Aaton XTR XC getting started....

Stephen Perera · June 8, 2017

Hi all..... just received my Aaton XTR XC (no electronics) and I must say I love its form factor and the feel of it....the viewfinder is bright enough for me and have my Nikon adapter ready to go.....Im waiting for two batteries to be re-celled before i can use it....saying that I don't even know where the 'roll film' start button is hahahaha and I can't find any documentation for this either! also, have no idea what the parts that came with it are....I hope you could identify the labels Ive added and tell me a bit about what they do.....MUCH APPRECIATED!!!!!

(as you can se I have created a make-shift follow focus + rail system from the grip bar...dont have the grip nor bars)

Edited June 8, 2017 by Stephen Perera

Stephen Perera · June 8, 2017

Item 2 on the lower photo is the battery charger I guess....item 1 (Aaton 30) doesn't come complete but was included in the sale......no idea what parts 3 - 7 are....no. 4 looks like a cable release of some sort......and item 5 I thought was connected to the hole labelled A on the first image......though from pictures on the internet I see some models have like a flick switch there.....but there isn't one on this camera

Tyler Purcell · June 8, 2017

I'm gonna hazard a few "guesses" here.

A) Is the run light. Solid red means not running. Solid yellow means running. Blinking red means out of sync and/or battery is dying, depending on the type of blinks.

1) Are the video tap electronics. There should be a cable that runs from that little round black thing above where the battery plugs in, that goes to that Aaton 30 box.

2) Looks like a 3rd party battery charger.

3) Looks like a run switch. The camera may have been setup to only run through the handle grip and they didn't give it to you, so that switch I assume either plugs into the handle grip location OR the little circle jack above the power connector on the camera body.

4) Can't tell what that is, can't see the other connector.

5) This could be an earlier revision of the ground glass removal tool. If it has small fine threads at the end, then that's what it's for. It seems a bit big to get in there tho, but the picture could be deceiving. If it's not a ground glass tool, I haven't the foggiest.

6) I can't quite tell what 6 is, I'd have to see a close up of that and 5 to really figure out what they are.

7) Pack of fuses and resistors. This is a pretty common little kit to have just incase the camera stops working in the field and you need to replace things. SO far my Aaton's have been pretty robust in this department, but ya never know!

Stephen Perera · June 8, 2017

I'm gonna hazard a few "guesses" here.

A) Is the run light. Solid red means not running. Solid yellow means running. Blinking red means out of sync and/or battery is dying, depending on the type of blinks.

1) Are the video tap electronics. There should be a cable that runs from that little round black thing above where the battery plugs in, that goes to that Aaton 30 box.

2) Looks like a 3rd party battery charger.

3) Looks like a run switch. The camera may have been setup to only run through the handle grip and they didn't give it to you, so that switch I assume either plugs into the handle grip location OR the little circle jack above the power connector on the camera body.

4) Can't tell what that is, can't see the other connector.

5) This could be an earlier revision of the ground glass removal tool. If it has small fine threads at the end, then that's what it's for. It seems a bit big to get in there tho, but the picture could be deceiving. If it's not a ground glass tool, I haven't the foggiest.

6) I can't quite tell what 6 is, I'd have to see a close up of that and 5 to really figure out what they are.

7) Pack of fuses and resistors. This is a pretty common little kit to have just incase the camera stops working in the field and you need to replace things. SO far my Aaton's have been pretty robust in this department, but ya never know!

Thanks Tyler!!!

No. 3 - is a remote ON button.....the seller just told me haha.....

No. 4 - dunno what it is still.....

No. 5 - yes has small fine threads at the end spot on!

Tyler Purcell · June 9, 2017

So that "remote" on button, where does it plug in? Can you send a pix of the connector?

It's super strange the body has no button. I've never seen that before. Must have been a camera made for a specific purpose, hence the odd nature of the accessories and body. Look in the ground glass, it should say in one of the corners which version of XTR it is. I bet it's a gen 2. I had a Gen 1 and it was very different.

Stephen Perera · June 9, 2017

So that "remote" on button, where does it plug in? Can you send a pix of the connector?

It's super strange the body has no button. I've never seen that before. Must have been a camera made for a specific purpose, hence the odd nature of the accessories and body. Look in the ground glass, it should say in one of the corners which version of XTR it is. I bet it's a gen 2. I had a Gen 1 and it was very different.

Aaton service guy in UK Alan (great guy) told me this camera - the XC model - was made as a camera to go bring out if your electronics go and you're in the middle of the jungle - it does have the magnetic magazines though but doesn't have the electronic film counter etc

Edited June 9, 2017 by Stephen Perera

Tyler Purcell · June 10, 2017

Interesting... so it's got slightly different electronics probably. Now that switch makes sense, that I see the front of the camera. The switch on the right of your picture is the actual run switch btw. One direction is single frame, the other direction is "run".

Ohh and what does the ground glass say on it?

Stephen Perera · June 10, 2017

what you mean have a look at the ground glass....look inside the viewfinder or down behind the lens??? haha ignorance is blis....

....one IMPORTANT question I have though Tyler.....

in my ignorance a while ago (when i was gonna settle on buying an old MOS camera) i bought 100ft daylight load stock from Kodak in Spain not thinking i was going to end up buying an Aaton with 400ft magazines as i have....

so my question is...can the daylight load stock be used on Aaton 400ft magazines.....the manual says yes and I quote....

