Aapo Lettinen

I guess I can probably share some work-in-progress stuff of this single board which will be part of the NPR motors I am designing. Very very early draft and I will change most of it, these very early ones I make to evaluate if I can fit the necessary parts in the board area I have possibility to use. Or if some parts don't fit, do I need to change the schematics to leave some parts out (for example reduce ESD shielding to lower level to reduce parts count) or if I can replace some component with different type smaller one. Then I will enhance the schematics and improve the board design. When the schematics is locked and I have selected the components and their package sizes (some components have hundreds of different packages they can be bought in so there is quite some work to select the most fitting for the purpose both in size and connections and in electrical and physical properties too, this has to be done on each component the board has) it is possible to find the best exact placement of each individual component and I can then draw the copper tracks connecting them together. the yellow lines between component legs represent the connections described by the schematic and I will need to draw a physical connection, a copper track, between the indicated legs. If some other copper track is on the way, I can "jump" over or under it between copper layers to route the track for example on the back side of the board to get forward. this board will have 4 copper layers so there is some serious thinking needed how to hop between layers when routing the connections, especially when there is some signals which may interfere with each other if routed too close each other. Overall pretty long process, typically I will purchase some amount of each selected component during the design process to ensure that they fit and they have correct properties and to ensure that they are available when I actually am starting to assemble the final boards. The purpose of this particular board is to have ESD protection and input-output connections of the NPR motor, and it has some EMI (electromagnetic interference) filtering too. Electrolytic capacitors have limited lifetime which is why I am trying to concentrate them all on this board which is easiest to access if some of them need replacing after many years of use. The board has optocouplers which separate the very sensitive crystal control board electronics from the "outside world" 6-pin accessory connector. If there would be static discharge happening on the 6-pin connector the components on this board protect from it recoverably to a point... too large discharge will damage the optocouplers on this board which can be easily replaced if needed as this board is easy to access and those components are very easy to get from any retailer. Probably could be user repaired if not having possibility to send it to me for repairs. Without these protective measures a discharge could instead damage the sensitive crystal control electronics which have programmable parts running custom firmware, those can't just be replaced by other persons than me because any replacement would need to be programmed before installing (you don't have the software available and blank components would not work at all) and one might need to swap whole circuit boards to new ones even. So it is very important board overall. It is the only one I can show of these circuit boards I am making for the NPR motors and it is the only one which might in any rare scenario needed to be accessed by other persons than me so that it will be documented in the manual. Will update more pictures when getting the design forward. Hopefully will have the final board ready in late May or early June.

great! you can dm which parts do you need, will look for the best ones from the lot then. The whole lot would be maybe something like 280 euros with shipping to Sweden if you need the lenses and spring drive too

Ordering closed now for Eclair NPR camera motors. I was able to sell 8 pieces of the Advanced 15-speed model and 4 pieces of the basic 3-speed model. Very good batch size overall and ordered the rest of the more expensive and time consuming cnc machined parts now to ensure I have parts for the whole batch when starting to assemble the final ones in June. Some smaller parts will be made during May and the rest of the electric motors ordered in late May / early June when I am absolutely sure the selected motor drive type is the final one (can't make mistakes with the type selection as it costs over 3000 euros to change it, thus not ordering the rest of them just yet 😛 ). The outer covers for the motor will be finished last, probably in late June/early July, because I want to use as much time as possible to refine the external shape of the covers. But the prototypes will use temporary 3d printed covers so when I start to make film tests I can test the cover designs at the same time 🙂 It looks like I will use 4-pin xlr as power connector and there will be a 6-pin accessory connector to connect external switches and other accessories to the motor. The motors will have one 1/4" and one 3/8" thread on the bottom for tripod mounting. I will make one additional Advanced motor for my own use and if there will be parts left I will try to make one or two of the Advanced motor type for later sale. Probably those will be the last ones sold as from the batch size it looks like I have pretty good market saturation and there would be no later sales after those two possible extra ones are sold. Making a second batch would require having a order of 5 or 6 extra Advanced motors at once fully paid for beforehand which probably would never happen as later sales have always been one or two extra ones tops and I already have that amount covered. If I have the one or two extra motors available later on, they will be slightly more expensive than the preordered ones. I am assuming something around 2300usd to 2400usd or so

if you can't find one, you can get it custom made. Someone who does leatherworks like bags, purses and such could probably make one easily if you get the dimensions and can bring the camera for test fitting. You could ask them to add logos and stuff to it too to make it really cool looking 😄 If the camera is noisier than usual it should be checked. CLA would probably bring the noise down considerably and would also reduce wear to the mechanism if there is some small issue with it

I still have those spare Kiev cameras and would want to get rid of them because needing the storage space for other projects. May have to scavenge them for rollers and sprockets and optical parts and throw the rest of the bodies away if no one needs these as full cameras, I dug them up from storage unit for a deal which was cancelled and I hate the box laying in the middle of the workroom

OK brilliant, I will try to sell my old Eclair ACL for the same value that it cost back then 50 years ago when it was made, I think it was about 40 000 or 50 000 in today's dollars? 😄 If your SBM is really good and serviced it could be worth something between 3.5k and 4.5k. I would try 4.5k with really good images and report of recent service and a small video showing the camera running flawlessly with good audio. It absolutely won't be worth more than a used working Aaton LTR or Arri SR2 so anything over 6k would be ridiculous even if it is a collectible mint in box rarity. People are buying these cameras for actual use so they need to either work or be really attractively priced so that people want to take the risk

