Ian Dudley

PM sent. Thanks Paul and Steven for the info, offer and recommendation. Will look into it. Scouted locations and shot some tests over the last few days- mostly filter tests for day for night scenes. Found a dream location by chance. Will see if it pans out. Cheers, Ian

Hey Steven, I'll get some pix soon, I'm neck deep in prep for a feature starting in two weeks. Actually we are using a Kinor 35CII converted to 2perf and I'm using my 35H lenses and and some accessories on it. Unfortunately the camera came with no baseplate so I'm using my Konvas bridgeplate with a custom spacer piece. I wish I too could find the original 35C bridgeplate with 15mm rods. I certainly don't want to mod my 35H one. Do you have the onboard follow focus for 35C? Cheers, Ian

Hey Steven, Those plates are for use to mount the mattebox on onboard rods which attach directly to the Kinor camera body and allow the mattebox to swing away from the lens and facilitate quick lens and filter changes. The side mounted rod accessory is essential to use that type of mattebox as it has no other mount for 15mm rods, etc. I have one for my 35H and can photograph it if you like. Cheers, Ian

Hey Folks, You can buy a 4x4 insert for the Russian 5x5 filter holders from www.rafcamera.com. They are pretty well made and I think they even make 4x5 inserts too. Best of luck, Ian Dudley

Hello, I've had the same problem with my Kinor and the issue lies with the centering of the viewfinder optics, not the groundglass. You don't want to mess with the grounddglass as it can lead to bigger issues. You will need to open up your viewfinder and spin the prism that reflects the image from the groundglass. I don't have the time to walk you through the procedure, but follow this link to the Konvas.org forum: http://konvas.org/mailman/listinfo/cinema_konvas.org Do a search on Kinor 35H viewfinder problems and you'll find some advice. It might not need surgery though. Try this first: Loosen the star shaped knob on the top of the viewfinder and pull out the eyepeice as far as it will go. Rotate it one full turn in any direction and look through it, noting the view of the groundglass. If it's the same or clipping more now, rotate the other direction. Doing this should rotate the prism optics inside and center the view. If it doesn't you may need to go inside the viewfinder (which actually isn't all that hard). If you're in luck and the prisms center when you rotate the viewfinder, push it back in and lock the knob. Now you should be able to turn the eyepeice and keep the groundglass centered and level. Good luck- let us know how this turns out. Cheers, Ian Dudley

Hey there Captain, Did you ever get your 35H viewfinder fixed? Cheers, Ian Dudley

Hi, It's a zoom crank. I've shot with one of these converted to Aaton mount. It was actually very good. Sharp, nice contrast and just a little warm. I was pleased. Cheers, Ian Dudley

Hi, Could you please either attach the image Serhiy sent you or email it to me? I'd be very curious to see the knobs he's referring to. I haven't found it quite that simple to rotate the prism. I've had good experiences with Serhiy in the past so I hope he'll stand by what he sells. At the very least he should provide a translated repair/adjustment manual for the 35H. Hell, I'll pay you $$ for a copy of said manual if you can get one and help defray your repair costs. Whatdoya say? My email: ian@iandudleydp.com Regards, Ian

Hi, I think none of the square front primes will fit the Kinor. I have tried them all (35,50,80) and they wouldn't fit. The rear grouping is just too long. Cheers, Ian

I bought a set of wooden sticks, mitchell mount from Visual Products for 250 for my Warroll head and my O'Conner 100. I think they look fine and work great too. Aluminum legs are very expensive and in my experience aren't much lighter than wood. Hopefully any set where your Kinor 35h would feel at home wouldn't laugh at the tripod that supports it, unless it's totally inadequate and wobbly. I'd go wood. For the price you can't go wrong. Don't forget the spreader, absolutely required for Mitchell sticks. Good luck. Any news on your viewfinder? Cheers, Ian

