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Arriflex 16 SR and SRII film cameras need new homes!


Matt Meyer

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Since my retirement last year, our university has decided not to teach shooting on film any more. Bad news for the students, but good news for you – we have three venerable Arriflex 16mm cameras for your consideration.

 

Camera #1 (lovingly called Princess Leia) is an Arriflex 16 SRII with a standard academy gate. Comes with a clean Angenieux 10-120mm f 2.8 zoom lens, crystal clear with no marks or fungus. This package also includes a hand grip with trigger for hand-held use, a plastic cover for the mag, and an Arnold & Richter variable speed control, allowing frame rates from roughly 8 to 80 fps. The camera is very clean and has little signs of use. The lens is a bit more worn, but works great. The package includes a Porta-Brace heavy duty camera bag.

 

Camera #2 (Han Solo) is an Arriflex 16 SR with a standard academy gate. This bad boy comes with a Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 10-100mm f 2.8 zoom lens that may have enough width to cover a Super 16 frame, if you wanted to do a conversion. There’s also a cool Arri-Tach DCT-1 high-speed variable speed controller. I am unable to test this currently, but I recall was capable of ridiculous frame rates – perhaps some Arri expert can supply its specs. The package includes one 400’ mag, a plastic mag cover, and a core spindle. The camera is in remarkably good shape for its age. The lens housing is well-worn, but the elements are crystal clear and fungus-free. (Like the Millennium Falcon, she may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts.) This camera comes in an Arriflex metal case, which is lacking a handle.

 

Camera #3 (Luke) is a vintage Arriflex 16 SR with an interesting story. I was searching for the little 4-pin XLR to Arri bizarro power adapters that are ridiculously difficult to replace. I bought this camera very cheaply off eBay, specifically because it had two of those adapters. The camera had previously been in a museum, and was thought to be non-functional.

 

You guessed it – we plugged it in and it purred like a kitten. This beast also sports a T-bar viewfinder and a vintage (Visual Products?) VP-111 video assist unit. Although the optics look great, we were unable to obtain a usable video image from this gizmo. (Perhaps you’ll have more luck than we did.)

 

This camera also comes with a beautiful Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 10-100mm f 2.8 zoom lens that’s clean and crisp (despite a fingerprint on the UV filter). There’s also a hand grip with trigger, a variable speed controller, and on 400’ mag included. The rubber eye cup is currently not attached – you may want to find a new one.

 

Truth in advertising: As I recall, there’s currently a blown fuse on Camera #3. My plan is to fix and test this before anyone purchases it, unless someone would prefer to do this herself.

 

All of these cameras have been well-used and well-loved. They are guaranteed not to scratch film. However, they are vintage cameras, with a few dings and tape residue. If a lens doesn’t iris properly, or something’s messed up, don’t fear – we’ll make it right.

 

Here’s the thing – I’m finding it exceedingly challenging to set reasonable prices for these. I’m seeing them listed for a few hundred bucks to $10,000 and up on eBay. So, please shoot me an email through Cinematography.com, telling me what you’re interested in, and what you feel a fair price is (ideally $500 or more per camera.) Our main goal is to get these into the hands of someone who will appreciate them, rather than get the highest possible price. I’d prefer not to separate the lenses from the cameras, but we can certainly talk. All three cameras are located in Portland, Oregon, and will be carefully packaged, but expensive to ship.

 

Special bonus offer: As mentioned above, the 4-pin SLR – Arri bizarro adapter is incredibly difficult to find. If you purchase a camera, for an extra $50 we’ll throw in one of these adapters. For another $50 we’ll toss in a brilliant adapter plate that allows you to use modern gold mount/Anton Bauer style batteries to power your film camera. 

I just realized there's a 300K limit to attachment on this page, so please go here to see more photos of the gear: https://tinyurl.com/ArriSRs .

Drop me a line, and I’ll be happy to send you more photos of the gear and answer any questions you may have. Also, I have several full 400' rolls of Kodak stock, a couple of Beaulieu R16s, a fabulous Zeiss lens, and other film-related items I'll be posting shortly. If there's something specific you're hunting for, let me know.

