Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

CINEMA PRODUCTS CP-16

Date Range From

1975

Date Range To

1982

Materials

METAL, PLASTIC, GLASS

No. Pieces

1

Height

33

Length

61.5

Width

23.3

Description

BLACK POWDER COATED METAL CAMERA. COMPOSED OF THREE SECTIONS, THE BODY, THE LENS AND THE FILM REEL HOUSING. THE BASE OF THE BODY HAS TWO THREADED HOLES TO ATTACH TO A TRIPOD. THE LEFT PROPER SIDE OF THE BODY HAS A “CFCN TELEVISION” STICKER AND BATTERY PACK. THE BATTERY PACK HAS A METAL PLATE MARKED “CINEMA PRODUCTS LOS ANGELES, CALIF. U.S.A. NICAD BATTERY PACK MODEL NC-4 SERIAL NO. 64550 20 VOLTS 550 MAH.” THE BATTERY PACK ALSO HAS A RED EMBOSSED LABEL THAT READS “BATTERY TWO.” THE BACK OF THE CAMERA BODY HAS TWO METAL RECTANGULAR SECTIONS OF DIALS AND BUTTONS FOR SOUND AND MICROPHONE ADJUSTMENTS. THE RIGHT METAL SECTION ALSO HAS A LARGE RED PLASTIC BUTTON MARKED “CAPLUGS EC-12.” THE LEFT METAL SECTION HAS A DIAL, BATTERY TEST INDICATOR LIGHT AND METER, AND A RED PLASTIC SWITCH MARKED “RUN” AND “STOP.” THE BACK ALSO HAS A COUNTER WHICH READS “0000.” THE RIGHT PROPER SIDE OF THE BODY HAS A PLASTIC AND METAL VIEWFINDER/EYEPIECE ATTACHED NEAR THE TOP. THE BASE OF THE RIGHT PROPER SIDE HAS A SILVER METAL HINGE VISIBLE, PRESUMABLY TO OPEN THAT SIDE. THE TOP HAS AN OBLONG SILVER METAL PIECE. THE FRONT OF THE CAMERA BODY HAS A LENS ATTACHED TO IT. THE LENS IS 16.8 CM IN LENGTH AND 10 CM IN DIAMETER AT THE LARGEST POINT. THE LENS IS MARKED “TIFFEN PROFESSIONAL WIDE-ANGLE LENS SHADE SER. 9 JAPAN.” THE FRONT OF THE CAMERA ALSO HAS A SILVER AND BLACK METAL HANDLE AND THREE PORTS FOR MICROPHONE AND OTHER CONNECTIONS. THE TOP OF THE CAMERA HAS THE FILM REEL MAGAZINE, MARKED ON THE OUTSIDE WITH “CINEMA PRODUCTS LOS ANGELES U.S.A. MODEL PLC-4A SERIAL 13523” ON THE PROPER LEFT SIDE. THERE ARE ALSO TWO DIALS WITH A METAL EDGING THAT GOES ACROSS AND AROUND THE DIALS. THE PROPER RIGHT SIDE OF THE FILM REEL MAGAZINE HAS A BLACK METAL HINGE GOING FROM TOP TO BOTTOM WITH FOUR PLASTIC LOCKING STUDS AT EACH OF THE FOUR CORNERS. THE TOP OF THE CAMERA BODY ALSO HAS A BLACK-COATED METAL HANDLE THAT IS WORN IN SEVERAL SPOTS, SHOWING THE SILVER METAL UNDERNEATH. THERE IS ALSO AN OBLONG BAR WITH TWO HOLES ATTACHED TO THE BODY NEAR THE HANDLE.

