Mid Century Auricon CM-72A 16mm Motion Picture TV News Camera

Description

When you picture a movie camera in your head, it probably looks a lot like this Auricon CM-72A 16mm "CineVoice" motion picture camera, and there is a very good reason for that. The CM-72A was an early 1950's 16mm camera put out by the Auricon company that recorded both sound and video onto the same magnetic film strip, what Auricon would call "CineVoice". These CineVoice cameras became very popular as they featured very accurate frame registration for noiseless cameras, significantly reduced weight on camera crews by eliminating the need to carry separate, bulky audio capture equipment, and came in at a lower cost than most any other comparable cameras. Their portability and ease of use coincided with another aspect of 1950s American news media coverage; a rapidly expanding and competitive tv news market. This made the CM-72A the camera of choice for news teams with mobile crews looking to be the first on the scene of the latest breaking news stories.
Auricon's only failing on this camera was the relatively small film canister, 100ft, or 2 minutes 45 seconds of filming. This was much shorter than what most camera crews needed, but Auricon was very slow in realizing this gap so, up stepped men like Gordon Yoder and later, NYC's Camera Equipment Co, offering converted CM-72A's that would take much longer canisters. Gordon Yoder created a conversion kit that switched the internal motor to a 12v DC synch motor, and increased the cartridge size it was able to accept from 100ft to 1200ft. If the CineVoice was the rocket taking broadcast journalism into the space age, Gordon Yoder took that tech to the moon. His conversions were a hit, and many companies soon started offering similar converted Auricons to the point where the only people buying new ones were conversion companies.
This camera is one of those early Yoder conversions, and includes an angenieux zoom 12-120mm 2.2 lens type 10 x 12, with a c-mount reflex viewfinder for seeing exactly what the lens sees. Also included is the original aluminum carrying case, and two 400ft canisters. This camera is a true survivor from the golden age of television and would make a great gift for filmmakers, collectors, or makes for excellent decor when paired with a wooden tripod.
Please DM with any questions!
**set does not include power cord**