Bengt Freden

"Handle or not to handle, that is the question..." Hi (again) to all who are wrapping their brains around this delicate little problem, The MAIN problem, as I see it, is that there is absolutely NO SPOT on the outside of the Beaulieu 4008 camera body that is exactly level or in line with the optical axis. Not even the base or bottom of the camera body with the handle completely removed - I noticed this already when I mounted the HASSELBLAD medium format SLR quick release plate on my Beaulieu 4008 ZMII back in 1976. But you are getting very close. If you want to obtain a perfect parallel optical axis mount, it's just a matter of adding a couple of thin washer 'shims' on your screws, between your preferred quick release plate and the rear of the underside of the camera body, making it tip very slightly forwards/down. And Jorge, a very efficient way of switching battery power ON and OFF is by using the external Beaulieu battery cable to the small round battery box, and soldering an ON/OFF switch directly onto the cable (cutting it in two), a couple of inches below the battery adapter on the left side of the camera, where it is easily accessible with your left hand. I use an extra long cable for cold location shooting conditions here in Sweden, and keep the battery container under my thick jacket, to keep it insulated. You can even start or turn off your camera this way (with the trigger of the camera permanently in RUN position), but you cannot be sure that the shutter are returning to OPEN, when you cut the battery feed. So, you will loose a few fogged frames. But it can be handy for synch sound shooting or panning sequences, when you need your right hand on the panning handle. When I want to carry the camera and tripod on the shoulder, I just unplug the battery cord from the camera and put it in the jacket opening. In my old photo below (2008), the 4008 camera has the Hasselblad quick release plate and it is easily mounted onto the rod assembly by just sliding/pushing it forward under the two holding clamps of the release and then locking it down. I also have a version of the Hasselblad release plate with the locking lever on the right side, if I want to access the motor axis on the left side. The German light-weight EWA (plastic) Super-8 matte box/compendium (this version has no filter holder but there is one 35mm SLR version who has) is in turn attached to the Manfrotto tripod's quick release plate on top of the fluid head. This matte box has only ONE rod, mounted to the right, which makes it a little bit unstable/wobbly. I think that David Odell's solution with the Cavision 15mm metal rods and the small 16mm ARRI matte box, however, is the most elegant I have seen so far. At least for cameras which have had the handle permanently removed. Is it sturdy, David? And how do you mount and un-mount the camera from the rod system, or the tripod? Did you put a tripod socket directly into the bottom of the camera body, or is there a quick-release plate in the Cavison rod system? The other very smart option, if you want to leave the original handle on the camera, is the beautifully machined ACS light-weight carbon rod system made by Seth: http://www.americancinespec.com/pages/Beaulieu.html A couple of years ago, I bought just the ACS leveling plate, which I find is the best and sturdiest attempt yet to mount the camera (WITH the handle intact) exactly level on a fluid head: http://www.americancinespec.com/pages/Beaulieulevelingplate.html The old, cast wedges that are still available here and there (eBay, Super 8 Camera Shop.com in Gemany, etc) are no way near the precision and rigidity of Seth's machined aluminium plate. I have one of the old cast wedges and with it, the camera is leaning slightly to one side and cannot be placed flat on a table with a zoom lens. It tips over immediately. The bottom plate of the Beaulieu camera's handle have sometimes taken a beating if they are used heavily, and is therefore occasionally not completely FLAT, which presents a problem in itself. I have bent my bottom plate very carefully down (after unscrewing it of course!) in the front 'toe' very slightly, using a bench-mounted vise, to make it more steady length-wise or forward/back. In summary, I would say there ARE several systems out there, even if they are not exactly bought "off-the shelf", both for those who want to remove the handle and for those who want to keep it. However, you need to 'fine-tune' your complete set-up, and find parts, matte boxes, etc, that will fit well with YOUR system, which WILL require some effort and time on your behalf. All the best from the windy North, Bengt :)

