Alain LeTourneau

REVISION- In addition, I will include a Pelican 1520 case with the Bolex SBM camera. I've also noted the items which are SOLD... ======== - FOR SALE - Bolex SBM, standard 16mm. Bought new from Bolex in Feb 2005. Have original box and receipts. Includes the following items: motor crank arm, rewind arm, 2x filter holders, 2x C mount adapters, 2x C mount port caps, chamois eye cushion. $2750 Tobin Cinema Systems TXM-20B 12V motor (crystal 24fps, variable speeds 12, 15, 30, 48). Powers both Bolex MM and WM torque motors. Like new. $400 Bolex 400' magazine, throat cover, 4x core adapters, 2x camera rollers. Ex Condition. $125 Switar 10/1.6, late model mk III (all black), front and rear caps. Ex condition. $450 Switar 26/1.1, silver/black, front and rear caps, case. Ex condition. $450 Minolta VF, like new with original box and manual. $130 HFC rewinds with reel shafts and tension knobs, 2x spring locks, 4x reel spacers. SOLD Rivas splicer, straight cut (use with perf splice tape). SOLD Lowepro PhotoTrekker camera backpack. Great little bag with dividers for toting around your Bolex, Arri S, B&H, or similar sized camera. SOLD

WTB - 7231 and 7222 Needs to have been stored properly. Interested in factory sealed, recanned, or short ends. Alain

Though I usually resent the way outside filmmakers (Hollywood and otherwise) take liberty with real geography, I did enjoy the super 16 shot Old Joy. Nice and slow, with many shots from moving car (passing landscape). One shot looked out of focus on the right hand side of the frame, which was odd, but the rest for s16 looked nice on the screen at Cinema 21. It's now moving to the multiplex for another run... Glad to see it will stick around... though note surprising as it was shot locally. Shot with Aminima. Alain

- FOR SALE - Bolex SBM, standard 16mm. Bought new from Bolex in Feb 2005. Have original box and receipts. Includes the following items: motor crank arm, rewind arm, 2x filter holders, 2x C mount adapters, 2x C mount port caps, chamois eye cushion. $2750 Tobin Cinema Systems TXM-20B 12V motor (crystal 24fps, variable speeds 12, 15, 30, 48). Powers both Bolex MM and WM torque motors. Like new. $400 Bolex 400' magazine, throat cover, 4x core adapters, 2x camera rollers. Ex Condition. $125 Switar 10/1.6, late model mk III (all black), front and rear caps. Ex condition. $450 Switar 26/1.1, silver/black, front and rear caps, case. Ex condition. $450 Minolta VF, like new with original box and manual. $130 HFC rewinds with reel shafts and tension knobs, 2x spring locks, 4x reel spacers. $100 Rivas splicer, straight cut (use with perf splice tape). $65 Lowepro PhotoTrekker camera backpack. Great little bag with dividers for toting around your Bolex, Arri S, B&H, or similar sized camera. $30 Will consider offers on individual items in addition to offers on all Bolex/Switar items as a package deal. Buyer pays shipping on all items. Alain LeTourneau Portland, Oregon 503-231-6548

Just notice this, and yes its still available. I've been check RSS feeds so I don't visit the site very often. Alain

WTB - Series 9 retaining ring for stacking filters. Alain

New price 5/29/06. $850 or BEST OFFER + shipping. --Alain

I had a RX-5 prior to the SBM.... I thought I'd use the SBM more than I have. The portability is great. I'm still not certain if I'm ready to sell but if someone gives me my asking price I'll let it go. I'd say I'm an Eclair guy as I own 2.5 NPRs...as for Aatons, only in my dreams. I may find that special XTR but I ain't looking to buy right now. Alain

Your talking about two totally different leagues of cameras... One costing above $12K (at the low-end) and the other below $4K. Alain

BOLEX SBM - standard 16mm Bought new from Bolex in Feb 2005. Less than 1000 feet of film has been run through the camera. Have original box and receipts. Includes the following items: TCS TX-20 motor (crystal 24fps, variable speeds) C mount adapters x2 400' magazine w/ throat cover and core adapters Camera rollers $3000 or best offer + shipping ======================================= FYI - The following is a price list for future add-ons and upgrades. Arri-B adapter $450 (Les Bosher) -for Zeiss/Optar B mt primes Sound barney $175-195 (Lee Gaiter) Frame alignment tool 295 CHF new price (Bolex) -used for titling accuracy WM motor 570 CHF new price (Bolex) Sound barney for mag $110 (Lee Gaiter) Laserbrighten $175 (Bernie O'Doherty) -viewfinder 1-2 stops brighter Super 16 conversion $950 (Dieter Schaefer)

I'm afraid I cannot answer you questions about the Alcan, but I'll say you're lucky if the boards are not covered in paint. I have 3x Alcan motors (one of which is variable speed like yours), and none look as clean as the image you've included. Looks like a nice find. Again, send your questions to Andrew at AZ Spectrum. Alain

