Spotted on Trademe, this was described as a Marconi Broadcast Camera. one of the 4 original NZBC cameras brought into NZ for broadcast from the 4 main centres
One time NZBC technician Clyde Cunningham had a look at the auction
Very interesting and familiar to me! The camera looks in excellent condition from the outside. The model was called a Marconi Mk IV and was used extensively by the BBC and many other broadcast organisations.
The camera connects through a special multi-way cable to a unit called a CCU (Camera Control Unit) which contains the power supply and all the controls needed to adjust various parameters. Without the cable and the CCU it can't be fired up.
The camera used a 4.5 inch diameter camera tube called an image orthicon which stretched from the front to the back of the cabinet. The technology was very advanced for its time but was soon surpassed by a much smaller camera tube called a vidicon (and then susequently by another variety called a plumbicon). These days, of course, the camera pick-up device is a CCD chip which gives a far superior image.
I was presented with a 3.5 inch version of the image orthicon tube by a guy on a technical training course I did for Swedish Television (SVT) several years ago. My colleagues at Sony used to borrow it for exhibitions to demonstrate the advance in camera technology. I thought some broadcast engineering museum might be interested in the tube but it seems that there are a lot of them around in the UK.
Another of the first four cameras is on display at the Tirau Museum
photo used with the kind permission of Sandy Em
The Dunedin Settlers Museum supposedly has a working model, Regular Contributor Patrick found one in Auckland on a what I think is the powered pedestal...
In Mid 2023 another turned up on Trademe for sale in Ashburton:
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