Hi Federico, How much are you asking for it? And, are there any accessories - such as original lens hood, filters, batteries, battery charger, etc? Thanks, BF

KODAK Super 8 Films Discontinued in 5 Year Intervals? In 2005, Kodachrome 40A was gone in Super 8. In 2010, Plus-X Reversal 7265 is gone, See the pattern? I wonder what will happen in 2015? Perhaps the demise of all Super 8 reversal films, or even ALL Super 8 films altogether? I wouldn´t be surprised at all… Bengt F, Stockholm, Sweden

The Kodachrome Iconic Ideal. I am old enough to remember what Kodacrome IIA used to look like, before Kodachrome 40A came along in the mid 70s. Now that was a BEAUTIFUL film, with deep, deep blue skies and warm, gentle, brownish skin tones. I was working for a very well respected advertising photographer in Stockholm in 1974-75 and I remember the hellish problems we had when the new Kodachrome 25 and 64 daylight 35mm stills fims were introduced. This photographer used to work extensively with Nikon F2's and Kodachrome II 135-36 daylight film and he was absolutely infuriated with KODAK in Stockholm over the first really bad results he got with Kodachrome 25 and 64. One week it turned out magenta and the next green in the processing. A couple of months later, after endless Wratten gel filter testing, he did a big job with lots of people and cars in a big rented film studio for two days and all the eighty or so rolls came back all GREEN from the processing. KODAK replied to his complaints that it was an amateur film - that's KODAK for you, in a nut shell. No economic compensation, just new rolls of the same rotten film. The problems was pretty much the same with Kodachrome 40A, the 3400 K° tungsten film that we had to filter with W85 for normal daylight shooting. The same magenta-colored skin tones and the same problems with green hues, especially in skies and whites. Which made it almost impossible to filter correctly. I was using 81A and B a lot, to achieve the warm look of the forever gone Kodachrome II, but never got close. The processing of KII was really toxic and that's why KODAK had to change the processing formula. THIS is my iconic Kodachrome Super 8, the film with which I am comparing all other reversal films. Shot in 1969, the Kodachrome IIA Super 8 rolls still look absolutely stunning. And so does the 35mm Kodachrome II Leica slides I have from the early 70s. THIS was the film Simon and Garfunkel was singing about. All the best, Bengt F, Stockholm, Sweden

I totally agree, Freddy van de Putte in Belgium is a guy who knows what he is doing. His wet-gate transfers with a DIY telecine machine (Eumig Super 8 projector-SONY video camera) and frame-by-frame scanning technique is state-of-the-art, very professional. He also has a very keen eye for color saturation, brightness, and contrast - a true colorist. Best, Bengt F, Sweden

Hi Matteo, When I am not using the internal meter in the camera, I usually 'round off' the shutter value to 1/90th of a second (I am shooting at 25 fps here in Europe), which is in between 1/60 and 1/125 on the indident light meter. However, it's also important to make a slight plus adjustment for the 1.8/6-66mm zoom lens, if you don't happen to have the Angénieux T1.4/6-80mm zoom lens, which is the only Super 8 lens with professional T (transmission) aperture stops. This lens has a largest f-stop of 1.2, but the actual light equivalent that reaches the film is only T1.4. A zoom lens normally has about 15 lens elements, which means that there are about 30 or so lens surfaces that reflect off some of the light for the film gate, not counting a glass filter (for example a W85). So, do some tests, and add 1/2 or 2/3 of a stop, depending on your film stock. If you are shooting color negative stock, a slight overexposure (perhaps 1/2 - 1 stop?) will give you a better and more contrasty negative to scan or print, with tighter grain. This is not a problem when using prime lenses, with a smaller amount of lens elements, for example the superb Schneider Macro-Cinegon 1.8/10mm lens for the Leicina Super 8 camera (which can be adapted to C-mount cameras, via an Leica M-mount to C-mount adapter). All the best, Bengt F Sweden

