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cine Kodak special - guts


Steve Broback

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I have started work restoring a Cine Kodak Special and thought someone out there would be interested in seeing the innards. I don't have a repair manual but was glad to find that disassembly was straightforward. What was particularly good to find was that the spring is contained in a separate "cage" so the camera can really be taken down to the small parts without having to manage that monster!

 

Photos are here: http://imgur.com/a/If73W#6

 

This particular camera was full of sand. Once the sand poured out - it ran again. These are really robust mechanisms!

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http://www.filmvorfuehrer.de/topic/14799-darf-ich-vorstellen-cine-kodak-special/

 

Text translated from German

 

Cuckoo!

 

Pickles cool better than ice cream and reduce sweating. The old knew some. To satisfy your thirst for knowledge let me tell you what I’ve found on my most recent conquest, No. 2249, Magazine 100-12418. I wish good edification.

 

 

 

The well-known basic idea of the “Kodakˮ is a box. Whoever the designer was, the Kodak film cameras were all cuboids, for 16-mm film, for Double-8 film, for Super-8 film. Longer than high. Why a box? You Press the Button, We Do the Rest. Sales.

 

Most other cine cameras were higher than long, see the Filmo of Bell & Howell, the later models from Alexander Victor, the Agfa, the Nizo, the Paillard. Yet the Cine-Kodak Special had a tremendous influence on the design of film movie cameras.

 

(picture)

 

It was the first 16-mm camera that brought the separation between camera and magazine but a step further than with the 35-mm camera. One has to speak of active magazines. The entire film transport is disposed in the magazine, the camera ends with the provision of a controlled torque. By preloading magazines fast changes are possible that don’t take longer than with cassettes. It was the anticipation of the Bell & Howell Autoload by a year with a minute difference: The Kodak cassettes contained 50 foot of film, the Cine-Kodak Special has 100- and 200-foot magazines.

 

The overall development of the cine camera is very dense in the 1930s. When I look back into history I have the impression that an unleashing of male productivity occurred 82 years ago. The general social background must not be ignored because commerce, armament, the political changes and a number of technical innovations were exaggeratedly male. The women at that time had hardly more than Kirche-Küche-Kinder. A few made their careers, only if you have a closer look, in breeches parts. Marlene Dietrich, Leni Riefenstahl, Amelia Earhart weren’t very feminine women. Fashion made genderless moderns out of women. In 1930 everybody got gripped by something towards integration and division, the principle of the new Uranian age.

 

Subdivision happens with the Ciné-Kodak Special into camera and magazine, integration within these two components. In contrast to the ten years older Filmo one cannot tell anymore where the drive spring is. The 100-foot magazine has no body curves behind which one would assume the spools. The circular lens turret is gone, too.

 

(picture)

 

The Cine-Kodak Special comes with a unique, almost square quick change plate for two lenses. This has not been patented. Protected by law, however, were the alternate locking of magazine and camera mechanism, the drive coupling between camera and magazine, controls, governor, fade-out brake, reflex viewfinder, variable shutter, disengageable cranks and lens mount. The names of the patentees remind us of a time when well-paid technicians from Europe lived in Rochester: Julien Tessier, Otto Wittel and Joseph Stoiber besides Edwin Fritts and Paul Stephenson. The block-shaped camera appeared in April 1933.

 

How is the mechanism of the Ciné-Kodak Special designed?

 

(picture)

 

Classical. Between two plates connected by a half dozen supports, as found in watchmaking since the 16th Century, we find spring, gears, controls and switchgear. But there are absolute Kodak-unlike openings in housing and plate through which one can lubricate the shafts of the governor and other fast moving elements.

 

(picture)

 

The arrangement of the mechanism is determined by the space which is occupied by the shutter gearing. Thus, the one-one shaft has moved downwards parallel with the set-up of the film spools.

 

I’m not writing barrel as it is called in watchmaking but just spring, and it does stand free. It’s attached to a bracket with its outer end, wound up from the core, and it pulls 1600 frames, one minute and six seconds at 24 f. p. s. There’s the traditional planetary wheel as its stop. Upon rewinding film one also winds the drive spring, so there is that limit to it.

