Arri 16 and Sound

Gino Terribilini · November 17, 2005

I bought an Arri 16 yesterdayand was reminded just how loud these cameras are. Are there any tricks you guys know on how to minimize the sound of this camera? Would a Tobin crystal sync motor help any?

Dickson Sorensen · November 17, 2005

I bought an Arri 16 yesterdayand was reminded just how loud these cameras are. Are there any tricks you guys know on how to minimize the sound of this camera? Would a Tobin crystal sync motor help any?

the motor is not where most of the noise comes from. The mags and the torque motor are loud, the camera itself is noisy. the camera was never really designed to be quiet. I saw a blimp housing for an Arri S on E-bay a couple of months back. It looked like no one was bidding on it so they are around for little cash. Put a heavy furniture blanket over the camera. Shoot from inside your car if you have to.

Annie Wengenroth · November 18, 2005

There was an article floating around on the interweb about various ways to make the 16S a quieter camera. Maybe google it? I myself am too tired to hit "search".

Laurent Andrieux · November 18, 2005

I've seen a blimp for the arri 16, the camera will then be nearly as big as a BNCR :lol:

Mitch Gross · November 18, 2005

An Arri-S in a blimp weighs more than 50 pounds.

Laurent Andrieux · November 20, 2005

Here is Yves Agostini on the shooting of Vidocq in the 60's, beside a blimbed arri 16 st

David Sweetman · November 21, 2005

Ive got a 16bl which is a little quieter, but still adds a lot of background noise. What I'll do for my next film is take several takes with only audio, then roll picture seperately, and sync it in post. I do a lot of this anyway -- using audio and picture from different takes to get the best result.

Andy Sparaco SOC · November 21, 2005

The best way to shoot Sync Sound with an Arri-S is thru a window from across the street

Brian Drysdale · November 22, 2005

Ive got a 16bl which is a little quieter, but still adds a lot of background noise. What I'll do for my next film is take several takes with only audio, then roll picture seperately, and sync it in post. I do a lot of this anyway -- using audio and picture from different takes to get the best result.

I'd get your Arri 16BL to a workshop, they shouldn't that loud. These cameras were used for shooting numerous TV dramas in the 1970s and should be relatively quiet (around 31dbA). This should only be a problem when the camera is close to the subject, when a barney or even a blanket will be needed.

It could be the camera movement or some other part is touching the outer casing, since everything inside is suspended on rubber mounts.

David Sweetman · November 25, 2005

I'd get your Arri 16BL to a workshop, they shouldn't that loud. These cameras were used for shooting numerous TV dramas in the 1970s and should be relatively quiet (around 31dbA). This should only be a problem when the camera is close to the subject, when a barney or even a blanket will be needed.

It could be the camera movement or some other part is touching the outer casing, since everything inside is suspended on rubber mounts.

I've seen and Arri shop in Burbank, would they be able to look at it there? and do you know about how much it would cost?

Brian Drysdale · November 26, 2005

I've seen and Arri shop in Burbank, would they be able to look at it there? and do you know about how much it would cost?

You can check with them, although they may only work on the later Arri cameras. However, they may have some names that you could contact. I'm sure some of the guys based in LA assist you with other camera workshops.

I notice there's a company in Australia that converts the Arri 16BL to Super 16, they might give a good price for repairs. http://www.design.arandafilm.com.au

David Sweetman · November 26, 2005

I notice there's a company in Australia that converts the Arri 16BL to Super 16, they might give a good price for repairs. http://www.design.arandafilm.com.au

Yeah i've seen those guys too, but i'd rather do it local. Also, i'm not sure I trust them because they're the only place in the world that converts the 16bl to s16, and many people say it can't be done, and I read they've only done a few conversions.

Brian Drysdale · November 26, 2005

Yeah i've seen those guys too, but i'd rather do it local. Also, i'm not sure I trust them because they're the only place in the world that converts the 16bl to s16, and many people say it can't be done, and I read they've only done a few conversions.

I've read that Arri made some Super 16 models. I suspect you'll need to find a repair company that has experience with the 16BL. Sorry I can't help you with anywhere in LA, I think you'll have to do a bit of local research. However, you may have to look in another state for people who work on the 16BL.

December 5, 2005

I bought an Arri 16 yesterdayand was reminded just how loud these cameras are. Are there any tricks you guys know on how to minimize the sound of this camera? Would a Tobin crystal sync motor help any?

I have an arri s I bought on ebay. I made an ambitious decision to try to silence the camera. I have replaced all the bearings with new precision german made bearings. this is a very critical task as the tolerences in the camera are very precise. you need to have a very good understanding of the mechanism to be sucessfull. anyway it made it a lot more quiet but I still have a 65db at 1' camera. i added a foam seal to the door as well. the next step is treating the inside casing with damping material used for damping sound in machines and car stereo etc. then hopefully a barney will finish the job. but if I want to use the magazine it will have to be modified as well. that torqe moter is really noisy. I have an idea to make my own torqe motor assembly using two dc motors connected directly to each spindle and using a special circuit to control the amount of torq for each motor. this will silence the magazine completely. any way this is obviously a project for hard core DIY'ers but I thought I'd put my 2 cent's worth.