"30m (100ft) daylight spools can be used on feed side only....to remove the core holder (is that the two light blocking discs so to speak??) loosen screw 02.613.02 using knurled tool 02.620.00 found near the left/right passage. Then used this knurled tool to hold spool on spindle"

em sounds like a lot to be able to do in the dark no? have no idea what they mean....

Stephen Perera · June 10, 2017

....the obvious thing to do would be take off the black discs of the roll of film making it light proof whilst maintaining the core in the middle....assuming it has the core it needs to work properly...cant think why they would use a different one haha....

Tyler Purcell · June 10, 2017

On the ground glass where the frame markings are, in the upper corners there are letters. The left side says AATON, the right side says the camera model. Just take the front cap off (no lens) in a bright place, take your camera phone and shove it in the viewfinder hole to snap a pix of the ground glass.

In terms of 100ft spools, yea the camera works great with them. There is a little set screw on the side of the core mount on the supply side of the magazine. Just unscrew that set screw until it sticks out from it's recessed hole. Then simply wiggle/pull that core mount out of the magazine. This will give you a place to push a core on.

Now I always load 100ft daylight spool cameras in the dark, so yea you would still load it in the dark, just to make sure. But at least you can use them.

One other tip, your footage counter doesn't work with 100ft daylight spools, so make sure it's set to the "off" position, which has the little lever inside the magazine to the "locked" position... if that makes any sense.

Stephen Perera · June 11, 2017

hahaha fantastic man I did it!!! never in a billion years would it occur to me to take the core mount off....obv. cos i haven't seen a 100ft roll out of its bag yet!.....

so basically I will keep the core mount off until I actually buy some 400ft rolls I guess....the piece was screwed on lightly i could even put my nail on the groove and start unscrewing it by hand so i guess the previous owner must have used some 100ft rolls too....

so how come you load in the dark though? is there still a need or just to practice anyway????

the whole Aaton design seems really well thought out and robust to me....

thanks Tyler you are a fantastic help to me......I hope one day I can actually be of some help to you.....I will take pics of the ground glass tomorrow as i left the camera at work....I just have the second magazine at home with me.....

Edited June 11, 2017 by Stephen Perera

Mark Dunn · June 11, 2017

You don't have to load daylight spools in the dark. There's an allowance of, I think, 6' at either end which you run off.

Of course you can't take up onto a daylight spool so you'll have to take up onto a core and unload in the dark. 100' on a core won't fit in a 100' can, so you'll need an empty 400' can and one of the lightproof bags a 400' roll comes in.

On second thoughts, if you're learning how to unload in a changing bag, you might as well learn how to load in one as well.

Edited June 11, 2017 by Mark Dunn

Tyler Purcell · June 11, 2017

so how come you load in the dark though? is there still a need or just to practice anyway????

I load the entire magazine in the dark, including the side with the sprockets. It does make a huge difference in light leaks. With daylight spools, you have a higher likelihood of a bit of light getting through multiple layers, especially at the head.

I load my Bolex the same way. K3 is a bit harder because mine is all manual, no auto thread.

Stephen Perera · June 12, 2017

can't see any marking on the ground glass

Tyler Purcell · June 12, 2017

Go the other way with your camera, like you're using it, rather then from the front. You may not see them because they're so faint.

Here is a pix, you can see in the upper right the word "Aaton" and the number "4". This is a good indication of which camera it is.

Stephen Perera · June 12, 2017

hahaah cool i get it now hahaha

Stephen Perera · June 13, 2017

no information at all that i can see......tell me about the frame though....the thick frame and the inner broken line frame.....this looks like regular 16mm Not super16mm.....

Edited June 13, 2017 by Stephen Perera

Tyler Purcell · June 13, 2017

Eye, that's some special camera man. I've had 3 Aaton's of different generations and none of them had that kind of ground glass, they all had nearly identical ground glass. Makes me wonder what the heck you've got! :P

Stephen Perera · June 14, 2017

Eye, that's some special camera man. I've had 3 Aaton's of different generations and none of them had that kind of ground glass, they all had nearly identical ground glass. Makes me wonder what the heck you've got! :P

this is the 16mm ground glass hence why no markings????.......

......no idea how to do the conversion though...the manual refers to tools and parts with no pictures on the guide and I can't find anything at all on youtube guiding me on how to do it ....its an 'easy when you know how' moment....will prob send it to my now friend in the UK who services Aatons...he said

"You need to look through port on r/h side sloted screw on ground glass holder loosen and push gg right until stop the tighten screw

Undo 4 screws on view finder where it joins body then transfer s16 packing piece under 2 screws to other side.

Undo lens holder move to othe 3 screws the centre using s16 Aaton tool and tighten. Then collimate camera."

I can't collimate any camera....needless to say I had to look that one up hahaha

Edited June 14, 2017 by Stephen Perera

Tyler Purcell · June 14, 2017

If the camera has a S16 gate, it's easy to convert it.

The lens mount should have markings if it CAN be converted.

Where the viewfinder tube goes into the handle at the top of the camera, there are 4 screws that hold that assembly in. All you do is move the little offset plate from one side of those screws to the other. Once you see it, you'll be like, omg that's stupid simple and it is!

The problem is your ground glass, that's for sure only standard 16.