Aapo Lettinen

I have used BMPC4K quite a lot some years ago, was not my own camera but was allowed to borrow it for extended periods. I mostly shot nature material like landscapes etc where the colour reproduction and dynamic range shows very clearly

The most common issue in forest shoots is the huge green ambience from all directions and leds can be very useful countering that in tighter shots. For wides, that kind of fixtures may not do much more than just add accents... maybe if having very punchy lenses for them but the led lenses are usually not the kind of punchy like an hmi par would have and that combined with the smaller power fixtures may not be optimal for wides. Something like 2.5k hmi would be more useful for a bit wider shots but of course take the 500's if they are what is available, it will still look much better than no lights. The 60's may not be useful for exts, likely only work for tent interiors I think. One trick when shooting in forest is to cover some of the ground with something neutral coloured, for example white or black tarp or molton to control green spill in shots where the foreground ground is not visible. Can help a lot in mediums and may not take that much time to do. Lights can be bounced from the surface of it too if needed

No tässähän kysyttiin mielipidettä että näyttääkö mielenkiintoiselta kuvalta jollain lisäarvoa tuottavalla tavalla ja mun mielestä näyttää just siltä mitä onkin eli kokeilun vuoksi kuvattu kymmenen vuotta vanhalla härvelillä ja sitten näyttää kymmenen vuotta vanhalta kuvalta. Itse en sinällään näe mitään lisäarvoa vanhoilla videokameroilla kuvaamisessa ellei kyseessä ole joku pixelvision tai muu todella vanha viritys. Videokuvaamisessa ylipäätään pyritään tekemään teknisesti "läpinäkyvää" kuvaa joka ei liiaksi kiinnitä huomiota tekniikkaan itseensä, ja silloin pienet vajavaisuudet kuvassa nähdään nimenomaan virheenä eikä "mielenkiintoisena ilmiönä". Efektin pitäisi olla todella voimakas että siitä olisi jotain tarinankerronnallista hyötyä ja se ei toteudu liian uusilla kameroilla, silloin lopputulokseksi jää vain että "näytti ihan hyvältä, kamera olisi voinut olla vähän parempi kun oli kohinaa ja fpn vaikka valoa olikin suht hyvin". Hinta-laatusuhde 10v vanhoissa laitteissa voi olla vielä ihan hyvä mutta jos bmpc4k maksaa vajaan tonnin ja kahteen tonniin saa nykyään 4 kertaa suorituskykyisemmän kameran jossa enemmän dynamiikkaa, parempi väritoisto ja kymmenen kertaa vähemmän kohinaa niin silloin se hintaero tuntuu aika pieneltä eikä mikään ihme että niitä vanhoja malleja ei haluta yleensä käyttää

To me it looks like Red One -ish, that is pretty characteristic to the Production Camera 4k (some blue/cyan colours get a weird tint as well as some other colours have a bit weird hue. And clipping is pretty harsh, dynamic range not super high as well as relatively high noise levels in that kind of environment compared to what one could get with a more modern camera). So it definitely looks like "a little older camera" and "pre-2015" to me but definitely not analogue or organic in the "normal sense" that kind of description is often used for. I think I know what you mean by it feeling "analogue". The desqueezed noise pattern makes the noise horizontally stretched (each individual pixel of noise is stretched horizontally making it a "horizontal streak" instead of a square pixel) and that shows if watching it in 4k, adding a weird noise pattern over the image. that kind of stretched digital noise resembles analog video noise artifacts a little bit and it thus add just a little bit of "composite video feel" to the footage. So I think the effect is happening because you are desqueezing and shooting at relatively high ISO (for that camera model) at the same time. You could probably enhance the effect if trying to get more in-camera noise

if you are sure you won't need a crystal sync motor at the moment, then one of the cheapest options to get an ACL would be to purchase a camera which does not come with the original motor or has a broken original motor. then purchasing only the motor part of my ACL crystal motor update to run the camera "wild". you could purchase the 16-speed crystal controller later if needed or a different type of controller for it (for example a 12-speed rotary selector one) if needing crystal sync. the "wild" motor kit would be around 450 - 500usd + shipping depending on what kind of control knob accessory box is needed. That would allow running the camera "wild". It only has manual inching using a screwdriver and you would need to use 20v or 24v batteries but if looking for a budget wild motor option it would be pretty budget friendly option. Crystal controller added later would cost from 600 to 800usd extra depending on what kind of controller it is, but the great part is that it is a new motor desing and thus they are available and I can make more of them if needed (in comparison with the original motors which are very rarely sold separately and which are most often broken and irrepairable or may broke down after couple of years of use even if working now) because the camera kit itself would be much cheaper (likely from 1k to 1.5k cheaper) if not having the original motor included, you would save enough money for S16 conversion and complete overhaul to get the other features you need

