Noah Benzing Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Hello everyone.. my name is Noah *from Tulsa* and I'm new here so you'll have to mind my lack of knowledge. I love to make Hammond organ and technical type videos among other things but thought I would add some nostalgia and use 8mm footage from a vintage camera. My choice was this 1938 Zeiss Ikon Movikon-K 8mm camera in almost mint condition. Unfortunately however, the orignal manual was not included and the only ones that exist are in German only. Now, being new to this field I've had to absorb alot of information very quickly but I do understand that this camera has a 2.0f Sonnar lens, 8,16,24, or 64fps speed control, parallax correction... and a cartridge-based design.... I purchased two 25' rolls of Ektachrome100D standard 8mm film from Dwayne's Photo in Kansas and loaded up a reel into the cartridge *which is where I'm at now..* Now for questions and some pictures that will hopefully help me solve this *newbie *problem. 1. On the front of the camera you can see a two-position rotary switch with the top position labeled "E" and the bottom "F". I have no idea what this setting is. 2. I understand the aperature (f) position knob and that "8-11" will probably be the best for general outdoor use, but underneath this is a *distance to subject?* knob with infinity ,1, 0.5, 0.35, and 0.25. What are these increments in and how do I use them?? 3. On the back of the camera is another rotary knob and a table with symbols and numbers. I'm guessing this is a film speed chart? It has 13 degrees/10 DIN next to the top x-axis of the table. How do I use this chart with the Ektachrome100D film I'm using in full daylight? Do I need a lightmeter to use this table? 4. Finally a general and somewhat embarassing question. The film has two sides of course... a dark brown and light brown side. Which side faces outward toward the lens?? *Not sure if I loaded it on the right side :| Any help would be greatly appreciated and I'm glad to have found a great place to find stuff and share :))) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Benzing Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 Picture of "E" and "F" switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Benzing Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 (edited) I seem to have hit a limit for attachment space.... I apologize. Perhaps someone still knows what to do. Edited July 15, 2009 by Noah Benzing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Benzing Posted July 17, 2009 Author Share Posted July 17, 2009 This forum **(obscenity removed)**ing sucks... 33 views and no replies... what are yall' vegatables? None of you know a damn thing.. I'll be the most knowledgable nostalgic film-maker on the Internet.... yay for me.... Once again.... thanks for nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Benzing Posted July 18, 2009 Author Share Posted July 18, 2009 btw... this is the worst forum front-end I've ever used... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Smith Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 Answers to your questions as best I can: 1. Looks more like E and L to me. A guess: might be opening and closing a shutter behind the lens to prevent light entering the camera when not in use. Does it rotate easily or is it stiff ? 2. A guess - distance in meters (comma instead of period is a strong hint). Unless you are shooting at a wide f/stop - I would leave at infinity. 3. Possibly a shutter angle control. If you can email me an image of the chart I might be able to help. I would recommend a light meter - but then again if you are going for a period look - dramatically over or underexposed may be consistent with that. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_speed for a DIN to ISO conversion (You want 21 degrees) 4. Light brown side towards the lens. A photograph of the internals may be helpful - in particular the effect of changing the E/L dial and the shutter angle control. I'm sure if you went to a motoring forum and asked questions about how to perform an oil change on a model T Ford you may get a similar lack of responses. I would recommend starting with a Super 8 camera - as the probability of something going wrong/being broken with such an old camera is fairly high - combined with the probability of making a basic newbie error doesn't tend to suggest a happy outcome. Max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Simon Wyss Posted July 25, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted July 25, 2009 Noah, better don't sink the ship. The forum never sucks, only some members do.Your subject, as it appears to me, might perhaps, under circumstances and maybe not be of absolute prime interest to most of the users here. Stating you are a camera operator you should be able to read a light meter and transport the value to the iris ring. Also you should be in the position to measure distances between camera (film plane) and object.The disk scale on the camera back is no more than an aid in finding correct iris values for a given film speed and frame rate. What is truly unknown at the moment is the opening angle in the rotary shutter. I should start with the presumption of 170 degrees. One day you'll know exactly.The photographic layer of motion-picture film consists of gelatine (and more). Taking the film's end between your lips you will notice that one side is rather sticky — that is the photographic side which must face the aperture plate and lens.It all starts with patience . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Benzing Posted July 31, 2009 Author Share Posted July 31, 2009 Thank you sir, You are most kind. I also ran into an awesome guy on YouTube with a wealth of cine camera info that has held my hand through the learning process on this thing.... Successfully ran a reel of Ektachrome100D (without a light meter.. I have a Gossen Lunasix now) and the film looks fantasic for a camera from 1938! There's a little flag that will pop up and say "Kass Wenden", or flip the kassette when you've reached the end of the spool, but you have to make sure to set it at the back of the camera first for it to be reliable.... Can't wait to use my new light meters and experiment with different distances and film speeds.. I apologize for being impatient... it just seemed that there weren't any answers... Once again thank you.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Benzing Posted July 31, 2009 Author Share Posted July 31, 2009 Thought I would share some of the photostill captures from the 1938 Zeiss Movikon-K.... Next time I'll use a lightmeter!! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Benzing Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 Hello dead heads... I finally made and uploaded a video with the raw reel I shot using both the 55' Kodak Brownie and the 38' Zeiss Movikon-K... They are both beautiful cameras... next time I'll use one of these vintage light meters I've recently acquired. Enjoy the production. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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