#1
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RCA Hawkeye Camera Confusion
Spurred on by some very nice photos sent to me by Tom, I set about entering the RCA Hawkeye camera details into my Museum website
There are two models of the Hawkeye camera, HC-1 & HC-2, I have photocopies of brochures for them both (downloadable from museum) and the HC-1 is extensively covered in the RCA Broadcast news see : http://americanradiohistory.com/RCA_...ange_Guide.htm issues 170 & 172 The camera body case style is quite different for the two models see http://www.tvcameramuseum.org/rca/rcathumb.htm#hc1 So Far so good! However the pictures sent to me by Tom clearly show the later body style with a manufactures label stating "HC-1". there is a second camera known about, also with a HC-1 label. These two cameras have serial numbers of 1154 & 1150. Can anybody explain what this is about? were RCA using up old labels?? or what. Has anybody got one of the first version of the Hawkeye HC-1 or a late HC-2 labeled HC-2? attachments show the two body styles. I would appreciate any help here as I know it is very important that the details of these cameras should be correct. |
#2
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I have no clue, but it would be interesting to see a label for the earlier HC-1. Wondering if the MI numbers are the same or not.
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#3
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Or maybe (that's of course entirely speculation) using up a stock of already made tubes? Their PR reads as if the HC-2 used different Saticon tubes than the HC-1 while the Plumbicon option had, interestingly, been removed.
Could it be that after the HC-2 they withdrew their Hawkeye recording system altogether? Judging from the body case styles I would call the CCD-1 a successor of the HC-2, but there is no mention of a dockable recorder anymore. Btw, I find it nice how they bragged about the CCD-1 being content with 30 lux. I think the BVP-3 was, too. And it would be interesting to see real footage of the CCD-1, in particular in comparison to the BVP-5 (which still had shortcomings, in particular the ugly red smear). I think it was somewhere else where I read the account of a cameraman who discussed the CCD-1 with a RCA representative and told him "my Ikegami 79 is shooting circles around it". |
#4
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I would agree that the CCD-1 is later than the HC-2, but I do not have fine details of the RCA time line for these. It would seem to me that the team developing the CCD sensors just took the HC-2 body and replaced the tubes with the appropriate circuit changes.
It would have been a much cheaper option to launch what was a 1st generation prototype camera. RCA had a long development program over many years and this would be the toe in the broadcast market. It can't be far away from the point were RCA gave up making cameras, perhaps someone can enlighten us with more details. Brian |
#5
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Hello Brian-
After speaking with two former RCA employees, the HC-2 had a more robust enclosure similar to the CCD-1, replacing the thin sheet metal cover. It was painted similar to the CCD-1 colour scheme. The VF may have been different, and the switch cluster was rearranged in the -2 model. RCA had hoped that Philips would produce a 1/2" format PBO tube, but they never delivered, so the cameras used Saticons. Both used the Chromatrak component recording format, which did indeed look better than Umatic. The following year at NAB 1984, Sony introduced Betacam, and the rest is history. The plan was that RCA and Matsushita would join in a competitive alliance against Sony, but RCA's available capital money was going into Video disc. The RCA Board in NY starved the division, and it announced its closing in Oct.1985. Any "New" projects came out of sustaining funds. Enjoy your camera museum site immensely! Regards JB |
Audiokarma |
#6
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Rca hc1
I actually own the RCA HC1 camera that is in the photo. I bought it from the gentleman that you mention some years ago. The real holy grail is the RCA CCD1. I would love to have that game changer alongside my HC1, TK76,86, and 710.
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#7
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RCA Cy Cy Dy One
The body on this Camera is different, I have the real holy grail , very first Prototype RCA Cy Cy Dy One , and two Tk761,s (PAL) that were the last Studio Cameras that were made .
(2 X CCU,s & Remotes ) no Cables yet . Last edited by XDCAM; 08-27-2023 at 04:29 PM. |
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