generally I am trying to estimate the typical condition of a "reasonably priced" camera body which would be readily available at the moment, so not the best one but something one could likely get if purchasing stuff based on price and what the previous owner says. When the "great condition cameras" ran out, the next best ones came on sale and they are inevitably in slightly worse condition and noisier. The issue with the ACL, as I see it, is the relatively simple pulldown + mirror mechanism which indeed would likely require lots of tuning to try to make it low noise. But the camera kits currently offered at reasonable prices (from 1 to 2.5k) are likely not in the absolutely best condition anyway to even be able to be tuned to the ultimate quietness... I mean, they have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for the past 5 years or so on any 16mm camera sales and it definitely shows in the stuff offered. Of course there is owner-operator ACL's which are in "very good condition, serviced and perfect" but people ask close to 10k for them and they are not cost effective anymore for a typical indie user who really shoots maybe one short film a year even when they would like to think they would shoot more when purchasing a camera. the opinion about the noise level NPR vs. ACL is purely theoretical, I don't have an NPR to compare and my ACL is not in the absolute best condition so I know it is noisier than an ACL can be, but it is likely just as noisy as a typical eBay ACL is if one is given a basic CLA and cleaning. It is based on my experience that rotating mirror shutter cameras generally have much stabler running noise and they are much easier to service and tune for lower noise levels (even by just adding one drop of oil, any oil, to them), and in general tend to have lower noise to start with. so it is not empirically tested, just something I have noticed when handling lots of different "not-in-the-best-condition-but-great-price-to-quality-ratio" gear over the years. a typical Aaton off of eBay is not silent either. It can be relatively low noise even if poorly serviced, but definitely not fully quiet... making a camera quiet needs lots of work and is thus expensive, easily burning the budget of a occasional indie filmmaker making a small movie only once or twice a year. And the camera would need to be in perfect condition to start with (not poorly managed and worn out over the years) which makes it expensive to purchase and the service price is on top of that, still not guaranteeing that it would be quiet enough in the end. So I often like to think that this kind of users try to instead get a "good price-performance ratio" kit and just live with the slight drawbacks like the higher running noise, as long as the camera otherwise works. So they would not purchase the expensive ACL/LTR/SR kit, they would try to get the mid or low priced one and get it in a somewhat tolerable running condition that they can shoot their once-a-year short films with it without it always malfunctioning and ruining the whole roll ?

for limited budget (under about 4k or so) sync sound shooting the Eclairs seem to be the most viable option at the moment. you may need to use c-mount lenses to save enough on costs that you can afford s16 conversion and complete overhaul. The NPR is a little cheaper than ACL and might be easier to get motor for and might have slightly lower noise level but is more awkward to operate than the ACL because of the weird motor position under the body. s16 crystal sync Bolex is still expensive (likely on par with the Eclairs) and is more awkward to operate than Eclairs and most of them are relatively unreliable nowadays as far as I have understood (failing electronics with no real repair possibilities. that is true with Eclairs too though as 50+ years old electronics just cannot be expected to last forever, no matter how well made originally). If purchasing an Eclair, make sure that the camera includes a working viewfinder because the findesr are not sold separately and you will have a really bad time trying to custom fit another type of viewfinder to the camera body and will need machining skills and lots of tools for it. Aatons are much better than any of these budget options but they are at least double the price and CLA/overhaul is more expensive for them so they are not "budget options", may ran closer to 10k for the whole set if working condition, S16 and has lenses and working batteries whereas the Eclairs are way under 5k even if having relatively good lenses

great! I can deliver a conversion kit in July or August depending on how much other work there is in the Summer. You will need to check the gear ratio between the motor drive and the camera mechanism, I assume the camera is with 24fps gears and I would want to double check the gear ratio so that I know the settings are correct in the software as there is no documentation of the gear ratio anywhere and the system has only been tested with 25fps gears so far. I takes 5min for me to update the software, just need the information to calculate the correct settings before shipping the main circuit board.