Is that true, Aaton made a dual drive mag? Is it both geared and magnetic driven? How does that work? I'd be curious to see a picture of the mag's throat? Alain

If you don't want to post as PDFs then I'd be interested in just purchasing high quality photocopies from you. I can pay for your time, copies and postage if you'd like. Otherwise, if you get everything scanned in as hi-res files you could email it in pieces. I could post it on my site if need be. Best, Alain

Thanks for jumping in and posting a reply Clive. Alain

7LTR parts are very hard to come by at this point. Aaton only has some parts (not all) for the 54LTR. This is partly why these cameras sell for so cheap (relatively speaking). If you plan to buy an Aaton buy an XTR or settle for the less expensive option of an Eclair ACL or NPR. Alain

TiboP- Still interested in possibly getting a scan of the oiling diagrams. I'd be happy to translate the french for you and others interested. Alain

Good suggestions...but let me add to the list the people who will not help you with the Alcan. JP or anyone at Aaton, Clive Tobin, George Zorzoli at OEH, Man-sung and SMS, Bernie O'Doherty, Visual Products, basically all the folks you think would be able to help you will not. Andrew at AZ Spectrum, and maybe DuAll if George is still alive, and maybe Pierre at CineAsst. One of the reason this motor is such a bitch to repair is because the circuit boards inside (unless you have an very early version of the motor) are all potted (covered in paint-like material). You cannot see what the components are in order to fix it on a component level. Then there's the problem of no mechanical parts being available. As much as one might think Aaton would work to support the service of this motor I think you will find they want nothing to do with it and will likely not respond to your queries, not Pierre, not Frank, not JP himself. Which is not surprising, as Aaton is in the process of manufacturing two new cameras in the super 16 and 35 formats and are busy right now. If you discover any breakthroughs, please report back to this Forum with your discoveries. Alain

So, are you talking NP1 style NiMH and NiCD as check-in, and also one as carry-on??? I'm looking to take several NiMH batteries as carry-on if I can get by without any hassle. The rest of the batteries I'll check in. Alain

Tim, What you describe is what I want to try to avoid. I will be flying from Portland to Boise, so I think everything should be ok, but I will ship the batteries ahead of me. Alain

Thanks John. I have one Eco-Charge (sealed lead acid) for my DAT recorder, and 2x Bescor (sealed lead acid) 12V 7Ah batteries for my camera that I'm traveling with. I have papers which indicate the batteries are TSA approved, but I really do not want to deal with a hassel or delay in my travel. I'm thinking of shipping the batteries ahead via Ground shipping. I may take one NiMH NP1 battery with me as a carry-on just in case there's a delay in my batteries arriving. Alain

So your saying TSA will "not allow" one to carry-on or check-in SEALED LEAD ACID batteries? That's what I have. I do have the option of using an NP1 NiMH set-up but I only have one adapter and it has a cable connection. I have no back-up. Alain

New 5/12/06 The above price OR BEST OFFER. -Alain

I cannot believe nobody knows who this guy is, ah the mystery. I even talked with Dave Kutz, the guy who has a photo of his NPR posted on the site, and he has no idea how to get a hold of the NPR phantom. Who knows... it could be Dave (secretly). Please let me know if any of you have leads, much appreciated. Alain

I forgot to mention, your Alcan may or may not have a fuse. If it does it is usually a 10A fuse. But some of the earlier models do not have a fuse, but if you open the bottom, this is were the cable routing goes from the side mounted 4 pin power connection. This is where you would solder a fuse. All motors should have a fuse...this was also a problem with some (or all?) of the ACL motors, no fuse. Alain

If you have Alcan motor question try Andrew at AZ Spectrum or Pierre at CineAsst. Visual Products, SMS, George Zorzoli at OEH, and Bernie O'Doherty will not be able to help you. Some have recommend DuAll, and they themselves told me they've had some success fixing these motors, but I'm not certain if George Gal is still alive? Anyone know if he's alive or if his kids are now running the business? As for the 24/25 switch, I believe its as simple as moving the screw/nut from the 24 hole to the one marked 25 or vice versa. Try that and then mark Xs in the gate and run the film for 1 minute and go back and count your frames/feet. Or even better use a speed checker! Alain Hey TiboP, please let me know when you have that diagram scanned. I might even be able to translate it for folks...though I know there are others on the list who likely speak/read french better than I. Anyway, I'd love to get a scan. Alain Brian's post has got me thinking more about those who own NPRs on this Forum... I was able to tell who some of the NPR owners are just by searching posts in the archive, but some folks who have posted are no longer owners or in the case of Andrew Buchanan are selling their camera. I'd like to know who out there on the Forum owns an NPR. If your one of them please send me a PM and I'll add your contact info to my resource list. Also, for those who have questions the ACL List (which has a misleading name) is actually open to all Eclair owners - NPR, ACL, CM3 or Camflex. So folks can post their Eclair qustions there too...which would be good as the list is not as "active" as it used to be. There are a number of really knowledgable folks who subscribe to the ACL List, and good info in the searchable archive. Alain