Bolex H16 REX-4 Shutter not moving.

[Peter Krijgsman]

Dear Members,

First i would like to introduce myself as a new member to this wonderful website :)  As a cinematography student in Amsterdam i love collecting analogue still camera's and lenses, but i was also on the hunt for a decent Bolex H16. Luckily I've found one last week for a good price, the motor seems working good and running fine around 24 frames and the overall condition seems fine.

Only one thing i found out recently is that the shutter is not moving when the motor is running. Tried it both times with the motor on M or manually on O, also the variable shutter is on default position.

Here i recorded a simple video while running the Bolex at 12 FPS:

Hope you guys can help me out!

 

Kinds Regards,

Peter

Edited January 17, 2021 by Peter Krijgsman

[Philip Forrest]

Corrected my post after watching the video

Edited January 17, 2021 by Philip Forrest

[Dom Jaeger]

I think you'll need to give it to a Bolex technician to check.  The only reason I can think of for this fault is that the shutter is either missing or the gear that drives it is missing. It seems weird, but maybe someone used this camera as a parts donor? (A shame if it's an otherwise good condition camera.) Or perhaps it got re-assembled incorrectly?  What does the seller say?

A technician will need to remove the front to check what's happening. This isn't very hard to do yourself (ask for tips first), but you would need to reset the shutter to pulldown timing when you re-assemble, and ideally re-make the light seal. The bigger problem would be finding the right parts if you need to replace things, or knowing what might be incorrectly fitted, which a Bolex technician would know.

 

 

[Simon Wyss]

Possibly the set screws in the shutter helical gear are not tightened. Could be something worse such as the shutter group missing. How much did you pay?

[Peter Krijgsman]

8 hours ago, Dom Jaeger said:

I think you'll need to give it to a Bolex technician to check.  The only reason I can think of for this fault is that the shutter is either missing or the gear that drives it is missing. It seems weird, but maybe someone used this camera as a parts donor? (A shame if it's an otherwise good condition camera.) Or perhaps it got re-assembled incorrectly?  What does the seller say?

A technician will need to remove the front to check what's happening. This isn't very hard to do yourself (ask for tips first), but you would need to reset the shutter to pulldown timing when you re-assemble, and ideally re-make the light seal. The bigger problem would be finding the right parts if you need to replace things, or knowing what might be incorrectly fitted, which a Bolex technician would know.

 

 

Thanks for the reply Dom! The seller told me that the camera was from his father who passed away recently, he actually never used it for filming but collected older camera's. I also bought it without the crank, the possibility is there to say that this camera was used as a donor. But on the other hand, the camera does not look like it has been reassembled to my eyes. But he you never know, I'm not a technician. 

I hope i can find a bolex technician here in Europe! 

 

[Dom Jaeger]

Never buy a camera without a winding crank.. it’s like buying a car that’s missing the steering wheel. You never know what else might be missing..

[Peter Krijgsman]

8 minutes ago, Dom Jaeger said:

Never buy a camera without a winding crank.. it’s like buying a car that’s missing the steering wheel. You never know what else might be missing..

You are absolutely right! But sometimes you need to take chances in life