Camera Questions

Andriy Pryymachenko · December 8, 2005

1. I`ve heard the word "Arri" many times. But what is it?

2. What is the common type of cameras used to make professional music videos?

PS. If there are some e-books about making music videos, please post the link to them.

Jeremy · December 8, 2005

"Arri" or "Arriflex" is a company that makes film cameras and lighting equipment.

Check out: http://www.arri.com/entry/camera.htm

High-end music videos are usually shot with 35mm cameras, however some are also shot on Super 16mm or HD. It just depends on the look of the video that the Director / DP want to achieve as well as any budgetary constraints.

Laurent Andrieux · December 8, 2005

Arri is a german trade mark. It actually is an achronism for "ARnold and RIchter", the engineers who founded the company that builds the ARRI and ARRIFLEX cameras.

The mark became especially famous when they made the first autoblimped 35 mm camera, the famous "ARRI BL" in the late 30's, that Hitler asked for as Leni Riefenstahl could direct the propaganda movies that glorified him.

This camera allowed directors of the french nouvelle vague, after war, to shoot with sound outdoors and inside natural sets, with low budgets (due to time saving). They also could benefit of new highly sensitive film stock that helped too, at the same time.

There is no technics without artists, there is no artistry without technicians...

Arri is one of the most famous camera trade marks, aside with Panavision and Moviecam, basically, nowadays.

They recently made an agreement with moviecam and built a camera called the "ARRICAM".

They represent a good alternative for production cameras to Panavision cameras. They are lightweight, versatile and give very good results. Since the PL mount adopted on these cameras allow the Zeiss lenses to be used with them, they also can give a sharp or creative look.

They are also 16 mm and Super 16 arri cameras, from the standard 16 mm that was used for news reel in the 50's to the new Arri Super 16 SR III camera that is used on many features (blowed up to 35 mm for theater release), TV films and series or corporate films, nowadays.

They are the best for S16, along side the french company Aaton.

I love Arri cameras, and Aaton as well ! :)

Andriy Pryymachenko · December 9, 2005

Thanks a lot!

The next questions are:

1. What is the difference beetween 16mm and super 16mm cameras? Can I see the example (some shots) of their work?

2. Now I work (as a director and cameraman) with digital camera. I want to start working with tape. I`ve decided to choose 16mm or super 16mm. What can you advice me as the begginig of my "tape" career? And what is the price of that type`s cameras?

Dan Cordle · December 9, 2005

Thanks a lot!
The next questions are:

1. What is the difference beetween 16mm and super 16mm cameras? Can I see the example (some shots) of their work?

2. Now I work (as a director and cameraman) with digital camera. I want to start working with tape. I`ve decided to choose 16mm or super 16mm. What can you advice me as the begginig of my "tape" career? And what is the price of that type`s cameras?

16mm and Super 16mm cameras use the same size film: 16mm. Super-16mm cameras enable you to expose a slightly larger area of the film. This is particularly interesting to filmmakers who want to blow up to 35mm for theatrical exhibition. Many Television shows have also used Super 16. There's a good explanation of sub-35 aspect ratios at: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Makeup/4303/sub35.html

I would say, if you're interested in learning to use film, a good idea would be to start with 16 milimeter. For instance, you could get a Krasnogorsk-3 (hand wound russian camera) for about $150 on ebay. You could also pick up a 16mm projector for very little money. Then you could screen your work at home. Most projectors won't accomodate Super-16mm. Super-8 equipment is also very cheap and an even more affordable way to learn. Kodak makes many of the same films for 8mm, 16mm and 35mm.

If you want to own a camera that you can shoot with, and know that you eventually want to shoot super-16, and/or sync sound with the camera you buy, you might consider an Eclair NPR, or ACL. They are good cameras (although you will probably have to spend money to have them serviced after you buy). Both cameras can be modified to Super-16 for about $2000. Make sure you do plenty of research on the cameras if you go this route.

Best Regards,

Dan

Andriy Pryymachenko · December 9, 2005

Thanks a lot for the info!

I`ve decided to start with K-3 (It`s easy to find it in Ukraine, especially in Kyiv).

I think I could even shot music videos on it, bexause I don`t need sound from the shootings...

Another question:

What is the price of one tape cassette for K-3?

