Tellef Johnson

I've not handheld a IIC/IIIC with a CE base, but I have with a Cinema Products flatbase. It's probably lighter than a CE base, but I've found for me, it's a great way to hand-hold the camera for a steady shot especially when hand-holding while in motion on a western dolly, shopping-cart, etc. The trick is to rest the base in your two palms, keeping the weight balanced in your hands and eschewing the thumb-grip on the camera with the toggle-switch in "auto" position. Everyone has their own method. If the base is even heavier, the shot probably could even be smoother. That being said, everyone has their own way of finding what works and there's really not one way to do it, but I find shoulder-brace rigs to be annoying with IICs. TJ

"Another question about the body of the camera. Next to the tachometer on the lower right side is a port of some sort. What's this for and what plugs into there?" Not all IICs have it, but the port you're talking about means that your IIC probably has a 60 Hz. pilot tone signal. This is only important when the camera is connected to a Nagra tape-recorder in the old-school "cable sync" or "pilottone" method. The camera's tone signal is "resolved" to the Nagra's 60 Hz tone signal, enabling perfect lip-sync with just a 24 fps constant motor as opposed to a crystal motor (which in these modern times allow the camera to be free of the sound recorder). But if the IIC is connected to a Nagra for sound, it would have to be within a blimp, and blimps (esp. the Cine 60 model) have a little connection that plugs into the back of the IIC and then there's an external one on the blimp to attach to the Nagra. TJ

George - This might be of interest to you (and if there are two similar posts from me about this sorry, I screwed up). 1)I saw an Arri SR eyepiece extension on Ebay. The owner says it can work with a IIC. Is this true? I don't know the SR that well. In that case you'd be able to use an SR extension as an eyepiece extension for a blimp -- the original Cine 60 eyepiece extension is almost impossible to find. The SR extensions are not that cheap, but seem to be readily available, and maybe one could even borrow one. 2)I think it might be better rebuilding an existing blimp than fashioning a housing from nothing (no matter how effortless R. Dexter makes it seem). I have an extra Cine 60 blimp that needs MAJOR, MAJOR work. But, you'd have more than something to begin with, and if those folks at Cine 60 in 1970 could fashion decent sound proofing materials, then one could at least begin with that when engaging in restoration work of a blimp. Tellef

Webster - Glad you made progress on restoring the flatbase. Neat to hear that yours is the first version of the Cinema Products flatbase. I've put some information up on my new site about blimps -- in particular the Cine 60 blimp, as this topic seems pretty popular here... there are pictures and as much information that I can think of regarding how the rig works. http://www.tellefjohnson.com/cine60.htm Tellef

Webster - sorry for a late reply - Regarding the "waxy mess" inside your flatbase -- that's because the gear belt is old and basically has deteriorated, or it pulled apart from old age once it was run. Visual Products (www.visualproducts.com) is very familiar with this common problem and can replace the belt. I don't know how much it would cost, maybe $100? Call for an estimate. As previously mentioned, these Cinema Products/Cine 60 flatbases are gear boxes -- they aren't a motor -- they exist only to reorient the camera's motor (sold seperately from the flatbase) upside down, a configuration only truly necessary when using a blimp. So that leads me to wonder what kind of camera motor is attached to your flatbase. The standard ones used on the CP flatbase are the pistol/handgrip styled motors that without the flatbase attach underneath the camera body (crystal, variable, constant, etc.). Are you speaking of the A/C 110 volt sync motor used with the Arri 120 blimp? Or it could be just an unusual variant that I'm not familiar with. Tellef

Bob, The Cinema Products flatbase has a little "wheel" that acts as a inching knob. When the flatbase is mounted to your IIB/IIC, it's right under the viewfinder side, which is the side of the camera you're going to have access to when you open the 120 blimp door. Right next to the wheel is a footage counter, this is only on the CP flatbase, not the Cine 60 flatbase. With my Cine 60 blimp, I don't really need to use the wheel on the flatbase -- there is a button on the back of the blimp that allows you to inch the film by the frame (by just pushing slightly). Push in all the way and you'll be going at 24 FPS. There's also a toggle switch on the blimp backside to run camera. So if I understand correctly, with the 120 blimp there is some sort of setup with the current AC motor that allows you to clear the mirror shutter externally, but if you can retrofit that motor to crystal then there is a problem with externally inching the mirror shutter open from outside the blimp? I guess if you have to open the door everytime you finish a shot to see footage counter and advance the knob on the CP flatbase that's fine, but it seems a trifle repetitive. But hey, if it works, it works! Tellef

Hello, I have a Cine 60 blimp (of "Clockwork Orange" and "Godfather Pt II" fame) with my 2C. The blimp works wonders outdoors and in noiser interiors, but for studio work or smaller locations I used a barney (hunting parka) to render it absolutely silent. Inside the blimp the IIC rests on a Cinema Products flatbase with the motor reoriented to the right of the cam on the flatbase (upright). The camera (now free of the handgrip motor directly underneath it rises 1 5/8 inches off the ground on the flatbase). There is also a Cine 60 flatbase that has the exact same specifications as the CP one; both can be found on Ebay for a reasonable price, but they are sought after items (although I'm not sure totally why unless you've got the Cine 60 blimp -- maybe for cosmetic purposes?). Regarding the Arri 120 blimp, which I've seen but never used, I'm assuming the critter was set up for AC sync before crystal motors were employed. If that is so, is it possible at all to get a crystal motor in there (like the Cine 60 set up)? If you notice pictures of Stan Kubrick on the "Clockwork" set, he's using both 120 and the Cine 60 blimp and sharing the A/C motor with both. That's because they used a sync cable to record sound, therefore negating the use of crystal controls (might have been a year or so before the Cinema Products crystal motor came out). Hope this is helpful -- I'd love to know more about how quiet the IIC actually is in one of those larger blimps, and if the AC sync motor options work well. Also, do those follow-focus controls inside really work, and for what lenses? I've talked with several owners of Cine 60 blimps who still can't figure out what the heck lenses the Cine 60 follow focus attachment is geared for -- not Cookes, not Zeiss... maybe Schneider, which I don't have. I'd probably have to look into retrofitting it for the lens of choice. Tellef Johnson