Old Timers: TV cameras shown in "Dog Day Afternoon"

[John Locke]

Okay, you old timers... speak up! Who's had hands-on experience with those bizarre-looking TV camera portable packs like the ones shown in "Dog Day Afternoon"? Who made them? Is that the battery on the back (big as an entire Lowepro Nature Trekker)?

[Rob Belics]

The only problem with being an old timer is memory recall. I want to say it was Philips or Norelco but something tells me it was some other company that isn't around anymore. The backpack had electronics in it but I don't recall if there was a battery there or not. I'm probably wrong but I'm wondering if the battery was seperate, like on a cart.

At that same time my station bought a little camera similar to a VHS camera, including the "quality". It recorded on something like audio tape. Didn't last very long as it was replaced by newer equipment later.

[Jeff Donald]

Sony, JVC and Panasonic all had portapacks suitable for ENG in the '70's. Do you have a date or picture of the units in question?

[John Locke]

"Dog Day Afternoon" was released in 1975, which means it was filmed in 74 or 73. The cameras look like something right out of Johnny Quest or Lost in Space...the cameras are big light blue plastic square cut things, and attached to a big square, light blue plastic backpack. Really bizarre-looking.

[Rob Belics]

VMI rings a bell as the possible manufacturer.

[Jeff Donald]

My best guess without seeing the camera would be the Sony VO-3800 3/4" U-Matic portapack. It was released in 1974 and weighted about 30 lbs. It was usually matched with the Sony DXC-1600 video camera. State of the art ENG in those days. Here's a link to pictures of the camera. Does it look like this?

[Charles Papert]

I saw the movie not that long ago and also marvelled at those cameras. The electronics pack snaked over the back, permanently part of the camera, not like a separate deck/recorder. I seemed to remember the name "Norelco" written in old-school curly script on the back but that might have been the power of Rob Belic's suggestion!

[Mike Avery]

The old RCA TK76 cams were light blue and "boxy looking". They also weighed a ton.

Could this be the camera, or are we talking an earlier generation?

Mike Avery

[John Locke]

Jeff,

Not that model...that actually looks like a video camera. These are like Charles said... they "snaked" over the back (imagine the Varizoom shoulder mount, but actually seamlessly built into the camera). It looked like a plastic boxy thing that simply had a hole in the front for the lens and a hole in the back for the viewfinder, and then nothing else was really distinguishable as a camera. No separate lens unit or anything...not visible anyway...probably inside the casing.

Mike, here's the one you mention...that ain't it either. That still looks like a camera. The ones in "Dog Day Afternoon" looked much more futuristic than these. And if one of them was laying on the ground, I bet you'd have to take a second glance to figure out what they were.

[Rob Belics]

Now I'm thinking it was IVC. They made a line of video recorders also. But I can't find anything on the web about it. I'll just bet I have an ad for this thing at home somewhere (I'm out of town).

[Jeff Donald]

How about this John?

[John Locke]

Jeff,

The backpack is getting closer, but the camera still isn't the right one. Here's a very rough quick sketch, just to give you more of a hint. This is based on memory...but the thing that stands out is the fact that you didn't see any dials, switches, a distinguishable lens...nothing. Just a blue plastic casing with a hole at the end for a lens.

[Ken Tanaka]

If you can find it anywhere you'll find it here.

In the early days of portable video cameras the camera and the decks were separate units.

[HA! I just noticed that Jeff points to the same site!! Honest, Jeff, I found this independently!]

[Jeff Donald]

I'm beginning to wonder if parts of it weren't a Hollywood prop. The Norelco portapack may have been used because it was used by Andy Warhol and was popular with certain art segments.

[Charles Papert]

I remember something from another movie at a political convention, maybe '72, with the same cameras. Not to say that they weren't the identical props...!

Anyone remember the crazy helmet-cams from Albert Brooks' first movie, "Real Life"? Just watched that recently--it's actually become a very relevant movie with the advent of reality TV. And it's kinda cool when he holds up a circuit board and says "our camera doesn't use film, it records high quality images digitally onto these chips" or something like that. Worth a Netflix rental if you haven't seen it and find Albert Brooks amusing (which I do, certainly his earlier films).