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Is this a stupid idea?


Jason Hinkle RIP

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If you were to remove the lens from a DSLR and project 16mm film directly onto the sensor, would that be a stupid idea!? Assuming you could get the camera close enough to the lens and the image in focus, would that work at all, ruin the sensor, etc...?

 

I'm not really planning to do it but the thought just occurred to me as I was looking into various DIY telecine solutions out there.

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The point of failure in such systems is the mechanical shutter. They just don't last that long. I forget the exact duration of clicks, it has been discussed before on here, but it's somewhere around 100,000 or so or about 70 minutes of footage. There is also the time issue.

Now, if you were recording it as video, you'd have issues with overheating as well as the crappy compression.

Beyond all of that, you'd have issues with running neg through a projector and having it scratched to hell as well as synchronizing shutters and registration.

 

Hell, were it me, I'd just get a workprint done and spend the agonizingly long period of time cutting/scanning the neg with a flatbed. It would take FOREVER of course, but it's certain to work.

Also, I think NIkon or someone might've made a scanner for longer lengths of film; though I'm not certain. In that case, you're basically doing a DI.... (http://www.nikonusa....tTabs.TechSpecs with 40 frame adapter) Also, you may be able to somehow hack one of them to just take it in and scan it in bulk... no idea if it's possible.... and would probably require some coding....

 

Or you could shell out for something like this:

 

 

http://www.moviestuff.tv/16mm_telecine.html

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If you were to remove the lens from a DSLR and project 16mm film directly onto the sensor, would that be a stupid idea!?

 

There have been som truely inspiring efforts in DIY telecine. Have a look at these threads

http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=36613&pid=353410&st=60entry353410

and

can't find the other thread but it's called "So I built a DIY scanner"

 

Cheers,

Gregg.

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There have been som truely inspiring efforts in DIY telecine...

 

indeed, about every 6 months i get psyched to build myself a diy telecine system. i really am sad that i don't shoot film enough due to the transfer costs. i have a fridge full of film ready to shoot. Even if the quality was only average, at least I would be shooting more.

 

Adrian - I hadn't fully thought it through in regards to the overheating and compression. I was caught up in the idea of shining the projection directly on the sensor and wondering if that would work.

 

Coincidentally I'm a software developer and so writing code is not difficult for me to do at all. But I don't have much experience with hardware so that's the my biggest problem. I may look into building something like this though, the Arduino hardware is fairly easy to program.

 

There is a guy who is doing flatbed scanner telecine with some kind of mechanical automation as well & it looks pretty interesting:

 

The moviestuff products look cool as well. the last time i contacted them i don't recall but i think they didn't do super-16, which i thought was weird. their new top-of-the-line model even scans negatives which is cool.

Edited by Jason Hinkle
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