I could sell three professional sync sound cameras with new crystal sync motors and serviced and film tested for lower total price and they could be got s16 converted separately and still not break the 12k mark total costs. If the bolex is bought as collectible then it might make sense but for actual use I would definitely take two Eclairs and the Kinor and got them all s16 and PL mount converted, or go with pl mount Aaton LTR or Arri SR instead and still have money left for lenses and video tap etc

I am assembling couple of them in the following days and testing after that. I have one extra in this first batch which I could sell. I guess from 1 to 1.5 weeks with shipping for that one extra unit on the batch. depending on how long the tuning and testing of these takes (and if you modify the motor handle by yourself to work with the controller. you will need a multimeter and soldering iron and some basic tools like small screwdrivers for the modification and a cheapest multimeter which has continuity testing. One needs to change the wiring of the motor to work at 24 volts and then replace the original cable connector with new different type one. Should take maybe 30min to 45min total with testing. It would also be possible to send the motor handle here for modification if longer shipping time is not an issue)

ORDERING CLOSED BUT I MOVED THE CNC PARTS QUOTE TO MONDAY SO IF YOU FEEL MISSING OUT JUST SEND ME DM OR IG MESSAGE (aaplet14) DURING THE WEEKEND AND WE CAN FIGURE IT OUT. There is some other people who are paying their orders in Sunday too so you can still apply if being quick. After Monday 28th it would be very difficult to add new orders anymore (would need to raise the price a lot, like 600usd extra) so have to close ordering after Sunday 27th. Sold one of the 3-speeds so there is one still available. Advanced models available as well.

I never had the original 15epss control box but it has 48v inverter circuit inside which generates heat. If the camera runs fine at first but then suddenly stops after quite long-ish take, it can be heating related issue I think. There may be some bad soldering joint or faulty component which expands when warming up and loses connection when warm enough. could be more complex issue too. don't know the exact circuit of the original box so difficult to say but you can probably figure it out when opening it (remember that 48v is already dangerous and a faulty circuit can generate more voltage than originally rated for so definitely have all safety measures in place before attempting any repairs) . if it is heating related issue it may not show up the same way if the casing is opened for testing purposes, this can complicate repairs a lot

Got the control panels from factory. Much nicer to work on the software now! As mentioned in previous post, it is possible to order this system with tcxo oscillator if needed, for those super long one-take scenes lasting over 5 minutes. Price with the tcxo is something between 850usd and 900usd per installation kit depending on how many orders there is. Good discounts if purchasing more than one kit.

btw, I was bored and drafted additional stuff for the 45-speed system so that it is possible to order it with TCXO if needed (temperature compensated crystal oscillator) for extremely accurate timebase. It needs a small additional circuit board installed and if installed afterwards, desoldering couple of components. and of course costs a little extra. it is possible to do the module installation afterwards by the end user if needed but I highly recommend ordering the installation kit with this update already installed if wanting it for the camera. The regular crystal which the 45-speed system has as standard is perfectly fine if you are shooting shorter than about 4 minute or 5 minute takes. Almost all people using CP16R or Eclair cameras shoot short takes less than 2 minutes long and you won't notice any difference between regular crystal and tcxo in that kind of use. But it you are going to shoot a 10 minute single sync sound take, basically an entire 400ft roll as single take which is very expensive, then it may be useful to have the tcxo module installed in the camera. Let me know if wanting to order the 45-speed kit with the tcxo module, I will calculate how much extra the tcxo would cost but likely less than 150usd extra

If true, it sounds like they are trying to make it easier to shoot stills on the MP films. Can't figure out other reason why they would remove remjet as most movie cameras have shiny parts on pressure plate and would cause extra issues with them

250D would be more optimal if you have to use the HMI for sunlight. Gelling the hmi down extensively is not good for the colour (partially the reason why I recommended using tungsten for sunlight and hmi only for cold light). But if you want the sharp venetian shadows on the wall then your tungsten package would not be enough and would either need 5k tungsten or have to do with the hmi and too high colour temperature. If you have possibility to switch for 250D on this scene I would recommend it and then would be easier to make the sunset light with the hmi by gelling the hmi down 1/2 cto and gelling the ambience-creating led fixture up enough to get desired colour temperature difference. I would aim for something like maybe from 190 to 250 mired temperature difference depending on how the ambience is exposed, the exact phase of sunset replicated, etc. the ambience will be soft light so it will look natural when it is coming through the same window than direct sunlight. The lower the ambience is exposing the colder it usually looks compared to the real temperature difference, thus enhancing the colour temperature difference even more

the Krasnogorsk cameras were made for entirely different use than the Kinor cameras (16sp and cx line) so I have no idea why they would have tried to make the lenses cross compatible as the Kinor lenses were better quality and there was no way a Krasnogorsk user would have got their hands to Kinor lenses in the use Krasnogorsks were made for. The krasnogorsks were made for movie club hobbyist use meant to be simple and affordable . The kinors were made for tv and propaganda, clearly made for professional use only and I can't see a reason why anyone would have wanted to use cheap-o hobby lenses on Kinors back in the day when the available kinor lenses were two or three times the optical quality, had better mechanics and were more reliable.