Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2022 July 25

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July 25

BBC TV studio cameras of the early 1980s

Does anybody here know what studio TV cameras were used to film the BBC version of H2G2? I know the outside scenes were shot on 16mm film, but I particularly mean the studio video footage. --2003:EF:170D:4528:50E5:A0C3:9D5A:4E8A (talk) 17:01, 25 July 2022 (UTC)

Possibly an EMI 2001 or a Link 125, according to this site. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.252.183.121 (talk) 04:49, 26 July 2022 (UTC)

Thanks! Considering all the comet trails on bright spots in the video footage (not only during the improbable drive scenes!), it was most likely the EMI 2001 with its Plumbicon tube. To summarize your link: Better skintones, easier to handle by operators, and a British camera (as it seems to have been an important issue for the BBC purchasing department up until the 1990s or so to buy British), but plagued with those unnerving comet trails, chromatic aberration, and less light sensitivity. They did have some Marconi Mk VII cameras at the time that would've had superior image quality, but for the above reasons, they were using the EMI 2001.--2003:EF:170D:4512:A81B:EF2:EFE2:BBB6 (talk) 16:40, 26 July 2022 (UTC)