andrewbuchanan

No I currently keep the camera in a rolling tool box with cut foam. It would cost much more to ship than to go buy a new one. You can buy one at lowes or home depot for about $30. I'll throw in case on new Pelican pick-and-pluck foam that will fit the case if someone here wins the auction.

Steve - PM sent.

Not sure if I am supposed to pimp an ebay auction in the classifieds section, so I apologize in advance if not. I have a couple of items o ebay that might appeal to someone here, so if you are interested please visit. http://cgi.ebay.com/Eclair-NPR-Super-16-ca...1QQcmdZViewItem and http://cgi.ebay.com/Zeiss-Illumina-t1-3-Su...1QQcmdZViewItem These have been well kept and serviced (as you can read in the description). I put a feeler up for the sale in the fall and no one here seemed intersted so I have ebayed them. Let me know if youu have questions.

Steve, Howdy. I currently have a nice S16 NPR package and a Zeiss/Illumina package up on ebay right now. It is well within your price range and I could supply or make allowances for the tripod and any other gear you need. I put a feeler out for sale in the fall and no one seemed interested in this forum, so I am ebaying them. The auctions are here. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...p;rd=1&rd=1 and here http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...p;rd=1&rd=1 Hit me up at andrew.buchanan@gmail.com if you have any interest - or if anyone else does. Or email me and I'll give you my phone numbaz.

Howdy Ted - You are correct, but definitely test this before you go too far into the process. The Nikons I use on my Eclair from time to time are there as far as color and contrast goes, and they are very, very sharp, but they aren't cine lenses. They were never built with a focus puller in mind, and they breath like hell. I've gotten some really pretty picures out of mine (particluarly the 85mm f1.4), but when I saw some focus pulling happen and the result the breathing was serious. Also, the labels on the barrels are tiny and they rotate the wrong way, this can cause some hiccups with even the most experienced AC. They are bad for Narrative, and Music Video (IMHO), but might be okay for doc work or an interview secenario. You should look into the guys on this forum who use the Speed Panchros and see some of their reels. They are soft wide open, but are hellaciously good lenses. Edward Lachman's work with them in the Limey was incredible.

I second that, Les did my NPR and the work is second to none (except maybe tied Bernie from above). He's a bit slow and hard to get in touch with, but definitely worth it.

I need to get a 400' mag serviced. I think it has a problem with take-up. Does anyone has any experience with servicing these mags? Any shops you would recommend? I'd prefer something in the Boston NYC area. Thanks!

Thanks for the info everyone. We had the NC heat and humidity for sure - and no AC, so this could have been a factor. Film was brought up to temp but between the tent, sweating forearms of the loader, and the general "underwater" feeling of the humidity could have gotten damp. The odd thing is we were able to get an ACL, load it and things ran fine. It had the HD 75fps motor on it - which, judging from the speed capability has my Beale III out-gunned in the torque department. It definitely seemed like a torque problem in the gate loop of the magazine. You could load, drop the speed to abut 12 fps, and watch the problem happen at the gear roller just over the gate. As I said, I know the camera very well, and I'm positive my loops were fine. I definitely don't want this to ever happen again. What is the solution? I'm within the recommended service limits (probably 8000' into a 12,000' service interval). Should I get the camera tuned? Get my motor sorted? Or should I look for a higher torque motor. Perhaps one of Clive's highly sought after NPR motors? Or should I just stay the hell away from 7222 in this camera?

Okay, here is the situation - This week I rented a friend one of my cameras. This particular camera is a very clean well kept S16 NPR. It was fully rebuilt about 2 - 3 years ago by Les Bosher and converted to S16 and PL mount etc. Since that time, I have run probably 25 400' loads through it. Never a hiccup. It is very well taken care of (read: I get it serviced) as are the mags. This weekend, we loaded the camera up with 7222. Everytime we put a mag on the camera, it would run for 10 or 12 seconds at 24fps, then drop a frame on the gate loop. Then another. Then WHAMO, lock up tighter that Dick Cheney's a**. <p> It did this exact same thing with each mag. We tested 4 mags. We tried several - okay every concievable - thing to prevent the problem, but no matter how we adjusted the loops, cleaned the mags, or adjusted the motor coupling it would jam-up. I though I was having a motor problem, but I decided to try running some Vision 7217 stock I had to see if it had the same problem. It ran right through, over and over and over. The NPR was back to its purring, sexy self. Then I put the 7222 back on and click, click, WHAMO. <p> I have no choice but to think that my camera hates 7222. I have used this camera often for over 5 years and consider myself very much of an expert on its use. I could feel the 7222 was much thicker and stiffer, could this be the problem? Anyway, this was really embarrassing and had my friend not been resourceful in getting another camera - I would have totally screwed his shoot. I feel really bad. I am here to ask, in the parlance of our time - WTF? Has anyone heard of this? Am I crazy? Should I have known this?

I don't think you will find too many people on this forum that will recommend auctions. It's a risky way to buy such expensive equipment. If you intend to buy, I'd try DuAll Camera or Visual Products. They have period of time they will stand behind their cameras etc. If you buy something off ebay and it breaks, or worse yet arrives broken, the price to get it fixed can be substaintially more than the difference. That being said, you can get working cameras there, but when was the last service? hows the registration? is it lubricated? You can drop a lot of money on finding out that kind of thing, let alone fixing a problem. I guess it depends if you mind taking a gamble. For 35mm equipment, I go for the sure thing. If you do ebay, talk to the seller. Be sure they know the camera very well, and get all the service info you can. If they don't know the camera well, or anything about the service record, I'd move on to another auction.

I shot a doc in Cuba a couple of years ago. It's funny but many, many of the ideas and themes of this movie are still present. Though it is technically incredible, it felt dated in a way when I watched it. Then, when I traveled to Santiago de Cuba - I couldn't excape the movie. I realized that the players are different(the Americans have been replaced by other nationalities now), but life, as it exist in the begining if the film, is very much the same. There is a lot to behold in Soy Cuba about the developed world's treatment of the undeveloped world. Hope that new print makes its wa to the East Coast sometime. It has been too long since I saw Soy Cuba.

Shouldn't he be SITTING in the corner? On under the catering tent?

That Alcan motor is quite rare, and I have never used one. I wish I could be helpful, but I don't know about speed control for this motor. I did a quick google search and found that SMS Productions in Chicago has an NPR with an Alcan pictured in their rental section, and Visual Products has one in their Cameras for Sale/Super 16 section. You could call these guys, and ask about the motors that are included with their cameras. I don't know SMS, but Visual Products has always been very good to me. http://www.smsprod.com/rental/16mm2.html http://visualproducts.com

please let us know when you post, i'd love to see those diagrams. otherwise, for care between trips to the camera shop, i keep my camera dry, dust free, and avoid tempature extremes. i get the camera out and run it at least once a month - with or without film. i keep all ports and mag openings covered with the proper covers.

[quote name='Alain LeTourneau' date='May 2 2006, 10:14 AM' post='103228' I couldn't agree more...the NPR is indeed a fine camera. I own two of them. I'm curious, what's the serial number of your camera body? Alain