Hi all, Shoot your remaining Kodachrome K40A Super 8 cartridges or 16mm rolls NOW, and send them directly to Dwayne's Photo for processing. The end of December 2010 is the final deadline. I am going to use up ALL the Super 8 and 16mm Kodachrome I have left in the freezer this summer, while the outdoors light is good. I have some rolls from the early 90s, which I will use up, too, because Kodachrome is basically a black & white film and the yellow, magenta and cyan color dyes are added at the processing stage. I will take them out of the freezer about a month before I will use them, which is NOW. When Kodachrome is gone for ever I am going to miss it. When K40A is gone, we will have no really sharp, fine-grained color reversal film. Ektachrome 100D is not sharp enough, in my opinion. I will probably shoot 200T instead, or Pro8mm's packings of 50D or 100T. Velvia 50 is much too saturated in my way of seeing colors and people everywhere report problems with jitter from the emulsion and cartridges. I shot my first Super 8 cartridges of Kodachrome IIA in the summer 1969 with a Mirage M8 and they still look as brand new, thanks to the highly sophisticated Kodachrome subtractive color process. The only problem is that the film base has shrunk a little bit more in the middle than along the edges, which makes the film curve sideways when projected. I am also going miss the beautiful, fine-grained KODAK Plus-X Reversal 7265, which is sadly going to be discontinued in BOTH the Super 8 and 16mm formats this spring. I am going to buy all the rolls I can afford. Who knows when it's time for Tri-X? It is really important to have good black & white material for a creative cinematic expression. If the KODAK people really knew what they were doing, they would give us the most fine-grained, high-resolution material available for the tiny Super 8 format, like Vision2 50D and 100T, and keep the fine-grained Plus-X. Instead we have Vision3 500T and Tri-X, which are both grainy as hell. Still, it's very nice that we have Super 8 film at all, in this day and age. All the best, Bengt Fredén, photographer Stockholm, Sweden

Hi all, The editor that they are marketing at Kahl-film looks really amateurish to me - like the regular Super 8 amateur or family editor, with too small handles, permanently attached to the editor body. That is really tedious for your shoulders and wrists, if you are committed and want to spend long hours in your screening/ editing room. What you want are big adjustable friction handles, that are about 1 meter apart, for the best ergonomic position. The standard 70s 16mm professional editing set-up, that is. Best, Bengt in Stockholm ;)

Thank you, Andries! For posting a link to this incredibly interesting and enligthening article by Claudia and Daniel Wittner. I know abot the Wittner love and commitment to the small gauge film formats, having bought pro grade Super 8 equipment from them in the past and I think they are doing a wonderful job. Their offering of slit double Super 8 emulsions is a welcome initiative for us in Europe. I think this actually sounds extremely promising. Kodak still embraces film as a high quality medium, and as long as Super16 has as many professional followers as it does at the moment, Super 8mm will be there on the bandwagon, too. It isn´t that long ago that Kodak introduced professional Vision2 negative film stock in Super 8 cartridges, and recently, they introduced the new fine-grained Vision3 500T emulsion in Super 8 as well. Who knows wat the future brings - perhaps 50D and the new Vision3 250D daylight negative stocks in Super 8 cartridges? I see a positive trend in Super 8 filmmaking that is incredible these days, considering the digital world around us. And I was there in the mid 70s, making films, when we didn´t have the professional negative stocks. It was all Kodachrome 40A, Plus-X and Tri-X reversal then, with no HD telecine, just plain hands-on cutting, splicing and editing and analogue projection. Hell, there weren´t even PCs before 1984. Now we have great a number of exciting new fim stocks and a growing interest in HD telecine, frame by frame scanning, the Super16 and new exciting Ultra16 widescreen formats - what more can you want? So, don´t whine so much about the future demise of Super 8 or small gauge film - instead, go out there and make some independent films while you still can! Thanks again, Andries! Best regards, Bengt in Stockholm ;)

