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Milliken Boresight


Duncan Buckley

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Hi,

 

I'm having issues with my Milliken camera and wanted to see if anybody here could help. I have the camera running and working fine but the issue lies in the boresight. I bought a boresight online but it is for the side bore and uses a prism which you put in when the camera isnt loaded. This is great except when the camera is loaded with film the boresight becomes useless. My camera has an addition viewing front plate but takes a B-113 boresight (I think, must check the manual to be certain). Does anybody have one of these they would like to part with?

 

I also have a Pan Cinor with the dogleg except lucky me it seems to be the older type which doesnt allow for focussing while viewing. Happy days.

 

Anybody who is interested in Milliken cameras with experience please leave a reply. These are super cameras but there is little to no info on them which is a shame.

 

Kind Regards

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Medium- and high- speed cameras are really meant to be lined up, then loaded and locked off for running, so reflex viewing isn't necessary. If you're moving the camera, and so need it, you might have to set up some sort of side or sports finder if you can't use the Pan Cinor.

We used to focus on a piece of frosted film which wrapped around the sprocket. It was then removed for loading and the lens distance scale taped.

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Hi,

 

Locking off the camera seems the safest way then when working with this camera. The DBM 5 has a variable speed motor so you could film at 24fps if you wanted however i'm really looking forward to filming some actions in slow motion.

 

I have loaded the camera with 2R film that was a recan from some time ago, its been tested and seems ok but once this lot is used then then I have to scout out more double perf film. Seems like this type is getting rare so I was thinking of converting the camera to accept normal 16mm film. Has anybody had experience with this?

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  • 1 month later...

Hi,

 

Locking off the camera seems the safest way then when working with this camera. The DBM 5 has a variable speed motor so you could film at 24fps if you wanted however i'm really looking forward to filming some actions in slow motion.

 

I have loaded the camera with 2R film that was a recan from some time ago, its been tested and seems ok but once this lot is used then then I have to scout out more double perf film. Seems like this type is getting rare so I was thinking of converting the camera to accept normal 16mm film. Has anybody had experience with this?

 

 

I did this a year or two ago, and it was actually easier than I expected. It now runs up to 300 fps in s16 :)

 

 

Kristian

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I would be interested in how you managed this conversion. There are 3 sprockets that have the 2 pins and i'm unsure if these can be removed. Would it be a case of filing these down to leave the single claw? Also I saw in some of your other posts that you converted to S16mm. I have done this to my K3 with success so wondered if the same could be done with the Milliken? I dont want to recentre the lens though as that is too much work.

 

Regards,

 

Duncan

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I would be interested in how you managed this conversion. There are 3 sprockets that have the 2 pins and i'm unsure if these can be removed. Would it be a case of filing these down to leave the single claw? Also I saw in some of your other posts that you converted to S16mm. I have done this to my K3 with success so wondered if the same could be done with the Milliken? I dont want to recentre the lens though as that is too much work.

 

Regards,

 

Duncan

 

Hi Duncan,

 

The 3 rollers with sprockets need to come out and the..... I´ll say "correct" side filed down - so not to confuse the left/right issue. They come out by unscrewing the screw at the top of the rollers, and it is a good idea to both take photos as you go, and remove the pieces systematically ie. place them on the table in the order they came off. That part was actually very easy, and I got zero scratching of the film on my first go :) Of course the surface needs to be very smooth not to damage the film. The pull-down claw was much trickier to get off, so I didn´t bother disassembling it. I just cut the claw on one side (the closest, most accessible one when you open the camera) so it is short enough to never go near the film. My camera had the prism assembly in the gate, so I just took that out and didn´t even need to file off any part of the gate actually touching the film - just some metal further forward that was blocking light into the gate.

Recentering was also really simple, as it is just a matter of moving the whole front plate by shifting the holes for mounting. But My camera had the rotating viewing front parts that had to come out. Sealed it up to avoid light leaks and done.... The whole thing took just a couple of hours, but I was lucky enough not to stuff it up - as I often do ;)

I took photos as I did the conversion, but can´t find them on my computer. Will post them when I find them. Here is the camera all done:

 

Best of luck,

 

Kristian

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Hi Kristian,

 

Thank you for the advice on the modification. I have removed the sprockets and filed them down plus the claw has had one claw removed and its runs film through at 200fps without any issues. I need to do testing on it to make sure the film isnt being damaged but so far so good. I'm not sure i will convert it to S16mm yet but the option is always there but at least the camera is future proofed for film stock.

 

Do you have to recentre the lens mount if you convert to S16mm? The K3 doesn't need to be altered even though you modify the gate, you just limit the range the lens will cover.

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Do you have to recentre the lens mount if you convert to S16mm? The K3 doesn't need to be altered even though you modify the gate, you just limit the range the lens will cover.