I am making another type of crystal sync modification to these straight-viewfinder Konvas models this year because I need one for my own use and partially just because wanting a really cool Konvas camera modification for display purposes. The crystal electronics are partially installed inside the camera body and it is highly customized work, very time consuming and pretty difficult to install. So it is way different than my original plan for this camera model, the new modification type costs from 1500 to 2000usd to do depending on the features needed but it is very high end so well worth it. Wanted to mention that I am working on this type of mod just in case someone would need one and can afford purchasing this year. Because it is custom work, the details and features can be negotiated but the minimal setup is 1500usd + shipping because I need to disassemble the whole camera body and machine new mechanical parts and do film tests and so on so it is easily a 2 week job per camera

If the OP is not interested in purchasing my spare Konvas body, then it would be possible to trade your camera body to the 4teeth body+motor I have and crystal mod that motor instead. the mags and viewfinder can be just swapped between bodies so you would only need to pay for the motor and the crystal mod

there is one of those 15epss motors on ebay right now https://www.ebay.com/itm/385571336043?hash=item59c5d7af6b:g:Pa4AAOSwKu1kGrSd&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4A7cR8kKATpKy2wz78X9y2W66tAKBkuBsli8uYmo51WKksb0zrAQZbtMSeYwQT0PkPIzzGKsmBj4xdVuLUZzVwTS%2B9zF0QKMHLhxl%2BF3XuOgOjZKRVRI0DHEIj2XAFwzk0%2BebsIzpPOddD8XnlDqzGQI3JA6p2skcosGxPFznwnmLAgC7N%2B%2FRgyhPQzS8q%2FczgNkGSYBf15JKrB0LEXqQ%2Fj0Mqth4V20U5qFPjPXHOagxWNOzLrbfSPHPsDXHjGhyLzcplEMywXgPfs6XSziyC9Un%2BCTZKhO6XQkCTgtwLuo|tkp%3ABk9SR7Lyn9H3YQ

yes they are very rare. I think I have exactly once seen one on sale but it was immediately sold so did not have possibility to buy it. The normal manual crank (not animation one but the one which attaches in place of the spring motor and enables continuous shooting) can be found every now and then on eBay. I am able to convert the 15epss motors to crystal sync if you ever need a crystal motor for the 1M. If for some reason you happen to have a camera body which uses the 4-teeth rubber axle connector on the motor axle instead of the traditional 2-prong metal coupler, I have a spare 4-teeth 15epss drive which is possible to modify and sell

Still for sale. The price can be negotiated if the buyer makes a tutorial or review of the motor or some other material which helps promoting these motors ?

there has been some other small batch crystal motor designs for the 16s cameras but they are pretty rare overall and even rarer in working condition. The issue with crystal sync motors in general is that they are often from extremely difficult to downright impossible to get repaired if they malfunction badly. That is because they are technically complicated, often use obsolete parts and every single design is different from the other and very little to none documentation is available how to service them so it is trial and error and pure luck to try to get them restored. From 500 to 800 is considered "cheap" nowadays for a fully working crystal sync motor for any camera model and the better ones easily go over a grand a piece. If it needs to be really affordable, then a non-crystal mains synced motor could do if used with a inverter (cumbersome yes but that means cheaper too) . I can maybe arrange something for the arri16s later on, I am working on various crystal sync motor developing projects at the moment and can probably arrange something for that camera though it will likely be pretty advanced design and likely costing over a grand minimum

The value may be somewhere between 300usd and 600usd depending on the actual condition of the camera. If it is the CP16 (non-reflex) model then likely somewhere around 400usd or so might be possible. If it has a fitting lens then might be more valuable. there is lots which can be problematic with these cameras if wanting to repair and use them and may be lots of work to restore it in working condition. as a display item they would work in any case but if wanting to actually use it one would need to check at least these things and more: - are the soundproofing materials in usable condition, especially the one on the camera door? - do the electronics work at all? if not, does at least the motor itself work so that one could use replacement electronics with it (like my 1-speed crystal update kit) ? - the condition of the belt drives - are the rubber vibration isolation pads on the motor and the central movement assembly in usable condition or do they need to be changed? - the condition of the optical parts. this can be anything from almost mint to super moldy, corroded and unusable so always necessary to check. - the condition of the rollers. oil is easy to add but are they worn out in any way - is the aperture plate and movement in usable condition? it is possible for the gate/aperture plate to be so worn out (the "bearing balls" too worn to hold perfs etc) that the camera does not work correctly anymore... my spare parts body has this issue and can't be restored - are the felt pads inside the flywheel in good condition? these will eventually wear out to dust in use and if worn out enough the camera makes clicking sounds when running. not the easiest thing in the world to change especially if using the original electronics with the camera - are the gears and bearings in good condition - footage counter, does it work and seems intact? sometimes the axle holder/ "bearing" on the footage counter axle may shatter because the gear protrudes a little bit when the camera side is opened and it may get hit accidentally, possibly shattering the plastic holding the axle in place - if the electronics happened to work, then do the back panel controls work correctly too - new belts are possible to get if needed. Checking the friction pads on the magazine drive axle is a good idea, these can be changed too if needed. possibly might be enough to feel if the friction pads work or not by turning the axle by hand - does the magazine fit correctly and locks in place? there is a silly rubber pad thing inside the upper holder which keeps the mag in place, this can sometimes come off or even get lost because it is just glued in place. the magazine lock itself can jam too and need work - the condition of the light seals - does the magazine work correctly and are the rollers etc. still usable in it - how much dirt and detoriated soundproofing materials there is inside the camera to clean out

