Who here knows Mitchells?

[Paul Bruening]

Hello Gang,

 

I recently bought a Mitchell BNC 2 perf camera. There are a few things I don't understand about it. What is the optical device that swings up in front of the gate? Is that a film notching device in the back? How does the auto slate on the CP motor work? What does the quarter circle selector (in increments of 10) on the back do? There is a push button on back of the the rack-over base next to a two-prong male jack. What the heck does it do? That's about it, for now.

 

Thanks for any help,

Paul

[Stephen Williams]

What does the quarter circle selector (in increments of 10) on the back do?

 

Thanks for any help,

Paul

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Paul,

 

Was that the camera from E-Bay?

 

That is the shutter angle adjustment (Max 170). If you post some photos relating to the other questions I mabe can help further.

 

Stephen Williams DP

Zurich

 

www.stephenw.com

[Marc Alucard]

Hello Paul,

 

I collect Mitchell cameras so here is a little info for you from S.O.C. website:

 

FOCUSING

 

The camera box holding the gate, shutter and movement, and supporting the magazine, slides left and right on an "L"-shaped bed. At the front of the assembly is the upright of the "L," holding the four-lens turret as well as all lens-related effects devices.

 

The under side of the bed attaches to the tripod. On the left side of the camera box, integral with the door, is a tube with a focusing eyepiece. A "T"-shaped handle on the rear edge of the bed controls the movement of the camera box across the bed.

 

Turning the handle counterclockwise slides the camera box to the left side of the bed; in this position the film is behind the taking lens and the focusing tube is looking at a blank spot on the back of the upright.

 

On turning the handle clockwise, the camera box shifts to the right, moving the gate away from the aperture and placing the focusing tube there instead. Focusing can then be done on a full-aperture ground glass mounted at the front of the focusing tube.

 

To turn the "T"-shaped handle, depress the button in the center of the spindle, as soon as the handle begins turning, release the button; the handle will then lock in the right place.

 

WARNING: If you don't release the button, you could be risking damage because some Standard cameras have no stop to prevent the camera box from sliding past the end of the track and detaching from the bed. If the handle does slip off the gears and you have to crank it back on, be sure that in its left and right locked positions the handle doesn't extend below the plane of the camera bottom; if it does, there's a risk that someone will rest the camera weight on the protruding handle and distort it.

 

The improvement that this rackover method offers over the similar method found on the Bell & Howell Studio camera may not be evident at first glance, but a few minutes of operation with both systems clearly reveals the advantages of the Mitchell technique.

 

Both provide full-aperture viewing at the exact position the taking lens will occupy during the exposure, and in theory neither method requires the operator to disturb mattes and adjustments in front of the lens.

 

But in practice it's usually necessary with the Bell & Howell to slide the matte box out on its rails in order to rotate the lens and shift the camera.

 

With the Mitchell all the movement takes place behind the lens standard, and the lens with its preset effects remains truly undisturbed.

 

The cameraman is less reluctant about taking that last look at the scene to double-check just before shooting. This in itself is a major reason that the Mitchell so quickly became a popular competitor.

 

VIEWING

 

Viewing is possible on the ground glass when the camera is shifted to the focusing position, and this is the only absolutely reliable check for critical framing and effects; of course it's not possible during the actual taking of the scene.

 

From the first the Mitchell Camera Co offered the conventional "spyglass" finders with individual objectives matched to the taking lenses. Beginning in the late Twenties the company also manufactured an excellent patented side finder that shows the scene upright and laterally correct on a large ground glass.

 

Masks are inserted in this finder to indicate correct fields of view for the various lenses. The finder pivots to compensate for parallax. (Later finders have built-in matte ribbons to set the field of view.)

 

 

 

As far as the Cinema Products motor goes the "slate" you are speaking of is a tone that sounds when the motor reaches speed.

 

Reprint manuals are available on from http://indycine.com/manuals/ these guys directly or they sell them on Ebay quite often.

 

Who did the 2 perf conversion?

