Sir Alvin Ekarma

So I exploded my U16 CP-16 in last fall when I fumbled the wiring of my DIY battery and went poking around to get it fixed. Paul Hillman and Visual Products always came up in posts, but I wasn't 100 % on that since the posts were all super old. Well, I rang up Visual Products and Paul is still there fixing up CP-16s as of this post. It took awhile since there's a backlog of more current product repairs, but he finally got around to it this past month and it's coming back all alive and stuff. So if you end up like me and your CP-16 needs some repair work, Paul and Visual Products can do it and are most likely people the only folks who can, but they are super nice and the repair cost was incredibly reasonable. Bear in mind there's going to be wait but if you were like me and ready to part it out on Ebay, it'll be worth it.

So I had some 16mm film sitting in my freezer and wanted to use it soon, so I had my lab do some density tests. Now usually the tech guy is there to interpret the numbers and tell me how much to adjust, but he wasn't there and I'm in a fix. I looked up the spec sheets, but I can't figure it out. I know this is lame, but can somebody tell me what the numbers mean or point me to an online resource? Here's what I have: 200T/7213, R. 18/ G. 57/ B. 89/ ND 41 500T/7219, R. 20/ G.59/B.92/ND 43 Again, thanks in advance

The CP-16 is the reflex, but it's also the bowtie shutter. I've been trying to track down the guy at Visual Products who does the tweak to get rid of the possible blurring problem, but no luck. I talked to Whitehouse AV and they said you'll get it if you're shooting wide open in a back lit situation, so I should be okay if I avoid that. Re: M42 adapters for CP-16. Yes, that was a nice surprise since M42s are as common as salt and cost about as much.. As for c-mounts, I don't think so.

Hey there- I did have the conversion, but life has gotten in the way so I haven't had the time to do any tests or film scans. I've been trying to put together some kind of test shoot that is more than just charts and people posing, but I think I'm just going to buckle under in a few months and just shoot charts and people posing. And as for the viewfinder, that was a problem that did end up getting fixed by Duall, so there's that. And because I obviously have mental issues, I got an upgraded U16 CP-16 camera that was just too cheap to pass up: $300 for a complete package plus a 6mm wide angle and free shipping. I ended up selling off my old scoopic and the CP-16's zoom and viewfinder that paid for the cost of the camera plus getting a CP-16 to M42 slr adapter, and an orientable viewfinder. The only thing I've sprung out of pocket is a russian meteor zoom in m42 that I'm hoping to get tweaked/collimated to work with camera. If it doesn't work, I've got a set of SLR primes that can work. I am crazy like a fox. Hope that helps -- SA1!

You bet. I got the hat and everything from Burger King. I got it for messin' up the Hamburglar in the Sandwich Wars of '75.

So I got my camera tests back and the 10mm Angenieux plus diopter didn't do so hot. I didn't do a comparison with/ without (and I should have, my bad-- I had a lot lenses to test and I'm a budget) but with the diopter on the lens and at all the f-stops I tried (16, 5.6, 2.8), it was soft and since it's a fixed focus there's not much you can do with it. As I said, eyeballing it, it looked fine in the viewfinder, but it totally didn't resolve on film, plus the 10mm cinegon I tried it against totally destroyed it. I have one more set of tests to do and I'll give it another whirl without the diopter, but I'll probably put it up on the Ebay pretty soon.

As I need to finish up my camera tests, I decided to just throw together the DIY eyepiece to wrap things up before I send it off. Here are some pix and directions FYI for anybody who needs it. It's dirt cheap (the correction lens will set you back $10-$15) and it works. So you need a bottle cap from a liter of soda, an SLR correction lens in the flavor of your choice (mine is +2.0), and an optional pair of swim goggles. Re: the correction lens-- make sure it's big enough for the eyepiece (most are) and it should be circular with a rubberized metal frame, and one side should have a thread. Dremel out the the inside ridges of the bottle cap and then cut a hole in the cap roughly the diameter of the the threaded side of the correction lens. Stick in the lens and slip over the viewfinder. You're done. However, you'll want an eye cup so take the swim goggles, cut one free and the then dremel out the front. Glue in the bottle cap once you've figured out how you want things arranged and putty up any exposed holes. Now you're really done. Here just some pix as some examples. Note that I haven't finished mine totally when I took the pix. http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o310/cashfl/6202014-011a_zpsf8b4f7ac.jpg http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o310/cashfl/6202014-010a_zpseea50f2b.jpg

Umm, back pedaling here. I would delete what I just posted if I could. Turns out the R16 diopter had shifted. I placed it back down and it's funky again. I'll be sending this off to the overhaul people sooner rather than later.

Update: Okay, I figured this out and what I ended up doing was just using my left eye instead of my right and it looks fine. That was simple. I don't know if that was an obvious solution but then again hind sight is 20/20 (or in my case 20/300). However, this was after I bought a couple of SLR correction lens (+1, +2) because I also found out that if I was was so inclined (or if both my eyes were terrible) you can dremel out the bottle cap from a liter of soda and sandwich the diopter between the viewfinder and slide the whole thing over the viewfinder. So this also works and I may keep one of these lenses since my DIY video tap was having problems focusing on the R16.