Best regards,

matt

  

Cam 1 side.jpg

Edited by Matt Meyer
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Hi Matt, 

I am interested in Leia, Han Solo or Luke.  I am a long time super 8 and 16m enthusiast and a working cameraman who would love to own an Arriflex again.  I had an old Arri S years ago (so old the viewfinder was yellow from all the radioactive lens coatings) but loved shooting with it.  My first loading job was an SR back in 98 for the cable TV show 18 Wheels of Justice for Stu Siegel down here is San Diego.  I have always loved the SR and would give one of your cameras a good home with a promise to shoot creative films in 16mm on the camera.  Any one of the units would be a dream to use.  Please consider me to further the working life of these dream machines. 

Thanks 

Ryan

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23 minutes ago, Matt Meyer said:

Wow! Thanks to all of you who have responded. I hope to respond to each of you ASAP. 

It really is heart-warming to hear about people's love of these old film cameras.

I shared your sales post with the Arriflex Facebook group, so that might be why there are a bunch of new accounts messaging you. Just wanted to let you know in case you were suspicious of the new accounts. 

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1 hour ago, Matt Meyer said:

Wow! Thanks to all of you who have responded. I hope to respond to each of you ASAP. 

It really is heart-warming to hear about people's love of these old film cameras.

Best,

matt

Hi Matt, I'm sure you're swamped with messages, but just letting you know I sent a PM. I'm fairly local and would love the opportunity to shoot on one of these cameras.

Thanks for the warm post. It's lovely to see.

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Dear Matt,
Tiziano and Samira here writing from Làbbash - an independent, non-industrial laboratory based in Milano - Italy. We set up the lab with the help of many friends who have given us their disused equipment and their experience. Over the years we have recovered and put back into operation cameras, moviola, developers, projectors, telecine. 
Làbbash is equipped for processing 16mm ( shooting, development and printing) and all analogue photographic formats. Certainly unique in Italy, it is located in Sesto San Giovanni, one of the largest cities of factories in Europe that has attracted thousands of workers from all over Italy during decades. A city that the 2016 census showed to be made up of 17% of foreign immigrants. 
The laboratory was born to be able to make our films in 16mm in total autonomy compared to large productions.
We also pay close attention to dissemination and organize numerous workshops and noticed that a lot of young people approaches this practice. 
We have therefore decided that a part of our equipment such as Bolex or tripods we make available to independent directors who need to make their film or their experimentation in 16mm.
My partner Samira and I are teachers in high school and in our cinema courses we use 16mm film. 
We would be extremely grateful to have your support and one or more cameras.

Here are some links where to find more info on us.

https://warshadfilm.com/our_non_industrial_lab/
https://warshadfilm.com/workshops/
https://www.instagram.com/labbash.milano/
https://www.moderntimes.review/la-zita/

Indeed they are not simple filmmakers but total experimenters, the only ones in Italy who, in addition to shooting in 16mm negative (using Bolex, Arri and other cameras), develop and print
all their materials in black and white and in color. In Milan they set up a laboratory, Làbbash, full of machines that they assembled or modified by themselves starting from old devices, perhaps using them improperly and carrying out traditional chemical processes, sometimes intervening in 
the printing phase using the translation technique. [...] But Doria and Guadagnuolo are not nostalgic crazy, 
they have started to work autarchically on the 16mm pushed by the very limit
by the machines. “This limitation for us”, as Samira explains, “becomes a
creative opportunity. These devices, which originally had rigid industrial purposes,
have become “soft”, non- standardized machines in
our hands. At one time using them could be stressful because there was a margin for error, while now they are an instrument of freedom, since imperfection and low definition 
are a value for us “.
The single-channel cinema of Samira and Tiziano and their multi-channel installations, also accompanied by live music
on some occasions, are in the balance between documentary and experimentation,
between found-footage and anthropological investigation: after all they often start
from material of archives, photographs and home movies.(ilManifesto, Bruno Di Marino, 20 November 2021) 

https://ilmanifesto.it/doria-e-guadagnuolo-16-mm-di-autarchia

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UPDATE --

Thanks so much to everyone who's responded. I am just blown away by the great stories and love people have for these old film cameras.

I think I've got homes for all three cameras, but I'll update here if things fall through. And I hope to have some other 16mm accoutrements posted soon

Thanks for being such a great film community!
matt

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