Well done, Jamie! This wonderful short has quality - both in the esthetic, artistic sense and the technical. The actors are great, acting very natural and believable, especially the woman. The twist at the end really grabs you - very good directing. I watched it in full frame mode on my Mac and I was amazed at the sharpness and fine grain. The colours look very good indeed, considering it has been shot under fluorescent lamps in the subway. Did you have to correct the skin tones, etc, a lot during post? It looks just perfect. If this has been shot full open, you have a very good lens - it is a Schneider Variogon zoom, right? Keep up the good work! Looking forward to your next project! Best regards, Bengt in Stockholm ;)

I have two projectors that work at either 18 fps or 24 fps. One is the ELMO ST 1200 (the older model with one mono sound track and both magnetic and optical sound) and the other is the BEAULIEU 708 EL Stereo. The ELMO takes 360 meter reels and the BEAULIEU takes large 700 meter reels. The latter has magnetic stereo sound (two tracks) and on top of the two speeds also has a variable speed adjustment. The Beaulieu also has a variable shutter - three or two blades - the two blade shutter option gives you a bit more light, but it is only usable at 24-25 fps, because at 18 fps you will get too much of a flicker. It´s a really great projector (professional grade) with an incredibly sharp Schneider projection lens. I have put a small aperture, made out of black card in front of both lenses, to further improve on the edge sharpness. Both projectors have holders for anamorphic widescreen lenses, such as the Kowa Prominar 8-Z or Bell & Howell/Kowa. I am projecting my films at 25 fps, as my Beaulieu Super 8 cameras are all converted to this European sync sound standard speed (25 fps/ 50 Hz). Best, Bengt in Stockholm ;)

Hi Adam, Thanks for sharing this information - this is really good to know. I have a Canon Sound Scoopic 200 SE, which also has the viewfinder optical path going through the film chamber door. I´ll be very careful from now on, only blowing away hairs and dust. Best, Bengt F, Stockholm ;)

Hi all, I agree that the Zeiss Ikon Moviscop 16mm viewer is a very good one - not so crisp and sharp a picture perhaps, due to it´s spinning prism, but it is very easy on the original film (no scratches if you keep it meticulously clean in the gate). It is very bright, extremely simple to load and easy to use overall. However, no frame height adjustment in my machine. I have taken out the black mask behind the viewing screen for a full frame. Another very fine 16mm editor is the Minette 'Sixteen' editor, which is very, very rare these days. We have one at work and the image is more steady than in the Moviscop, due to a stainless steel pressure plate, much like the Minette S-5 Super 8mm counterpart. It is gray in color and cast in metal - no plastic parts, except for a nylon film guiding wheel or two. It has a frame height adjustment, which works very well. A very sturdy and well-engineered product, in my opinion. I will try to obtain one myself, if possible (eBay). I saw one there last year but it was in a terrible state. Best, Bengt in Stockholm

Hi Damien, Yes, the image IS squeezed - that´s the whole point! You have to use Photoshop in the way I described above, to be able to see it in the right proportions. If you convert it to 'Anamorphic 2:1' Pixel Aspect Ratio (or 1,8 custom setting), you will see what I mean. You will have a photo that is around 3:1 in aspect ratio - that is MORE than Cinemascope/ Panavision or 'two-four-oh' . . . And yes, the double focusing is a bit time-consuming but it has to be done to perfection, if you want a sharp image. I will try it later this spring on one of the Beaulieus and project it with the SAME Kowa Prominar 8-Z 2X 75mm lens on the ELMO ST-1200 or Beaulieu 708 EL projector (turned 90° to 'lying down' or horizontal oval, if watched from the front). This way, I am bound to get exactly the right proportions. For lining the camera and lens up, I am going to use double bubble spirit levels - one for the camera top and one mounted on top of the lens (when the lens has a 'standing' oval shape from the front). Best regards, Bengt ;)

