Canon Scoopic Gate Cleaning

[Hunter O'Shea]

I recently picked up a canon scoopic 16m after a lengthy search for something in my price range and upon receiving my first test reel back I am very happy with the results, however there appears to be many hairs In the gate and I was hoping someone could instruct me or point me in the direction of a tutorial of how I can gain access to the gate and remove the hairs/dust. I appreciate any help that can be offered!

 

I'm including a link to a sound sync test to give a visual of the obstructions.

 

https://vimeo.com/135114021

Thanks!

 

-Hunter

 

 

[Zac Fettig]

http://www.mango-a-gogo.com/manuals/Canon%20Scoopic%2016%20Operation%20Manual.pdf

http://www.mica.edu/Documents/VideoAndFilmPdfs/CanonScoopic16M.pdf

Basically, you lift up the pressure plate, using the pressure plate release knob, then clear the gate using canned air, or an orange wood stick, if the canned air isn't enough.

[Hunter O'Shea]

Thank you very much for taking the time Zac. Appreciate it.

 

-Hunter

[Zac Fettig]

No problem!

 

The Scoopic is a great camera. But it does have three drawbacks.

 

1. It's not easy to check the gate before shooting

2. Viewfinder prism can lead to strobing.

3. Putting a mag on it is like living a Rube Goldberg experience.

 

To be fair, that's not that dirty a gate. You could probably just push in on the film a little and cut (most of) the crud off the bottom.

[Hunter O'Shea]

Thank you for your insight Zac. This is actually my first attempt at shooting 16mm film and coming from a background of a couple years of shooting super 8 and not really having to worry about cleaning the gate mixed with being blinded by the excitement of finally having the opportunity to shoot on the format I guess I kinda jumped the gun on loading the film. To be honest this being a test reel I'm not all too upset about the dirtiness but as I'm planning to shoot a short in the near future I'd definitely like to achieve the best possible looking image with a high res scan and not having to crop any of the image area due to crud and sacrificing quality.

 

Speaking of drawbacks, with this being low speed 50d film and the fact that I live in Arizona I had a real difficult time having to stop down so much that I could barely see through the viewfinder due to darkness. Guess I need to invest in an ND filter haha.

 

Thanks again!

 

-Hunter

[Satsuki Murashige]

I've often had hairs in the gate with the Scoopic even when taking extra care to keep the camera clean between rolls. I think it's just a quirk of the camera design. Some things you can do to keep the camera clean are blowing out the film chamber with canned air, removing the pressure plate (it unscrews), wiping it with Panchro and a lens tissue, and going around edge of the gate with an orangewood stick. The problem is that hairs usually appear in the middle of a roll, which you can't see or get to in the normal way by removing the lens. The only way to check the gate would be to open the film chamber and flash a few feet a film which is very wasteful on a 100' roll.

 

I think you'll have to live with the dark viewfinder unless you have the Scoopic 16MS model which has a slot behind the lens for filters. ND filters in front of the lens will only help you open the aperture, it will still appear just as dark. The best thing is to use the slowest film stock possible so that you don't have to use heavy ND filters. I occasionally would shoot day exteriors on 500T to avoid using multiple film stocks and you couldn't see anything in that viewfinder with all the filters on the lens.

[Hunter O'Shea]

Thank you Satsuki! I appreciate you taking your time to respond. I feel a lot more knowledgeable on the scoopicl. I own the 16m model so I will need a lens attachable ND.

 

-Hunter

Edited August 5, 2015 by Hunter O'Shea