Bruce McNaughton

Hi I have intimate knowledge of the XR35 having owned two of them. I bought #8 direct from Cinema Products and later bought #15 second hand. I bought the second one not because I liked the camera but for cheap spares. In fact I pulled both cameras out of their blimps and re-built one as an animation unit and sold the other as a reflex NC. Of course I had to add viewfinders... The XR35 was always a very noisy camera. Mine was sacked from a feature film 1 week in... The biggest issue was the motor. The guys at C.P. told me years down the track that this was the noisiest motor they had ever had the embarrassment to install... It was also underpowered and I remember my last shoot with #8 where I was praying for the motor to hold on for just one more roll of film. It was overheating and smoking... A PL installation will not be a problem as far as the mirror goes. The mirror is set at 50º instead of the conventional 45º so there is clearance. But the BNCR mount is moulded in rubber and this forms a sound seal of sorts with the blimp. You would have to copy this if you want to shoot sound footage. Cinema Products were supporting some spares up to a few years ago. I bought a pair of ground glasses from them in 1995. No motors available of course. I got to know Ed DiGuilio very well in the years before his passing. He was always a little embarrassed about the XR35 but I applaud him for being at the forefront of 'lightweight' camera design. He made only 25 XR35 units. Anyone want a blimp? Regards Bruce Hi I have intimate knowledge of the XR35 having owned two of them. I bought #8 direct from Cinema Products and later bought #15 second hand. I bought the second one not because I liked the camera but for cheap spares. In fact I pulled both cameras out of their blimps and re-built one as an animation unit and sold the other as a reflex NC. Of course I had to add viewfinders... The XR35 was always a very noisy camera. Mine was sacked from a feature film 1 week in... The biggest issue was the motor. The guys at C.P. told me years down the track that this was the noisiest motor they had ever had the embarrassment to install... It was also underpowered and I remember my last shoot with #8 where I was praying for the motor to hold on for just one more roll of film. It was overheating and smoking... A PL installation will not be a problem as far as the mirror goes. The mirror is set at 50º instead of the conventional 45º so there is clearance. But the BNCR mount is moulded in rubber and this forms a sound seal of sorts with the blimp. You would have to copy this if you want to shoot sound footage. Cinema Products were supporting some spares up to a few years ago. I bought a pair of ground glasses from them in 1995. No motors available of course. I got to know Ed DiGuilio very well in the years before his passing. He was always a little embarrassed about the XR35 but I applaud him for being at the forefront of 'lightweight' camera design. He made only 25 XR35 units. Anyone want a blimp? Regards Bruce Hi I have intimate knowledge of the XR35 having owned two of them. I bought #8 direct from Cinema Products and later bought #15 second hand. I bought the second one not because I liked the camera but for cheap spares. In fact I pulled both cameras out of their blimps and re-built one as an animation unit and sold the other as a reflex NC. Of course I had to add viewfinders... The XR35 was always a very noisy camera. Mine was sacked from a feature film 1 week in... The biggest issue was the motor. The guys at C.P. told me years down the track that this was the noisiest motor they had ever had the embarrassment to install... It was also underpowered and I remember my last shoot with #8 where I was praying for the motor to hold on for just one more roll of film. It was overheating and smoking... A PL installation will not be a problem as far as the mirror goes. The mirror is set at 50º instead of the conventional 45º so there is clearance. But the BNCR mount is moulded in rubber and this forms a sound seal of sorts with the blimp. You would have to copy this if you want to shoot sound footage. Cinema Products were supporting some spares up to a few years ago. I bought a pair of ground glasses from them in 1995. No motors available of course. I got to know Ed DiGuilio very well in the years before his passing. He was always a little embarrassed about the XR35 but I applaud him for being at the forefront of 'lightweight' camera design. He made only 25 XR35 units. Anyone want a blimp? Regards Bruce

None of the Contax Zeiss lenses are super speeds. Look at the T stops... the 18mm is T3.5 orT 4. The rest of the range are T2.8. Hardly 'super' speeds. The super speeds were designed exclusively for Arri and are motion picture lenses from concept. I have converted many Contax and Hasselblad Zeiss Distagons to cover the VistaVision format and they are superb. But it is better to use a movie lens for 35 mm movie work as the lenses are made for that format and yield the best results. Bruce

