Auricon

Auricon cameras are 16 mm film Single System sound-on-film motion picture cameras. Auricon cameras are notable because they record sound directly onto an optical or magnetic track on the same film as the image is photographed on, thus eliminating the need for a separate audio recorder. The camera preceded ENG video cameras as the main AV tool of television news gathering due to its portability - and relatively quick production turn-around - where processed negative film could be broadcast by electronically creating the positive image. Additionally, the Auricon found studio use as a 'kinescope' camera of live video off of a TV screen.

History

Three engineers – Bach, Berndt and Maurer

The History of Auricon begins in New York City. Some of this history is inferred from the collection of patents filed by the trio in the 1930s. John Maurer worked at RCA Labs in New Jersey on sound recording technology in the early 1930s.. Eric Berndt was a camera designer in NYC whose business card reads: “Specialist in the Design and Building of Special Motion Picture Equipment” and “Formerly with RCA Photophone Research Dept.”