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Anywhere that mods K3s?


Marc De Acetis

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Hello!

 

I just bought a K3 a month or so ago. I'm wondering if anywhere or anyone mods the lens mount to some like PL anymore. I've seen a few people floating around with different mounts on this camera and the M42 mount is kind of hindering when it comes to wider FOVs.

 

Any help is appreciated!

 

Thanks!

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  • 3 weeks later...
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I had a K3 about 6 or 7 years ago. Got tired of winding it and sold it but had several things done to it:

 

  • Duall widened my gate and drilled out the viewfinder to see the full S16 field.
  • Duall also removed all the loop formers...too often they would scratch the film so it was better to manually make the loops
  • Bernie at Super16Inc.com did his Laserbrighten process on the mirror and it became MUCH MUCH brighter. Highly recommend that.
  • I found a re-centered lens mount on eBay and it was very easy just to screw it on and have the lens centered for Super 16. Don't know if you can find those anymore.
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Any memory of the cost of those things? Specifically the gate/viewfinder mods at Du-All? I also got a K3 and it's in great condition. Loop formers are removed but now itching to go wide. Saw that on eBay you can get the widened gate and the recentering mount but I've heard that installing the gate ain't the easiest thing. But maybe I'm just psyching myself out.

 

Also intrigued by the laserbrightening but oooo wow! Just looked up the price of that and it seems a bit overkill for a K3. I've heard great things about it so I don't fault his work but $225 for a $150 camera seems a bit much haha. Tempting though!

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Also intrigued by the laserbrightening but oooo wow! Just looked up the price of that and it seems a bit overkill for a K3. I've heard great things about it so I don't fault his work but $225 for a $150 camera seems a bit much haha. Tempting though!

 

At that point it is a $375 camera. I think I sold mine with all the mods and a case for $600. I'd get the brightened viewfinder before Super 16 actually. It helps quite a bit.

 

Also, that's less than 2 rolls of film + developing + scanning.

 

I think the gate is just a mater of unscrewing it and screwing in the new one just like the mount (which is extremely easy.)

 

Honestly, just take it out and shoot. Scans today look great with regular 16 and you can re-frame in post without losing resolution if you get a full 2k or 4k scan. Especially if you shoot 50D outside.

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Great thoughts. Ya I am itching to get home today because I just got back the 2K scans from Gamma Ray for my first (successful) roll through my K3. First one I developed wrong. Shot a roll of FomaPan 100 with a musician friend and then processed it in a Lomo tank with Mono No Aware and it came out great. Saw some really sharp stills on the light table before sending it off. It's definitely a very capable camera.

 

You're probably right about the cropping vs gate widening but it's definitely nice to have it. Like you said, I should just shoot until I feel like I really need any of that. At this point, I don't really need all that extra stuff since it's working fine but film gear/upgrades are always so tempting haha. Just getting this K3... I know 16mm's gonna be another money suck that I love aside from Super 8. haha. Do kinda want a projector now though. Love projecting my S8.

 

 

(also woo 100 posts... catching up! haha)

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All useful mods, but I must say that the K3 has an already bright viewfinder. I have always felt good with all closed iris and with use of ND filters.
@Will: did you have bayonet or screw lenses? :)
Although the viewfinder of K3 has always had a particularity: it is slightly yellowish, I saw it in every k3 I saw. I've always wondered if it's a problem that take K3 with time or it's the original to be like that.
About brightness, a Bolex H is a camera that much needs to have a brighter viewfinder, really dark without great lighting, with its 20% of diverted light. I have an H8, not a H16, I have to ask Bernie if he can do the work too on H8.
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@Will: did you have bayonet or screw lenses? :)

 

Screw...M42 mount.

 

Thats another thing I'd recommend...some Pentax Super Takumar lenses...like a 24, 35 and 50mm. That actually made the most noticeable difference to me; those lenses are amazing. Fairly common and inexpensive but super sharp.

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Working on the K3 is very easy. I used a file to convert my regular 16mm into a S16. I purchased the re-centering ring and it was super easy to replace that one too. Removing the loop formers was super easy too. Making the camera scratch free and light leaks free wasn't that easy, but it wasn't impossible. It really helps if you can process film at home, so you can test the camera.

 

I polished the gate, the pressure plate and guides using a hand tool that I purchased at Harbor Freight for $10. It takes lot's of patience and for sure you are going to loose collimation of the lens mount, so your lenses (m42) are going to work but forget about using measure tape to set focus. What you see is what you get. I tested, processed, tested, processed and studied the position of the S16 extra room till it became second nature and when I shot a roll it wasn't really difficult to preview what I was capturing. I messed so much with the camera that it became shaky, but I learned so many things and it gave me great footage.

 

I really appreciate the extra real state that S16 gives me compared to regular 16. I can get 2k scans and I'm not loosing 40% of the image/ quality.

 

Always use gaffe tape to tape around the joints, practice and learn how to load the camera in total darkness so you can take advantage of your film.

 

I don't have the K3 anymore, but it was a great camera that thought me a lot. Super takumar and other M42 lenses are great. I shot this using a k3, a tripod and a few M42 lenses. Warp stablization in Premiere Pro is your friend...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk--YGrMJIQ&t=6s

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  • 2 weeks later...

Very beautiful K3 footage, Ruben Arce,

so inspiring!

I bought a K3 camera body (off eBay) a while ago, which was converted to Super-16 by Les Bosher in the UK. It has a Nikon F hard mount, instead of the M42 screw mount, so I am thinking I will try using it with my manual Nikon Ai-S glass (and some Samyang and Voigtländer manual focus lenses with Nikon F mount). I have focal lengths from 14mm (rectilinear super wide) up to 300mm.

I haven't shot anything with this K3 body yet, so I don't know if it will scratch the emulsion anywhere inside the camera. I'll just have to learn by doing, I guess. And measure the light with my Sekonic L-758 Cine spot meter. It will be very interesting to test it with the Kodak Vision3 50D 16mm negative, and a 4K scan.

I just can't wait for the new Kodak Ektachrome 100D 7294 Reversal film in 100 ft daylight rolls! https://www.kodak.com/SE/sv/motion/Products/Production/ektachrome/default.htm

 

All the best,
Bengt Fredén, photographer & cinematographer, Stockholm, Sweden

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Thanks Bengt Fredén,

 

That's quite a machine. I always fantasized with the idea of converting my K3 to Nikon. Sounds like you have a great set up, you should give it a try. The Sekonic L-758 Cine is a great tool, you definitely should use that one instead of using the one on the K3. I have a 558 Cine and it works great for me, and man I'm excited about Ektachrome too. There is nothing like getting film proceseed and scanned in the mail, but projecting the film would be awesome.

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