Jean-Louis Seguin

I suspect one of your aperture blades has popped off it's guide post. The aperture opening should look like a slightly elongated square at all settings. With one blade out of position, exposures would be way off at certain settings. It's usually not a major repair to correct this. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Thank you Dieter for your enlightening reply and for posting to this forum. I'm sure your contribution is much appreciated by all Bolex aficianados. Cheers, Jean-Louis

It's not my camera. I just repair them. Jean-Louis

This simplest thing to do is to try some color film and judge for yourself. I doubt very much you will have any problems. Cheers, Jean-Louis

While the 10-150 may be shorter in length than a 15-150, it is a heavier lens than the 15-150mm or the 12-120, both of which weigh about the same. As far is coverage is concerned, it should be mentioned that the 10-150 actually exhibits increased vignetting when zooming from 10 to 50mm at close to medium distances. Because of all these limitations, I don't find the 10-150 is a practical lens for super 16 or ultra 16. The 15-150 will cover super 16 at all focal lengths, focusing distances and aperture settings. Cheers, Jean-Louis

I have a 6008 PRO in front of me now and I guess it's pretty much the same. It has a variable shutter to do manual fade-outs / fade-ins only. The maximum opening can be set to normal or XL (for low light). Normal shutter speed at 24fps is 1/96 sec. XL shutter speed at 24fps is 1/60 sec. One particularity: you cannot do a full fade-out to black if you are in XL mode. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Hi Daniel, The image forming circle of the Angenieux 12-120mm is notoriously small and barely covers the regular 16mm format. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do. If you want an inexpensive zoom that covers the whole frame, you can try the Angenieux 15-150mm. Canon makes a 15-150 and it also has plenty of coverage. Generally primes have more coverage than zooms. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Your ACL is already C-mount unless it's been hard-front converted to PL. Jean-Louis

Hi Andrew, Save yourself some trouble and order two stacks of 8 AAs from Digi-Key. They'll be spot welded and you'll only have three solder joints to do. I would stick to nicads, especially if you have the original CP chargers designed for nicads. A properly running camera draws 500mA. A new battery will last you from forty minutes to one hour. That's 1600 to 2400 feet of film. That should be plenty. Cheers, Jean-Louis

The EHF has a different socket from the EGT. A 750W EGR or a 500W EGN can be substituted for the EGT. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Hi Jay, That sounds right to me. Just make sure to load a length of dummy film through to check that the auto-threading is still as smooth and that you have a nice shaped loop. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Hi Jay, Maybe the loop formers are hitting the top or the bottom of the gate before it can reach the position where they lock in place. Behind each loop former is a little screw. When you loosen it, it allows you to adjust the angle of the loop formers a little bit. The loop former should lock just before they touch the gate. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Hi Mohan, I think there are always openings for a motivated individual who is willing to learn and shows dedication to the craft. I started out as camera repairman in the late 70s as a way to support my filmmaking habit. I did not have the privilege of apprenticing with anyone at first, so I took the correspondence course offered by National Camera Repair School in Englewood, Colorado. About halfway through the course, I saw an ad in the local paper. Minolta was looking for a tech. I didn't think I would ever be hired but I applied anyway if only to find out what the salary was! To say that the interview went badly was an understatement The Japanese service manager spoke very broken English and I constantly had to ask him to repeat his questions. He gave me a camera and a screwdriver and asked me to take out some screws. He showed me the "correct" way to pick up screws with a screwdriver. I went back home thinking that was it: I would never hear from them again. Two months later, I get a call from the service manager asking if I willing to start! I guess I wasn't that bad after all. The service manager did not want to admit it, but the National Camera training did make a difference. The last guy they hired before me was also a graduate of NatCam and he turned out to be an outstanding technician. I learned a lot at Minolta, including how to fix their super8 cameras. It's funny because when they found out I was filmmaker, they gave me all the super8 cameras to fix. The truth was that most of the other techs hated fixing super8 cameras. After two years, I got bored with fixing only one company's models, the low salary and the constant prodding to do more and quicker. Then I was lured away by a former Minolta employee who now ran his own independent repair shop who promised me a substantial salary increase and the chance to work on all kinds of gear. This is where the NatCam training was invaluable. It taught me to analyze problems in a systematic way even with unfamiliar equipment. After two years of working for somebody else, I decided I had enough experience, took the plunge and opened my own repair shop. Business grew and at one point, I had 5 employees. Like most general camera repair shops we were servicing primarily photographic equipment with only the occasional super8 movie camera. People who knew me as a filmmaker somehow assumed I would be an expert in movie cameras and I never refused them. Then a local college inquired whether I was capable of fixing their Bolex 16mm cameras and so I started working on Bolex. A couple of years later, I decided to sell the business. I then went to work for the College that was giving me their Bolexes to fix. And I've been specialized in motion picture camera repair ever since. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Sorry Kurt, I don't understand what you are saying. I said you could have the matte box adapted to whatever size filter you want. In your latest post you now mention you want to use 4x4. That's fine. Cheers Jean-Louis

