Vinten Operator Handbooks

Vintens were extremely important in that the Vinten products (especially those designed by Bill (aka “Paddy”) Vinten, cameraman and engineer) enabled the British television companies – and particularly the BBC – to develop and produce high quality theatrical style, multi-camera live or “as live” television programmes from the late 1950s right through to the development of digital technologies (where Vitec (as Vintens became) is still a key player).

Here are some Vinten publications from the 1950s/1960s.

Mk III Pan and Tilt Head Operators’ Handbook

A description of how to use the Type 111 Pan and Tilt head: its unique features were the preservation of perfect balance at any·angle of tilt, together with a range of movement increased to 50 degrees of tilt in elevation or depression.

	Publisher:	Vinten
	Document Type	Operator Handbook

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Vinten HP Pedestal

A description of how to use the Vinten HP Pedestal. The telescopic sections were maintained in balance using nitrogen gas which pressurised an internal system of three hydraulic rams.

	Publisher:	Vinten
	Document Type	Operator Handbook

Vinten Heron Camera Crane

A description of how to drive the Vinten Heron Camera Crane. The Heron was designed around 1955 to a BBC specification for a flexible crane that could more or less go anywhere.

This PDF is a complete rendering of the Handbook, including all the blank and non-printed pages.

Please Note: As this is constructed and stored as a searchable PDF, the OCR scanning has rotated page six (6) through 90 degrees to make the text for fig. 2 readable.