Webo DS8 BTL

[Luigi Castellitto]

Does anyone know the differences between these two Pathè Webo DS8 BTL?

 

https://assets.catawiki.nl/assets/2016/2/20/9/5/9/959ef714-d7ec-11e5-9184-f65dc3c50bb5.jpg

 

http://www.cameramuseum.nl/images/9032%20CM%20web.jpg

 

I am going to have the second.

Does anyone have the manual or know where I can find it?

Can anyone tell me what kind of battery have the light meter and if there is a model currently a usable (zync-air?)?

 

Thank you.

[Roberto Pirodda]

L'unica differenza tra le due è la possibilità di montare il magazzino da 120 metri. Ho usato questa macchina per un periodo e posso assicurarti che produce immagini perfette, nulla a che vedere con le classiche cineprese S8 a cartuccia. Purtroppo non posso aiutarti per i manuali e la batteria dell'esposimetro, ma è molto semplice da usare. per l'esposizione io uso sempre un esposimetro esterno.

Buon lavoro

[Luigi Castellitto]

Thank you, Roberto.

I'm using the camera, very good machine, very solid, with a nice viewfinder and other options.

Then, I solved for manual, which I found in English, and for the lightmeter, I used battery+adapter to get to the right voltage.

Since you have the camera, what you think about this post? I mean the last.

http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=73079&p=467464

I had to replace the lens in second photo (photo with lens mounted in the camera) because it was broken, with one in first photo. Apart for the parties for mount the iris and zoom motors for Beaulieu cameras (on Webo do not need), there should be no differences and the lens can be used very well on Webo. It's true?

Edited November 20, 2016 by Luigi Castellitto

[Roberto Pirodda]

Well, i have not anymore this camera unfortunately. It was more frame steady than the Bolex DS8 ! It seems that you are playing around lenses instead of shooting :-) me too was such kind of experimenter tough. Anyway, there is a said in Italy , it tells : date a Cesare quel che è di Cesare. ( give to Cesar what it is of Cesar) bad translation but it sounds more or less so. I have tried many lenses on the Webo, also Schneider ones, and the best was quite the Angenieux that came with the camera. May be because the Angenieux was collimated to work with the thin reflex glass of the Webo. The only thing that is frustrating now is the lack of DS8 filmstock !

[Luigi Castellitto]

Roberto, yes, maybe I'm doing some problems too! :)

The fact is that the high price of film and process, the risk bad shot because the lens is not compatible is bad. :( But I don't think is this case, moreover, I see all well, light and focus, even in the viewfinder.

[Martin Baumgarten]

You do not have to shoot an entire roll of film to do a focus test on various lenses. Just slate each shot so you know which lens is being used, once the tests are completed (keep them short, just a couple feet), you can then remove the exposed film in a darkroom or film changing bag and seal that up and have just that processed (by yourself or a lab). Since it's just a focus test, I suggest using some old film, color or B&W and processing it as B&W Neg. The goal here is to check for image sharpness, which a few feet is plenty, examine it with a strong loupe on a light table.

[Luigi Castellitto]

Thank you, Martin, I have send few feet of an old b/w film at lab. Process in negative.

I hope that the lens is compatible and works well! :)

[Dom Jaeger]

Or if you are friendly with a camera technician they can check the lens/camera calibration very easily on a bench collimator. For example it takes me about 10 minutes to check if a zoom is working properly on a camera (holding focus as you zoom and lining up with the distance marks) and whether the ground glass matches the film plane (so what you see in the viewfinder is what will be on the film).

 

But of course not everyone has easy access to a technician!

[Simon Wyss]

Having made my experiences with a couple of Pathé WEBO M, one Double-Super 8 and one 16, I kind of feel urged to offer my knowledge. After a lengthy correspondence with one of the clients I had decided to never accept such a camera ever again. Described it with a German film forum called Filmvorführerforum, there. Unfortunately, the bigger part of the first post got lost with a forum move to new servers some days ago.

 

The important things in short:

• The front plate is attached to the main frame by four screws. There is no positive locking. A blow to the front can shift it under the screw heads meaning that the gear train gets possibly stalled. That’s what was the case with the DS-8 model.
• The take-up spindle is driven by an endless coil spring but under a too small circumferential angle. At the same time the pulleys do not line up precisely (which by the way is the case with other cameras, too). Younger models have a larger wrap angle. Safe function of film take-up depends on the model. I don’t know when the change was made as by serial numbers.
• The film canal (gate) is of mediocre to inferior quality. Lateral film guidance has more to do with luck than with possibilities a technician might apply.

I have also encountered gears that don’t mesh properly axially while fixed by through pins, too much play between shaft and gear causing the gear to run slightly excentrically while fixed by two set screws that act under a right angle, and more such. These cameras are simply dangerous—for the purse. You can run into expensive repair jobs. I offered my first client to add two locating pins between front and housing. He wouldn’t want that done. It really hardly is worth the effort.

 

I acknowledge that the WEBO M has a housing with a large base surface (being an offspring of the Ciné-Kodak E) and quite a low flying optical axis but that’s about it. The rest, especially the viewfinder system, still sends me shivers down my spine when I think of it.

 

That’s that.