 

I guess it depends on what lens you are using, if it will cover. But I am sure that if you manage to remove the sprockets and not make them scratch the film, you will have no problems at all recentering the mount. I just did what I saw on some site about a Bolex conversion - make the holes wider, shift the whole front plate the 1mm or so (I actually used a lens that doesn´t quite cover the frame, and centered the front plate by eye) filled the gaps with epoxy - or was it black silicone...can´t remember. Definitely the easiest part, though.

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Hmmmm I just have that fear that once you move the centre of the lens you will create issues with focus but you can always scoot it back over to the original position. I love the Milliken design and they are pretty reliable machines. I have seen your vimeo footage of the pram down the stairs, what speed was that shot at? I will have to post some footage up from the camera soon, will be some vision 2 500T stock to test out some lenses.

 

I am using a Pan cinor lens with dogleg for my camera becuase i have a DBM 4 and it doesnt have the prism on the front. I bought a boresight but its a pain having to load the prism inside, focus the camera and then load the film. I want to be able to have the film loaded aim and shoot but getting that proved to be a pain.

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Hmmmm I just have that fear that once you move the centre of the lens you will create issues with focus but you can always scoot it back over to the original position. I love the Milliken design and they are pretty reliable machines. I have seen your vimeo footage of the pram down the stairs, what speed was that shot at? I will have to post some footage up from the camera soon, will be some vision 2 500T stock to test out some lenses.

 

I am using a Pan cinor lens with dogleg for my camera becuase i have a DBM 4 and it doesnt have the prism on the front. I bought a boresight but its a pain having to load the prism inside, focus the camera and then load the film. I want to be able to have the film loaded aim and shoot but getting that proved to be a pain.

 

I guess that could be a problem with the back focus. I am planning to use my camera underwater, so the whole focus thing has to be worked out with possible chims behind the lens anyway. I will probably be only using my Kinoptik 5.7mm with this camera. I am therefore not as worried as I would be if trying to get the right back focus to match the image in the Pan Cinor viewfinder.

 

But you may have the same problem with the back focus anyway, given the age of the camera and how long it has been since it was set properly.

 

The pram footage was before the s16 conversion, and before I got proper power for the camera. I think the speed was around 200fps, maybe just under, my top speed with the old battery pack.

 

I removed the prism and rotating front disc to do the s16 conversion, but I agree that the boresight is probably too cumbersome anyway to be of much use for me anyway.

 

 

Kristian

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Just wondering what power supply you use? I have lead acid batteries rigged up in series to create just over 28vdc, it works fine but slightly large.

 

I had some issues with the camera chewing up film after I altered it, the claw was entering the film perf but something was catching and instead of the claw pulling the film along it just tore it open. After taking it apart and cleaning all film chips and excess gunk it finally worked. managed 400pfs with single perf film which is more than I will need :)

 

Any other issues to look out for with this camera? Maintenance and film issues to be aware of?

 

Cheers,

 

Duncan

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Just wondering what power supply you use? I have lead acid batteries rigged up in series to create just over 28vdc, it works fine but slightly large.

 

I had some issues with the camera chewing up film after I altered it, the claw was entering the film perf but something was catching and instead of the claw pulling the film along it just tore it open. After taking it apart and cleaning all film chips and excess gunk it finally worked. managed 400pfs with single perf film which is more than I will need :)

 

Any other issues to look out for with this camera? Maintenance and film issues to be aware of?

 

Cheers,

 

Duncan

 

My camera is very reliable up ro 300 fps, and above that the risk of chewing increases. And yes, chips of film and gunk definitely are a problem. So get everything blown out properly before shooting for "real". I hooked up 4 small LiPo batteries for model helicopters off ebay - you only need the smallest ones - they give plenty of punch and have worked really well for me. And one charge lasts "forever".

 

Kristian

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  • 9 years later...
On 7/19/2010 at 10:29 AM, Duncan Buckley said:

Hi,

 

I'm having issues with my Milliken camera and wanted to see if anybody here could help. I have the camera running and working fine but the issue lies in the boresight. I bought a boresight online but it is for the side bore and uses a prism which you put in when the camera isnt loaded. This is great except when the camera is loaded with film the boresight becomes useless. My camera has an addition viewing front plate but takes a B-113 boresight (I think, must check the manual to be certain). Does anybody have one of these they would like to part with?

 

I also have a Pan Cinor with the dogleg except lucky me it seems to be the older type which doesnt allow for focussing while viewing. Happy days.

 

Anybody who is interested in Milliken cameras with experience please leave a reply. These are super cameras but there is little to no info on them which is a shame.

 

Kind Regards

Just assembling my 44 for the first time.  I don't have a prism assembly.  Any ideas where to get one?  I have a B-02 but it's useless without the prism.  Looks tough to build.

J. Kessler

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