Another Filmo 70 DR Posting

Matthew Hall · November 4

So, I have been playing with this for a few hours now and have gotten fairly good at locating the stop pawl so that the front plate properly engages with the body. Took a few times to get the hang of it. There is a little slot cut into the side of the front plate that the outer edge of the stop pawl has to be located in to fit. This keeps it high enough to clear the shutter as it rotates. Problem is that when reassembled, the shutter button does not activate the camera. Seems like this may have been the problem all along. I also noticed that the shutter is VERY hard to turn by hand when using the gear (see photo above). I would assume that the shutter should spin more easily so as not to used up too much of the energy from the main spring. Assuming that the grease may have thickened over time. Either the stop pawl is not properly located so the shutter button moves it or the shutter is providing too much drag for the spring (probably not likely, that spring is quite strong) or perhaps both. Anyway, most of the mechanism is fine, it appears that the problem resides somewhere in the front plate. At least I won't have to dig down any further into the camera. I have oiled all the points you illustrated and when turning the key a few times (I have to hold it tightly as there is no stop pawl present to keep it from turning) the camera runs down until it stops. It seems very quiet and smooth when running, of course there is no gate/claw/etc. present as of now, but the main spring is working correctly.

Matthew Hall · November 4

By the way, I found this small piece of what appears to be a warming filter floating around under the front turret. Is this supposed to be located over the critical focuser or did it fall through one of the C mount openings by mistake? It is way too small to be used as a filter for one of the lenses so I am a bit perplexed as to its purpose. Good thing it didn't get tangled up in the gate.

You know, I just noticed that is is the exact right size to just cover the round opening to the gate on the front plate with a small amount of overhang. If this was indeed a studio camera, and somebody needed to be constantly using a warming filter, perhaps they thought it easier to just glue one over the gate opening rather than place one on every lens they used. Over time the glue has loosened and it just dropped to the bottom of the turret. Just a thought.

Simon Wyss · November 4

I should say the same about the filter piece. Previous owner was obviously not fond of glass filters on each lens. Throw it away.

The shutter has a bent-up rim that runs in a circular groove. You have to make sure nothing rubs anywhere. Shutter blade is aluminium, lacquered black. You can clean the entire group in a solvent to have a blank shutter, then work on it. For removal undo the two slotted flat head screws and the two guide posts. The main group (shutter and cams) must spin easily and fast on its shaft. If you retract the group, you have access to the central shaft which is bored through so that a drop of oil given in at the front center can run to the group. You might perhaps drown the front in a solvent as well to free the bores, if clogged. Small interdental brushes help. There may be a thin washer under the shutter group.

Bigger issue is the damaged cam. I should disassemble until I have the main group free so that I can go dress the cam with a cotter pin driver and hammer. Gentle work on hard wood or a block of steel

Finally fresh lacquer sprayed onto shutter blade, enclose gear with tape.

Matthew Hall · November 4

Any recommendation for lubricant on the cam and sliding rails? Would a little white lithium grease be useful or just sewing machine oil?

Simon Wyss · November 4

White sewing machine oil, household oil, bicycle oil, anything that flows. No grease. You have steel on steel with the fastest moving parts, grease would only be pushed aside. Oil sparingly.

Matthew Hall · November 4

Used sewing machine oil only. Got the front plate back together and put onto the body. The trigger now works to start the camera after winding, but . . . . when I push the trigger button down all the way in and hold it I can feel a sensation like the tip of the button is going over some bumps. The sensation is not there when I push the button in part way or when I apply the constant run push/pull pin. Is this normal or do I have the stop pawl installed incorrectly?

Matthew Hall · November 4

OK, I have been using the trigger some more when I suddenly heard, and felt, a clunk from beneath the front plate. The vibration in the shutter button disappeared and works fine now. I assume the stop pawl finally seated itself into the proper position and all is well. The winding key is working again and the shutter button appears to be fixed.

I straightened the shutter and placed it in its cradle, spinning it several times to make sure it was straight and even. It does not touch anything now and turns VERY easily. A quick re-paint finished the job. After a complete disassembly of the entire plate mechanism I cleaned everything as you suggested. I used a syringe filled with alcohol to squirt up into the shutter drive shaft through the lower oiling hole. This pushed all the debris out the two upper oiling holes. I then reverse flushed in the opposite direction through one of the upper oiling holes to completely clear the shaft. I then used some 3000 grit wet/dry sandpaper (along with a drop of oil) and held it lightly around the shaft while spinning it with the other hand to remove any hard deposits which were present. Did the same thing with the two sliding rails. Doesn't really remove any metal but cleans it up nicely. Not being exactly sure where to position the two sliding rails held by the large screws, I did the following. Installed everything and inserted the two large screws, but not completely tight. Then I turned the shutter using the gear and adjusted the position of the two rails so they were just beyond the cam lobe as it came by, then tightened the two large screws. Not sure if it matters but this assures there will be no rubbing. Just a word to the rest of you wanting to attempt this . . . once you remove the gate, note that there is a small steel spring under it holding the side rail in place. It is no longer bound by the gate and will spring out to get lost if not removed. Upon replacement you must also note that the center of the spring sits in a hole in the plate. It does not want to sit there on its own and needs to be coaxed back under as you screw the gate back into place. I used the edge of a single sided razor blade to push it back in while tightening the gate screws. I also found the placement of the stop pawl to be a challenge. That took lots of investigation and practice before getting it right. All in all I was impressed by the simplicity of the entire mechanism. I do enjoy working on these older cameras that were all mechanical and could be understood -- no flex circuit boards or wiring going to who knows where. I can state that I really wish the Phillips head screw had been invented earlier. Those small slotted screws can be really difficult to deal with. Thank God for magnetic tipped screw drivers.

Many thanks to you Simon, for your help and patience with me. You'll probably hear from me again but hopefully I'll be better versed in the equipment by then.

Another Filmo 70DR is up and running!

Edited November 4 by Matthew Hall

Simon Wyss · November 4

I’m impressed. Isn’t it a 70-KR? Not sure about all the Bell & Howell nomenclature, the serial number is preceded by a K, so perhaps a pointer

Matthew Hall · November 4

The body has a K before the serial number but the door states 70DR, and it has the same serial number as the body so they seem to be a matched set. Any ideas?

Matthew Hall · November 5

Just visited the Magna Tech website to see what Filmo 70 series cameras they have for sale and their serial numbers v. model #. Figure if anybody knows about B&H nomenclature it would be them. Here is what I found:

70HR - ser. #BJ86212

70DR - ser. #CM2883

70DR - ser. #R98522

70DR - ser. #L98243

So it appears, at least from the perspective of Magna Tech, that the letters preceding the numbers in the serial number itself has nothing to do with the model designation. I specifically looked to see if any of these models mentioned had been converted to a DR and they had not. Notice that some start with two letters. At least all the DR models were consistent with 6 symbols in their serial number. Don't know if this is a hard and fast rule as three examples is not much of a sampling, but it is interesting. I would be very interested to find someone that has access to a listing of all B&H serial numbers v. production date, if that even exists any more. I know a lot (if not all) of the people that had intimate knowledge of these cameras have passed and their vast knowledge has vanished with them.

Edited November 5 by Matthew Hall

Simon Wyss · November 5

Thanks for this, wasn’t aware of the information with Magnatech

Series became shorter after Percy was president, Bell & Howell was on the decline. Logically the models got compartmentalised, discerned by small differences, and four or five digits numbers were practical. No comparison to the thirties, when Filmo and Eyemo were sold in tens of thousands.

Would you be interested in a stabilising base? I plan to make a saddle that gives the camera rigidity on a support in all three axes.