Vintage Vitascope 16mm Camera Reel Size

Dave Lasayko · February 15, 2009

Hello Everyone,

I Have Cleaned And Oiled My Vintage Vitascope 16mm Cine Camera And Am Ready To Try To Shoot Some Footage With It As A Maden Voyage. To My Dismay, I Have Found That This Camera Takes A Reel Diameter Size Of A Double 8mm Film Spool. A Standard 16mm Reel Is Way To Large To Be Inserted On The Spindle. I Was Going To Be Slick And Use A Reel Of Double 8mm 25ft, But That Hope Faded Fast When I Found That A Double 8mm Reel's Spindle Hole Is Too Small To Fit Over The Spindle Without Boring The Hole Out Bigger Ect. Does Anyone Know A Practical Solution To My Problem? Does Anyone Supply 50ft Reels Of 16mm Film? Can I Use Double 8 Which Is 16mm And Modify The Spindle Hole To Drill It Out The The Larger Size? My Next Hurdle Would Be If The Double 8 Films Perf Hole Would Line Up? Thanks For Any Light On This Subject.

Dave

Charles MacDonald · February 16, 2009

Hello Everyone,
I Have Cleaned And Oiled My Vintage Vitascope 16mm Cine Camera And Am Ready To Try To Shoot Some Footage With It As A Maden Voyage. To My Dismay, I Have Found That This Camera Takes A Reel Diameter Size Of A Double 8mm Film Spool. A Standard 16mm Reel Is Way To Large To Be Inserted On The Spindle. I Was Going To Be Slick And Use A Reel Of Double 8mm 25ft, But That Hope Faded Fast When I Found That A Double 8mm Reel's Spindle Hole Is Too Small To Fit Over The Spindle Without Boring The Hole Out Bigger Ect. Does Anyone Know A Practical Solution To My Problem? Does Anyone Supply 50ft Reels Of 16mm Film? Can I Use Double 8 Which Is 16mm And Modify The Spindle Hole To Drill It Out The The Larger Size? My Next Hurdle Would Be If The Double 8 Films Perf Hole Would Line Up? Thanks For Any Light On This Subject.

do you mean a double 8 Camera spool size (25ft) 16mm Wide, or a Regular 8 Return reel, 50ft with a round hole?

Some 16mm film used to be made on 50ft 16mm spools. there was even a post here about 6 months ago with some film that someone got on a closeout on the 50 ft spools.

If the camera DOES only have room for the 25ft spool, you may have a double 8 camera.

What does the camera have (if any) as a take up spool?

Dave Lasayko · February 16, 2009

do you mean a double 8 Camera spool size (25ft) 16mm Wide, or a Regular 8 Return reel, 50ft with a round hole?

Some 16mm film used to be made on 50ft 16mm spools. there was even a post here about 6 months ago with some film that someone got on a closeout on the 50 ft spools.

If the camera DOES only have room for the 25ft spool, you may have a double 8 camera.

What does the camera have (if any) as a take up spool?

Thanks Charlie, The Camera Did Not Have A Take Up Spool In It. The Hole Size For A 25ft Double 8 Spool Is A Tad Too Small, It Will Not Go Over The Spindle. The 100 Foot 16mm Spool Hole Is The Right Size But The Diameter Of The Spool Is Way Too Big For The Camera. I Tried Threading A Length Of Old Double 8 Film In The Camera And It Fits Perfectly In The Double Perf Sproket Teeth. Do You Think I Could Use A Spool Of Double 8 Film And Just Enlarge The Hole A Tad? It Is Definately A 16mm Because The Lens Window Is The Exact Same With As The Film. This Camera Must Have Taken A 50ft Spool Of 16mm From What I Can Tell.

Dave

Tim Carroll · February 16, 2009

Dave,

For starters, can you NOT capitalize the first letter in every word of your post, it makes it extremely difficult to read.

I am not familiar with that particular camera, but from what you describe, it takes the old double 8 film, and it sounds like they must be put on specially made reals. Either take a regular 100 ft spool and have a machine shop turn it down to the size that fits, or take an old Bolex double 8 real and open up the hole to fit the spindles. The latter would probably be easier.

