Tom Doolittle Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 A machinist friend of mine is making a custom adapter to mount a 1" diameter "spycam" in place of the eyepiece on my 16S. Basically it is just an aluminum tube with the same threads and tabs as the original Arri eyepiece. The little surveillance cam slides into the other end and focuses directly on the groundglass, giving an image acceptable for basic framing. For critical focus, I'll have to remove it and replace the eyepiece. Anyway, he could make a dozen of these almost as quickly as he could make one, so I'm throwing this out to see if anyone else would be interested in having one. I'll post a pic as soon as I have a prototype in hand. -Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Tim Carroll Posted May 11, 2006 Premium Member Share Posted May 11, 2006 A machinist friend of mine is making a custom adapter to mount a 1" diameter "spycam" in place of the eyepiece on my 16S. Basically it is just an aluminum tube with the same threads and tabs as the original Arri eyepiece. The little surveillance cam slides into the other end and focuses directly on the groundglass, giving an image acceptable for basic framing. For critical focus, I'll have to remove it and replace the eyepiece. Anyway, he could make a dozen of these almost as quickly as he could make one, so I'm throwing this out to see if anyone else would be interested in having one. I'll post a pic as soon as I have a prototype in hand. -Tom Be interesting to take a look at. What 1" diameter spycam are you using with it? -Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Doolittle Posted May 11, 2006 Author Share Posted May 11, 2006 The spycam I bought is a fairly common model. The brand was "SEE", but I've seen the same item sold under different brand names. It measures just over one inch in diameter (1.05") and is roughly three three inches long. The packaging claims a resolution of "380 TV Lines" and it came with a 120VAC to 12 VDC power supply. I picked it up at my local Fry's Electronics for about $60. The monitor was found on eBay. The brand is "Pyramid". Including shipping it was $98. We finished up the prototype last night. Getting the threads right was the trickiest part (34x 0.75mm, in case anyone wants to know). We put two set screws in the side to lock the spycam in position once the focus and orientation is set. There are two little tabs, just like those found on the Arri eyepiece, that will ensure correct re-alignment each time the videotap is installed. I installed the adapter and spycam on the Arri last night, and mounted the monitor temporarily to my tripod, but by then it was well past my bedtime. I'll finish it up tonight and get some pics posted. -Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Tim Carroll Posted May 11, 2006 Premium Member Share Posted May 11, 2006 The spycam I bought is a fairly common model. The brand was "SEE", but I've seen the same item sold under different brand names. It measures just over one inch in diameter (1.05") and is roughly three three inches long. The packaging claims a resolution of "380 TV Lines" and it came with a 120VAC to 12 VDC power supply. I picked it up at my local Fry's Electronics for about $60. The monitor was found on eBay. The brand is "Pyramid". Including shipping it was $98. We finished up the prototype last night. Getting the threads right was the trickiest part (34x 0.75mm, in case anyone wants to know). We put two set screws in the side to lock the spycam in position once the focus and orientation is set. There are two little tabs, just like those found on the Arri eyepiece, that will ensure correct re-alignment each time the videotap is installed. I installed the adapter and spycam on the Arri last night, and mounted the monitor temporarily to my tripod, but by then it was well past my bedtime. I'll finish it up tonight and get some pics posted. -Tom Very Cool. Can't wait to see the pics. -Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Althaus Posted May 11, 2006 Share Posted May 11, 2006 I'm interested too :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Oliver Posted May 11, 2006 Share Posted May 11, 2006 Hi; I would kill for this on my bolex REX-5 (13x eyepiece) I'm sick of gaffa tape..... Olly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Reis Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 Would this also work on an Arri M since it is very similar to an Arri S? Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Doolittle Posted May 12, 2006 Author Share Posted May 12, 2006 Okay folks, here it is. Put everything together this evening and played with it a bit before the sun went down. In a nutshell, it works. The resolution leaves much to be desired, but it will suffice for shots that would otherwise leave me guessing, like when the camera is too low to get a good look-through with my own eyeball. I've got more pics but looks like I'll need to spread them out to avoid going over my limit. Stay tuned... Another pic... Really small, sorry about that. How do you guys get those great pics posted here with only 100K to work with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Tim Carroll Posted May 12, 2006 Premium Member Share Posted May 12, 2006 Looks interesting. Would love to see a shot of the image on the monitor. I always put pictures in JPG form up on my web site and then just click on the little tree icon in the header bar up top there, next to the white envelope with the little red stamp. It allows you to link to the image and you can put up as big of images as you want. Like this: Pretty simple. Hope you can post some big pics of your set up and the image on a monitor. -Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Doolittle Posted May 12, 2006 Author Share Posted May 12, 2006 Looks interesting. Would love to see a shot of the image on the monitor. I always put pictures in JPG form up on my web site and then just click on the little tree icon in the header bar up top there, next to the white envelope with the little red stamp. It allows you to link to the image and you can put up as big of images as you want. Thanks, Tim. Believe it or not, don't have my own website (shock! horror!). I'll find somewhere to post them, though. I did get a couple shots of the monitor in action. It actually looks better in the stills than it does in person, for some reason. I might try to run the thing through a camcorder when I get the chance. Then I'll have some actual frame grabs to show. Look for bigger pics tomorrow. Must sleep now. -Tom PS: Great test footage, by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andres victorero Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 In the issue nº 2 of smallformat magazine there is an article of videoassist in a arri 16ST. great review. the guy uses a CCD camera (600 lines) the focal distance is 60 mm. the scew thread is just enought to bring the 12 mm mini lens (CCTV) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Doolittle Posted May 12, 2006 Author Share Posted May 12, 2006 In the issue nº 2 of smallformat magazine there is an article of videoassist in a arri 16ST. great review. the guy uses a CCD camera (600 lines) the focal distance is 60 mm. the scew thread is just enought to bring the 12 mm mini lens (CCTV) I'll have to check that out. 600 lines would be fantastic! -Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now