Century Precision Optics Steady-Tester

[Brandon Paterno]

I'm hitting a bit of a dead end on this thing -- it came up while discussing proper ways to do a registration test outside of the shot rev shot method. At a very basic level, a film camera must shoot a flat, solid target with a section of film, be rewound, reshot, developed, and analyzed in some way shape or form. This Steady-Tester promises to eliminate a myriad of problems and variables by simply just shooting a test chart the old fashioned way. It sounds really intriguing, and the source being locked onto the camera itself rather than leaving room for error through tripod mounting, mag changing, etc is great... but I'm having a hard time picturing a very specific part of operating this tool: the 180* flip. (this instruction guide has been my bible for what I know about this thing thus far outside of this forum)

It seems to be a key differentiator and justification for the usage of this tool rather than something like a run of the mill slide duplicator. Sam Mills remarks that the tool might just be all that with the addition of a PL mount and solid light source and I'm inclined to agree. But I'm stumped on the flipping action imposed on the tool for the second run of film. It sounds like the grid of image is changing during that flip to some degree, adding an additional layer of stability testing. But then the instruction guide written for this tool linked above remarks that the image produced after two runs should be a grid, so why not just shoot with the steady tester in the same position twice? 

Those who have used one of these tools -- why was this flip necessary? 

And if anyone happens to have a copy of the product info pamphlet/PDF it would be nice to see. Signs point to it existing once upon a time but apparently things really can disappear from the internet lol

(or if anyone knows if Schneider/century sells these please let me know!)

[Dom Jaeger]

For the second pass you simply twist the unit to record a second grid that is differently positioned to the first. You can rotate 180 degrees and it will offset the grids, but I find a small twist is better to see any small movement between them. 

The whole point of a steady test is to shoot two passes of a grid so that you can check if the image is steady from one pass to the next. If there is any camera unsteadiness, you will see one grid move with respect to the other one. 

Vertical jitter is a different camera issue to lateral jitter, so it also helps diagnose the fault. 

The mount for the Century tester is a screw-on type of Universal mount, proprietary to Century, without a locating pin so you can loosen the lock ring and position it rotationally anywhere before locking again. It’s similar to the Universal mounts on older Angenieux and Cooke zooms, but not quite the same dimensions.

[Brandon Paterno]

Thank you!!!! That makes a lot of sense. So is a tool like this 50% of the way there for building out a steady test jig -- save for the making of the grid... which Id assume the century steady testers use some sort of a reticle that resists shifting of its dimensional properties from the heat of a given light source. I see a pitiful little registration pin on the Duplikin to keep a film in place but I'm tempted to contact print a grid onto some estar and use a cold light source. 

They're using a strobe with the real Steady Tester which I suppose is acting as a way to verify whether the shutter is loosing lock between states but id assume one could also test this separately... 

[Dom Jaeger]

Yes I guess you could use that tool with a frame print of a grid, though you need some way of rotating it for the second pass.

The Steady Tester uses a continuous light source, not a strobe. 

[Brandon Paterno]

thank you!!! ill have to keep my eyes peeled for one that sits on a pivot. I spy a grub screw or two so I can't imagine that the film holding platform is fixed/bonded to the housing. Since it's C-mount I suppose you could always unscrew the lens a quarter of a turn though the focus on the second pass would be off

My mistake on the strobe -- I was basing my inference off of the following listing which includes it in the package. 

[Dom Jaeger]

I have one of those Cinematography Electronics strobe guns, great tool. But yeah, nothing to do with the Steady Tester.