My Bolex H16 Reflex aperture is very dark.

[Jack Wormell]

Hi 

 

When I close up my Bolex H-16 Reflex aperture (which I do often shooting in daylight) I basically can't see anything through my viewfinder. Is there some way I can fix this? I have my viewfinder lever open (down pointing backwards) and there are no filters in the camera, although the frame filter holder is in as it should be. It basically makes it impossible to re-frame or re-focus while filming. Is there anything I can do about this? Would a parallax side finder help at all? I pretty much always use a 25mm Kern - Palliard prime lens with the camera, and I once used a much longer zoom lens for a shoot (and the viewfinder, when closing up to shoot, was still almost black).

The camera has always been like this, I bought it refurbished from a recommended seller who sells Bolex cameras a few years ago, and I've found it quite hard to find more detailed information about this particular problem on the internet. There is no mention of this in the manual I got with the Bolex. I know that viewfinder gets less light than the film so will always be dimmer, but this just seems impractical.

Any advice with this would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Jack

[Philip Forrest]

Since you're looking through the lens with closed down aperture, then also looking through the reflex finder, you're not going to be able to see much. You may need to get the camera cleaned, lubed and adjusted, but what you're describing sounds exactly like my REX4. I came to Bolex after working with Filmo 70 series cameras which all use parallax finders, so looking through the lens is a new thing for me, but it's not bad to move the eye over to the Octameter finder I have on the film chamber door of the camera. If you're comfortable doing composition with a parallax finder, definitely get one. I find that the reflex finder is really useful for fine focus then I switch to the Octameter finder for composition.

Phil Forrest

[Simon Wyss]

A practical knack, only stop down immediately prior to exposure. Have the diaphragm fully open at f/1.4 for instance, frame and focus. Then read value from lightmeter, memorize, prepare finally for shooting and close iris as the last move. If finder image is too dark to follow an object, switch to side finder (on camera lid). Have a rubber eyecup on there. If still unpractical, use a mirror reflex camera. Or a non-reflex Bolex with a reflex finder zoom lens. Or the Elgeet Cine-Flex. Or less sensitive film or an ND filter eventually in order to bring diaphragm openings to f/5.6 or f/4.

[Jack Wormell]

Hi Guys

 

Thanks for the replies, lots of really useful information there. So a side finder should be a little less dark? I think I might invest in one of them, but an ND also sounds like a good idea. Primarily you've answered my question that my camera is not broken or faulty in any way, which is reassuring.

 

Thanks very much

 

Jack