Dennis Kisilyov

I am very interested in what Du-All did with your camera. I just dismantled mine due to collimation issues. I think the previous owner "played" with it as I saw screwdriver marks on many screws. :-(. I took out the lightmeter / groundglass assembly - mine is responsible for the consistent yellow in the viewfinder. Oddly a lot of optics in the K-3 viewfinder system are multicoated (unlike the meteor lens). In my k-3 they are all crystal clear and bright except for the ground glass which I'm considering sending to Bernie almost immediately. It looks as if the ground glass can handle a Super-16 frame... did they replace yours with a groundglass and lens or did they only remove the "mask" inside the viewfinder tube. And did they go left or did they (Du-All) recenter the elements? Here are some pics. I'm guessing the adhesives used to hold the prism/reflector yellowed over time.

Such an item does not exist. Best thing I've seen for make-shifting one is a photo macro extension tube - a long one for the M42 mount (Praktica/Pentax) mount with 42mm screw thread diameter and 1mm pitch. This will prevent your rear element from being pushed by anything in a bag or a case. The other alternative is to buy a Pentax rear lens cap and cut out the centre and super-glue a 35mm filmcan to it. Though it's not as push proof as a metal extension ring.

I think my opinion is similar to another poster in this thread. My two cents about Kodak making cameras. - I don't think they would be any good... However Kodak has a very good investment in CCD/CMOS technology with the Kodak Easy Share and their Image Sensors from DSC-14mp nikon/canon clone. With this technology, Kodak can produce a cheap (compared to Spirit), fire wire based - tele-cine device for 16 and Super-16 mm film. I think having such a film scanner would boost their sales of film much more than a cheap camera would. People avoid shooting film for 3 reasons. 1) They are not experienced and video allows them to see what they did, right on the set. 2) Film + Processing is costly 3) For efx, titles and so on they'd need to scan it, with DV/HD they have the frame in digital already. If film to digital conversion would be more accessible and it would boost film stock sales. Film is also expensive and needs to drop in price: - I paid $43 USD for Kodak 200T 16mm 100' daylight roll (with NYC sales tax - shipped from Kodak via UPS, No internet orders, you have to call and speak with someone.)

Could you please be more specific as to the type of Bolex this is? H-16?

I am leaning towards that, true a K3 is not an arri, but it's not supposed to overshoot the focus that much. Plus 16mm is a bigger DOF than 35, so minor focusing problems should not show up as much as they would on a 35mm SLR the same lenses attach to... 100% True, I have a large set to M42 lenses, Oddly I have about 5 1.4 SMC/Super Takumars on the way. Though I though the particular Chinon I have is a product of the Tomioka lens factory which is supposed to be an *OK* lens. There are always the new ZS 2006 lenses from Zeiss.

Super results. I love how NYC photographs. Check out Nikon CoolScan 9000 ED Slide Scanner it has a 16mm film strip adapter. You can do up-to 12 frames of film in one shot - scans to 12bit raw for color correction.

Here are the screen grabs. Chinon 50mm 1.7 Vivitar 28mm 2.5 Meteor 17-69 1.9 Zoom Pentacon 1.8 + 85A MC (at f2.4) Make note the 50mm F4 is actually F1.7 (error in sharpie)

I've finally completed and processed the K-3 test roll shot on 200T kodak film. I printed the ISO-12233 chart and taped it to a wall. Using two M42 primes and varying f-stops. I used the ground glass in the K-3 for focusing, and at low f-stop numbers I see that it's un-sharp. While at f5.6 and f8 the footage is very very sharp. Does anyone have advice? - Do you think I should troop to DuAll and have the thing collimated and give them the primes and the Meteor, or should I just have low sharpness expectations for F1.4 F2.0 F2.5 etc..? I'll try to post a few screen grabs. P.S. The roll was processed and Tele-Cined at PostWorks NYC. They rock! They did such a good job! The colorist even flipped the tungsten film where it was shot w/o a 85B in daylight.

Then my advice would be to run the K-3 through a frame rate meter, usu. you can take a volt-meter and a photosensor set it to HZ measure and see how many fps you're getting on the gate.

Wow, I've never seen one of those, I guess they were making them "for-export" only. Those types of product had higher quality control and a separate production line. Does anyone have any pics of "Krasnogors-3" english language version? Thanks.

Speaking of K-3's has anyone (besides Olex) seen these film mags for the K-2 ? These look like fun. I don't know how much easier is loading with these. But worth a look for archival purposes. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=120071635461 Oddly my original post was lost in the edit, however do try to identify the source of this noise/sound. Try running the camera at 8fps instead of 24, this way if something mechanical is hitting something you'll hear it more destinclty. Things to check in order of cost of breaking. 1. Mirror shutter hitting the Meteor Lens (which extends into the body of the camera further than M42 standard lenses) 2. Film Gate/Registration Pin. 3. Film roller assembly chewing on itself. At 8fps you should be able to hear what is causing this noise (besides the spring motor that is) My K-3 I've found to be less loud than a Bolex H16 R3 mounted on a tripod. So you definatly want to find out what is causing it. Motor could be lubricated easily, other parts are harder to fix and replace. Whatever you do, don't unscrew the film gate - it will go out of flange focal and even though in the viewfinder/groundglass the image will look sharp, it will be out of focus on film. Everything else should be a easy enough fix... somewhat.

