Matt Lofgren

Hopefully a simple question: Where is the best place (or even a good place) to get a replacement ground glass for the Arri 35-3? Clairmont Camera perhaps? Our camera currently has a TV aperture mask and need/would like one with a 1.85 mask. I probably shouldn't be asking, but what do these typically run, dollar wise? Thanks!

That was the really terrific thing about purchasing this as a "package" instead of going the piecemeal route. It came with an Arri Matte Box, French Flags, follow focus with whips and speed crank, support plate, rods, CEI crystal electronic base, video tap with Sony color camera, eyepiece heater, breakout box, mags (3 - 400'), custom batteries with charger, flight cases, etc, etc. Really complete though I have since added 3 - 1,000' mags, the aforementioned mentioned Cooke 20-60 zoom, a fairly complete Tiffen filter package, and now getting the Sachtler 7+7 studio head and Cartoni sticks. Also got a number of items from FilmTools (which I have now deemed it to be our new replacement for that other money pit, "The Home Depot"). I also will be getting a different ground glass (for 1.85 framing) as this one installed is TV only - the camera was only used to shoot commercials and never full length feature films. Anything else anyone would recommend in the way of essential "kit?" Oh, I am also getting a small chest freezer for film storage, but will be purchasing fresh film for the actual shoot.

Thanks for the comments! And not that this has too much to do with the initial post, but: Our film company's (TwoCan Films, LLC) intent is to shoot high quality/high production value 35mm full length (narrative) feature films, strictly in the Christian/faith-based/family genre, a genre were "good Christian movie" is something of an oxymoron, I hate to say and this genre tends to be outside the Hollywood norm, yet is a significant market... In my "real" job world, I have been a tooling engineer in injection molding for most of my professional career (after an eight year stint in the military). Too many trips to Asia - 41 in the last 3 years (!!!) has motivated me to make a pretty dramatic change, though filmmaking has always been a passion of mine since I was a kid. Making the switch at the ripe old age of 50, but I think it will work out great. At 50, us old guys tend to have a bit more business experience, are a tad more realistic in our goals/expectations, the kids are usually out of the house and we hopefully have a bit more disposable income with which to personally invest. I did a tour of duty at Film Arts Foundation as an intern when travels allowed, and I have a library of books regarding the craft larger than FAF did (okay, so I may be exaggerating, but not by much!). We do have a film in the early (early) stages of production, and getting equipment seems something like putting the cart before the horse, but I do have a "thing" for all things mechanical in nature, and this Arri 35-3 is pretty cool. We were going to go digital, but after really looking/thinking things over, film seems like the best approach, at least for the next 5-10 years, and we do want to be taken seriously, which was certainly also part of the decision making process (no disrespect to anyone going the digital route, believe me). We will be looking for a professional crew during the shoot as well. Having some of the basic equipment on hand and taking time to learn it thoroughly (even if I will not ultimately be the operator, I have another passion which is to learn as much as I possibly can about the entire process!). We do have 8,600 feet of old (1 year) 5217 Kodak film coming in just to do some camera/lens testing and hopefully to develop (no pun intended) a good relationship with a processing lab. After putting the Cooke 20-60 zoom on today, and having a good idea of the additional equipment we will be requiring (and also having a really great rental company close by), I think we will forgo the prime lens purchase for now. Our next big equipment outlay is a Sachtler 7+7 studio head and a set of Cartoni sticks. As most of you know, this stuff is NOT cheap, but then again, being in the molding/tooling business most of my life, you definitely get what you pay for... Anyone interested in getting their hands on an Arri 35-3 for some free real-live testing and live in the Bay Area either in late June or early/mid July, please feel free to email me! Thanks again - Matt

First post, but hopefully not the last. I recently acquired a beautiful Arriflex 35-3, 3rd generation camera package, actually the very last serial number of this model, or so I was told. We (my wife is a major part of the new career!) also purchased an extremely nice Cooke Varo Panchro 20-60 zoom. We have, as most of us do I suspect, a limited budget for equipment but would like to get one or two primes to mostly complete the package. My thought is to obtain a 14mm as much of our first film will be shot on/overlooking a mountain here in Northern California near an astronomical observatory and then perhaps a reasonably fast 85mm. Renting is not much of a problem in our area, and we plan on renting a sync sound camera, but would still like to have "the basics" on hand. Any recommendations would be much appreciated.