Thanks, Glenn, It is true that the UWL aspheric lenses were designed for the Schneider Optivaron (Leicina, Beaulieu) or Variogon (Bauer, Nizo) lenses but I have heard and read about uses on other zoom lenses. I also think it would be very prudent and wise to test it out on the Nikon zoom, if possible, before buying. Zoom lens constructions are fairly similar on high-end Super8 cameras. I knew that there was an even larger lens, the UWL IV, but I have never seen it. Canon has their own 'C-8' wide lens design for their Canon 1014 and 814 XL-s cameras and also one dedicated wide lens attachment for the Scoopic 16 cameras with macro function. Best regards, Bengt ;)

Hi all, I have bought the black powder coated ACS camera plate for my Beaulieu 4008 ZM II, that still has the handle, and I can vouch for the extremely high quality of this product. With the plate screwed into the handle, the camera rests EXACTLY LEVEL on a table (without falling over) or levelled out on the tripod´s fluid head. The finish and fit is incredibly smooth. I am so glad I got one - it is worth every dollar is cost me. I am thinking about various solutions for extension rods, compendium matte boxes, and filter holders myself, but I dont have the skill nor the machines needed for the job. Best, Bengt F ;)

Hi Marc, I would recommend that you get a high-quality aspheric wide angle lens attachment for your fine Nikon zoom lens. Schneider Optics has made some very good UWL lenses (UltraWideAngle), which is focused by using the zoom lense´s macro setting lever, and the one you want is the largest, the Schneider Asheric UWL III. Depending on the lens, you will get a wide angle lens around 4mm (about a 24mm on a 35mm SLR) - on my Beaulieu´s 6mm wide end, I get 3.9mm. They sometimes show up in the used 'Movie' sections, under 'Film cameras' on eBay.com, but check very carefully first with the seller and scrutinize the photos in the listing, because these lenses are made of an acryllic plastic material (as in some eye-glasses) and they are very easy to scratch. The front cap must always be in place, when you are not shooting, and cleaning should be performed only with a rubber hand blower (the large black rocket-shaped one from Giotto is good) or in extreme cases, with a very clean and soft lens tissue (Rosco or Kodak) or a cotton cloth (however, as seldom as possible). You can find one here, for example, from Mr. Uhmeyer in the 'Super8 Camera Shop' in Germany: http://www.super8camera-shop.com/shop/ If you click ' Camera Acessories' and 'Wide lens ...' you will see two of them at the top. The one that is in the best condition sells for 119 EUR. You might get one cheaper than that on eBay. This lens type has both the (inner) 62mm and the (outer) 67mm filter thread, so it works on Beaulieus, Canon XL-S´s, Nizos, Nikons, and a number of other cameras with large front filter threads. There are also a 58mm filter thread version, the UWL II (for many Nizos), and an even smaller one, the UWL I, with 49mm and 52mm threads. Good luck! Best regards, Bengt in Stockholm, Sweden ;)