David Mullen ASC · December 9, 2005

What is the price of one tape cassette for K-3?

The K3 is a FILM camera, therefore it does not use videotape cassettes...

16mm cameras either use 100' metal daylight spools or 400' rolls of film on cores. In the case of the K3, it only takes the 100' daylight spools, which is almost 3 minutes of footage at 24 fps.

You'd have to figure out how many 100' rolls you'd need for your music video (let's say, a 10:1 ratio, so maybe 10 rolls) plus the cost of processing and the cost of a telecine transfer to video (your choice of video format.)

Andriy Pryymachenko · December 9, 2005

The K3 is a FILM camera, therefore it does not use videotape cassettes...

Yes, I know that. I`ve said "tape", because I didn`t know how to say it in other way (please, mention that english is not my native language ;) )

I found out that K3 uses 30 meters cassettes. So, what is the price of that cassettes?

David Mullen ASC · December 10, 2005

The cost of 100' daylight spools of stock vary by type (b&w neg, reversal, color neg).

I'm not exactly sure, but I think the b&w prices are around $25 per 100', and anywhere from $36 to $45 for color negative.

Processing is probably about $0.12/foot...

Andriy Pryymachenko · December 10, 2005

Thanks a lot for your answer!

Trevor Greenfield · December 10, 2005

Thats about accurate, reversal processing is more however.

Dan Cordle · December 10, 2005

Thanks a lot for the info!
I`ve decided to start with K-3 (It`s easy to find it in Ukraine, especially in Kyiv).

I think I could even shot music videos on it, bexause I don`t need sound from the shootings...

Another question:

What is the price of one tape cassette for K-3?

If you want to shoot music videos with the K-3, it is important to know that the camera is a wind up camera. You can select different speeds to shoot at, but you'll need some way of making sure the camera is constantly running at the desired speed. That doesn't make it impossible to shoot music videos, but it will be a little challenging if you want to sync movement (singing, etc) with the music. For syncing movement and sound, you would want a camera with a crystal sync motor. I'm not sure, but I think Tobin used to make motors for the K-3. There is a site with some information at http://www.k3camera.com/

Having said that, the K-3 is so innexpensive, I still think it would be a good camera for you. It was my first camera and I've never regretted buying it. I directed a public service announcement using the K-3 with a prime that came with it, and a rented arriflex with an expensive lens we rented. The K-3 did very well. No one would guess we hadn't used the arriflex for the whole thing. Make sure you get the best K-3 you can find with the best lens. And be patient with loading. It takes practice.

Best Regards,

Dan

Andriy Pryymachenko · December 10, 2005

Thanks!

And what lense can you advice me to serach?

Dan Cordle · December 10, 2005

Thanks!
And what lense can you advice me to serach?

The K-3 you buy will probably come with a zoom. The zoom that came with my camera worked quite well. You may just want to use this at first and then add some prime lenses later. When you do, you are in luck. A

great thing about the K-3 is that it accepts Pentax screw mount lenses. My K-3 happened to come with a zoom and a prime. I forget what the prime was but will look for you. I believe it was a russian lens and it was very good. Later, I bought a Soligor fisheye lens that I used on the K-3 for a time-lapse project. You can find screw mount lenses very cheaply on ebay. There are adaptors you can buy for the screw mount lenses if you ever want to use them for 35mm still photography on newer still cameras. I use the Soligor lens this way on my Pentax k-1000. You may want to practice still photography to teach yourself about lighting and composition, so these lenses may be a bargain for you.

I believe you in the Ukraine, yes? If so, you have access to a lot of great russian gear. For a more advanced russian 16mm camera (Kinor 16mm) , check out this site:

http://www.geocities.com/russiancamera/16m...nor-16sx-2m.htm

It's the english version of the site. I don't know what the native url is. But the site is Ukranian.

I've never used the Kinor-16, and don't know how much it costs to buy, but have heard good things about it. Anyway, I thought it would be of interest.

Best Regards,

Dan

Andriy Pryymachenko · December 10, 2005

Thank you for a link!

I`m checking ot right now. You will be very surprised, but it is really hard to find these cameras in Ukraine. We even don`t have specializes shops... Otherwise, I`ll try to deal with it.