Hi Kurt, I think the reason nobody has been answering is that this subject has been discussed many times before in this forum. One of the best solutions would seem to be: 1) acquire a Bolex matte box, the long one for your 16-100mm, 2) have the rear part adapted to hold whatever size of filters you choose. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Last time I ordered new plates (back in 2002) they were 120 CHF (approx. 105 USD) For current prices, contact Bolex. The mag stripe will not cause problems anywhere else. Jean-Louis

Definitely, the mag stripe will wear down the pressure plate which is made of anodized aluminum. I've seen this countless times. It does not scratch the pressure plate but polishes the anodizing off. I've seen some plates where the anodizing was worn down to the bare aluminum in the area of the stripe. If there are no scratches on your footage and focus looks good across the frame, I'd leave it. Jean-Louis

Hi Elliot, I believe the ITSM/BXAC or ITSM/BXDC motors made by JKCamera will mount to the EBM holes. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Hi Glenn, If you just want your turret modified, that is something I can do. Could cost around $200 for the work. Jaakko's modification involves the manufacturing of a new gate, new sprockets and new claws. I am assuming he has run out of those parts a long time ago. Also, demand for conversions must be infrequent as there are already a lot of those cameras in the marketplace and it should not be too difficult to purchase an already converted camera. They pop up on eBay from time to time. I am unfamiliar with Herr Muster's conversion and whether it is still possible to have it done. Historical note: Many, many years ago, Swiss Professional Camera Corp. in NYC, who were the Bolex service representatives for North America then, also offered their own conversion. I don't know what happened to this company and why they disappeared from the landscape. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Yeah, just 7 minutes apart. Great minds think alike! Jean-Louis

With a spacer that thick between the lens and the turret, your lenses will by hanging on by almost no thread. This is recipe for disaster. A better solution is to have one of your turret openings modified so that it will have a mount which is the proper distance for accurate focusing and has sufficient thread for a solid mounting. JK used to do this modification. Another thing: I wonder how you arrive at the distance of 2.215mm? Did you figure this it out experimentally? Cheers, Jean-Louis

Hi everyone, I am looking for a parts list with parts numbers and exploded views of the old 1960s and 1970s era Angenieux 12-120mm and 15-150mm zooms. I've searched everywhere on the internet and even emailed Angenieux in France (they never bothered replying). Any help would be appreciated. I am not looking for a freebie; I'm willing to pay or trade for other service information. Cheers, Jean-Louis Note: Sorry about "expolded" in the title. I haven't figured out how to make corrections in the title.

Hi Dennis, The Bauer P6 Studio and P7 Studio double-band projectors will record onto and play back both mag striped film as well as 16mm fullcoat. There might even have been a P8. They were also sold under the name Sonorex. I still have my P6 Studio but haven't used it in years. Cheers, Jean-Louis

He is wrong on the frame size. I looked it up and the camera aperture for Vistavision is 1.485" (37.72 mm) by 0.981" (24.92 mm), very close to 36mmx24mm. Cheers, Jean-Louis

That what it is; for the clapper light bulb. Pretty useless nowadays. Cheers, Jean-Louis