The cameras are very useful if having a arri bayonet or arri std adapter. Then most normal zoom lenses can be used. This is the way I am using it as well because it was impossible to find native cp16r mount lens for cheap but arri mount zooms are easy to get

I was going to propose a simpler very basic Konvas 1M setup with a "wild motor" 24v modified 15epss motor and just one lens and the smallest 60m mag. This kind of setup could cost something like 800 or 900 in working condition with one lens and with enough basic crude CLA that it can be used for occasional shooting of a roll or two every now and then. (of course a person might expect the camera to be in top notch condition even if only shooting with it once a year. but that is definitely not needed for experimental stuff and there is better cameras for the same use if one wants to spend many thousands on camera and lens kit and full professional overhaul. by my opinion, the Konvases are best as experimental tools and just in the condition the Soviet Union meant them to be; a little dirty inside and the case used for hauling potatoes ? )

The straight viewfinder Konvas 1kcp has a spring motor attachment but they are extremely rare and impossible to find on sale. I have tried to purchase one for almost 10 years without luck... So if wanting a spring camera it would be necessary to use some other camera. I have a spare orientable viewfinder Konvas 1M which I could sell. The motor is possible modify to 24v wild motor and I can make crystal sync controller for it too if needed (though will cost an extra grand).

There is a design fault in the z6 sensors which causes random flashing to the green colour channel and can't be repaired because it is in the physical structure of the sensor circuits. It does not matter in stills that much but on video one needs lots of post work to try to make the footage watchable. All z6 models including the new models do this. Additional issue is bad manufacturing quality on the sensor, lots of bad pixels out of box and they pop up every now and then when the image processing fails to mask them out of sight. This is just lazy manufacturing, most 2k priced cameras have much better quality sensors with no need to redo the hot pixel masking every 3 days or so. The third issue is the bad dynamic range which differs from the marketing claims so much that it can be said to be a scam. They claim a dynamic range of about 14 stops but the z6 can output about 9 or 9.5 stops at absolute maximum. Any serious video camera manufacturer does not falsify the numbers more than about 1.5 stops so the z6 is really a big marketing scam... I was so glad when I was able to sell my z6 for 50% of what I paid for it so that I was able to get a Panasonic camera which is a great camera which does what advertised and not just trying to take my money and give sub par product like Nikon does. Btw the panasonic S5 has a REAL dynamic range of about 12.5 stops, has better kit lens, has much better internal codecs, has built in sensor stabilizer, can do higher framerates, can do real 4k, uses cheaper memory cards and can output hdmi raw out of the box.... Still costs the same than the z6 scam camera

If the idea is to get a dedicated video camera for only video stuff, then some used prosume large-ish sensor video camera could be possible. People used to hunt down used ursa mini 4.6k 's and some other dedicated video cameras like used Sonys can be got at relatively reasonable prices as well. Used Pocket6k 's and such are available too. The downside of the Blackmagic cameras is that all of them consume tons of power and the battery supply may get expensive really fast if you plan to shoot full days with them. Personally I like the concept of the Z-Cam cameras quite much and they are the number1 choice for remote controlling and rigging for me as well as for some fellow documentary DOPs. most of them use the same sensors than the Panasonic mirrorless cameras (e2c uses the GH5 sensor, the M4 uses the GH5s sensor, the F6 uses the S1H sensor as far as I know, etc) but the image processing is different and they are "real video cameras" with proper menus and very useful h265 and prores codecs which are pretty good as a low end A camera / lower mid range B or C camera for video production and short films as long as you have good monitoring and usable lenses. They are passively cooled and limited amount of processing power compared to higher end video cameras (which means not so sophisticated pixel mapping and LUT processing etc) so they have larger risk of generating visible bad pixels in couple of years of use, often not hot pixels but slightly darkened ones. But their practical value in the right use scenarios is so great that you likely don't care about the pixel risk because their benefits outweight the small drawbacks easily, especially because you can use pretty much the cheapest available batteries there is and no need to invest from 1k to 2k to v-lock batteries or to any other highly expensive accessories. I think the z-cams consume two or three times less power than Blackmagics which is pretty signifiant and the absolutely cheapest 20$ np-f960 battery can run the z-cam for hours

