Chapter 3 The Video Camera and Support Equipment
57
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the diopter adjustment until the writing on the viewfi nder screen is clear.
Then, adjust the focus of the camera normally.
A special feature on some viewfi nders is zebra stripes (black and white
diagonal stripes). When zebra stripes are displayed, the operator is made
aware that an object in the shot may be too brightly lit. This is an extremely
useful feature that should be engaged at all times, if available.
Camera Lens
In the early days of television, the imaging device on cameras was
not a CCD, but a vacuum tube. Early cameras had several different lenses
attached to a wheel called a “lens turret,” Figure 3-12. Zoom lenses were
not available on these early pieces of equipment. Technology has brought
great changes and improvements to the imaging processes of television
production.
The lens is an assembly of several glass discs placed in a tube on the
front of a camera. Its primary purpose is to concentrate, or focus, the incom-
ing light rays on the surface of the imaging device, or the target. A picture
is considered to be “in focus” when the adjoining lines of contrast are as
sharp as possible.
zebra stripes: A special
function of some viewfinders
that displays black and white
diagonal stripes on any object
in a shot that is too brightly lit.
lens: An assembly of several
glass discs placed in a tube
attached to the front of a
camera.
focus: The act of rotating the
focus ring on a camera lens
until the lines of contrast in
the image are as sharp as
possible.
Chuck Pharis Video
Figure 3-12. This camera
was used in the 1950s
for both studio and field
production. The attached
lens turret rotates to allow
the lenses to be changed
from one size to another.
Both the individual glass discs and the tube-shaped piece
of equipment that houses the glass discs are called “lenses.”
To differentiate these terms within this chapter, note that “lens”
refers to the individual pieces of glass and “lens assembly”
refers to the piece of equipment that houses the entire assembly of lenses.
When working in the industry, both are referred to as a “lens” and are
differentiated only by the context of the sentence.
Talk the Talk