Kurt Walker Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Hello, Myself and a friend of mine are trying to shoot our first feature film this summer, and we got a little trigger happy on eBay one afternoon and purchased an ARRI 16bl which lacks a lens, battery, and necessary cords. We've figured out where we can rent a lens ( we only want to shoot with it for one day), but we're totally lost on how to connect it to a power source. I found an old thread on here which suggested getting a 4-pin XLR and connect it to a 12V battery... but how would one do this when 12V battery's don't exactly have, uh, XLR ports? I'm very green to all this, but would really appreciate some help! best, Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Drysdale Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 What type of battery are you planing to use? The Arri 16 BL needs a blimped lens if you want it to run silently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Walker Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 I'm not entirely sure what options I have for a battery. Can I just use a 12V battery? or do I need to buy some sort of re-usable chargable battery? As for the lens, the one we're renting is already blimped. Thanks though! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Aapo Lettinen Posted April 5, 2013 Premium Member Share Posted April 5, 2013 12v gel batteries work fine w. 16bl, they are also affordable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Aapo Lettinen Posted April 5, 2013 Premium Member Share Posted April 5, 2013 (edited) the common standard is pin 1 = - (ground), pin 4= +12v just solder the wires to the battery or use some 6.3mm connectors Edited April 5, 2013 by aapo lettinen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Aapo Lettinen Posted April 5, 2013 Premium Member Share Posted April 5, 2013 you can also get a battery plate ( v-lock/ anton-bauer/ np -batteries) with 4-pin xlr-connector if you like :) Just make sure it's right voltage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Walker Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 Hello Aapo, Thank you for your suggestions. The batteryplate + xlr sounds good... but googling/amazoning for these has confused me even more. I hate to ask, but as I really don't want to accidentally purchase the wrong thing, could you perhaps link me to what would work best? thanks so much. best, Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Underdahl Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/135340-REG/Bescor_BES015XLRNC_BES_015XLRNC_Shoulder_Pack_Lead_Acid.html You'll need the charger also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Dunn Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Shoot me down if necessary, but if you 're on a tripod, would a car battery do- even a cigarette lighter adapter from the car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Walker Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 Thank you, Douglas. That looks great, and will likely be the option we go with... but how exactly does a 4 pin XLR connect to the BL again? I'm afraid the camera is at my friends house right now, but I can only seem to recall there being a 9 pin output... best, Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Drysdale Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 (edited) The power in connector on the camera is a 9 pin Tuchel, perhaps someone has the wiring for this. Edited April 5, 2013 by Brian Drysdale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Walker Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 Hmm, sorry, but what do you mean by wiring? Like, is there a converter of some sort that can adapt it into a 4 pin XLR? (other than a Crystal Controller--- those are almost impossible to find now!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Underdahl Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 It's hard to remember. Might have to get out my book. You could have a crystal control on your camera, or not. If not, then you likely have a sync motor with a power cable that goes directly to the camera. It's a 9 pin Tuchel on one end (I think I have one in a drawer around here) and a 4 pin XLR on the other that will plug into that Bescor. If you have the Tuchel be careful - they are easily stripped if they are not connected carefully. If you have a crystal control then it could be that you have a 4 pin XLR input into control itself which is better. You probably have a camera that is close to 50 years old, so the cable could be tired. Or someone could have replaced it last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Walker Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 Unfortunately, I don't think we got the chord you speak of... you can check out the package we got here. As you can see, the package also didn't come with a crystal control... would it be hard to find one of these 9 pin to 4 pin XLR chords? If not, do we have any alternatives? thanks guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Underdahl Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Okay. You got a cam at a good price. You got the periscope finder which was $1500 in the day. Makes the camera rest on your shoulder better. But, it's set up for 25 fps. Maybe that's what you want? I'm guessing that you don't want to shoot and record sound because the camera has no blimped lens. If you put an Arri standard mounted lens on this camera that doesn't have the blimp, it will be noisy - like, you won't want to use it indoors to shoot and record sound at the same time. The gearset says 25 B/s which stands for bilders per second which I believe is German for frames per second. The camera is not crystal controlled, which means that it will not run in sync. Probably you can get by for short takes of 20-30 seconds, or longer and then you have to chop or add sound frames to fix the audio. No cable? Lordy, I don't know where you could find one. There's no picture of that part of the camera but it looks like you are going to need the 9 pin Tuchel to 4 pin XLR. You're going to have to hunt for the correct