K-3 and Scoopics sell on ebay for about 300-500USD. Last few I was watching the Scoopic-M sold for 177 winning bid, while MS went for about 440USD from the "I-sold-it" lister. Here are two more current ones. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=330070853912 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=160071059954

100% True, but If I have a K-3 in my hand and I "must have" a 40 sec take, I though it was impossible, I did not know that you can just wind it a little while the camera is running. It's 100% not useful for complicated cine, but if the cam is on a simple tripod and you need that extra 6 seconds in the take the hand crank is an option on a low low budget. Also yes, inadvertently the camera can stop and ruin that take and your film along with it . 100% true. I just though it could not be done at all due to some device in the cam stopping the film motor in the K-3 after 30seconds of runtime.

I've watched it in QT, very nice.

Very Sharp Footage, Very Nice Compositing Job on the Head! Beatiful Exposure Every Shot!

This one is better quality (same clip): http://www.arri.com/prod/cam/416/clip/powe..._16mm_16zu9.mpg Why would someone post this on you-tube though. :-(.

Through reading of the forums I've believed that the general consensus was that the K-3 can only be operated for tops 26 seconds, even if you would continue to wind it. However, I needed to complete a wind of a roll of film loaded in the K-3 and I just pressed the "run" button and wound the spring that was allready pre-wound at steady increments. My K-3 is a M42 mount with serial : 86014xxx and it allows me to "add" to the spring. Had this been a non-exposed negative It would have resulted in 2min:14sec of continuous footage. It obviates that this would be bad with a crane/jib or any other where the operator did not have access to the camera. However I would like to demistify the misconseption that more that 26secs of a continious shot is not possible. As with any scientific observation this statement is based on my own, and you K-3 may have a governour/limiter that clocks out and does not let you add "wind" to the spring. But for my situation that handle-crank thing is starting to look fairly good though I am fearful of the jitter it would add to the shot.

If you have a changing bag you can do this. K-3 comes with a film cutter on the side. Judging by the first shot in your roll, (the cat) you did not use a change bag to load. I would not re-loop 5-7ft of film in "daylight" as you're risking burning what you've shot allready and prob burn most of the film you're about to shoot. Also don't forget about needing an extra uptake spool. What you describe the camera going "mental" is the backplate on the gate clapping against the gate when the registration pin is lost from the film. K-3 has one pin. Find out why it jumped out during your 100' roll. It can be for many reasons. Get 100ft of film that you can ruin or somesuch and run it through the K-3 with the door open and the film-loop toggle depressed. Thats the thing that gets pushed when you close the film door, it makes the black plastic loop formers retract. And see if you loop stays in shape. It's possible the backplate just flew out from the camera recieving a bump.

I just recently got a K-3 M42, and I'll prob get another one with Bayonet, due to the fact that, M42 lenses that give nice coverage at 16mm crop factor are absent. The Meteor zoom at 17mm looks like a slighly more than normal 50mm lens at 35mm through the k-3 viewfinder. I attached a 28mm and 135mm SLR primes to it, 135mm feels like a telescope, def not for indoors (unless you have a HUGE house). Most lenses of interest to myself w. the K-3 would sit in the 3.5mm to 100mm range due to the 16mm crop factor. Yes there is a plethora of M42 lenses, but most are very long and slow, aside from a small fraction of "really rare/overpriced lenses" - I feel overpriced for the M42 format, remmeber these are not Zeiss Digiprimes you'll attach to this camera. If you have a possibility to get a 7.5mm-75 or 10-100 OKS lens, I'd go that route. This is without saying that you would not be contented with Zeiss Jena Flektogon f2.8 on a M42 or a Peleng or Zenitar. But they are all going to be slower than 1.9T. For a Super 16 K-3 that listing is not that bad.

I could not help but look at the lack of viewfinder, is this a typical amount for this camera ($700 USD)? Link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=220066589651 v.s. the Photosonics Action Master 5000 (which is $15,000)

I believe a member by the name of "stoop" had Olex Kalynychenko another member convert the lens for him. This may not be the fact, however here is a link to his music video post. http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/in...showtopic=13145 The bayonet may be the same but flange focal distance may be different.

If you're scientific in mindset, this FAQ will provide a plethora of answers. http://www.faqs.org/faqs/rec-photo/lenses/faq/

Thanks kindly, This helped alot since my ebay seaches yelded 5000 matches on CCTV cams. Incidentaly, if anyone in the forum is looking for a mountable hi-res video display for a DIY video tap, I've used these for building in-car computers. They're great, just watch out for the VGA only ones. http://www.xenarc.com/

Soul Plane - Photography looked great, Cast was great, I don't know what happened to the story though... was barely funny.

Here is a dated, however very insightful article, this refers to still photography, and film resolving power with primes on a tripod. But typically resolving power is measured in lpmm (Lines Per Millimeter). It goes on and on about sharpness of lenses and etc.... In theory the resolving power of film is limited by the size of the crystals in the emulsion, however it's always precieved that you'll get far less, esp at 24fps flying through the camera. the 50lpmm limits