco introduced one of the earliest triax cameras, the PC-100, which featured a digital command link. This sophistication was expensive-you could buy, with discount, two RCA TK-44s for what one PC-100 would cost, so most broadcasters shunned it. Station WCVB-TV bought a Norelco package (transmitter,etc) and thus had the cameras. Many problems early on, and the CE threatened to replace them with RCAs. But Philips made them right,a nd they made good pictures.

The LDK-5,25, and PC-100 began Philips preference for 25mm tubes, while other manufacturers stuck with 30mm for their top of the line cameras.

Then there was the PCP-90, but that is another story...

Regards,
JB