Dear Asparaco Sorry I do not have any photos of the S. We usually turn them around quickly and they are out of here before we remember to take a shot. I have earmarked the next one for a photo session BUT 90% of the work is on the inside and impossible to see. We widen the mirror/shutter, the key to the S16 conversion of both the S and the BL. All you see from the outside is the PL (or Arri standard or bayonet, depending on client preference) hardfront. Regards Bruce Dear Asparaco Sorry I do not have any photos of the S. We usually turn them around quickly and they are out of here before we remember to take a shot. I have earmarked the next one for a photo session BUT 90% of the work is on the inside and impossible to see. We widen the mirror/shutter, the key to the S16 conversion of both the S and the BL. All you see from the outside is the PL (or Arri standard or bayonet, depending on client preference) hardfront. Regards Bruce Dear Asparaco Sorry I do not have any photos of the S. We usually turn them around quickly and they are out of here before we remember to take a shot. I have earmarked the next one for a photo session BUT 90% of the work is on the inside and impossible to see. We widen the mirror/shutter, the key to the S16 conversion of both the S and the BL. All you see from the outside is the PL (or Arri standard or bayonet, depending on client preference) hardfront. Regards Bruce

Happy to talk to you about converting your 16S to super 16. We also do BL 16 S16 conversions Best Bruce McNaughton http://www.design.arandafilm.com.au

And the aranda group http://www.arandafilm.com.au Bruce

And the aranda group http://www.arandafilm.com.au Bruce

Every camera pre Arri mirror reflex had a focal plane shutter. Arri invented the spinning mirror which doubled as a shutter. Very clever. And every camera manufacturer has copied it. And most have relinquished the focal plane shutter beciuse it meant more work spinning two shutters, usually at different speeds. Bolex has one and it makes an excellent animation camera. The Oscar winner "Harvey Krumpet" was shot with a Bolex (and our animation motor and super 16 conversion) Bruce

Absolutely no problem... If, for example you used an Arri 2 (A,B,C) you would get the same registration (or better because there would be no inertia at the end of each pull down) than if you were shooting live action. No one has ever complained about the screen steadiness of film shot with an Arri, there is so much more movement in any projector. I have shot 'self matting' live action scenes with a 2C. Even title backgrounds. The only thing you have to watch, with any animation is that if your camera does not have a focal plane shutter, you will get light leakage between exposures. A capping shutter goes some way to fixing this. But oterwise, any camera will do the job for you Bruce

Absolutely no problem... If, for example you used an Arri 2 (A,B,C) you would get the same registration (or better because there would be no inertia at the end of each pull down) than if you were shooting live action. No one has ever complained about the screen steadiness of film shot with an Arri, there is so much more movement in any projector. I have shot 'self matting' live action scenes with a 2C. Even title backgrounds. The only thing you have to watch, with any animation is that if your camera does not have a focal plane shutter, you will get light leakage between exposures. A capping shutter goes some way to fixing this. But oterwise, any camera will do the job for you Bruce

If you were to follow the stills camera route you would need registration pins. You just can't expect registration by pulling film from a cassette. Having manufactured 7 VistaVision cameras we know a little about the format. Our lenses are Zeiss Distagons and these are good performers. They also cover IMAX and 65/5 and 65/8. That said, you are not gong to find a 'cheap' VV camera. The last one that I know of (an old Stein) went for $50,000. We have a spare VV (high speed) movement if you feel like trying to make something yourself. Bruce McNaughton http://www.arandafilm.com.au

If you were to follow the stills camera route you would need registration pins. You just can't expect registration by pulling film from a cassette. Having manufactured 7 VistaVision cameras we know a little about the format. Our lenses are Zeiss Distagons and these are good performers. They also cover IMAX and 65/5 and 65/8. That said, you are not gong to find a 'cheap' VV camera. The last one that I know of (an old Stein) went for $50,000. We have a spare VV (high speed) movement if you feel like trying to make something yourself. Bruce McNaughton http://www.arandafilm.com.au

What's happened here is that you have reversed the polarity of your input source and you have blown up the T03 transistor (easily located on the motor.) You will need to have it replaced and then carefully check your lead and connectors to prevent it happening again Regards Bruce