 

We are in the heart of the apparatus: The shutter opening angle is 165 degrees. I measure 4.5 mm distance between the shutter and the film, probably the smallest value with all motion-picture cameras. The claw clears the film in the standardized +3 position. The pressure plate can be removed. Everything can be kept clean except the cover slide in the aperture plate. Another fact that I’m facing is the absence of a lateral film guide. The aperture plate is indeed chromed on the film side but it is not as nicely finished as with other cameras. I measure a gate width of 16.03 mm at the top, in the center and at the bottom.

 

(picture)

 

Did I miss something? What is the secret? The film channel is milled square. There are six pins pressed in with ground and polished heads, one at each corner of the aperture plus two at the bottom. In order to fully comprehend I had to drive out a cover sheet from a dovetail guide on the other side of the aperture plate. Shortly, fresh film will float or run with a little interference on the edges when swollen. In that case no play. Did the engineers think of the tropics where film is likely to swell a bit?

 

(picture)

 

I put a snippet in the channel, measured to 16.00 mm, the pressure plate on it. Puzzling, no play. But I cotton on the engineers. I see that the film is guided by the chamfered pin heads that rise half a tenth millimeter, to be exact, on the inner hole edges. This is a centering guide, which works even when the film has undersize. The camera will positively position film perforated on both edges. Film with one hole row is no option.

 

(picture)

 

This film guide has to do with Kodacolor. Kodak launched that additive color system in 1928 in the 16-mm format. Kodacolor is based on a black-and-white stock with very thin longitudinal grooves rolled into the base in conjunction with color filters in the optics. Highest precision in lateral film guidance is essential to the process, because deviations result in false colors.

 

Single-edge perforated film has long been the exception, despite the Berndt-Bach sound cameras and all later ones like the Arriflex 16 BL. Actually a change came only in 1969-70 with the beginning of Super-16 and then still not entirely. With the most recent format Ultra-16, which is still wider than Super-16, both hole rows are allowed.

 

 

Back to the mechanics. There is a well-made governor with two flyweights, the spring between them being a speciality because it bears a ground relief which allows to expand the scale of the lower frame rates. Therefore, the 8-16-24 marks are farther apart than they would under the ordinary spring form. Next, the governor has two brake pads, so that the bearings are charged more floatingly than distinctly in one direction. The governor shaft is made of steel and the holes are in steel plates. It takes very little oil to lubricate this crucial element. By its style, this camera was far ahead of most competitors. But it is prone to rust.

 

My model does have rust, luckily only on unimportant surfaces. It has been serviced at least once. There’s a color pencil entry 11/14/52 in the housing providing the information, also a Kodak Service sticker in the magazine dated 11-18-52.

 

The switching mechanism deserves a comment as well. I refer to the means by which continuous and single frame shooting are connected, the locking and unlocking of camera and magazine, and also the release of the rewind crank. It is so that the camera only runs when the magazine cover slide is open. Conversely, one cannot remove the magazine when the slide is open. One does not lose a single frame at magazine changes. But the 40 frames counter can display a frame too frequent if the coupling parts of the camera and the magazine are out of line against each other. In such case the camera will turn empty until the spring-loaded clutch pins engage. In addition, the Cine-Kodak Special has a freely adjustable 100 foot counter. Each magazine has its own feel-lever footage indicator.

 

Now for the optical part. The Kodak Service offered to retrofit a revolver that takes C-mount lenses, way back in the 30s. Otherwise one has to deal with the range of Kodak optics that came with focal lengths from 15 to 152mm. These were good lenses. Insert tubes could be used for macro photography. There were close-up lenses and Wratten filters in mounts.

 

The viewfinder mirror is pivoted in from below and locks. When releasing the camera it jumps out of way. You look straight down on the ground glass and may slide in a magnifying lens. A prism device comes with the 200-foot magazine that allows horizontal insight. It’s a true reflex viewfinder for prior-to-shoot focusing, outdated to one or useful for the other.

 

 

Accessories

 

A fader was available for uniform moves of the variable shutter’s lever. The fader of Paillard-Bolex, initiated by Tullio Pellegrini of San Francisco looks very similar.

 

One can attach an electric motor. For this the screws next to the one-one shaft are removed. There are reports of the use of the CKS with synch motors for sound film recording. The Bodine Electric Company, Chicago, was the manufacturer. Here is a CKS with regulated motor and tachometer, the obliquely angled thing on the left in the picture.

 

(picture)

 

There was no cable release attachment.

 

A set of masks was made for effects such as double or multiple exposure, vignettes, etc.

