The futuristic Mitchell Robot Focus Control - 1960

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mitchellbnc
Posts: 57
Joined: Wed May 15, 2013 10:03 am

The futuristic Mitchell Robot Focus Control - 1960

Post by mitchellbnc » Sat Aug 02, 2014 3:55 pm

It must of seemed very futuristic to have a “robot” focus your BNC from a 25 foot electrical cable! We may laugh now, but in 1960 it was like the space age had truly arrived.

This accessory first appeared in a product catalog which stated that you must first mount a “slave selsyn” component on the camera. Sounds very fancy to me! I’ve never heard of one for sale, or seen one in a photograph but I have no doubt that they were very expensive.

If any camera operator used one of these back in the day, please share your experience here.

PS: Don't forget that you can super size any of the photos in the forum by clicking on them. Depending on which browser that you use, it will open larger but you can continue to blow it up. You may also see a magnifying glass with a + inside it and clicking will really make it big. Some other browsers simply give you the largest super size image right off the bat.
Attachments
robot-text.jpg
Text from the original product catalog
robot-focus-control.jpg
The Robot itself

samsonwillerd

Re: The futuristic Mitchell Robot Focus Control - 1960

Post by samsonwillerd » Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:11 am

A "Robot" eh? Cool name for a remote control. Those guys in the Mitchell Marketing department were good. You have a brochure listed on this site that has the price for the Robot Focus Control. It is the one listed for Feb, 1965.

Here is the price point and for a fun comparison, two of the other most expensive accessories that Mitchell offered at that time.

So you are right that it was very expensive:

Robot Focus Control: $1,650
Mitchell Viewfinder: $1,400
Worrall Gear Head: $1,745

SW

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