Calling Damien (and others that are interested! Here´s a little Panavision/CinemaScope digital experiment: I got my 50 to 52mm step-down adapter ring from China yesterday! It fits absolutely perfectly on the original KOWA Prominar 2X anamorhic lens - I would say even better than the old TIFFEN Series VII to 52mm adapter ring that I got off eBay for the Bell & Howell-KOWA version of the 2X Prominar! I put it on my Nikon D200 digital SLR this evening, to be able to quickly evaluate what it looks like. The photo below (of our messy kitchen baking bench) was shot with the camera´s built-in top flash and a manual Nikkor-AiS 2/85mm telephoto lens. I 'pinched' the JPEG image a little (about -6) in Photoshop´s 'Spherize' filter to control the slight tendecy of barrel distorsion. I also tried the Nikkor 1.8/50mm, which was also OK. I will try the 24mm wideangle tomorrow, but I expect I might get a degree of 'tunneling effect' or at least rounded corners, even at the 15x23mm DX format. It is very important to set the focus correctly for a sharp image, by the way - in this case it was 10 feet - on BOTH distance read-out scales! To see this simple (1600 ASA) test photo in the correct aspect ratio (it will be somewhere around 3:1!), use the 'Pixel Aspect Ratio' tool under 'Image', and set to 'Anamorphic 2:1 (2)' - or, under 'Custom Pixel Aspect Ratio', set it to 1,8, which I thought looked slightly more 'real': I will also try the Nikkor-AiS 24mm, or even 20mm, lens set-up on the Beaulieu cameras, and also the 8-64mm Beaulieu/Angénieux zoom lens combination, which seems to be usable from around 13mm short telephoto and up. This is one lens that doesn´t have such a wide setting as the Optivaron 1.8/6-66 or the Angénieux T1.4/6-80, which I think is good for this particular set-up. But I will also try these lenses, with an extra step-down ring (or rings!) from 62 to 52mm. It will be very interesting to see which lens combination that will yield the best resolution and the straightest lines along the edges of the format. It will probably be the normal Nikkor-AiS Plasmat lenses, which are not as complicated lens constructions as the Super-8 zooms. I will report back later with some more test shots. Cheers from Stockholm, Bengt

Hi Nicholas, I have measured the cemented Kodak Wratten 85A glass filter and it is exactly 2x2", or 50.5 x 50.5mm, and the thickness across both glass layers is exactly 4mm. So, you need a filter tray that is just a little bit wider and slighty deeper - below is a photo of the Kinoptik Tegea 5.7mm lens where I have inscribed what I believe would be the minimum requirements. If you are interested, check your filter tray and let me know - thanks. The filter is manaufactured, by the way, by Kodak Limited in London. Cheers, Bengt F ;) PS. If you send me a PM with your e-Mail address, I will send you some close-up photos of the Kodak glass filter and it´s envelope and box.

Hi Steve, I seem to remember something that I read in Chris Cottril´s excellent magazine 'Super8 Today' some time ago about variable speed Super8 projectors - I think (I might be wrong) that they were called either Silva or Noris. The article was about a variable projector with an extremely steady image. Hope this helps somewhat. Bengt F ;)

Hi Damien, Thank you for the link to the lot of fifty 52mm to 50mm filter step-down rings. I e-mailed the Cute Store and I just got an answer; they are selling single rings with the same dimensions now for $9.99 plus shipping! So, I bought one rightaway for my Kowa Prominar 2X anamorphic lens, which I will use on manual Nikon AiS SLR prime lenses. They are apparently delivered from China, and they are usually quite fast on deliveries - normally less than a week, is my experience. So, thanks to this great team work, I guess we can look forward to a relatively easy installment of our Kowa scope lenses. I just hope that the 0.75mm thread pitch will work OK, but that was the figure you got from Kowa in Japan, right? Thanks again, Damien, Bengt ;) PS. Here is the link to the actual listing on eBay.com: http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...em=260369100409 The eBay item ID nr is: #260127644960.

Hi Nicholas, I have found the 2x2" KODAK W85A glass filter. It is in good shape. I have sent you a PM. Best regards, Bengt F, Stockholm ;)

Hi Damien, What you actually need is a 50 to 52 step-UP ring - that is 50mm filter to 52mm lens, not the other way around. Be careful when you order or ask for it, so you don´t get the wrong article/item . I would be very interested to see the e-mail, though - please send me a PM! Thanks! Best, Bengt ;)