Years ago I bought an old Bolex H8 off of eBay and it came with a whole assortment of reals. 25 ft, 50 ft, 100 ft, some with double 8 spindle size holes, some with 16mm spindle size holes. They did a lot of weird experimentation back in the day.

Best,

-Tim

Freya Black · February 16, 2009

Thanks Charlie, The Camera Did Not Have A Take Up Spool In It. The Hole Size For A 25ft Double 8 Spool Is A Tad Too Small, It Will Not Go Over The Spindle. The 100 Foot 16mm Spool Hole Is The Right Size But The Diameter Of The Spool Is Way Too Big For The Camera. I Tried Threading A Length Of Old Double 8 Film In The Camera And It Fits Perfectly In The Double Perf Sproket Teeth. Do You Think I Could Use A Spool Of Double 8 Film And Just Enlarge The Hole A Tad? It Is Definately A 16mm Because The Lens Window Is The Exact Same With As The Film. This Camera Must Have Taken A 50ft Spool Of 16mm From What I Can Tell.

Dave

It sounds like it is a 16mm camera that takes 50ft spools. I've never heard of a 16mm camera that took 25ft, Only double8. The 50ft 16mm spools are rare these days however.

love

Freya

Charles MacDonald · February 17, 2009

It sounds like it is a 16mm camera that takes 50ft spools. I've never heard of a 16mm camera that took 25ft, Only double8. The 50ft 16mm spools are rare these days however.

Regular 8 has twice the number of perforations, so while it can be "used" in many 16mm cameras, the resuting film would have a right and wrong way to thread it in the printer/scanner/ or Projector.

Acording to Urbanski films site, a 50 ft 16mm reel is 2 7/8 in diameter. Would a 2 7/8 spool fit your camera? The center of most 16mm spools and reels is about 1/4 inch square on one side and often round on the other side. the reels in the 50 and the 100 ft size often say "not for camera use" as of course they are not lighttight. but they would still physicaly fit a camera.

I think I would agree with Tim that a machine shop could zip the flanges of a 100ft 16mm spool down fairly easaly to the 2 2/8 diameter of a 50 footer. You would of course have to respool some film in the dark, and try to find a lab that does not charge a 100ft min per roll. Getting your "custom" spool back should be a simple request.

If you cruse e-bay you may find a camera that comes with a 50ft spool or two, you can even use a 50 ft reel as long as you load and unload in teh dark, and let the lab know what you are up to so that they don't think they are getting a daylight spool when they are getting a transparent reel.

Saul Rodgar · February 17, 2009

My friend has a bunch of factory sealed 7218 rolls on 50' daylight spools. He has tried to convince me to shoot a project for him on those, but I won't go near them. I shot two of them. The footage came out fine, pretty fresh stock, just a pain in the ass to deal with: 1.5 minutes at 24 fps before the roll out? He should just sell them on eBay, where he got them from. I have never seen them sold anywhere else. Maybe Dave wants to buy them from him? I can matchmake, if there is any interest . . .

And Yes, Capitalizing Every Word Is Rather Annoying.

Dave Lasayko · February 17, 2009

Hi Saul,

Thanks for your information about the spools for the Vitascope. I'm sure the 50' daylight spools will work in this camera. I'd love to just shoot a few for posterity reasons and for self satisfaction. I definately am interested in the rolls of 7218 that your friend has. I will gladly take them off his hands if the price is right. Please let me know what he wants for them. I also apologize about the caps. I was not trying to be a smart ass. Guess I have cabin fever and capped the first letters without thinking of others. I do apologise!

Dave

My friend has a bunch of factory sealed 7218 rolls on 50' daylight spools. He has tried to convince me to shoot a project for him on those, but I won't go near them. I shot two of them. The footage came out fine, pretty fresh stock, just a pain in the ass to deal with: 1.5 minutes at 24 fps before the roll out? He should just sell them on eBay, where he got them from. I have never seen them sold anywhere else. Maybe Dave wants to buy them from him? I can matchmake, if there is any interest . . .

And Yes, Capitalizing Every Word Is Rather Annoying.