most of the modern mirrorless cameras are pretty OK for video shooting as long as the built in compression is good enough quality for your uses. ( I would NOT bother with Nikon mirrorless products though, they are useful for stills but really bad for video shooting and have bad price-quality ratio for video production and some like the Z6 models have bad sensor issues and much lower dynamic range than advertised, the real dynamic range is only like half of what they claim it would be which makes it just sad to use these cameras) If you shoot lots of stills and relatively small amounts of video, then a photo oriented camera with great autofocus capabilities and resolution etc. would likely be the best choice. Panasonic cameras are great for videos and pretty good for stills too but the autofocus is more limited. I only shoot video and very rarely any stills so for example the panasonic GH line and the S5 have been great choices for me for shooting 99.9% video and only some two or three stills a year. The S5 could maybe be got at the OP's budget and is pretty optimal for shooting documentary stuff I think (built in sensor stabilizer, good enough video codecs for documentary shooting, can shoot very usable 50fps and 60fps in uhd, has real c4k resolutions available for normal framerates, can output really high quality 10bit 4k video or 4.1k / 5.9k raw video from hdmi even when the 1st gen only has microhdmi which is very fragile). but really, most of the around 2k priced stuff is fine (except the Nikon mirrorless models which I would avoid at all costs for video shooting). Likely you would want to use something which allows you to use the existing lenses with it which narrows the camera choice quite much

Likely the best solution would be to find a local (in the same country) fellow cinematographer or photographer who still has gel filter material around. You only need a tiny bit or two (one for use and one for backup if the original gets scratched or too dirty) so someone might give it for free if them having any. Other than that, you may need to use normal glass filter in front of the lens as lighting nd gels likely dont work well on cameras for other than artistic effects. I used to buy leftover gel filters lots off of ebay for cheap and store them into a small box in original packages. Have lots of usable nd there too but does not help with you situation because shipping would take forever from here. But just a reminder that you will want to wait for a good deal on ebay to pop up and then hoard the rest of your life worth of cheap nd scraps. I think my box full of gel filters cost something like 80 bucks total and likely I will never need to buy more even if I would use the bolex and the cp16r every week

This is the Konvas I have used the most for "street photography style" shooting scenarios. the hand crank is for reference and mounts in place of the motor mounting plate, I don't use it for actual shooting. as you can see the crank is position is very awkward for handheld shooting and you have great difficulties trying to hold the camera steady enough with one hand without having any kind of handle on the other side. With the electric motor the ergonomics are actually pretty good because the motor acts as a handle to hold the camera and you can support it with both hands to keep it stable. Here is my favourite setup with 7.2v airsoft battery mounted with velcro pads, the rheostat electric motor, the 60m magazine with core adapters to use Western 2" cores and with the cores can fit about 45 meters of film. I is the straight viewfinder 1KCP model with side latch magazines. The lenses mounted are 35, 50, 135 with the 135 possible to use with resting the camera on stable object. But quite often I just take the 35 lens only and leave the rest at home. You would likely use the 28/2 and 35/2 lenses most often with the camera. the 35 is much easier to find in good condition so I would start with that

I have some Konvases and the 1KCP model with the straight viewfinder fits closest the description but I don't think it is good for handheld shooting when handcranking, it would just wobble the camera uncontrollably to try to crank it. If shooting on a tripod or some kind of should support the hand cranking could work fine, but... the 1KCP body has a centrifugal speed stabilizer built in because it is originally meant to be used with a spring motor if electric motor is not available. One could set the centrifugal stabilizer to the wanted speed and hand crank at "relatively" stable speed with much smaller fluctuations in speed and much less "handcranked look". Personally I would just use every and all Konvas models with the electric motors and avoid the hand cranks at all costs in handheld style shooting scenarios. On tripod they may work in some situations but I don't think the cameras fit to handheld handcrank shooting scenarios very well and you will get disappointed by the bad ergonomics and difficult operating. Konvases with electric motors and 60m magazines work perfectly for street photography style shooting. they are small cameras and fast to operate. orientable finders of the 1M and 2M help with handheld ergonomics and are almost mandatory for low angles but you should be pretty OK even with the straight viewfinder older models if always shooting from eye level

My camera had the flywheel felt pads so worn out that the camera was rather noisy and made clinking sounds. the backup camera had better pads so I just swapped the entire flywheel because that was faster workaround and now the main camera is OK to shoot with... but has anyone found good replacement felt pads for these Cinema Products cameras and how much work it was to get them in place?