 

Please post pictures and I'll try to get you more info.

 

Cheers,

Marc

[Paul Bruening]

Hey Stephen,

 

Yup. David Haskell was a good sport on the sale since he was losing a chunk of dough on it. I ran 20 ft. through it when I picked it up. I still need to run test rolls. It looks fine on the inside and doesn't make any strange noises. It's actually rather quiet compared to my IIB. It is heavy but no worse than my blimped IIB.

 

Hey Marc,

 

The rack-over was simple enough to figure out. It's that other stuff that isn't just real obvious. The cam's viewfinder has the 2 perf lines in it, but they are not adjustable. The blimp's viewfinder lines are. Either way, I'll replace the viewfinder with a Canon XL1s using the convergent works off of the old viewfinder. That way we can view dailies on tape to at least determine if the theatrical aspects are OK. It also helps my cameraman who is a slave of the 13" monitor. It helps me set up and balance lights as well.

 

I'm getting a Spectra Cine IV-A to replace my 20 year old Calcu-Light XP. What's your opinion of this meter? Also, what do you think of Minolta's Digital Spot and Color Meter? Do you like them?

 

The motor has an auto slate connector on it. Can I run a little light in the blimp and signal to my sound deck for auto slating? That would save film.

 

I LOVE these Super Baltars! All that I have for the IIB is three Schnieders. I'll look into using the Matte box from the Arri blimp on the Mitchell blimp since it is adjustable. It will be a bit of a mounting job.

 

I snagged a Fearless Panoram off Mandy.com. It needs a steering joint repair which I can do in steel. I giggle when I see the Mitchell on the crane arm. It's what I've wanted since I was a kid.

 

The rails are rusted some on the Worral head. Emery paper should clear that up. Thank goodness it's a 2 speed.

 

Thanks for the link to the manuals. I'll get them, for sure.

[Nate Downes]

I think by "notching system" you're referring to the registration pins. Two pins which hold the film in-place during exposure, guaranteeing a rock-solid image, the very thing that makes the Mitchell so prized even today.

[Paul Bruening]

Hey Downix,

 

Nope. There's a spring loaded push rod that passes through the top, back of the cam and into the inside. The inside end of the rod is rounded and then hollows inside with a sharp edge. It plunges down into a collared nipple. Between the two is the path of the film. It actuates the film on the edge. My guess is that it is some sort of printer que notcher that tells the printer what to print and what to ignore. But that's only a guess.

 

Thanks,

Paul

[Paul Bruening]

Okay guys,

 

Here's the 10 increment selector plus the notcher pushrod on the back.

[Paul Bruening]

Here's the notching rod from the rod-end angle,

 

and the seat's end.

[Paul Bruening]

Here's the button and jack on the back of the rack-over base. There's a similar opening without any switch mounted on the other side of the rack-over crank.

[Paul Bruening]

Here's the jack on the mount side of the CP motor. Ther's no correpsonding plug on the camera. This feature may have been for another camera. The lettering under the jack says, AUTO SLATER LIGHT POWER. How does this work? If it slates both the front and back of the shot with a little light, then I could pull the sound slate loop and run it to my sound recorder giving me easy match-ups in post.

[Paul Bruening]

Here's the actautor for the gate swing up thingie. It's the brass rod on the right. It pushes down. Along the top edge of the lens mount plate is a mount system for something. There are screw holes, a rectangular opening above the light path, and some kind of portruding, square rod tip in the middle. What the heck does this all do? Included are pics of the gate device up and down.

Edited April 4, 2005 by Paul Bruening

[Paul Bruening]

Lastly, what does this hatch in the side of the viewfinder do?

 

Any help would be fine.

 

Thanks, guys!

[Nate Downes]

The viewfinder hatch looks to be so you can access the front unit, so as to mount different glass to match up with the lenses you'd be shooting with. I've seen similar before on my old B&H, but they used a screw-in front lens element.

