Editing Professional video camera (section)

==History==
The earliest video cameras were mechanical [[flying-spot scanner]]s which were in use in the 1920s and 1930s during the period of [[mechanical television]]. Improvements in [[video camera tube]]s in the early 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]] 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]] (CCU). The CCU in turn was used to align and operate the camera's functions, such as exposure, system timing, video and [[black level]]s.
[[File:RCA Color Broadcast Camera TK-41C - 2.jpg|thumb|right|This 1954 RCA TK-41C, shown here mounted on a dolly, weighed 310 lbs.]]
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. 
[[File:Ikegami Electronics HL-33 Television Camera.jpg|thumb|left|A 1973 Ikegami HL-33 ENG]]
The [[Ikegami Tsushinki|Ikegami]] HL-33,<ref>{{cite web|title=HD Time Machine|url=http://www.hdcameraguide.com/guide/time_machine/time-machine-eng|website=HD Camera Guide|access-date=22 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030171611/http://www.hdcameraguide.com/guide/time_machine/time-machine-eng|archive-date=30 October 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> the RCA TKP45<ref>{{cite web|title=RCA TV Camera Section|url=http://www.oldradio.com/archives/hardware/TV/RCA-TV.htm|website=The Broadcast Archive|access-date=22 September 2014}}</ref> and the Thomson Microcam<ref>{{cite web|title=Thomson TTV1602 Microcam|url=http://www.tvcameramuseum.org/thomson/ttv1602/ttv1602p1.htm|website=Museum of the Broadcast Television Camera|access-date=22 September 2014}}</ref> 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]]. 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 TK-76 in 1976, the Ikegami HL-77 in 1977, and the [[Sony]] BVP-300 in 1978, 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]] (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]] (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]] (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]], tapeless cameras. Ikegami and [[Avid Technology|Avid]] introduced EditCam in 1996, based on interchangeable [[hard drive]]s. Panasonic introduced [[P2 (storage media)|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]].  Sony also introduced [[SxS]] (S-by-S), a [[flash memory]] standard compliant to the Sony and [[Sandisk]]-created [[ExpressCard]] standard. Eventually flash storage largely supplanted other forms of recording media.

In 2000s, major manufacturers like Sony and Philips introduced the digital professional video cameras. These cameras used CCD sensors and recorded video digitally on [[flash storage]]. 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]]s.

===Chronology===
[[File:TTV OB camera 7 20181117a.jpg|thumb|Sony HDC-series camera on an outside broadcast]]
* 1926 to 1933 "cameras" were a type of [[Video camera tube#Image dissector|flying spot scanner]] using a mechanical disk.
* 1936 saw the arrival of RCA's [[Video camera tube#Iconoscope|iconoscope]] camera.
* 1946 RCA's TK-10 studio camera used a 3" IO – [[Video camera tube#Image orthicon|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chalkhillmedia.org/Museum/index.htm|title=link to MK IV|website=chalkhillmedia.org}}</ref> EMI cameras from the UK were used in the US in the early 1960s, like the EMI 203/4.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/knackers/cameras.html|title=The Knacker's Yard - Studio|website=www.meldrum.co.uk}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JMTnTBmt7F0C&q=image+orthicon+camera&pg=PA88|title=The History of Television, 1942 to 2000|first=Albert|last=Abramson|date=2 June 2018|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786412204|via=Google Books}}</ref>
* 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 Tsushinki|Ikegami]] introduced the first truly portable hand-held TV camera in 1962.
* [[Philips]]' line of [[Norelco]] cameras were also very popular with models such as PC-60 (1965), PC-70 (1967) and PCP-90 (1968 Handheld). Major US broadcaster [[CBS]] was a notable early customer of the PC-60 and PC-70 units. [[Philips]]/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 [[Diode gun Plumbicon|Plumbicon]] pick up [[video camera tube]] in 1965, that gave tube cameras a cleaner picture. BTS introduced its first handHeld [[Frame transfer CCD]]- [[Charge-coupled device]]-CCD camera the LDK90 in 1987.
* Bosch [[Fernseh]] 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&nbsp;MHz bandwidth, almost twice [[NTSC]] bandwidth. This was a custom pre [[HDTV]] 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]] using a [[film recorder]] for [[Film-out|film out]].
* In the 2000s, major manufacturers like Sony and Philips introduced the [[flash storage]] based digital television cameras. Since the 2010s, this storage system has become the most widely used.