MITCHELL or WILCAM - R16S - was not a 'chop top' or conversion......
Despite this being a late reply , I thought it best to present the facts to anyone wanting info on the R16S...
Firstly I own a R16S Mitchell Wilcam , they were Sold in two forms - Mitchell Wilcam & WILCAM .
Far from being an Auricon 'chop top' the R16S was a totally new concept and was advertised as the most innovative on the market - within ; American Cinematographer in the mid 70's ...
It has a magnesium body and advanced features - mirror reflex with viewer light metering , VU meter and footage counter into the viewfinder ,, plus the shutter always stops closed.
Belt drive quiet , the R16S easily matches my BL Arri for silent running , the gate & claw design is totally unlike Auricon... more like the Pathe Pro Reflex at the time . The Mitchell Wilcam R16S has crystal sync of 24 or 25 and a good selection of wild speeds - it also has onboard batteries & optional cable operation.
For both models the Cameras have a detachable Amplifier for multi channel audio recording on mag. stripe .
Lens mount is bayonet of the CP type and the standard kit included a 12 - 120 zoom .
Being a Mitchell base product , there was more choice than most in footage size of magazines .
The R16S was very advanced for it's day and is better than many of the 16's I see around even today !
thanks , M.H.