Greetings, Thanks for the advice. I've been aware of the issues with Konvas 2m lenses and the Kinor and have been very careful not to use lenses which will hit the mirror and groundglass. Almost all of my Lomos lenses work fine with the Kinor, as they have the 50 pitch gearing for the Kinor. Only a 50/2.3 wouldn't fit, as the focus mechanics protruded too far into the Kinor body. I noticed this luckily before I did any damage. Thanks for the good advice though. Cheers, Ian dudley

Hey, sorry to miss this post and a belated CONGRATS. Sounds like a great package. You're fortunate to get it as a package rather than piecemeal as I did. I had already owned a Konvas 2m and lenses so it made sense for me to pick up a 35h body and a few mags and accessories when I got a great deal. The only problem is I couldn't find any 500' mags as they are very rare outside of a complete Kinor package. I've only just recently found the original side rod mounted onboard mattebox that's so good for handheld work. For now that's handheld with the 1000's which luckily wrap nicely around the shoulder. Anyway congrats again on the kit, I hope your viewfinder issues are quickly resolved. Any progress? Cheers, Ian

Hi, Thanks for the detailed post. I was wondering what kind of artifacts did you get from the Redrock adapter due to the spinning ground glass? I have one and have never noticed anything like that from it unless the battery is weak and the image element spins too slow. Do you have any footage that shows this artifacting? Cheers, Ian

Hi, Looks like Todd beat me to the punch on this question. That would be my suggestion as well. I've monkeyed around with the viewfinder on my 35H in the past because the image was ever so slightly canted and initially I did much more harm than good. I ended up opening up the whole viewing system and partially dissassembling the viewfinder system. I fixed my issue and in the process learned a lot about the Kinor. Try manually turning the prism as Todd suggested and let us know how it works. If you still have no image it may be the mirror system in the camera body that relays the image from the shutter/groundglass. If that's the case get back to me and we'll take the next step. best of luck. Ian A follow up question: Did you just recieve your Kinor 35h or did this just happen to the camera you've used for a while? Where did you purchase the Kinor? Ian

Hey Dan, Raf's tap works very well, but I wouldn't trust it for critical focus pulling. In that case I'd trust the lens markings, assuming they're all on the money. If you want to use a video tap and have the option of swapping it out for the viewfinder to verify focus, here's a trick I learned: Normally to remove the viewfinder or tap you have to pull the magazine off to access the viewfinder lock. Replace it with a long allen screw- it is a standard size. Now you can simply unlock it and remove the tap/viewfinder without pulling the mag. This will allow you to eye focus between takes and go back to the tap with extra confidence. I hope this help. BTW, I can return your motor tomorrow if you like- we're finally doing the pickup shoot in the morning. Cheers, Ian

Hi, I've played guitar since high school, so that's 17 years. I guess I could have been a rock star several times over by now if I hadn't been sidetracked by this cinematography thing. Oh, well.... Ian

I just checked it out too, very strange. It seems the scammers have upped the ante again. Buyer beware! Ian Dudley

Hello, I might have just lucked out with the rewiring. On my cable it had two reds and two whites, so it was a simple matter. I think if there's any confusion you just need a voltage checker to verify polarity. Remember, on the 4 pin xlr connector, 4 is positive and 1 is negative. If you have it wrong, the meter will tell you. Otherwise, with the Ryobi batteries, this is what I did: Buy two battery sets with chargers. Also buy a 18 volt Ryobi flashlight (20.00). The battery slides into the bottom of it and locks in. Disassemble it and remove the actual bulb and housing. Now wire a 4 pin xlr connector so that it comes out where the bulb housing was. Presto, you now have a 18 volt battery mount with XLR out. It took no more than 15 minutes to do and it's the most efficient power supply I've ever worked with. It's much lighter, cheaper and more flexible than a big lead acid or nicad battery brick like the dolly packs. I attached some sash cord to it and it hangs nicely on any tripod. It doesn't have the amp hours of larger batteries to run all day, but these things are so cheap you can have as many as you like and with the 30 minute quick charger, you're never too far away from a freshly charged battery. I also considered using Dewalt batteries too, but they are more expensive than Ryobi, and run a little hot (22 volts) fresh off the charger so I was nervous about frying my Kinor's electronics so I went with the Ryobi. I have no regrets. I hope this helps. Best of luck. Ian

