Bolex EL Mk3 - The camera nobody wants to repair

[Nacho Guzman]

Hello everyone, 

 

thanks for reading this. I would suggest first to take a look at the video and the to read the following.

 

I got this camera more than a year ago. At the beginning it was working fine, but then all of the sudden some issues started to happen. Ive read many post in this website, and they all seem to have plenty of similarities. 

- First stage: Camera would not stop rolling, or it would take a few seconds to do so

- Second Stage: Pressing the trigger, nothing would happen.

- Current Stage: And now we have this annoying sound.

 

When powering the camera everything seems to be working fine, light meter is giving a read, constant light when checking the battery, etc.

 

I have try to find a service manual for this camera, but there is only one person to my knowledge that has a copy (written in a mix of french and English according to him) but he cant be bother to scan or take a picture. Im still working trying to convince him.

Most of the threads in this website lead to nothing, people have their cameras in some repair places in the US, for weeks, months... some of them dont see their cameras again...but most simply give up trying to find a solution.

The reality is nobody wants to even open these cameras, so here is my ask to this forum.

 

Is there someone out there, who has suffered all these issues, and succeded?

 

All the best everyone, have a wonderful holidays.

 

bolexEL.ts

[Aapo Lettinen]

sorry I laughed, that sound was like the camera is mocking you 😄  like "BEEEEP WRONG BUTTON!!!"

almost sounds like a small summer but such a noise can be made by mechanical or electrical parts too.

Are you sure there is no one in Europe servicing them? often it is more about what it can cost rather than if there is anyone available or not, but can be wrong...

making new electronics is always a possibility but not sure if it is worth it for Bolexes, would probably cost like 1.5k per camera and one would probably need to change the outer body shape/control panel a little to make it work best so it would not look the same than the original. If you would have like three cameras then might make sense to build new electronics. Otherwise probably more practical to try to repair

[Tyler Purcell]

Annoying sound is probably the motor trying to turn the movement, but it can't. 

EL's evidently are a nightmare to work on, not sure why. I work on the older Bolex wind up cameras and they're a PITA for sure, but nothing a tech can't conquer. 

[Dom Jaeger]

ELs are typical 1970s electrical monsters, with wiring everywhere and boards squeezed into cavities, and in order to properly test them while disassembled you need a special Bolex jig to hold everything.

It’s easy to introduce other problems while working on them or find after hours of work that the fault remains, and it’s not possible to simply replace an entire board because those parts are not available. Many Bolex techs, including myself, don’t want to work on ELs for electrical faults for these reasons. I don’t need the headache.

The manual is very thick and complicated, with multiple diagram variations depending on the model iteration, and references multiple custom Bolex tools and jigs which won’t mean a thing if you don’t have the tool or jig.

The only people I know who will attempt EL electronic repairs are in the USA:  

Du-All in NJ and Abdul Setoua in Queens.

[Nacho Guzman]

Thank you Dom,

 

Du-All seems to be so far the only place that actively replies to my enquires. They do claim a waiting list around 2-3 months, but I know of an owner whos camera is been there for 6 months now... Abdul doesnt reply to my emails so so far this all Ive been able to achieve.

 

Edited December 22, 2024 by Nacho Guzman