Hi Paul, I finally got in touch with the DP in southern Sweden that had previously owned my Canon Sound Scoopic 200 SE - I wrote him a letter and he phoned me back yesterday. He is a very pleasant guy and a very experienced cinematographer, and also a camera technician. He told me that he had bough TWO Canon Sound Scoopic 200 SE cameras in the US (one in L.A. and one in New York) in the beginning of the 80s - one with the faster lens (f=1.8) - that´s the one I got, and another with the slightly smaller lens (f=2.5). He and a DP friend of his used them a lot for short films and documentary work. He was very impressed with the 12.5 - 75mm Canon lens, so impressed that he bought one from England that was supplied without the Canon camera (with an ARRI bayonet mount). In his opinion, it is a much more modern optical construction, with higher contrast, than the Angénieux lenses from the same period (early 70s), for example the f=2.2/T2.5 12-120mm or the 9,5 - 95mm. Because we had liked the Canon Sound Scoopics so much, he later got TWO newer (and smaller) Canon Scoopic MS cameras as well. But he never used the 'electric eye'-meter, always a hand-held meter. He furthermore told me that he had exchanged the electrical contact in the hand grip of my camera, so that it only accepts the power from the external batteries. So, the contact that you have is probably the original one, with a lot more contacts, for the exposure meter and the sound also. He had bought TWO 12 Volt lead-jelly acid batteries and connected them in a series, so they deliver 24 Volts, which is what this camera needs, at about 0,5 Ah. He had also checked the speed of the potentiometer and set it to exactly 24 fps. He said that if I want to change the speed to 25 fps (European sync speed, at 50Hz), I will have to exchange the potentiometer altogether. I will perhaps consider this later if I can find someone who performs sync conversions for Scoopics (perhaps a Tobin motor). I will, however, buy two more 12 Volt batteries, to be able to have an extra 24 Volt back-up battery. He recommended that I shouldn´t use the internal CdS meter in the camera, which isn´t as accurate as a hand-held meter. So, I think I will save up for a Sekonic L-758 Cine incident/spot meter and a large Kodak Grey Card PLUS instead. I have checked the viewfinder vs. the image in the gate today (with a 16mm strip of matted clear tape!), and you get a bit more on the negative (on all sides) than you frame for in the viewfinder. This is probably because in the days when this camera was released, much of the fottage was projected in a projector, which masks away a good deal of the original image. The DP also told me that the upper and lower lines of the 'TV safe' marker area in the viewfinder can be used for framing cropped Std. 16 that will be shown in a theatre in 1.85:1 aspect ratio. By the way, he didn´t recommend messing with the camera gate for Ultra16, because he says that you will have to polish all the link drive rolls in the film chamber, to make sure they don´t scratch the film negative. Well, Paul Korver at Cineliscous they seems to have done it . . . Paul, I hope that you will be able to find a suitable new rubber seal for your film chamber - perhaps a long, round rubber belt for a projector? And also that you will be able to figure out which of the contacts that you should use for the batteries - remember it has to be 24 Volts for this camera! If you send me your regular e-mail address in a PM, I will scan and send you some pages from a brochure on the Canon Sound Scoopic 200 camera, that I bought off eBay. I hope this has been of some help to you. Let me know how you are doing with your camera! Very best regards from Stockholm, Cheers, Bengt F

Mark, If you´d like to complicate the situation even further, take a standard Wratten '85' filter from 10 different manufacturers (say, Kodak, TIFFEN, Harrison & Harrison, Schneider-B+W, Formatt, Soligor, Hoya, Cokin . . . ) and, most likely, you will get close to 10 different color shades (and densities), some orange, some pinkish-orange, some brown-orange, some red-orange. I am comparing some of these at the moment and I am slowly turning grey . . . I suppose it would be best to choose ONE really good quality filter (B+W, for example), in a thin (slim) ring, that is fully coated and AR-treated, have THE SAME filter in the different sizes you need, and then perform your own tests for each film stock. Preferrably with a standard Gretag-Macbeth Color Checker board (next to the slate?) in the beginning of EVERY new scene. If you combine it with a Kodak Grey Card PLUS of 18% 'medium' grey plus black and white, the scanner operator or colorist will probably love you, because he (or she) will have a norm to work to. Or at least, something to start from - the rest is personal preference, for contrast, color saturation, color balance, a 'warm' or 'cool' feel, etc, etc. Best regards, Bengt F ;)