Matt Meyer

UPDATE -- Thanks so much to everyone who's responded. I am just blown away by the great stories and love people have for these old film cameras. I think I've got homes for all three cameras, but I'll update here if things fall through. And I hope to have some other 16mm accoutrements posted soon Thanks for being such a great film community! matt

Wow! Thanks to all of you who have responded. I hope to respond to each of you ASAP. It really is heart-warming to hear about people's love of these old film cameras. Best, matt

Since my retirement last year, our university has decided not to teach shooting on film any more. Bad news for the students, but good news for you – we have three venerable Arriflex 16mm cameras for your consideration. Camera #1 (lovingly called Princess Leia) is an Arriflex 16 SRII with a standard academy gate. Comes with a clean Angenieux 10-120mm f 2.8 zoom lens, crystal clear with no marks or fungus. This package also includes a hand grip with trigger for hand-held use, a plastic cover for the mag, and an Arnold & Richter variable speed control, allowing frame rates from roughly 8 to 80 fps. The camera is very clean and has little signs of use. The lens is a bit more worn, but works great. The package includes a Porta-Brace heavy duty camera bag. Camera #2 (Han Solo) is an Arriflex 16 SR with a standard academy gate. This bad boy comes with a Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 10-100mm f 2.8 zoom lens that may have enough width to cover a Super 16 frame, if you wanted to do a conversion. There’s also a cool Arri-Tach DCT-1 high-speed variable speed controller. I am unable to test this currently, but I recall was capable of ridiculous frame rates – perhaps some Arri expert can supply its specs. The package includes one 400’ mag, a plastic mag cover, and a core spindle. The camera is in remarkably good shape for its age. The lens housing is well-worn, but the elements are crystal clear and fungus-free. (Like the Millennium Falcon, she may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts.) This camera comes in an Arriflex metal case, which is lacking a handle. Camera #3 (Luke) is a vintage Arriflex 16 SR with an interesting story. I was searching for the little 4-pin XLR to Arri bizarro power adapters that are ridiculously difficult to replace. I bought this camera very cheaply off eBay, specifically because it had two of those adapters. The camera had previously been in a museum, and was thought to be non-functional. You guessed it – we plugged it in and it purred like a kitten. This beast also sports a T-bar viewfinder and a vintage (Visual Products?) VP-111 video assist unit. Although the optics look great, we were unable to obtain a usable video image from this gizmo. (Perhaps you’ll have more luck than we did.) This camera also comes with a beautiful Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 10-100mm f 2.8 zoom lens that’s clean and crisp (despite a fingerprint on the UV filter). There’s also a hand grip with trigger, a variable speed controller, and on 400’ mag included. The rubber eye cup is currently not attached – you may want to find a new one. Truth in advertising: As I recall, there’s currently a blown fuse on Camera #3. My plan is to fix and test this before anyone purchases it, unless someone would prefer to do this herself. All of these cameras have been well-used and well-loved. They are guaranteed not to scratch film. However, they are vintage cameras, with a few dings and tape residue. If a lens doesn’t iris properly, or something’s messed up, don’t fear – we’ll make it right. Here’s the thing – I’m finding it exceedingly challenging to set reasonable prices for these. I’m seeing them listed for a few hundred bucks to $10,000 and up on eBay. So, please shoot me an email through Cinematography.com, telling me what you’re interested in, and what you feel a fair price is (ideally $500 or more per camera.) Our main goal is to get these into the hands of someone who will appreciate them, rather than get the highest possible price. I’d prefer not to separate the lenses from the cameras, but we can certainly talk. All three cameras are located in Portland, Oregon, and will be carefully packaged, but expensive to ship. Special bonus offer: As mentioned above, the 4-pin SLR – Arri bizarro adapter is incredibly difficult to find. If you purchase a camera, for an extra $50 we’ll throw in one of these adapters. For another $50 we’ll toss in a brilliant adapter plate that allows you to use modern gold mount/Anton Bauer style batteries to power your film camera. I just realized there's a 300K limit to attachment on this page, so please go here to see more photos of the gear: https://tinyurl.com/ArriSRs . Drop me a line, and I’ll be happy to send you more photos of the gear and answer any questions you may have. Also, I have several full 400' rolls of Kodak stock, a couple of Beaulieu R16s, a fabulous Zeiss lens, and other film-related items I'll be posting shortly. If there's something specific you're hunting for, let me know. Best regards, matt

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