Jean-Louis Seguin

The smaller connector is known as a Jaeger connector. The contact pins are usually factory crimped to the cable wires making subsequent repair or replacement impractical. A defective connector or cable means discarding the whole thing. The XLR type has soldered connections which make repair in the field much easier. Cheers, Jean-Louis

The RX designation on lenses has nothing to do with exposure. It refers to the fact that the lens is designed to give optimum sharpness when used on a Bolex H16Reflex camera using a beamsplitter in the image forming path. The beamsplitter in the camera is considered as if it is part of the lens design. As an added consequence of the beamsplitter, about 25-30% of the light that would normally reach the film is diverted to the viewfinder system. To compensate for this exposure loss, 1/3 stop is added to the shutter speed value for an effective exposure time at 24fps of 1/80th second. As far f/stops and T/stops are concerned, to the best of my knowledge, all Bolex Switar/Yvar/Pizar lenses are marked in f/stops not T/stops. Cheers, Jean-Louis

For 24fps, just set your meter to 1/80th sec. It has nothing at all to do with the lens. Cheers, Jean-Louis

A lens designed for the 16mm format will usually have the rear element group closer to the film plane than a lens designed for 35mm. Even though the lens mount is the same, the rear of the lens might interfere with your camera's mirror shutter, potentially causing damage. It is safer to stick to lenses designed only for 35mm format. Cheers, Jean-Louis

To me, it appears to be just a refurbished Beaulieu R16 from the 1960s. Since it's from Pro8mm, it's sure to be way overpriced. If you like the Beaulieu, buy a real Beaulieu at a fraction of the price on eBay and have it serviced by a reputable technician. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Hi Ray, I have the Maha charger and I have used it to charge NP-1s. It works well. I can also recommend this one which is cheaper: http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?Page...amp;ProdID=2350 Cheers, Jean-Louis

Hi Rob, The Beaulieu 4008 always has a filter behind the shutter. When the metal plate is not inserted, an orange 85 filter is in the light path for shooting in daylight with tungsten balanced film. When the metal plate is left out, a neutral clear filter is in the light path for shooting under tungsten lighting. You will not see any change in the viewfinder because the filter is located behind the mirror shutter. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Simon, I cannot disagree with you more. Over the years, Bolex has probably sold more motion picture cameras then all the other brands combined. And a great many are still in use. I would say this a testament to the soundness of it's design. There are dozens of very qualified and experienced service technicians all around the world and the manufacturer is still active and supplying spare parts. Bolex cameras have kept their value far more than some other well known brands, perhaps because it is one of the easier cameras to convert to super16. Jean-Louis

SEND ME A PICTURE, I MIGHT HAVE ONE. Jean-Louis seguin@alcor.concordia.ca

Hi Earl, I just sent you a personal message about this. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Hi Earl, I think I can be of help. I'm in Montreal. I've done many battery packs for filmmakers using Beaulieu cameras. Do you wish to keep the battery pack external and attached with an umbilical or rebuild the on-board handgrip battery which might be the preferred choice? We could go either way you like. Let me know. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Which caps exactly do you need? For the camera's mount or for the rear of the lens? I obtained both kinds from Bolex Swizerland and also from Chambless not that long ago. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Hi Sean, The lens will work fine if it's collimated properly to Bolex standard. Cheers, Jean-Louis

I will advise you when I have something. It may take a while as I am swamped right now. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Hi Patrick, You are correct. Dry graphite doesn't go bad but when contaminated by grease or oil, it becomes a sticky mess. In order to completely remove the mainspring, I believe you would need a special tool. Despite having repaired movie cameras for close to 30 years, I have never attempted this as I hardly ever see any Filmos in my neck of the woods. Mostly Bolex. Good luck anyway. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Converting the viewfinder into a SR-style orientable viewfinder would be a major redesign and would be very costly. Why not simply hang your video assist onto the eyepiece? This is the simplest and least expensive solution. No modification to the camera is necessary. I have provided many custom units like this for my customers. Cheers, Jean-Louis

I would guess that stuff you're talking about is flake graphite. All movie camera spring motors are lubricated with this. You should leave it in. It's what prevents the coils from sticking to one another and to the mechanism plate. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Yes, of course. I was suggesting that the lens he is trying to get to focus on a Filmo may be CS mount instead of C. Since the flange focal distance is 5mm shorter on the CS mount, I suggested that he try holding the lens about 5mm in front of the groundglass to see if he can obtain proper focus this way. That would confirm that he would need to add a 5mm extension tube between the lens and the body in order to focus. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Bonjour Philippe. Il est possible que cet objectif soit plutot monture CS (profondeur 12,5mm au lieu de 17,5mm) Dans ce cas, la mise au point n'est pas possible sans ajouter une bague rallonge de 5mm entre l'objectif et le boitier. Essaye de distancer l'objectif du boitier d'environ 5mm pour voir si tu peux faire la mise au point. Jean-Louis

Hi Matt, Being a professional camera repair technician and not knowing your background at all, I would not recommend that you attempt a repair yourself. Taking apart a camera is not that hard but reassembling it properly and making sure everything works as it should takes some experience. I would volunteer my services but 1) I am located in Canada and 2) I already have a large backlog of repair work. The lightmeter assembly in the Nizo and most other super8 cameras is not designed like a still camera diaphragm. The opening is made up of two moving vanes that pivot on jewel bearings. They move very freely and are not direct contact with each other. Cleaning with solvents is not necessary. It takes very little to impede the free movement of the blades. The meter movement has a permanent magnet. If any loose metallic particles are attracted to it and stick, it will block the free movement. It's pretty delicate. Cheers, Jean-Louis

Hi Matt, They are locked together, The needle in the viewfinder is an extension of the aperture blades. If the needle sticks, the apertures are sticking. Sometimes it is repairable, sometimes not. Worse case scenario: you'll need a new meter assembly. Setting the aperture manually should work OK, if you take your light reading with an external meter. Jean-Louis

Yes, I would think so. When the motor is in the parked position, the mirror should be exactly in front of the aperture. On some motors, the inching knob has a reference mark which should align with a little mirror symbol engraved on the side of the housing when the motor is in the parked position. Hope this helps. Jean-Louis

If your shutter stops consistently in the same position but the viewfinder is dark, it could be that your motor was installed with the drive shaft 180 degrees out of position. Remove the motor by unscrewing the 3 screws and carefully pull the motor straight out. You want to be careful not to damage the tiny green 9-pin power connectors. They are easy to break. Now turn the shaft on the motor 180 degrees and carefully re-install the motor making sure that the two pins from the motor shaft are aligned correctly with the camera's mating holes and the power connectors are mating properly. This should solve your problem. Jean-Louis

If you had the camera door off for ten whole minutes with ISO 200 film, it is no surprise that everything previously exposed got fogged. In a matter of seconds, the first few layers would have been fogged. If you feel you had to check if the film was running OK, you should have used a loading bag, even at night. Cheers, Jean-Louis