good tips on camera SELF maintenance?

seth christian · December 17, 2005

I've decided to go with buying a Bolex H16 for my music videos and

concentrate my money on lenses and good film.

Any tips to keeping my camera in great working condition?

Boris Belay · December 17, 2005

Keep it clean, and get a service manual off eBay (about $25) to become familiar with its mechnics and perhaps even fix little quirks if necessary (and if you feel up to it). There are a few grease points inside the chamber, on the end of moving axles visible when the camera runs. Generally speaking H16's are rather simple cameras, the EL being somewhat more complicated, because ot its circuitry. But the best is of course to choose a nice running camera in the first place.

If you need advice choosing one or have questions when it's in your hands, let me know.

-B

Tim Shim · December 18, 2005

Hey guys,

I was just wondering the same thing. I've always just sorta dusted and blown the innards of my Bolex H16 EL and was wondering if I should lubricate. How would you know if the camera needs lubrication? I don't want to over-lubricate it lest the oil may trickle to other parts of the camera.

What kind of lubes do you guys use? Also, as bobolex mentions, where are the grease points on the camera? And what other parts in the EL make it more complicated to clean? Please advise ... Thanks.

Tim

seth christian · December 18, 2005

thanks ya'll

Boris Belay · December 19, 2005

Tim, I wouldn't worry much about an EL. What year is it ? Which series ? There is no user lubrication required on H16's and your tech (if you have one) takes care of that when you take it in.

If you really want to, you can put a drop of oil on the axes that you can see turning inside the film chamber when the camera runs. It's a little hard to explain in writing, but basically you can see the end of 4 or 5 axes around the upper film-feeding mechanism and by the upper claw (to see the claw mechanism, you need to remove the pressure plate, then unscrew 2 small screws that hold a protective plate over the claw mechanism). One drop of medium thick oil on he end of each of these axes as they turn (camera running) may help (wipe the excess afterwards with a cotton bud).

But it sounds like your camera runs well, so perhaps it's not necessary at all... besides learning a little bit more about your favorite machine !