ARRI BL or similar footage links?

seth christian · December 15, 2005

Looking for any projects done by the ARRI BL or similar!?!

Tim Carroll · December 15, 2005

Looking for any projects done by the ARRI BL or similar!?!

This guy has been hawking this DVD for quite some time now, says the film was shot with the Arriflex 16BL. You may want to check it out.

http://cgi.ebay.com/MOVIE-shot-on-Arriflex...itemZ7572725347

-Tim Carroll

Daniel Stigler · December 15, 2005

The 16BL was built from 1965 to 1975. Try to find some german television news from that period. The 16BL was the standard news camera back then. I have worked with some BLs and they all had stickers from different TV stations on them.

Mike Williamson · December 15, 2005

I'd caution you against thinking that the primary factor in creating an image in film is the camera, that's kind of a spill over from shooting a lot of prosumer video. If you're curious about using an Arri BL, I'd look at what kind of lenses are available and what film stock you could use for your particular project. A film camera is just a box to keep light out, the lenses and film are going to be more important in how the images look.

As far as the camera goes, you should remember that the BL has a lens blimp attached to the front of it to muffle the camera noise ("BL" being short for blimped) which may limit what lenses you can use. Due to the design, they are difficult cameras to convert to super-16 so you should be figuring on shooting regular 16mm (4x3). Many BL's have old Angenieux zooms (12-120mm for example) on them which aren't the sharpest lenses in the world. Though the camera isn't particularly heavy, the location of the eyepiece makes it difficult to handhold without a shoulder brace. I've used them in the past, they're nice cameras to start shooting film with. If I was using one now, I'd try and get the best glass I could for it.

David Mullen ASC · December 15, 2005

I'd caution you against thinking that the primary factor in creating an image in film is the camera,

Yes, it's a little like comparing an image shot with a Panaflex versus an Arricam. Assuming the Arri 16BL is working properly, the image quality should not be any different than any other good 16mm camera with decent registration -- film stocks & lenses will be the main factor in image quality.

The biggest problem with the Arri 16BL is that it needs blimped lenses to be quiet.

Tenolian Bell · December 15, 2005

I recently shot with the Arri BL. I hadn't shot with one since I was in college.

The blimped lens isn't the greatest. Over all it had a soft mushy feel, not sharp in the sense of what we are used to today.

The lens was noticeably sharper outdoors of course where you can stop down, versus being indoors where you open up.

If I had to do it again I would try to rent a set of prime lens, but then what do you do about the camera noise?

Mark Dunn · December 16, 2005

I used the BL at college and we had a separate blimp for primes. They're probably on Ebay for peanuts now. We preferred it to the new CP-16 for studio work because ours was quieter. That might have been down to adjustment, but the CP was new, after all. I'd compare them as a Mercedes to a Ford.

Hans Engstrom · December 19, 2005

I own a BL and as they mention the biggest issue with it is the lens blimp. I own a blimp for primes as well with superspeed extension. Be aware that the blimp don´t take all lenses as it´s not so wide on the inside and that some of the old standard arri primes (wide angle) penetrates to deep into the camerabody and can shatter the mirror. It´s a nice camera to own if you want to do your own projects but I´d never take it out on a paid shoot as a SR3 or XTR with accesories can be rented cheap nowadays. One thing that I´m thinking about getting for it though is either a Zeiss 10-100 T2 or the Angenieus 12-120 HEC as they should fit in respective lensblimp for the older version of these lenses and that they are far superior to the old ones. I got my camera for under $2k (local sale, not ebay) and for that money I can have it just for fun experimental projects. As for shooting regular16 instead of super16. Yes it´s a difference, but if shot with sharp lenses and if its going to be put on a DVD in the end the r16 can look really nice even though it´s zoomed in. If you´re going to finish in 4:3 the material will look just as good as anything shot with an SR or any other good 16mm camera if you use the same lenses. Among stuff shot with the camera I come to think about Following by Christopher Nolan.

Freya Black · December 19, 2005

Wasn't Evil Dead shot on an Arri 16BL? No idea what lenses were used.

love

Freya

David Sweetman · December 20, 2005

Among stuff shot with the camera I come to think about Following by Christopher Nolan.

Man, this movie was sweet. Didn't know it was shot on the 16bl, though.

Alex Haspel · December 20, 2005

here you can find a no-budget commercial i did with the 16bl here in both .wmv and quicktime format.

http://www.oneartplease.com/index.php?site=4flav_details

it was shot with the rather crappy anginieux (sp?) 12-120mm zoom and a 9,5mm wide angle lens.

keep in mind that, as mentioned before, the lens and the stock are way more responsible for the image than the camera. the stock was vision2 expression (it was disconitiued, wasnt it?)

andres victorero · December 21, 2005

here you can find a no-budget commercial i did with the 16bl here in both .wmv and quicktime format.
http://www.oneartplease.com/index.php?site=4flav_details

it was shot with the rather crappy anginieux (sp?) 12-120mm zoom and a 9,5mm wide angle lens.

keep in mind that, as mentioned before, the lens and the stock are way more responsible for the image than the camera. the stock was vision2 expression (it was disconitiued, wasnt it?)

the commercial movie is amazing, but as you said the stock and the lens gave you a soft footage, looks like a super 8.

Hans Engstrom · December 21, 2005

the commercial movie is amazing, but as you said the stock and the lens gave you a soft footage, looks like a super 8.

I find it hard to judge image quality and sharpness based on the web footage as it is highly compressed. The high compression is most likely to be the bad guy in making it look like s8.

Alex Haspel · December 21, 2005

I find it hard to judge image quality and sharpness based on the web footage as it is highly compressed. The high compression is most likely to be the bad guy in making it look like s8.

well, andres victorero wasnt really wrong... the compression surely is a big factor with this downloadable version, but the image was rather soft before that too. ..

i'd suggest anybody not to use this zoom.

Edited December 21, 2005 by haspel

Sam Wells · December 21, 2005

Assuming the Arri 16BL is working properly, the image quality should not be any different than any other good 16mm camera with decent registration -- film stocks & lenses will be the main factor in image quality.

The biggest problem with the Arri 16BL is that it needs blimped lenses to be quiet.

The movement is essentially the same as a 16S.

-Sam

Lav Bodnaruk · January 7, 2006

here you can find a no-budget commercial i did with the 16bl here in both .wmv and quicktime format.
http://www.oneartplease.com/index.php?site=4flav_details

it was shot with the rather crappy anginieux (sp?) 12-120mm zoom and a 9,5mm wide angle lens.

keep in mind that, as mentioned before, the lens and the stock are way more responsible for the image than the camera. the stock was vision2 expression (it was disconitiued, wasnt it?)

hey there,

what BL is this? BLE? What Sync motor did you have attached to it, Minilock A? Cant quite make it out... any info would be very helpful.

I plan to shoot an indi feature with my BL which i am trying to get up to sctrech... although if we get the budget (fingers crossed) it might all be s16 SR2or3 (seriously, figners crossed); My zoom is Zeiss 10-100 T3.3, which is not bad (judging form what i shot already - even some Panavision techs thought so too) Id like to have a 2.8 Zeiss but anyways, and i got few primes (will rent all other once from Panavision) together with my prime blimp housing as well as 12.5-75mm blimp housing... can see it at www.lavproductions.com

my main concern is the sync add-on units, since i went through few of them by now... Jensen 505 (bought 2 of ebay - one of Tony, the guy that sells DVDs of his BL film on eBay :)) Minilock A, etc... got them all... none are 100% reliable when tested with speed checker and strobe guns at 25fps... hence why i was curious to what you used...

gotto love that BL :unsure:

Cheers,