Loading 7222 in Darkness???

[David Blumenfeld]

I just got an old Beauliau 16mm Camera. I'm going to shoot with Kodak 7222 B&W film and am wondering if it needs to be loaded in TOTAL Darkness, since I don't have a changing bag...If so, what if I dont - Will edges be fogged only or what...Its difficult to load this camera...Thanks.

 

david@blumenfeld.com

[Edgar Dubrovskiy]

A bit of light won't kill it. I was loading 7222 with a bit of light in the room - just to see what I'm doing. And image was not affected in any way. Just don't shoot on first three feet.

[marc barbé]

I just got an old Beauliau 16mm Camera. I'm going to shoot with Kodak 7222 B&W film and am wondering if it needs to be loaded in TOTAL Darkness, since I don't have a changing bag...If so, what if I dont - Will edges be fogged only or what...Its difficult to load this camera...Thanks.

 

david@blumenfeld.com

 

 

Hi,

Any camera is hard to load when you just got it. Practice loading it till you just love to do it in total darkness with your eyes closed.

Keep on shooting,

Marc;

[Will Montgomery]

Your Beaulieu 16mm probably isn't Super 16 so you'll be fine. The only time I've run into problems is either with really fast stock or if I'm shooting Super 16 and you get a little edge fogging. In your case you wouldn't notice any edge fogging (unless it was extreme).

[Mikael Gustafsson]

The 30ft spools your film comes in are useable in normal lighting. The Beaulieu R-16 is quite a finicky camera to load and I would never try doing it in darkness. I've loaded everything from 500T to 100T in sunshine, full lit studios to sunrise mornings without ever getting any fogging. As was already pointed out, remember to shoot plates or something not that critical on the first three feet(I usually film ca 5 seconds of nothing before actually beginning).

 

The prepacked Kodak film cartridges warn against opening them in daylight, but I guess it's just a safety clause for them to avoid lawsuits and whatnot.

 

Good luck with the camera, the look and feel of the footage ought to be great.

[Mikael Gustafsson]

Just wanted to add that what I wrote earlier doesn't apply for S16, just R16 that the Beaulieu most probably is running with. A S16 modified Bolex or similar would probably show the fogging because of the wider frame size.