Why early studio cameras used turrets?

[old_tv_nut]

Thanks, Dave. Always good to hear the analysis from experienced eyes.

[old_tv_nut]

Telecolor, you asked about control of the turret.

The outside cameras used at the World's Fair in 1939 only had no turret and only one lens, but they had remote control of the focus. The reason was that they didn't have either an electronic viewfinder or a twin-lens optical viewfinder, only a wire sighting frame. So, the video engineer/shader had to adjust focus remotely.



Some much later closed circuit cameras had remote controlled turrets.
An extreme example is the RCA TK-45 color Vidicon camera (the 1960 version, not the 1973 studio Plumbicon camera that used the same number). It had remote turret and focus, and was used at the U.S. Walter Reed medical center (at least three), Strategic Air Command weather center, University of Michigan, and the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

https://www.oldradio.com/archives/ha.../TV/RCA-TV.htm

I have not seen any record of how many were sold, but it must have been very few, as the camera required extremely high light levels and was undoubtedly expensive.

Of course, these days, small high-definition pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) webcams are easily available.

[Electronic M]

ISTR reading that the zoomar lenses were more common in sports telecasts.

[Dave A]

Zooms were a sports staple when available. Very hard to follow a home run with a turret. A studio drama did not need them as it was usually a small box studio and a turret did the work. Just make sure you did the turret swing quietly (squeeze/turn/release slowly) so the audience did not hear the clank as the new lens fell in to place. It was useful for programs like Today with a zoom in to Dave Garroway to save a closeup camera for another shot. Same for the early Tonight Show.

[old_tv_nut]

About half way down this page:
2 TK-41s wiht the longer focal length Zoomar version, for baseball:
https://chicagobaseballmuseum.org/ch...ed-tvs-growth/