Takahiro Nakano Posted April 11 Posted April 11 I recently acquired a "Mitchell Mark III." There is very little information available about this camera. It is currently being restored. With the help of Mr. Bennett from cinemagear.com I was able to determine what type of belt was used. If anyone knows anything about this camera please let me know.
Steve Switaj Posted April 12 Posted April 12 This is why I love these forums. After 30 years in VFX I was pretty sure I had seen every single Mitchell product ever released, from the 16mm 'Monitor' instrumentation cameras up to the big 65's, with a couple of missile tracking cameras, aircraft nose cameras, and underwater rigs thrown in along the way. But I have never seen one of these before, and had no idea such a thing as a 'MK-III' even existed. Do you have any pictures of the movement?
Takahiro Nakano Posted April 13 Author Posted April 13 (edited) There really isn't much information on the web, just a few posts on the cinemagear.com blog. According to Richard Bennett, only three were made, one of which was purchased by DP John Hora. A book for Japanese engineers notes that several were introduced to Japan in 1975. It is unclear how many were actually produced, but they were very few. My camera's serial number is "1004". Edited April 13 by Takahiro Nakano
Takahiro Nakano Posted April 13 Author Posted April 13 The Mark III is a shoulder-style sound camera. The movement is very similar to the familiar S35R, but the sprocket is in the magazine. The magazine is inserted from the side like the 35BL. The ground glass is the same as the S35R. The film gate also appears to be the same, but there is a hole for the clapper LED. It states that the viewfinder is removable and a viewfinder extension is available. The viewfinder visibility is great! I think it has a higher magnification than the 35BL. It's very bright as there is no video assist splitter. The shutter is fixed at 170 degrees. The motor can be easily removed. I found out that the timing belt is "40DP" and "NO-SLIP POSITIVE DRIVE BELT", but these are not available in Japan so I am currently searching for them.
Brian Drysdale Posted April 13 Posted April 13 Here's an old price list: https://www.pacificrimcamera.com/rl/00991/00991.pdf
Mark Dunn Posted April 13 Posted April 13 40 minutes ago, Takahiro Nakano said: I found out that the timing belt is "40DP" and "NO-SLIP POSITIVE DRIVE BELT", but these are not available in Japan so I am currently searching for them. https://www.lpgear.com/category/MM.html ?
Takahiro Nakano Posted April 13 Author Posted April 13 3 hours ago, Brian Drysdale said: 古い価格表はこちらです: https://www.pacificrimcamera.com/rl/00991/00991.pdf Interestingly, the photo (illustration?) is of a coaxial magazine.
Takahiro Nakano Posted April 13 Author Posted April 13 3 hours ago, Mark Dunn said: https://www.lpgear.com/category/MM.html ? https://www.pic-design.com/ https://www.york-ind.com/ I've been inquiring about these companies but there's an issue with minimum orders. Glad to hear they're still available.
Brian Drysdale Posted April 13 Posted April 13 Here is the Mitchell 35 MK III in the American Cinematographer Manual, it shows the threading of the co-axial mag and in the camera itself.
Takahiro Nakano Posted April 13 Author Posted April 13 Thank you for the valuable information, Brian. What edition is it? I would like to find that book. But now the mystery deepens. So the body was the same but there were two types of magazines? I'm concerned that the body on the price list is slightly different from mine. I'm becoming more and more interested.
dan kessler Posted April 13 Posted April 13 40 DP belts also available from Stock Drive Products www.sdp-si.com Holding one in my hand as we speak
Brian Drysdale Posted April 13 Posted April 13 1 hour ago, Takahiro Nakano said: Thank you for the valuable information, Brian. What edition is it? I would like to find that book. It's the 1980 edition, there's no further information, there is only those 2 pages.
Geffen Avraham Posted April 14 Posted April 14 never knew there was a mitchell mk 3! also fascinating to compare the price list to today! a set of 7 super baltars was $7902 back then, which is about $57K in today's money - about $8100 per lens. at this time there is a rehoused set of 8 super baltars going for about $65K - or about $8100 per lens!
Takahiro Nakano Posted April 14 Author Posted April 14 20 hours ago, dan kessler said: Holding one in my hand as we speak Does this mean you own a Mark III? If so, great!
dan kessler Posted April 14 Posted April 14 (edited) That would be nice, but no, I just happen to have a 40 DP belt that I'm using for another project, which, coincidently, is another camera. 40 DP is one of several standard timing belt pitches that are readily available from suppliers. SDP has a huge selection, so you should have no problem getting what you need. You just need to specify the number of teeth and the width. Edited April 14 by dan kessler
Takahiro Nakano Posted April 14 Author Posted April 14 Thank you. The 40DP is not sold in Japan. (I accidentally bought too many MXL belts...) I think I'll put a new belt on my CP-16R as well.
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