Hand crank mod

[Matthew Dunbar]

Hey there,

I'm wondering if any Bolex veterans have experimented with (forward) hand cranking their Bolex a la early cinema? I know it can be done, but I'm not sure of the best way to approach it. From what little I have read on the topic, the small backwinding crank is too small to use for any substantial filming--it easily falls out from the coupling. Do you think a larger, custom made crank would work? My biggest concern is that whatever crank I'm using will fall out while using it and I'm not sure how to secure it. Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Philip Forrest]

I've not tried it with a Bolex, but I have with a Filmo. The only problem is the crank should be long, so you can put a smooth amount of torque on the crank. Doing this, you also need a rock steady tripod because if you have any amount of play between the camera and the ground, it will show on film with the camera moving up and down every couple 10 frames. 

Phil Forrest

[Aaron Martin @ OH]

It can be done effectively with the short rewind crank, but only in short bursts. I definitely wouldn't try anything longer than twenty seconds or so.

Hope that helps.

Aaron

[Simon Wyss]

It wasn’t meant to crank a Bolex by hand, they’re automatic cameras like the Filmo, the Eyemo, and many more. Paillard had offered a longer crank for moving the film to and fro but it’s not secured in any way.

A possibility would be to tap the shaft, a job I’d do on the unit removed from the mechanism. Then a crank equipped with a thumb screw could be safely attached. Another means would be a cotter pin through the bores of the counter drive bushing, a little complicated because the cotter would need to hold down the friction washers. If not, one would better remove and store the parts for later. A new crank with a corresponding through hole would be appropriate.

With early models only an axial tap will work. For prolonged manual exposure I’d suggest to look for a Ciné-Kodak.