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Bolex Pro


Guest Gregor Scheer

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Thank you, you are too generous. I am just happy that someone else is interested in this camera. It's so underrated, it's almost ridiculous.

 

 

Yes, I agree that it is a quintessence of it. Aaton/ACL may be lighter, but is far more precarious in engineering. Eclair NPR may be sturdier and simpler, but it's noisier and as heavy. Arri SR is a pain to have on shoulder.

 

 

The only negative for me is the sheer weight of the electronic control unit. Today's technology would allow this to be far more miniatuarised, and if I had the money, I would ask an engineering firm to design a matchbox-sized version of the ECU to clip on the camera body.

 

Most people say that the other two negatives are that it is Normal 16 only, not Super 16; and of course that you can't change magazines half-way through the roll and have to cut the film. But that has never been a issue for me. It's what psychologists call an 'imaginary need', like with electric cars having to have a Diesel-like 1000km range "before being acceptable", while most people drive like only 30 km a day max anyway.

 

Servos and rubber coupling being intact sounds very good already!

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How and where to lubricate.

 

 

The camera is self-lubricating! The transport mechanism is in a sealed capsule to void the need for lubrication. There should be a yellow sticker saying "Aucune Lubrication", which is French for "no lubrication". I know that the owner of my camera did not do any lubrication on it for 30 years, and when I had the camera checked by Paul Dresel in Baden-Baden (who is now retired) after purchase, he did no lubrication either. The problem will rather be that an IC on the electric platine or motherboard in the Electronic Control Unit goes bust. That will mean you would have to have it serviced by an electrician rather than a camera mechanic. The circuit diagram should help.

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You can't blame "nationalistic procurement practices" in the UK- we don't and didn't make 16mm. cameras. Most UK broadcasters seem to have bought the Arri BL.

 

 

True, the 1965 launch of the 16 BL, two years ahead of the 16 Pro launch, was a big upgrade wave from earlier Bell & Howell and Arriflex 16 St camera stock.

 

I was more talking about the relevant years 1968-1973 when the BBC went full-on with Éclair-Debrie, coinciding with the ownership and on-shore manufacturing "Made in Ealing" of Éclairs by Harry Saltzman (of James Bond 007 fame) during those years. The acquisition of the firm by Saltzman actually lead Jean-Pierre Beauviala to leave Éclair (confining it to a slow death through non-innovation with Coma and Lecoeur retiring) to set up Aaton – and ironically buying back the debris (no pun intended) of Éclair in 1986.

 

From what I heared from retired industry people in broadcasting, a natural respect for national manufacturing and supporting local businesses run by multimillionaires trumped making the best choice in terms of technology and innovation. :mellow:

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I'll tell about our old television for static. The USSR era old television. Big tv-centers all worked on 35mm. Even though we had attempts on switching to 16mm but it never got a thing for some reason. We really loved the Eclair cameras. There were a lot of Npcr's and Alc's imported in the USSR. We also worked with arriflex SR and some other cameras. When our procurement Department was making an order they were always ordering the maximum complication.

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That's great to hear! My brother owns a Konvas 1M 35, more for fun that actually shooting with it, as that's done with Arriflex, too. The Konvas is so freakin' sturdy, it seems indestructible. We wondered that you could mount it on top of a Energiya rocket, and it would probably survive lift-off and re-entry. ;)

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In the spirit of Michael's post I really meant production cameras, not wind-up MOS and instrumentation. Thanks for the list, though, I'd heard of them but it was interesting to look them up. We had a post on the Sinclair recently. To my inexpert eye the Ensign looks like a licence-built Filmo.

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  • 1 month later...

I have a Boles Pro 100 - bought it in 1973 new - with all accessories, even had a 'white patent leather' Barney plus large shoulder harness - three mags, crystal. single system, filters, Angenieux lens, etc etc. in a custom aluminum large siver case - I still have everything, manual, etc etc. - it probably has less than 3 hours total running time as the graphics production company I owned experimented with moving into commercial movie production, - but didn't go that direction. When I sold the company I kept the system. Great camera for the time - but heavy... (its weight and the auto overrides were both deemed unnecessary by the pro cinematographers at that time - thus few were built). All in all a beautiful looking and easy camera to work with..

