Brian Drysdale Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Hi Brian, As the director actually paid for the first kit, maybe it was not so bad! Stephen LOL Not so bad if someone else is paying!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Kelly Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 I think Martin Hill may still have a couple. Last time I saw them, though, the doors were falling apart, and a number of capacitors were going bad on the boards. The main problem was cheap electronic design i think. An electronic engineer friend of mine had taken a look at one of them to try to fix, but decided it wasn't really worth the effort, and that it would almost be better to just build new electro-guts from scratch. Cool looking mags tho :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Drysdale Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 I think Martin Hill may still have a couple. Last time I saw them, though, the doors were falling apart, and a number of capacitors were going bad on the boards. The main problem was cheap electronic design i think. An electronic engineer friend of mine had taken a look at one of them to try to fix, but decided it wasn't really worth the effort, and that it would almost be better to just build new electro-guts from scratch. Cool looking mags tho :P Assuming the movement etc is in good order, it could be cost effective to do an upgrade. The USAF do it with their B52s and they could be nearly 80 years old by their planned retirement date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Kelly Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 I think I've heard about you Stephen. You got the two nicest ones right? Color video taps? Are they both 4 perf? Assuming the movement etc is in good order, it could be cost effective to do an upgrade. The USAF do it with their B52s and they could be nearly 80 years old by their planned retirement date. Yeah it would be interesting to price it out... You would probably be better off re-engineering the electronics from scratch though, rather than copying the existing design. From what I've seen/heard it's pretty unservicable. The boards are literally all stacked on long screws with spacers in between them.... A friend also noted that the mid-ribs have sagged out of alignment. Could be cool though... And then fill in the "C", and replace it with a nice engraved "J" :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Stephen Williams Posted November 17, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted November 17, 2007 I think I've heard about you Stephen. You got the two nicest ones right? Color video taps? Are they both 4 perf? Yeah it would be interesting to price it out... You would probably be better off re-engineering the electronics from scratch though, rather than copying the existing design. From what I've seen/heard it's pretty unservicable. The boards are literally all stacked on long screws with spacers in between them.... A friend also noted that the mid-ribs have sagged out of alignment. Could be cool though... And then fill in the "C", and replace it with a nice engraved "J" :P Hi Matt, Mine are both 4 perf #259/60. I have never seen any other ones so I don't really know! My Pal Video taps are color but home made. The electronics on both cameras are working OK, I also have a spare boardl. A couple of companies have offered to replace the electronics which I may do, I don't really want to invest any money in them as they are seldom used on paying jobs. Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Auner aac Posted November 17, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted November 17, 2007 Hi Stephen, care to share some pics of those cams? I'm curious... Thanks! Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Stephen Williams Posted November 17, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted November 17, 2007 Hi Stephen, care to share some pics of those cams? I'm curious... Thanks! Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Drysdale Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 What's the viewfinder like on the camera? The "look through" on cameras improved quite a lot during the 1980s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Auner aac Posted November 18, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted November 18, 2007 Hi Stephen, thanks. How did you go about adding the video tap? That's one topic that I am really curious right now... Would love to add one to my NPR. Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Stephen Williams Posted November 18, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted November 18, 2007 What's the viewfinder like on the camera? The "look through" on cameras improved quite a lot during the 1980s. Hi Brian, Very good for the time. Not as good as a modern camera however. Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Stephen Williams Posted November 18, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted November 18, 2007 Hi Stephen, thanks. How did you go about adding the video tap? That's one topic that I am really curious right now... Would love to add one to my NPR. Cheers, Dave Hi Dave, The cameras had the a B&W video tap from new, all I did was attached a $60 color camera from Ebay. Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Auner aac Posted November 18, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted November 18, 2007 The cameras had the a B&W video tap from new, all I did was attached a $60 color camera from Ebay. Hi Stephen, thanks, that makes it kinda easy! I could easily fit one for my viewfinder, but I'd much rather have beamsplitter to be able to sue both the finder and tap at the same time... Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Steven Beverly Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 (edited) Hi Stephen, thanks, that makes it kinda easy! I could easily fit one for my viewfinder, but I'd much rather have beamsplitter to be able to sue both the finder and tap at the same time... Cheers, Dave Steve Morton In Australia did some innovative things with taps on the Kinors, maybe he can do something with the Eclair. I think he charges about $1500 for the Kinor tap so I would imagine the NPR would go for about the same, 'course he may be negotiable, who knows and of course there's always Bruce at Aranda who does beautiful work. B) Edited November 18, 2007 by James Steven Beverly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Auner aac Posted November 19, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted November 19, 2007 Steve Morton In Australia did some innovative things with taps on the Kinors, maybe he can do something with the Eclair. I think he charges about $1500 for the Kinor tap so I would imagine the NPR would go for about the same, 'course he may be negotiable, who knows and of course there's always Bruce at Aranda who does beautiful work. B) Thanks James, sorry for hijacking your thread ;). Back on the topic... Stephen, any idea why they stopped the run after 15 cameras? Ran out of money? Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Stephen Williams Posted November 19, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted November 19, 2007 Thanks James, sorry for hijacking your thread ;). Back on the topic... Stephen, any idea why they stopped the run after 15 cameras? Ran out of money? Cheers, Dave Hi David, The cameras were rental only like Panavision. I don't know how long they ran the camera rental side of their business, they also had other cameras in their inventory. Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted November 19, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted November 19, 2007 Hi David, The cameras were rental only like Panavision. I don't know how long they ran the camera rental side of their business, they also had other cameras in their inventory. Stephen Yes, there wasn't really a reason to have more than a dozen Ultracam cameras in their rental inventory, not for a rental house of that size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Auner aac Posted November 19, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted November 19, 2007 Yes, there wasn't really a reason to have more than a dozen Ultracam cameras in their rental inventory, not for a rental house of that size. Ok, but then the differences in the individual cameras are even more unusual. You'd expect that if the cameras were rental only they had to be matched so that using different ones wouldn't yield problems. How large were the differences? Any noticeable defects on one or the other? Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Stephen Williams Posted November 19, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted November 19, 2007 Ok, but then the differences in the individual cameras are even more unusual. You'd expect that if the cameras were rental only they had to be matched so that using different ones wouldn't yield problems. How large were the differences? Any noticeable defects on one or the other? Cheers, Dave Hi David, There was supposed to be a variable shutter, not on either of my cameras but there is a switch on 1! There is also a later version of the mirror shutter, I have both types and also a spare of each. I think the cameras started out the same and there were some upgrades or possibly downgrades! I guess cameras have been fiddled with since they were sold as well. Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Hal Smith Posted November 24, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted November 24, 2007 I bought my Ultracam mattebox from Roderick Stevens. I emailed him to ask about his experience when he owned his and here's an excerpt from his answer: The first thing I would say is - try to shoot only Fuji film (heavier base). U-cams are notorious for intermittent, seemingly impossible to fix, flickering. A couple of us seemed to isolate that it only happened on the newer Kodak stocks with the thinner base. I loved mine - but it also caused me quite a bit of grief, and that's the story you'll hear from most Ultracam owners. It's a love hate thing. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Stephen Williams Posted November 24, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted November 24, 2007 I bought my Ultracam mattebox from Roderick Stevens. I emailed him to ask about his experience when he owned his and here's an excerpt from his answer: The first thing I would say is - try to shoot only Fuji film (heavier base). U-cams are notorious for intermittent, seemingly impossible to fix, flickering. A couple of us seemed to isolate that it only happened on the newer Kodak stocks with the thinner base. I loved mine - but it also caused me quite a bit of grief, and that's the story you'll hear from most Ultracam owners. It's a love hate thing. :-) Hi Hal, The Ultracam I used on the pop video recently was Roderick's old camera. I recently tested Fuji Eterna 500T & 5218 on a night shoot. I could not find any flicker so hopefully tape on the back of the aperture plate has fixed the issue, but as he said the problem is intermittent I don't know for sure. Having shot a great deal of animation in the past, I have seen flicker caused by a number of things. Today with digital post production flicker can be eliminated fairly easily so I am not that worried. Stephen Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Steven Beverly Posted November 25, 2007 Author Share Posted November 25, 2007 I don't know guys. These Ultracams seem cool and all that but with all the problems, I'm thinking it might be better to stick with my refurbished commiecam. The Lomo lenses are probably as good or better than the Ultratron Zeiss and probably cost less, also the electronics on mine have been updated to the Aranda Rotoxision-5000 which eliminated the major negative in owning a Kinor 35. I don't see any real advantages in the Ultracam over the Kinor. Now pf course if, like Stephen, someone else had actually paid for the camera, I'd own one too, I'm not stupid. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Paul Bruening Posted December 4, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted December 4, 2007 Oh, Captain... Have you shot any footage on your commiecam? How's it look? The tests from my Micky came back flawless. The Nikons are quite lovely. I had a heart attack over T-giving and have had to put the ECN lab on hold. About all I have the energy for is the computer room. PM me and say, "Hey." Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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