 

There is a pocket on the underside of the turret plate, only 0.76 mm deep. Looks strange to me.

 

 

Summary

 

I believe the Ciné-Kodak Special still is a useful 16-mm film camera, provided one gets along with its character. I mean the rather tiny knobs and levers which are difficult to hold in the cold with gloves, the chrome handle of the winding crank, locking lever, magazine latch, viewfinder and lens mount.

 

The Ciné-Kodak Special compares well to other cameras in respect of steadiness. Only the Pathé WEBO exposes 1600 frames on a wind, too. That was a copy of the Ciné-Kodak E. The large housing, unfortunately with only one thread, ensures good tripod mount.

 

Lacing is not difficult, one finds the right loop sizes soon.

 

With coated lenses, adapted, one can shoot to

professional demands.

 

The claw was later moved further down. Slightly less good steadiness must be expected with such magazines.

 

 

Here are some views of a model with a four-lens turret.

 

(picture)

 

 

Source Note

http://airandspace.s...id=A20020304000

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Thanks for posting this Simon - I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am going to go home and do the test with the film snippet in the pull-down mechanism.

I haven't figured out how to adjust the governor - there is an inspection port on the top of the cine special that appears to allow access for adjustment but I'm not sure what to do there. One of my cine specials runs a little fast.

Steve

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Another nice camera dissection, Simon, thanks. (Thanks for the original post pictures too, Steve.)

 

The slightly raised pins in the gate are an interesting solution to controlling lateral weave, never seen it in another camera. Not sure why they didn't just go with lateral spring guides like so many other successful 16mm camera designs. The pressure plate on my Special has 6 wear marks where the pins are.

 

I think it would still stabilise single-perf film, the perfs ride over the pins during transport (never actually engaging, the pin diameter is only as large as the perf width, not height), and the camera is single perf capable (ie the sprockets have only one set of teeth). During exposure the perfs do not sit over the pins.

 

One thing to note about Cine Kodak Specials is that there is no sprocket between the gate and take-up, meaning the take-up tension plays a much greater role in image steadiness. If the take-up spindle is jerky or takes too much force to slip, the film will be pulled in the gate. Also makes a nasty clacking noise.

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I have started work restoring a Cine Kodak Special and thought someone out there would be interested in seeing the innards. I don't have a repair manual but was glad to find that disassembly was straightforward. What was particularly good to find was that the spring is contained in a separate "cage" so the camera can really be taken down to the small parts without having to manage that monster!

 

Photos are here: http://imgur.com/a/If73W#6

 

This particular camera was full of sand. Once the sand poured out - it ran again. These are really robust mechanisms!

 

I just purchased an old Cine special and cine Special II for parts. The Cine special I am disassembling. How did you drive the little pin out of the release button as that is where I am in tear down. Thanks.

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I just purchased an old Cine special and cine Special II for parts. The Cine special I am disassembling. How did you drive the little pin out of the release button as that is where I am in tear down. Thanks.

 

Hi David - That is the "crux" of the operation. I ground down an 1/8" drill bit to fit the pin and supported the shutter button with a block of wood that I had drilled a hole in for the pin to exit. It was still a little tricky to drive out the pin and I broke the punch a couple of times before I got the pin out. After the shutter button is off the camera, the case come apart with a little light coaxing.

Steve

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One thing to note about Cine Kodak Specials is that there is no sprocket between the gate and take-up, meaning the take-up tension plays a much greater role in image steadiness. If the take-up spindle is jerky or takes too much force to slip, the film will be pulled in the gate.

Dom, there is an indicator line on each magazine’s inner cover plate. You put the film on the sprocket drum a second time. Hope you see it. :)

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Dom, there is an indicator line on each magazine’s inner cover plate. You put the film on the sprocket drum a second time. Hope you see it. :)

 

Aha! Right you are Simon, bit hard to see the indicator on mine.. but what an obtuse lacing pattern! The feed and take-up overlap on the same side of the sprocket drum, 2 film thicknesses. Strange, but I guess it makes more sense than how I had it laced :P

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  • 10 years later...

I have finally acquired two of these old beautiful beasts; a Special and a Special II. I came here to see if someone knew the shutter angle and am leaving after getting some great information! As always, Cinematography.com saves the day!

Edited by Mike Owens
Corrected spelling.
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