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Fred, thank you for posting this, and welcome to Cinematography.com.

 

It's always great to get another Bolex 16 Pro owner in. I mean… that's like finding another unicorn in the wild ;) , so rare are cameras, owners and operators nowadays.

 

Yes, weight, especially with the control unit around your shoulder is a challenge. Good breakfast definitely required.

 

I have never heard before that there was a Barney available for the camera! Did it cover the entire camera or just the magazine? White must look pretty awesome on it, Panavision 16-like.

 

/-Michael

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Hi Thanks, The White Barney basically covered the back 'magazine- era of the camera. It was made by the manufacturer and designed of course to minimize noise, I think mainly the loud magazine noise when one side was a bit empty, or you were using 100 foot metal reels inside. (you could remove the inner pressure core disk inserts in the magazines, if you wanted to use smaller film reel spools). And of course the camera automatically self loaded without opening, just by snapping a magazine on the back. - great for high speed interchange of magazines. - It was a beautifully designed camera - I think I paid about $10,000 US for the Camera & 'kit' in 1972 - (about the same price as a decent Jaguar at that time.)

 

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  • 2 years later...

Sorry for reviving an old thread!

I purchased one of these Bolex Pro cameras at an estate sale and though I am a still photographer I have to admit to being pretty much clueless about Cine cameras. I would like to find out if my camera is still operational but the batteries for this one is long dead so I need to find a suitable replacement. Those of you who still have and use one of these (assuming there is anyone ?) - what might be your current solution. I've attached a couple pics of mine. I have been looking around and one factor is how the terminals line up with the control unit. I very much appreciate any help!

IMG_9949.JPG

IMG_9947.JPG

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  • 1 year later...
On 11/28/2019 at 7:11 AM, Luca Eugene DiCecco said:

Sorry for reviving an old thread!

I purchased one of these Bolex Pro cameras at an estate sale and though I am a still photographer I have to admit to being pretty much clueless about Cine cameras. I would like to find out if my camera is still operational but the batteries for this one is long dead so I need to find a suitable replacement. Those of you who still have and use one of these (assuming there is anyone ?) - what might be your current solution. I've attached a couple pics of mine. I have been looking around and one factor is how the terminals line up with the control unit. I very much appreciate any help!

IMG_9949.JPG

IMG_9947.JPG

Hi, did you ever get your batteries recelled? I just inherited a Bolex Pro 100 and have been working on making it functional again. I was able to recell the batteries pretty easily. Batteries Plus had the replacements on the shelf. You just need to resolder the copper leads back into position to make sure the ECU can connect properly. 
 

If anyone has an parts for the Bolex Pro please let me know. Mine is in overall good condition, but I am not able to get the motor to turn at full speed and I suspect there is something wrong with the internal circuit board. 
 

I appreciate all the information on this thread. It’s been super helpful. 

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  • 1 year later...

Hello All,

Thought I'd pop in here as I also have a Bolex 16 Pro. I acquired mine in the late 90's and although the internet existed there was absolutely no sub culture or groups around for this time capsule at the time, nice to see this has camera has found an online following. I'm currently in the process of bringing it back from a long stint on the shelf consisting of a re-cell of the battery control module (been down that road before, no sweat) and sorting out a long lost cable, battery control module to camera, As much as I'd like to go down to my local Bolex service center and pick one up I figured building it seems more appropriate. I have the Lemo connectors sourced and am in the process of going through the schematics to get the pin-out and wire size/length correct. If anyone that has been down this path before and has any input that could be helpful by all means chime in. Also worth noting that my package came with the Manual as well as a thick stack of schematics and technical drawings, some for the sep mag, com mag and pro 100 model included as well. I always figured that when the previous owner was sourcing documents he just had whomever "send me whatever you got." Anyways as far as "Camera Clubs" go this one is pretty exclusive so if anyone has any needs that I can help out with let me know and I'll see what I might be able to assist with or if you just want to break some bread, by all means break.

Regards,

Adam

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