Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

Last night, at the BFI, I was given some photos of early 1960s colour experiments by former BBC cameraman Michael Barrett. He can be seen operating the camera in the left middle picture. I think the colour work was done in Studio H at TC.

There are various other pictures too, including this monochrome set shot by Michael Barrett, when he was official photographer at a BAFTA event. Probably 50th anniversary of the AP TV service

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

Hello Jeffery,

PM follows

Brian

www.tvcameramuseum.org

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

Thanks for these Jeffrey,

Did they actually broadcast real live programs then during the tests?

Dom

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

Michael has sent me some biographical notes and some information about the photos:

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

Michael has also promised me loan the colour negatives to make some high quality scans. Does anyone have access to a decent quality negative scanner?

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

If the studio name has a letter, and in London, it will most definitely have been BBC Lime Grove. As far as I remember, this was where all the colour experiments with the Marconi "coffin" cameras took place.

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

Sorry, my deliberate error. I wondered who would be first to point this out:) It was indeed Lime Grove, as Michael stated in his own notes.

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

They look like they'll be 120 film (at least the square format colour ones) so any of the Epson flat-bed photo scanners will be fine. I have a 4990 if you get stuck.

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

Hello Jeffrey,
I have a HP 4850 that scans positive and negative film and slides 35mm only.J.

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

I should be getting the negs in a couple of weeks.

I really must thank Michael Barrett again for his generosity and goodwill in making this material available. Brian Summers (Beamcurrent) will be hosting the the pictures on his website http://www.tvcameramuseum.org/index.htm in the near future.

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

I have a Perfection V700, beautiful scanner which will do up to large format, but probably best if you bring the negs over yourself rather than trust them to a courier. What's your budget? :)

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

I have a large format negative scanner and I would happily scan these at very high resolution and supply them back on a DVD for free, just pay the return postage :-)

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

I have uploaded the pictures to http://www.tvcameramuseum.org/michae...page2index.htm in the best resolution available. Enjoy...

Brian S

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

Wasn't there a programme on BBC2/4 a while back dealing with the problems when colour was being introduced? It might have been one of those things where they devoted a night to Lime Grove or something, I seem to remember them showing the fun they had trying to get a consistent greyscale between the cameras when changing shot.

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

I think that might have been a BBC2 night devoted to Lime Grove a few months after its closure - August/September 1991 I believe.

Slightly off-topic, I know, but here is Cliff Michelmore closing down the Lime Grove studios for the last time in June 1991, at the end of an episode of The Late Show. (Though the studio was opened briefly the next Monday to record a Peggy Ashcroft tribute, according to the video description)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVWpR-nZJkw

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

I now have the negs, they are 2.25" square. Unless there's anyone local the best offer is Jarl Ayari's for which many thanks. I'll be in or passing by Brum a couple of times this month so we might be able to meet up. I'll send you a PM.

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

I can happily say that the negatives are in my possession now and have started the scanning process. Each colour negative is being scanned at 2400dpi and saved as an uncompressed TIFF file at a yeild of 74Mb per photo. These would print out to approx A1 size but obviously square.

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

In the picture of the colour studio, the smaller of the two cameras is unidentified, the larger is a Marconi three-tube 3" IO RGB camera the BD848. The unidentified camera is a bit of a conundrum, in the early 1960s colour cameras were Huge! and this camera is very compact for a colour camera at that time.

I have asked the most likely person to know, who suggested it might be a Philips LDK2 prototype, I'm not so sure myself. There seems to be 2 camera cables at the rear, possibly BICC Mk4b, it was common at the time for colour cameras to have more than one cable.

If anyone can help with the identity I would be very pleased. I have no other pictures of it. Big picture at http://www.tvcameramuseum.org/michae...olour1_jpg.htm

Regards Brian

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

Could it be a dummy or black and white camera dressed up for the photo shoot? Surely no single tube colour cameras where around then? What about three tube vidicon cameras? Brilliant website Brian!

Re: Photos from BBC colour experiments
 

Here is a sample of one of the negatives scanned and then a representation of a tiny area of it shown actual size, its clear enough to see the ferguson logo on the monitor!

Andi