Looks cool, doesn’t it? And while wearing a jacket and tie, no less! The thought of lifting off in the KGO news copter to capture breaking action with the groovy CM16 must’ve been exciting for a SoCal reporter during the mid-60’s.
Or, maybe not…after a flight or two.
Beside that tiny demographic, I don’t imagine this arcane newsreel camera will ring a bell with anyone but the surviving Vietnam-era Army Signal Group cinematographers who also may have used it. Not that they’d remember it so fondly… Despite its sleek profile and futuristic surface, it seems to have delivered less than optimal results when put to work in the field. I’ll let www.13newsnow.com authors Mark Casey and Chad Bricks make the introductory remarks, drawn from their May 31, 2016 article, A War in Photographs:
“Without any doubt this camera was universally disliked by 221st MoPic photographers of all eras. This is why we acquired Arriflex cameras later on. The CM16 would not run consistently due to many design problems. It jammed easily. The single system sound was always problematic. The principal advantage was its excellent 12-120 zoom lens.”
Hmmm… Sounds a bit like reports on the early-generation M16 rifle.
If being able to use the standard, interchangeable Angenieux optic was the CM16’s big selling point, that was like saying you bought your car because you liked the tires. As with my last two posts, I don’t understand how this anomaly has evaded my view for so long. I’ve never seen one in the wild, nor did I ever trip over one during countless visits to Lloyd’s, the legendary, long-gone movie camera graveyard in Hollywood. There’s a good reason for that. Given what the declassified document featured below tells us, the entire inventory was probably taped to the side of a napalm canister and dropped somewhere over the jungle.
But no matter how exhilarating those KGO helo rides over San Diego may have been, I’m sure that had nothing on filming with the CM16 during a Huey or Cobra gun-run. Hopefully, the damn camera worked!
Note: RVN refers to Republic of Vietnam
Still have a 12-120 in “C” mount here. It tracked perfectly and was OUTSTANDING. Hurricane Sandy got it and now it’s full of YUK. I actually cried. Still, I’ll never let it go.
I’m aware of the CM16 but never saw or used one. Beckman-Whitley and Photosonics were known for their ultra hi-speed cameras, 25000 fps! I have used the Photosonics back in the day! Explosions and rocket launches at Edwards AFB in the California desert.
Further reading on high speed cameras: http://www.davidhazy.org/andpph/text-dynafax-application.html
That is a place I remember well. A camera person’s candy and toy store all in one. Lloyds Camera shop was a great place to visit. If I remember correctly, I believe he was a Navy Veteran. Better than a museum of motion picture cameras. Lloyd would be telling stories many times when I visited