Problem with 35BL1 magazines

Mihai Meda · November 6, 2006

Hello!

I would appreciate any advice here.

I've been shooting a no-budget feature recently with the Arri 35BL1 camera, using two 1,000 feet 35BL magazines (I believe they are BL2 magazines actually, but they fit on the BL1 just fine, and I think the problem is definitely not here).

Anyway, every time I used to stop the camera after a take and approximately 70 unexposed feet were left in the camera, on the next take the mag would invariable jam immediately. On the contrary, if we ran a longer take (let's say from 100 feet left till the very end of the roll), nothing would happen. But the moment we had 70 or less left, it would jam. Obviously we tried to avoid doing that as much as possible.

Anyone knows what's the problem? Do the mags need to be checked for tension or anything else? I'm sure it has to do with the fact that you have so much film on one side (they are coaxial mags) and so less on the other side. I tried it by hand as well in the tent and I had the same problem as well (turning the knob would not move the (big) already-exposed roll, and the incoming raw film would jam - again, only when aprox 930' or more were exposed). So, I ruled out the motor of the camera not having enough torque (although I never considered this seriously, as I'm sure it has something to do with the magazines). BOTH magazines had exactly the same issue during the shoot. 400' mags worked fine.

Like I said, we tried to never stop the camera after we only had about 100' left, and we never had a problem in that scenario, but obviously I want to get to the bottom of this.

Any help? Thanks in advance!

Mike

Allen Achterberg · November 6, 2006

please use your real full name.

then the answers come...

chuck colburn · November 6, 2006

please use your real full name.
then the answers come...

How tight does the wind feel on the exposed rolls when you down load them? That is to say are you able to flex the rolls between your thumbs and fingers?

Mihai Meda · November 6, 2006

Sorry about the old display name, I didn't have time to post anything since the rules changed. Anyway, now it's fixed. Thanks for pointing that out.

How tight does the wind feel on the exposed rolls when you down load them? That is to say are you able to flex the rolls between your thumbs and fingers?

Chuck, the wind is tight. I can't flex the rolls, especially at 1,000'. I hope I'm understanding the question correctly.

chuck colburn · November 6, 2006

Sorry about the old display name, I didn't have time to post anything since the rules changed. Anyway, now it's fixed. Thanks for pointing that out.
Chuck, the wind is tight. I can't flex the rolls, especially at 1,000'. I hope I'm understanding the question correctly.

Good morning Mihai,

I thought that might be the case. You need to take the body and the magazines to a rental house or cine equipment repair technician and have the clutches adjusted. Also it's not good to leave your shot rolls wound so tight like that. Get them to the lab as quick as you can or rewind in a dark room, being carefull to avoid static electrical charges.

Chuck

Mihai Meda · November 6, 2006

Thank you for the answers and advice Chuck!

The rolls have already been developed and the results came out fine (about 2 weeks ago).

I bought the mags from Visual Products, I wonder if I could send them back for them to check the clutches. The warranty was only 90 days (which passed) but this was the first time I shot anything since I got them. They said, however, that thay are both checked and calibrated.

PS Normally, can you really flex 1,000 feet rolls? I remember them being very rigid even when unexposed, taken out from the black bag and loaded inside the tent.