We also do 2/3 perf conversions for all cameras including 2C, and probably a little cheaper than P+S. The super 35 conversion for 2C is a little tricky but also available. My Webpage 2 perforation conversions

We convert all makes of 16mm camera to S16 Super 16 camera conversions Bruce

Can't resist putting in a plug here, even though we are not in the US http://www.design.arandafilm.com.au There are links to our other services, 2/3 perf conversions, custom equipment design etc. super 16 camera conversions Bruce

Sorry Luke, got as confused with your 2 names as I am confused with the method of linking from this forum... Website is www.design.arandafilm.com.au but on reflection I think that my computer guru is changing hosts or something at the moment.. black art to me. Yes we do CP, Arri S, ACL, NPR, SR, Bolex, et al. Bruce

Hi Thanks for the recommendation John. Yes we do super 16 conversions on all 16mm cameras and the BL is one of our favourites. We charge $AUD 3,100 for the conversion including the modification of 2 magazines. You are right, it is a little tricky but the result, with a new S16 ground glass and the enlarged mirror shutter is perfect. Gives a lot more life to this fabulous camera We are putting together a BL package with super speed Zeiss primes for sale. Should be ready in a few weeks Regards Bruce McNaughton My Webpage 16mm camera conversions

Hi Thanks for the recommendation John. Yes we do super 16 conversions on all 16mm cameras and the BL is one of our favourites. We charge $AUD 3,100 for the conversion including the modification of 2 magazines. You are right, it is a little tricky but the result, with a new S16 ground glass and the enlarged mirror shutter is perfect. Gives a lot more life to this fabulous camera We are putting together a BL package with super speed Zeiss primes for sale. Should be ready in a few weeks Regards Bruce McNaughton My Webpage 16mm camera conversions

Hi The bolex RX4 has a single claw. Single perf stock is absolutely fine but gives no shooting advantage. Double perf stock was once preferred as a better tool for negative matching, when making up A & B rolls but it did not offer any advantages or disadvantages in shooting Bruce

We convert all makes of 16mm cameras to super 16. I note that we have fewer USA clients than any other nationality and the reason for this is that the US is the last country to go to the 16:9 ratio (HD TV) The rest of the world is looking at a lovely wide screen image (cropped top and bottom on a 4 x 3 set but still a lovely image) Bruce

Hi all We are the people who converted Movielabs 3 Arri BLs to 2 perf. We have done many since and as I write I have 4 cameras on the bench for conversion. These are Kinor 35H, Ultracam and two Konvas units 1M and 2M. There is another Kinor coming in and we just shipped one, converted. So the format is gaining some popularity. The cheaper cameras (Russian) converted to 2 perf are widely favoured to assist with budget savings on small features. I think that this is the market for this format. My personal favourite camera in 2 perf is the Arri BL but the Ultracam is also shaping up to be a nice unit (even though it is a brick) For those who may be contemplating a conversion, they run out at around $USD 4,000- 5,000. Cheers Bruce bruce@arandafilm.com.au

We make a video assist for 16 BL cameras. We place it in the (fatter) door that houses the APEC exposure unit. No professional cameraman uses the APEC (it was designed for news gathering) so the door is ideal for hiding a video system in. If your camera doesn't have the APEC door we can provide a changeover door. Bruce

Just go to Dick Smith or Jaycar or even Tandy and buy a 12V/1.2 amp hour or larger gelcell (sealed) battery and you are in business Bruce

I have very good results with Angenieux 12-120 zooms. The BLs that we convert to super 16 come with either this lens or the 10-100 Zeiss. The Angenieux beats the Zeiss hands down for coverage. From 14mm the Angenieux covers the frame but the Zeiss covers from 13mm, then crops from about 15 to 20mm. The lens circle moves in and out. Of course I am talking about the lens focused on infinity. Start focusing forward and you get serious vignetting. Bruce

Dear Gabor It depends on the model of camera and particularly which lenses come with it... Look at the discussion "super 16 lenses for RX5" where myself and others have discussed Bolex and Switar lenses. If your camera is not a Bolex, tell us what it is and which lenses you have. If you want a super 16 conversion (of any 16mm camera) look at www.design.arandafilm.com.au Bruce