Some Gate Questions

[Jon Petro]

Hello,

 

I am looking into an Arri 2c. My question involves the gate and ground glass viewing system since I read some stuff on another thread which confused me.

 

Does the Arri 2 c come with an Academy Gate or a Full Aperture Gate? From what I understand they can come with a Full Aperture, but you can't see it in the viewfinder. Is this correct?

 

I am only interested in shooting 1.85. Although this might sound stupid...aren't all 1.85 films shot as 1.85 cropped out of the Academy frame and not the Full Aperture?

 

Don't both Academy and 1.85 discard about 3mm of the side of the film where the soundtrack goes? Full Aperture contains this 3mm I believe.

 

So I guess what I am asking is if I get an Arri 2c with an Aperture gate then I can shoot 1.85 the same way they do it in the industry. I just want to make sure I am not missing out on 3mm, and that my assumption is correct that 1.85 is just a matted Academy Ratio.

 

Furthermore, I would like to make sure that the Arri 2c viewfinder and ground glass system display the entire Academy Frame. If this is the case I can then get the ground glass marked for 1.85 and shoot 1.85 with the same amount of resolution as everyone else. Correct?

 

Is it possible to get a 1.85 gate or a hard matte for the 2c. I cannot tolerate being able to see outside my frame lines. I find it very difficult to frame when you are seeing outside the frame. Maybe too much time with a 35mm SLR or Video Cameras...

 

Could I get my ground glass marked and taped with black tape around 1.85?

 

Sorry so many questions, but thanks for your time,

 

Jon

[chuck colburn]

http://www.cameraguild.com/technology/formats.htm

[Tim Carroll]

Does the Arri 2 c come with an Academy Gate or a Full Aperture Gate? From what I understand they can come with a Full Aperture, but you can't see it in the viewfinder. Is this correct?

 

Had a talk with the folks at ARRI today. The 2C came with a number of different gates over the years. The common one was the academy gate which is 22mm x 16mm. There was also a Scope gate and a Full Aperture gate (which was referred to as a Silent gate (no room for a soundtrack)). There was a high speed Academy gate put in many of the later ARRI 2C cameras.

 

I am only interested in shooting 1.85. Although this might sound stupid...aren't all 1.85 films shot as 1.85 cropped out of the Academy frame and not the Full Aperture?

 

It is common to shoot 1.85 within the Academy Aperture gate, but you can also shoot 1.85 with a Full Aperture (Silent) gate. The ARRI 1.85 ground glass is set up to work with the Arriflex 2C with an Academy Aperture gate.

 

So I guess what I am asking is if I get an Arri 2c with an Aperture gate then I can shoot 1.85 the same way they do it in the industry. I just want to make sure I am not missing out on 3mm, and that my assumption is correct that 1.85 is just a matted Academy Ratio.

 

Furthermore, I would like to make sure that the Arri 2c viewfinder and ground glass system display the entire Academy Frame. If this is the case I can then get the ground glass marked for 1.85 and shoot 1.85 with the same amount of resolution as everyone else. Correct?

 

Yes.

 

Is it possible to get a 1.85 gate or a hard matte for the 2c. I cannot tolerate being able to see outside my frame lines. I find it very difficult to frame when you are seeing outside the frame. Maybe too much time with a 35mm SLR or Video Cameras...

 

Could I get my ground glass marked and taped with black tape around 1.85?

 

Not sure about getting the 1.85 gate, but you could always put a 1.85 matte in a matte box and shoot through that, but I am not sure why you would want to. You can definitely get a 1.85 ground glass for the Arriflex 2C. It shows the 1.85 image area, which coincides with the Academy Aperture gate, and has hash marks on the top and bottom of the ground glass to make it easier to frame 1.85.

 

Hope that helps,

-Tim