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BOLEX H16M conversion to reflex?


Olaf Trevilla

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6 hours ago, Olaf Trevilla said:

Hello there! I have a broken Rex 4 with a non workin motor that doesn’t run at all but is in good condition, I was wondering if it’s possible to take off the turret plates and viewfinder off the reflex Bolex and Mount them onto a BolexH16M model

Jean-Louis would know definitively (I’ve never done it) but I think you could convert a 16M to reflex using parts from an Rex 4 since they share the same basic body and mechanism plate. However in a 16M the shutter is fixed to the mechanism plate rather than to the turret front as in a Rex model, so you can’t just swap fronts over, the M shutter needs to be removed first. There may be other incompatibilities I’m not aware of.

The other option is to swap the good motor from the M to the Rex (the motors are compatible if the M serial number is beyond 203,000), but that requires a little more disassembly.

Either way, best to get a tech to do it.

6 hours ago, David Dominguez said:

One of my Bolex motors died on me and I had a tech repair it for me. It was also aREX 4.

If you want to repair your REX 4 hit me up and I'll send you his info. 

If the tech has motors in their parts inventory it can be replaced, but Bolex International stopped selling spring motors a few years ago, so those parts are scarce now. Repairing a broken spring motor is pretty difficult and usually not possible (for me at least!) but it depends on what’s damaged. Do you know if your tech repaired it or replaced it? Be good to know someone who can repair a broken one.

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Just now, Dom Jaeger said:

Jean-Louis would know definitively (I’ve never done it) but I think you could convert a 16M to reflex using parts from an Rex 4 since they share the same basic body and mechanism plate. However in a 16M the shutter is fixed to the mechanism plate rather than to the turret front as in a Rex model, so you can’t just swap fronts over, the M shutter needs to be removed first. There may be other incompatibilities I’m not aware of.

The other option is to swap the good motor from the M to the Rex (the motors are compatible if the M serial number is beyond 203,000), but that requires a little more disassembly.

Either way, best to get a tech to do it.

If the tech has motors in their parts inventory it can be replaced, but Bolex International stopped selling spring motors a few years ago, so those parts are scarce now. Repairing a broken spring motor is pretty difficult and usually not possible (for me at least!) but it depends on what’s damaged. Do you know if your tech repaired it or replaced it? Be good to know someone who can repair a broken one.

Hi Dom, 

He had a spare motor that he replaced it with. 

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13 minutes ago, Simon Wyss said:

Someone I know, within a good hour’s car trip, can make new spiral springs. He also made a spring for me that went into a gramophone. More spring makers that I can drive to are located in the near Black Forest.

The benefits of living in the clockwork capital of the world - Switzerland!

Good to know, thanks Simon. 

I was perusing one of my Bolex service manuals yesterday and came across a 1971 technical note I hadn’t really noticed before, alerting technicians to a weaker spring fitted to a batch of cameras (roughly 241xxx to 252xx  RX 4 and 5, plus a few Ms and SBMs). Must have been a slightly defective material used or something. Their solution was to recommend setting the limit gears a bit closer to the fully wound spring limit, only half a revolution down rather than the usual full turn. So many quirks in Bolex history..

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  • 3 weeks later...
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An H16 M can be converted to Reflex, however, the reflex donor body for the shutter needs to be either a RX-0 that still had the fixed shutter, or an EBM with the fixed shutter.

My M-5 was converted to reflex using the 13x viewfinder, reflex assembly, bayonet mount, and shutter of a dead EBM, essentially making it an SBM with a fixed shutter of 170° instead of the variable shutter of a stock SBM.

20201121_215228.jpg

Edited by Robert Ditto
Typo
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  • 5 weeks later...
On 10/11/2021 at 8:17 AM, Frank Poole said:

I’d just get one of those angenieux lenses with the viewfinder attached to it. But to Robert’s point, I have a non-working REX-0 like he’s describing I can contribute if you wanna go that route.

Wow thanks Robert! I was still on a quest to find a broken Rex, so I’d love to get my hands on your old Rex 0 to try and convert with the M camera if you’re willing to part ways with it! How much are you asking for it?

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