Hi, Almost forgot about your question here. I don't have any stills, but it's very simple to rewire the Russian cable to 4 pin xlr. Just snip off the end that would go to the Russian power supply and verify which wires are positive and negative. There should be 4 wires I believe. Then connect two to the positive terminal on the XLR and 2 on the negative terminal and you're good to go. Double check your polarity with a volt checker- that's very important. As to the batteries, Ryobi or Dewalt batteries are available at any Home Depo or good hardware store. They are about 25.00 each and will run roughly 3000' at normal temperatures. Not bad! Good luck with your kit. Please attach images if you have any. Thanks, Ian Dudley

Hi, I had forgotten about the Aranda Group mods. I've been in touch with Bruce and he seems like a great guy and very dedicated. That's definately another great way to bring the Kinor into this century. Otherwise, the power connector on the Kinor is a Russian 4 pin bayo mount arrangement. It's luckily identical to the connector on the 17EP motor for Konvas. Rather than modifiing the Kinor itself, I simply rewired the original Russian cable to 4 pin XLR which can carry the needed 18 volts for Kinor 35H. Very simple. I power the whole kit off of 18 volt Ryobi batteries. These are very cheap, charge fast and available practically anywhere. It all works very well and I've been thrilled by the results. Cheers, Ian Hi Sean, Did Bruce put an OCT 19 mount on your 2c? Also do you have any images of your improved Kinor? Thanks. Ian

Hi, To shoot scope you'll need the anamorphic gate, groundglass and viewfinder (assumming you have the optics too). I actually saw a set up on Ebay a while back. It went very fast. The electronics upgrade I believe is around 3500.00. I've shot a little anamorphic with my Konvas, but not the Kinor yet. My scope lenses won't fit on the Kinor. Best, Ian

Hi, Are you having problems getting the film into the film channel/pressure plate? If that's why you ask, I think the answer is yes. The mag SEEMS pretty light tight even with the doors open (assuming lid locked tight). I say "SEEMS" because I haven't really tested this, but it looks like unless you have extremely bright focused lights coming from multiple directions, light shouldn't be able to get to the film chamber through the loop chamber. The mag lid will close with the little doors open. My experience is that you should bite the bullet and really practice and gain confidence in loading so you don't need to take this unnecessary and time consuming extra step in loading. If you're just starting to practice, perhaps, but you'll soon want to do it the right way and you'll be glad you did. I can load them with relative ease these days in under 2 minutes, so bear with it and you'll be fine. I hope this helps. Cheers, Ian

I can't speak for others, but my 1988 Kinor 35H has been trouble free so far. I've heard rumors about certain bad years of production in the FSU, such as 88,89 as the Soviet Union collapsed, but have yet to substantiate them. I think it has much more to do with how the gear (any gear) was stored and maintained over the years. Often there cameras have been sitting on dusty damp shelves for decades before being sold so one must take special care to have them checked out thoroughly before relying on them. I know the Russians gradually updated the electronics over the years of production, but I can't tell you when or what the changes were. BTW, you can have all 35H and C electronics updated by Solid Entertainment in Sweden. cheers, Ian Here she is:

I can't speak for others, but my 1988 Kinor 35H has been trouble free so far. I've heard rumors about certain bad years of production in the FSU, such as 88,89 as the Soviet Union collapsed, but have yet to substantiate them. I think it has much more to do with how the gear (any gear) was stored and maintained over the years. Often there cameras have been sitting on dusty damp shelves for decades before being sold so one must take special care to have them checked out thoroughly before relying on them. I know the Russians gradually updated the electronics over the years of production, but I can't tell you when or what the changes were. cheers, Ian

I think or hope he was joking... Ian