Eclair ACL HD 144

Steven Jackson · February 6

On 1/18/2024 at 4:52 PM, John Krawlzik said:

A few years ago, I was talking to Paul at Visual Products and he said that they don't do Super 16 conversions for ACLs anymore. He did send me his notes on their conversion that he used to do. I also bought a new aluminum 144 shutter blade from him, a new mirror surface and a connecting rod for Super 16. I'm finally getting around to trying the "kit". I had an old ACL body that was not being used, so I started modifying it. To produce the shutter, you need to remove the old blade with heat, machine off 2mm from the counterbalance ring, then epoxy it all back together. The beauty of the aluminum shutter is that it weighs less, and requires little or no extra balancing weight to compensate for the 2mm removed from the counterbalance. I put together a little rig to test the static balance and it works perfectly. He also recommends shifting the actual mirror 1mm toward the viewfinder. This is a bit tricky, as you have to heat the existing mirror and remove it from the arm, then take off 1mm from the "dumb" side of the mount, and reglue the new mirror to that edge so it is now centered over the Super 16 image. The only trick is getting the mirror reglued to be absolutely flat. I reassembled everything and adjusted the shutter timing and mirror - it's spot on. I must have got the mirror flat, because there's no noticeable wobble. I have the do the gate now. This was why I was asking about the HD 144 kit - I'd love to get a properly designed gate, even if that means having one machined. My assumption is that there aren't any unused existing HD 144 gates anymore. One more thing - this whole conversion does cause a problem with the mirror swinging too far and hitting the camera shell. That's very tricky to solve, as the hole under the lens mounting plate has to be ground out so far that it would let light leak into the camera. I'm thinking that by shifting the lens mounting plate towards the viewfinder to recenter it, this might cover up the extended hole. Oh well. I also have an NPR - it seems that converting that to Super 16 would be a lot easier, as the mirror shutter is adjustable by design, and the magazines actually have fewer rollers to modify.

I noticed Les Bosher removed a corner of the mirror to keep it from hitting the interior of the camera body. Ask Heikki for a photo of his camera mirror.

Steven Jackson · February 6

On 1/18/2024 at 4:52 PM, John Krawlzik said:

A few years ago, I was talking to Paul at Visual Products and he said that they don't do Super 16 conversions for ACLs anymore. He did send me his notes on their conversion that he used to do. I also bought a new aluminum 144 shutter blade from him, a new mirror surface and a connecting rod for Super 16. I'm finally getting around to trying the "kit". I had an old ACL body that was not being used, so I started modifying it. To produce the shutter, you need to remove the old blade with heat, machine off 2mm from the counterbalance ring, then epoxy it all back together. The beauty of the aluminum shutter is that it weighs less, and requires little or no extra balancing weight to compensate for the 2mm removed from the counterbalance. I put together a little rig to test the static balance and it works perfectly. He also recommends shifting the actual mirror 1mm toward the viewfinder. This is a bit tricky, as you have to heat the existing mirror and remove it from the arm, then take off 1mm from the "dumb" side of the mount, and reglue the new mirror to that edge so it is now centered over the Super 16 image. The only trick is getting the mirror reglued to be absolutely flat. I reassembled everything and adjusted the shutter timing and mirror - it's spot on. I must have got the mirror flat, because there's no noticeable wobble. I have the do the gate now. This was why I was asking about the HD 144 kit - I'd love to get a properly designed gate, even if that means having one machined. My assumption is that there aren't any unused existing HD 144 gates anymore. One more thing - this whole conversion does cause a problem with the mirror swinging too far and hitting the camera shell. That's very tricky to solve, as the hole under the lens mounting plate has to be ground out so far that it would let light leak into the camera. I'm thinking that by shifting the lens mounting plate towards the viewfinder to recenter it, this might cover up the extended hole. Oh well. I also have an NPR - it seems that converting that to Super 16 would be a lot easier, as the mirror shutter is adjustable by design, and the magazines actually have fewer rollers to modify.

Here's a pic that Heikki sent me (hope you don't mind me sharing this Heikki!) a while back of his Les Bosher conversion...you can see that a corner of the mirror has been ground off. Also, Paul At VP told me he had a supply of the rods in stock that were made up for a slightly longer throw of the mirror.

Gregg MacPherson · February 6

Steven,

Your TS flange has slotted holes for the screws. Heikki's one does not. I don't think the two S16 ACL IIs I have had here (by Paul, VP) had slotted TS flanges either. So are they making a new TS flange for the S16...? Or doing something else? I think John knows.

I didn't realize the double screws in the TS flange were standard. Early ACLs may have had single screws.

Edited February 6 by Gregg MacPherson

Steven Jackson · February 6

6 minutes ago, Gregg MacPherson said:

Steven,

Your TS flange has slotted holes for the screws. Heikki's one does not. I don't think the two S16 ACL IIs I have had here (by Paul, VP) had slotted TS flanges either. So are they making a new TS flange for the S16...? Or doing something else? I think John knows.

I didn't realize the double screws in the TS flange were standard. Early ACLs may have had single screws.

My understanding was that Les Bosher made his own TS flange with the holes in a different place, you can see how he has machined into the edge of the flange to accommodate the screw head. It also does not have the two registration pin holes. I had inquired about buying one once. The slotted holes on mine are just an enlargement of the original holes so that the TS flange can slide over and the two registration pins look to have been ground off. Can you share a photo of what your VP conversion looks like?

Edited February 6 by Steven Jackson

Gregg MacPherson · February 6

They were both by Paul at VP. The is the spare camera body I had. It went to Ryan Buyssens in the US.

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Edited February 6 by Gregg MacPherson
more words

Geffen Avraham · February 7

I'm pretty sure the Eclair HD-144 kit used a custom-CNC'd TS flange.

This is trivial to get made nowadays in China.

I have a VP-S16 ACL and can post pictures. I can also send it, along with my standard 16 ACL, to someone like Richard Bennett if they are interested in taking apart the movement and reverse engineering the s16 conversion parts.