Another exotic 16mm format

[Christian Appelt]

Just after reading the newestUltra-16 Thread, I stumbled over an article about a really clever format called "DS 16:9".

 

Ruedi Muster, a Swiss camera technician, is famous for his pioneer work in converting old standard-8mm Bolex cameras to Double Super 8. Some years ago, he converted a 16mm Bolex to handle DS8 stock which has smaller sprocket holes, thereby getting a wider image on 16mm wide film. On the frameline, timecode is recorded, and he even experimented with putting a stereo mag stripe on positive prints.

 

Look at a film clip here:

 

DS 16:9 film clip & camera (text in german)

 

I know people who shot wildlife for years with Muster's converted Bolex cameras, he always did a great rebuilding job. Now this format would seem really clever for telecine/DI applications, provided modern film stocks (not only Kodachrome 40) were available, friction-driven processing equipment should handle the stock without problems, but of course film scanners/telecines would require an new drive sprocket (or are there models that do it optical anyway?).

 

Just mentioned it for fun, but if anybody wants to contact Muster's company, their adress is on the linked website... ;)

[John Sprung]

(or are there models that do it optical anyway?).

... ;)

Sony a while back was working on an area array telecine that used capacitance to sense the location of the sprocket holes, and registered that way using two optical corrector plates on gimbles. But it advanced the film with ordinary sprockets.

 

If you really want to get great registration optically, the thing to do would be to have an LED blink during the exposure and expose a couple precise registration marks between the holes. In telecine, the scanner would have to get these reg marks in the data stream, then repo based on their location before discarding them and recording to tape.

 

 

-- J.S.

[Oliver Gläser]

the idea looks very interesting. Perhaps if the stock were more readily made available as super16mm is then if could catch on. There does seem to be several very advanced parts of the refit that would make it harder to have done to most cameras as reasonably as *Ultra 16mm is to convert to.

 

OLI OUT