cable. Cine-60 used to sell them in the US but I don't know if they exist anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Underdahl Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Oh, and you also got the cool hammered aluminum case and the camera carry handle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Walker Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 Thanks for all the info, Douglas! We actually are going to rent a blimped Angenieux lens for the shoot... and I'm sure we can figure out audio technicalities after. I'm currently scowering the web for this 9 pin tuchel to 4 pin xlr adapter, but am unable to come up with much at the moment... If I'm unable to find one do we have many other options? Could a Jensen Crystal Sync work in that (i believe?) it converts the tuchel to XLR? ...not to mention, it could also help us get synced sound! kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Underdahl Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 There was the Jensen and also the Cinema Products crystal controllers. And the king of them all was the Media Logic replacement motor. I was half owner of Media Logic and we didn't make any money on that motor, but you could actually plug our 3 decimal control into it. Ah, to be young again. If you can find a controller, it will have the 9 pin Tuchel on one end and probably the 4 pin xlr on the other. So then you would need to find the 4 pin to 4 pin xlr cable which is common, like at B and H. But it might be that the Jensen needs the same 9 to 4 pin cable, so watch out! And you'd still be shooting 25fps because of the gearset. Who the heck will rent you a blimped angie? If they have this (I really don't think anyone does, are you sure about this?) then they could have the cable. Keep searching and if you come up empty, maybe I can make you a cable. But I have to say, that you are really going the long way around on this. That could be a fun trip, or not. You might not be able to make it all work. What I mean is, that you might find that renting a 16SR with all the goodies will fix everything. Sometimes when you are trying to make art, the solution to your problem is to throw money at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Walker Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 (edited) Here's a picture of the otherside of the camera, in case it helps. I appreciate the advice, but I'm afraid that since we've purchased the camera we're going to have to atleast try going this route. If all else fails, I suppose we'll rent an other camera or hire someone with a kit. A store called Leo's Camera (based in Downtown Vancouver) has the Angenieux lens-- buried in the back of their stock, no less!- and is happy to lend it to us. We definitely overlooked asking them about the chord... my partner is going to call them now. If they don't have it, I'll keep investigating the crystal sync controllers, but finding one might be tough. If we're unable to come up with anything it would be immensely appreciated if you could help us out with crafting a cord. We'd obviously pay you as well as give you a credit of some sort on our film. :) Will update soon! thanks, Kurt Edited April 5, 2013 by Kurt Walker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Walker Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 (edited) Also, I forgot to mention. One of the prongs in the 9-pin connector is slightly bent, and another is missing. Are these easy to replace? :/ Edited April 5, 2013 by Kurt Walker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Walker Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 I was just contacted by a vendor, and he'd be willing to sell me a crystal/variable speed controller (image below). Would this solve my 9 pin / 4 pin xlr conversion issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Underdahl Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Hey, you got a cam with the angled connector mount. It swings the connector out from the camera so it's easier to plug the Tuchel in. Nice. But, you have snapped off pins. This is what happens to these connectors - you have to be really careful about how you plug and unplug them and if not, pins get snapped off. If the pins aren't important, then you're okay. Like they could be pins that originally carried bloop or piltotone, which no one uses anymore. If not, ouch. You have to replace the connector on the camera which requires soldering tiny pins very close to each other. And the connector itself might be unavailable. Or, someone could just solder a 4 pin XLR pigtail directly to the camera! Ask the guy at Leo's if he's got a cable. Maybe you'll get lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Underdahl Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 No, that crystal won't solve your problem because: A) you don't know if it works, and even when they do, they don't work reliably as the motors they are trying to control weren't meant for crystal control B) it has the Tuchel on it just like the camera! So you would be back to square one and also that Tuchel might have missing pins or weak pins So try to find that cable first, then test. But if it has good Tuchels on it and it's less than $50 it could solve your problem because you could use it as a connector donor for making a cable. But you'd still have to make or have someone make the cable. Yikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Walker Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 (edited) We might of found someone in town who could create the 9 pin to 4 pin XLR for us, will update you on this. As for the broken connector-- could something like this perhaps replace it? Edit: Or, this? Edited April 5, 2013 by Kurt Walker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Underdahl Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 Don't know if the examples you linked to are correct. You'd probably have to study the connector on the camera, see if you can find a part number. Also, try Arri NY. They are VERY good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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