Not long ago, I heard from Eduardo Suarez in Miami. Although I lived there nearly 20 years, it was only after I left that we met on line, but I would love to see his beautiful collection of cameras and microphones in person next time I'm there.
Born and raised in Cuba, Eduardo has sent a couple of rare photos that we'll post here before his letter and shots of his collection.
In this group of photos, Eduardo is seen in 3 images working an RCA TK11. The top left I believe is a Russian made color camera similar to a Marconi Mark VII and I think the bottom right is an old Dumont black and white. There is more detail on this in his letter below.
In an extremely rare photo, we see a young Fidel Castro with some old Dumont cameras in the studio during one of his many famous 'speeches'.
Dear Colleagues,
I had the pleasure to talk with Bobby and meet with him by phone recently. I was really impress when I found his site. Thanks for all of what you all do and congrats to Bobby for the 'new toy'. Is fantastic what you do for future generations! When you are crossing emails to each other I feel like watching the History Channel.
I'm living in US since 1980. I came from Cuba. My father was an anchor and I almost was born in a television studio, so I feel and smell that unique sensation of being in the television studio since I was a baby. I was cameraman as a teenager and later become a Director. I'm working all my life in TV US in the Hispanic market in Miami. Currently I'm TV executive.
What happened in Cuba help my nostalgia because Cuba was a country freeze in time and the technology of the 50's (b&w) stay until I left in 1980 and more, so you can imagine! Working with a RCA TK 10A or TK 30, Dumont or GE cameras with Russian bulbs, lenses adapted and orthicon was incredible!
The Soviet Union was copying all the technology from US and they copied also the Marconi Technology. I've send a picture of myself in the famous "Revolution Place" doing a remote working with a Marconi camera B & W in 1979. Attached is also a Russian b & w camera with electric zoom (left handle). There was having overheating problems. Also attached I'm sending a rare picture of Fidel in his golden years surrounded by Dumonts in a CMQ-TV studio. I really appreciate what all of you do and I hope this 'cubanito' can be a member of your family. My dream is to find a TK 41. That camera never went to Cuba but that Flash Gordon look is incredible!
Thanks to Bobby for put me on the loop and thanks to all of you. Thank you also to Chuck Pharis that I meet with him at NBA in 2005 and I trade a couple things with him. He told me he went to Cuba for a Pan-American games in 1991. Here is my FB page were you can see my small collection of "toys":
Keep in touch... Good luck to all!
With Regards,
Eduardo Suarez
Here are Eduardo's cameras and microphones. What a beautiful TK10! The other cameras are a TK11, and what I think is a GE PC 11B but I'm not sure.
GE sometime included the model and information plates in their cameras, and sometimes not. That has been a problem identifying GE makes and models, however, Eduardo has the only version of this camera that I know of and it is indeed a rarity whatever it is and extras shots of it are included first in the photo section below.
Notice that he has sent a shot of an ID tag, but this is from the viewfinder and not the camera head. There is no tag on the head, so we are still guessing at the model number. For more on the GE mystery camera, click here.
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