 

On a more personal note, you do realise how jealous you're making me right now, right? 8)

Edited April 4, 2005 by downix

[Marc Alucard]

Hello Paul,

 

The yellow button and jack replaced the original level on the base, They may be tied into the sync tone set-up in the CP Motor. The other open slot in the base is not original either.

 

The rod in the film path may be a part of a run out assembly to stop the motor. I haven't seen anything like it before myself.

 

The sliding door on the viewfinder assembly allows access to the ground glass.

 

All these cameras can may have unique modifications done to them throughout their working lives.

 

Cheers,

Marc

 

If you need I can fax you a few relevant pages of the manual. I emailed you a picture of my camera.

[Paul Bruening]

Hey Marc,

 

Thanks for the info. I'm going to buy the User's Guide and Parts Manual from the link you provided. Thanks loads on that. I have to figure this ancient but venerable device out before summer. That's when we start rolling film on our next feature. My Arri IIB was so similar to the 16S of my youth that the IIB was easy to understand. This Mitchell looks more like a prop out of "Dune". Still, it is the camera I have wanted since I was a little kid and I'm proud to have it.

 

Thanks,

Paul

[Paul Bruening]

Hey Stephen,

 

Thanks for the tip on the selector. I'm delighted it has a variable shutter. Sorry if I was bragging. I guess I'm still tickled about getting this stuff.

[Marc Alucard]

My BNCR was built up by Fouad Said as part of his Cinemobile package. It was used for the series I Spy in the '60s.

 

The Mitchells are all works of art. Unfortunately the rarest Mitchell is an original unmolested one.

 

You may want to contact Sam Dodge http://www.samdodge.com/ for more info. He knows these cameras very well. Check out his "King Kong" Mitchell Standard.

[Nate Downes]

I have the parts manual here. Well worth the money.

[Stephen Williams]

Here's the actautor for the gate swing up thingie. It's the brass rod on the right. It pushes down. Along the top edge of the lens mount plate is a mount system for something. There are screw holes, a rectangular opening above the light path, and some kind of portruding, square rod tip in the middle. What the heck does this all do? Included are pics of the gate device up and down.

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Paul,

 

I think this could be a capping shutter! Mabe the camera was used to shoot SLIT SCAN (Like the titles for 2001).

 

The inside moving plate is the buckle switch to kill power if the film jams.

 

Best wishes,

 

Stephen Williams DoP

 

www.stephenw.com

[Paul Bruening]

Hey Marc and Stephen,

 

I got the low-down from Ken Stone of Stone Cinema, Pine Mountain, CA. The swing up thingie is actually a time code device. The time code read out mounts on the top of the L-plate. There's a small lens above the light path. That projects the timecode into a prism in the thingie when it swings up. The timecode projects onto the film. The cameraman heads and tails each take with time code by pushing down on the spring-loaded rod.

 

The notcher is actually a dimpler. It is for queing the print guy so he doesn't have to view the footage for slates.

 

The button on the back was likely an electronic slate button. However, it could serve any purpose.

 

That's all of the mysteries.

 

Thanks again, guys,

Paul

Edited April 7, 2005 by Paul Bruening

[Stephen Williams]

Hey Marc and Stephen,

 

I got the low-down from Ken Stone of Stone Cinema, Pine Mountain, CA. Paul

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Paul

 

If you need repairs Ken is the man to speak to!

 

Stephen

[Paul Bruening]

Hey Stephen,

 

Ken was very forthcoming with info. I find many techs are closed-lipped in an attempt to force you to pay them for the info. Ken was totally cool about it. I'm buying a pressure plate from him. I still have to find an EDM shop to bore new holes so I can move the rollers and make a see-through pressure plate for my scan rig. Ken usually glues in optical glass on this conversion. Since I'm shooting 2 perf, I just need to move the rollers about 1.5mm each. He really liked the idea of keeping the rollers in. As soon as I get fresh spring belts from him I'll shoot some test rolls to make sure the clutch is OK. After that, I should be in business.

 

Thanks for all your help,

Paul