Subjects

PHOTOGRAPHIC T&E

Historical Association

PROFESSIONS

History

ON MARCH 25, 2021, GALT MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED FORMER CTV LETHBRIDGE CAMERA OPERATOR TED LANGENBERG ON HIS DONATION OF SEVERAL 16 MM MOTION-PICTURE CAMERAS. FOR THE FULL HISTORY ON LANGENBERG’S WORK AT CTV AND BACKGROUND ON HIS CAMERA DONATION, SEE P20210002001-GA. IN A SUPPLEMENTARY DOCUMENT ABOUT THE CAMERAS, LANGENBERG EXPLAINED THAT HE “USED [THIS] CAMERA ALSO DURING THE MID TO LATE 70’S TO EARLY ‘80S. THE CP-16 WAS USED FOR ‘IMPORTANT NEWS STORIES’ REQUIRING SOUND THAT CTV CALGARY WAS INTERESTED IN AIRING.” ABOUT THE CP-16 IN PARTICULAR, LANGENBERG STATED DURING THE INTERVIEW WITH MACLEAN THAT THE CAMERAS HE DONATED WERE OFTEN USED AROUND THE SAME TIME FOR DIFFERENT TASKS: “SO THEN SHORTLY AFTER [THE USE OF THE BOLEX AS A SILENT CAMERA FOR B-ROLL] WE ACQUIRED THIS PARTICULAR CAMERA HERE, CP-16, WHICH IS A SOUND CAMERA. SO THAT WE USED SPARINGLY BECAUSE FILM WAS EXPENSIVE, [WE] HAD TO GET IT PROCESSED IN CALGARY, ALL THIS TIME IT HAD TO BE SENT TO CALGARY FOR PROCESSING, SENT BACK TO LETHBRIDGE BEFORE WE COULD AIR IT. SO IT WAS MAINLY USED IF IT WAS A MAJOR NEWS EVENT THAT, YOU KNOW, CALGARY WOULD WANT TO AIR ON THEIR STATION, AS WELL.” LANGENBERG EXPLAINED THAT THE CP-16 AND OTHER FILM CAMERAS WERE ALSO USED LESS “BECAUSE BACK THEN WE WERE ALSO EXPERIMENTING WITH SMALL, REEL TO REEL, PORTABLE VIDEO EQUIPMENT WHICH WE USED FOR OUR OWN LOCAL NEWSCAST. WHICH WE HAD BEEN DOING FOR ABOUT TWO OR THREE YEARS, MIXED IN WITH FILM… BUT IT SUFFICED, I MEAN IT WORKED, WE USED IT. AND YOU KNOW, AFTER, YOU KNOW 1980, ALL OF IT WAS OBSOLETE.” REGARDING TRANSPORTING THE CAMERAS FOR VARIOUS NEWS BROADCASTS, LANGENBERG DESCRIBED THAT “IF YOU’RE NOT IN GOOD PHYSICAL CONDITION YOU COULD NEVER DO IT… IT’S PRETTY TOUGH HAULING ALL THAT STUFF AROUND – LIKE, EVEN THIS CP-16 LIKE JUST, THAT THING PROBABLY WEIGHS A GOOD 20 POUNDS ANYWAYS. AND THE AURICON IS EVEN HEAVIER THAN THAT.” MANY OF THE CAMERAS LANGENBERG USED IN HIS CAREER WERE SET ON A TRIPOD, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE CP-16: “YOU TRIPOD EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME, YEP... EXCEPT FOR THIS CP-16, THAT WAS MORE MANAGEABLE TO CARRY IT ON YOUR SHOULDER WHICH WAS DONE.” UNLIKE THE OLDER CAMERAS OF THE DONATION, LANGENBERG STATED THAT THE CP-16 WAS A COMPACT UNIT: “THIS CAMERA, THE CP-16, IT IS ALL SELF-CONTAINED. IT’S GOT ITS OWN AUDIO PLUGS BACK HERE… YOU JUST PLUG IN YOUR MICROPHONE HERE AND ALL THE CONTROLS FOR THE [AUDIO] ARE HERE… THIS IS ALL SELF-CONTAINED.” FOR MORE INFORMATION SEE THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT, ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION, AND EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE IN THE PERMANENT RECORD OF P20210002001-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20210002003

Acquisition Date

2021-03

Collection

Museum

Less detail