Matt Meyer

I received my copy of Fauer's book Monday, as luck would have it. I took a chance and used a bent paper clip to remove the fiber screen. It's fine. I also took apart the viewfinder as far as I could. I can't reach the gunk, which is growing on prisms in the horizontal J-bar. I called Arri in LA, who suggested shipping the whole camera down, and that they'd probably have to replace the prisms (at least). Since I'm on a tight film school budget, I opted to take it to a local camera repair shop. They think they should be able to clean or replace the elements for $150 total, which is probably what I'd pay just to ship the thing to LA. So here's hoping. Tim -- are you still located in Portland?

Thanks for your comments. The eyepiece itself is fine. The orange goo seems to be on the prisms of the J-bar, or possibly on the fiber-optic screen. I think I can access the outside surfaces of the prisms, but don't want to do anything stupid... yet. Two questions: 1) What the heck are Hirschman's forceps? Would I go to the local photography store, or to a surgical supplier?2) The Arri manual also speaks airily of removing the fiber-optic screen, but doesn't really go into any detail on how it's done. Any suggestions, or would it be readily apparent when I get there? Thanks, Matt

I teach at a small film school in Oregon, and as I was preparing gear for the upcoming school year I realized that the viewfinder in our SRII was filthy inside. I fear it's fungus -- orange blotches on the image, much dimmer than our SRI. I've successfully removed the viewfinder from the body and it seems to be within the viewfinder itself -- not the mirror or on-board optics. I'm pretty intrepid, and have actually cleaned fungus from a (very cheap) zoom lens. However, I'm not sure if I should attempt to clean this puppy. Has anyone had experience with this? or can they recommend a shop that would do this kind of work inexpensively? Thanks, Matt

First off, thanks for all the helpful advice on my Quest for Dollies. I've got a line on an old Colortran dolly that uses a CO2 cannister for the boom. However, I can't find any information online about how it recharges -- whether it plugs into the wall, uses a pump lever, or somehow needs to be recharged outside of the dolly (which is what the seller thinks). Anyone have any recollection of how these units work? Thanks much, Matt

I teach in a small film school in Oregon. I'm looking for a studio dolly with a hydraulic boom. While I'd love a Chapman or Fisher, I expect a Moviola or McAlister is more in my price range. However, I've been searching online for a year, and have only seen a couple for sale. Question 1) Anyone have a garage full of old Moviola dollies? Question 2) It seems most student filmmakers are using skateboard dollies. I want to train my students in the "right" way to do things, but maybe that's changed since I was in film school 15 years ago. With cameras getting lighter and lighter, do we still need a big studio dolly? Thanks much, Matt