Which 16mm camera to buy now?

[Kristian Schumacher]

Hi everyone,

 

I am looking into getting another 16mm/s16 camera and here is my order of priorities:

 

c-mount

Reflex (not pellicle)

S16/S16 convertable

High frame rate

Magazines (100, 200, 400, whatever..)

Crystal sync

small/low profile

 

From this, I have landed on the Eclair ACL as my preference, but I would love to have any other ideas pointed out to me.

 

Thanks,

 

Kristian

[Robert Houllahan]

The ACL is really nice but maybe look at an Aaton LTR too...

 

 

-Rob-

[Kristian Schumacher]

The ACL is really nice but maybe look at an Aaton LTR too...

 

 

-Rob-

 

Thanks for that Rob,

 

Could you let me know what you like better with the LTR? And anything that you don't like about either cam... Greatly appreciated,

 

 

Kristian

[Robert Houllahan]

Thanks for that Rob,

 

Could you let me know what you like better with the LTR? And anything that you don't like about either cam... Greatly appreciated,

 

 

Kristian

 

 

I like my LTR for it's orientable viewfinder and nice aesthetics, but the ACL is smaller and has both 200' and 400' mags available. If you get the ACL with a good motor it will run to 75fps which is only available on a XTR Aaton...I love may Aaton but have had good experiences with the ACL when I have used one..

 

-Rob-

[marc barbé]

Hi everyone,

 

I am looking into getting another 16mm/s16 camera and here is my order of priorities:

 

c-mount

Reflex (not pellicle)

S16/S16 convertable

High frame rate

Magazines (100, 200, 400, whatever..)

Crystal sync

small/low profile

 

From this, I have landed on the Eclair ACL as my preference, but I would love to have any other ideas pointed out to me.

 

Thanks,

Kristian

 

Hi,

Rob's answer sounds good to me. It looks like you've narrowed it down to a few choices anyway. I directed two films (same DP) shot with Aaton LTR and XTR. They're great cameras. But I chose the ACL as a private owner for several reasons:

It takes all mounts, and adapters are not that expensive (don't forget lenses are way more expensive than the camera, but you can put together a fine series of older Cooke, Zeiss or Switar that will fit the ACL for quite a ridiculous amount, and it's great glass, even for 35mm blow-up.

The ACL is way cheaper to convert and maintain than the Aaton (so much that you could afford two; a second camera on hand is a must if you're on an independent shoot out there; no rental house you can call for fast replacement in case of troubleshooting).

A 200 feet mag and a c-mount prime makes it look like some loony collector's toy ? great to steal shots in public places without authorization.

 

Things that come to my mind you might want to bear in mind:

The ACL no matter how finely tuned will never be as quiet as an Aaton, though it's a quiet enough camera for most situations. So if you plan to shoot a lot of intimate stuff with let's say a 16 or 25mm lens, the Aaton is probably the tool for you.

The ACL is not great to use with a video tap: too much loss in the viewfinder. With Aaton, I'm not sure the LTR7 is very satisfactory on that level either.

You definitely want the ACL multi-speed heavy duty motor and the ACL 1,5 or 2 mag latch if you intend to pull 400 feet mags (they're compatible with the ACL 1 body, which is somewhat lighter and more compact.

 

 

Good luck and fine shooting,

Marc.

[Kristian Schumacher]

Thanks to both of you for your kind advice!

 

I guess that makes me even more certain the ACL is the one for me. I really want to be able to use c-mount lenses as well as renting say Zeiss primes. Size, profile and fps is also important as I will be trying to fit it all into an underwater housing. I have one nice c-mount wide lens and several Nikkors with an adapter, and I am using c-mount for high-speed with my Milliken camera.

 

Kristian