@G. Irwin I'm a complicated man that nobody understands but my woman.

Oh well. I do have a Cinegon I can use in a jam. I have a turret-style beaulieu now and the cinegon doesn't give clearance to my arri-s style matte box, thus the Angeneiux. I can figure out what works best after I shake it down. Thanx for the info :)

Film.

I'm doing some lens tests soon and I have a question: can close-up lenses be used to increase the DOF of the angenieux at a wide aperture? According to some threads here, five feet away is as close as you can get with the lens wide open and I wanted to see if throwing something on would negate that. I know the lens thread on the angenieux is barely there so I'd have to tape it all together, but has anybody tried this?

Update: so that diopter thing didn't pan out. It worked sorta but the field of view was too tight and it was difficult to make out the corners. Anway, I've started to think that it is my eyes since I've played around with it since then, i can dial iin the viewfinder fine with my eyeglasses if don't place my eye directly on the viewfinder. Still that's not exactly ideal still so I'm going to see if I can find some more viewfinder diopters that are in the USA that have a larger diameter than the viewfinder since that's what did the trick with the right angle viewfinder gadget..

Good to know I'm not hallucinating this problem. I'm going to have some friends and relatives (who have better eyesight than I do) look through my rig and see if they have the same problem. If so, there's a bigger problem here and if not, I'm guilty of crummy eye sight. Anyway, here's the ebay link. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Diopter-lens-for-viewfinder-Zenit-Olympus-cameras-/160533957774?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item256091cc8e or do a search for "diopter lens vewfinder Zenit". There are other similar gadgets about that are of a more recent vintage but they seemed to be aimed at DSLRs, while this was straight-up made for SLRs and specfically to address diopter issues and also has some pretty serious glass it sounds like. The seller has the same item under two different prices for some reason, One is $9.50 and the other is $12.50, but with shipping it's all around $20. the part that clips to the viewfinder is the same approximate dimensions as the r16 viewfinder (26mm) plus round so it should be a flush fit. Be warned that it's coming from the Ukraine so get your order in before the place goes full Bosnia.

I was going to do that but since I'm planning to have an Ultra16 upgrade done by Bernie at Super16, the repair folks suggested I should maybe send it off to him to take care of since they wouldn't know if the diopter needs to be repaired or if it's just my weak eyes until they saw it, and sending it to them and back is going to be $40 round trip in postage just to find out, warranty or no. I decided to just split the difference and get the diopter gadget which is $20 and wait to have it looked at later, just to get the camera tests done since I've been putting it off. If there are more adjustments that need to be done (I had them do some tachometer tweaks), then it'll be better justified sending it off than if it was just for the diopter alone.

Some help from the Beaulieu R16 experts, please :) I just had my ebay Beaulieu overhauled and just as I'm gearing up to do camera tests, I'm having issues adjusting the viewfinder. After I do the usual (look at something bright, adjust viewfinder until the ground glass and cross-hairs get sharp), the viewfinder refuses to get into proper focus. Initially, I thought it was an inherent system flaw and when I used a close-up lens and looked through it, the image improved. But then after fiddling with the camera some more, I noticed that the diopter lens in the viewfinder jiggled around some so put some tape around the diameter to keep it seated; still, the diopter wouldn't focus. Finally, I placed a 35mm right-angle viewfinder over the beaulieu viewfinder and it finally snapped into focus. So, I'm back to thinking that its the problem of a weak diopter since I have a pretty heavy contact/eyeglass prescription. There's a cheap 35 SLR viewfinder diopter gadget (I just got the right angle viewfinder for cramped quarters) that it is a dead match and I think it's the answer. Any thoughts?

Thanks. The third option sound pretty good.

I'm going to do some lens tests with my newly overhauled beaulieau and I noticed that the 50mm M42 SLR lens that I want to test doesn't have the setting to let you manually adjust the exposure, so the only way to use it is to fiddle with the pin on the back of the lens so it stays permanently depressed. Is there a trick to this? Can I just file it down some and then press it back into the lens? I've see some things online where they flat out take apart the lens to modify and that seems like a hassle.

I am aware of it but thanks for the tip:)

Thanks for sharing. Currently I have an S16 bolex but I want to get a beaulieu and have it converted to U16 so I can have access to the variety of speeds, reverse filming and other options you can only get with some pricey mods for the bolex. Again, your info is much appreciated :D

Thanks for the link :D Even at US$20 plus shipping, that's good price. Now to see if I can snag a magazine..

Pix would be appreciated, if just to see something I've never laid eyes on :) Thanx!

Quick clarification: you can't load the magazine in a changing bag with a loop of film coming out and then feed into the camera body ? It has to be all done-in-a-bag or it's not happening?

Re: light tightness.But once the magazine is on, it's all good to go or do you need to tape up around there as well? Anyway, I've heard that those magazines can be hassle but if I can get one at a price that isn't nuts, I'll hit you with a PM :)