Aapo Lettinen

Prototype board for CP16R has slightly different connectors than the final ones will have to ease testing and the ICs are socketed whereas on final boards the ICs are directly soldered in place to make the board more reliable. functionality is the same so will finish the software with this easier-to-test board and then assemble the final ones when the software is final.

Working on the CP16R software now. The 45-speed system will have PHASE CORRECTION function too, tested it today and works fine! so lots of value for the money I think Current feature list: 45 crystal speeds from 5fps to 50fps. will test if 3fps and 4fps work, if they do then they are included too very accurate tcxo crystal oscillator for extremely good sync accuracy even if shooting the full 400ft roll at once automatic shutter parking after shooting a take electronic inching with adjustable inching speed. makes it possible to check the gate by inching the mirror open after shutter parking possibility to feed external power to the camera and use the onboard battery at the same time (two power inputs on the circuit board only original electric motor drive needed, other stuff is replaced by newly made boards including the tachometer board, main circuit board, back panel and connectors as well as switches start-stop button and inching button when running, the inching button works as PHASE button bloop marker output to use with visual and audible bloop marker devices 1 pulse per frame output for external footage counters connector on the main board for sync warning led light back panel 6-pin connector (gx16 type) has start-stop, frame pulse out, bloop marker out and power in front panel 6-pin connector (hirose 10A type7 fm) has start-stop, inching, frame pulse out, blooper out and 4.6v 80mA power for external counters, switches etc. the 45-speed kit has the belt drive gear type (24fps black gear/25fps red gear) changeable from the display menu so it is compatible with both type of camera mechanics out of the box external footage counters available separately if needed, prices approx. 160usd to 350usd depending on features the 45-speed kit is user installable. Includes the circuit boards, new back panel and the small front panel with 6-pin Hirose, necessary switches, wire bundles and connectors. Possible to get without the wire bundles for cheaper (from 150usd to 200usd cheaper) . One gets good discount if purchasing more than one kit at once. the first batch of 6 is already sold out but one can order a installation kit from the next batch which will ship in August-September. If ordered before 1st July it is possible to get the kit from the second batch for 850usd including shipping. Later orders are 900usd including shipping. Only tcxo version available, there was no demand for the normal crystal version so will make all the circuit boards with tcxo dm on Instagram (aaplet14) or here . Facebook messages don't work

ungelled HMI is usually colder than 5600K, it should be something like 6000K but can be more depending on bulb condition and type etc. The ones I have used have often been a bit colder than 6000, I think they could have been closer to 7000K than 6000

Sent email now from underline***...gmail address

I would get the LLC for insurance etc responsibility reasons if something happens during the production which could potentially create huge costs. You don't want to be personally responsible financially if someone is injured or a set burning down etc during production. Financial risk in case a project fails somehow other way is another reason like if the production stopped midway and cannot be finished, the debt goes to the company which is bankcrupted and you will walk away without your personal savings and 401k harmed

Now when I have the mounting plate and axle adapter finished for mounting my Universal motors to Kinor cameras, I will assemble the two remaining 10-speed Universal motors soon for Kinor use. Will probably keep one for my own camera to be sold with the camera later, and another motor is for sale with Kinor mounting parts. Let me know by DM or on Instagram (aaplet14) if wanting to order a 10-speed motor for Kinor. Only one available as I have prepared to mainly sell 4-speed motors for Kinor use. Price 1000usd with shipping and all the necessary parts to mount it to Kinor 16cx cameras.

the 3d printing test was ok and I ordered three of these motor bodies in aluminium now. Should receive them in the end of next week. Because I have tons of other projects at the same time, I need to make smaller batches of these than originally intended. The June2025 batch of three motors is already sold but if you want a motor from the Late July / Early August 2025 batch let me know asap and I will order another batch of parts in mid July. Will need to know how many motors needed, if you need mounting parts or not and which mounting parts for which camera. usually I only stock one or two kits of mounting parts so will need to know 3 weeks beforehand if more mounting parts needed. DM here or on Instagram (aaplet14)

Final Kinor adapter to mount the 4-speed and 10-speed motors to the Kinor16 cameras! cnc machined aluminium. one can order the motor with this mounting adapter and axle adapter or get the bare motor and use the included cad files to make these adapters elsewhere. Or if you want to make some super special "add a huge cheeseplate to the adapter with v-lock mount and integrated light" then you can use the cad file and just add to it the stuff you need 🙂

I make custom crystal sync motors, control boards and software and can often troubleshoot and repair old motor electronics too if it is some simpler issue. Complex issues I often solve by designing and changing completely new control circuit boards which can have more and better features than the original electronics had. Located in Finland though so shipping is more costly. Advantage is that I can still make small production run custom stuff out of scratch (other techs sell existing old crystal sync designs so usually don't want to make new models with different boards and features or for different camera) . I can be subhired too if someone is for example just needing circuit board designed and assembled and handling the mechanical work by themself

cad designing the 4-speed motor's aluminium body. will 3d print a test piece of out plastic to ensure dimensions and motor drive fitting, possibly this version can be sent to cnc machining already but we'll see 🙂 (circuit board cad model intentionally altered to not show all the details. I already have the final circuit boards and working on the software at the moment)

cad designing the 4-speed motor's aluminium body. will 3d print a test piece of out plastic to ensure dimensions and motor drive fitting, possibly this version can be sent to cnc machining already but we'll see 🙂 (circuit board cad model intentionally altered to not show all the details. I already have the final circuit boards and working on the software at the moment)

not knowing about the current reliability of Blackmagic cameras but would guess they are better now than in past days. In 2021 we had two Ursa Mini G2 's straight from factory and one of them did not turn on out of the box, completely bricked and had to be sent back for replacement. The replacement worked but was a bit unreliable at times. It improved however when there was some, ehm, theatre blood incident with the camera completely splashed and some of it got under the buttons etc. It was sticky after that but reliability bumped to full 100%, never had any issues with it anymore except the buttons being a bit sticky now 🤣 so back in the day they seemingly did not test the cameras in the factory, just put them in the box and let the customer do the quality control. I would guess they nowadays have someone to check that the cameras at least turn on before they are shipped as people would kind of expect that 😅 If the shoot is next year and you don't have tons of other stuff to shoot before that, I would maybe wait for half a year to see how other people like the 12K before purchasing. you will need it couple of months before shoot to ensure that it can be replaced if needed etc. but over half a year or close to a year is too much I think. when the budget and funding is secured then would be good time to proceed with the camera purchase. ------- For best possible lens options and super affordable shooting I would choose the L-mount version as you can use very wide range of lens adapters with it and there is autofocus lenses and cheap stills zooms etc available. I have shot low budget stuff for some years with Panasonic S5 and Atomos combo and have pretty good PL mount adapter for it and basic quality NikonF and EF adapters too. I normally use oct18 Lomos with the PL adapter and if necessary switch to Nikon AI-S lenses or L-mount zooms if needed. PL adapter would be very useful if you have proper lenses for it, saves lots of time when having sturdy mount with proper locking and good lens mechanics. just ensure the PL adapter is mounted very firmly with additional support so that it stays in place firmly and it will work great. If needing some lens option which cannot be sourced or afforded in PL you would just quickly remove the adapter and mount some L-mount lens or Nikon lens or EF lens to get the focal length or range etc you need. then switch back to PL when shooting basic focal length dialogue stuff or other stuff where pl lenses would be most useful

If needing a footage counter for the 45-speed system, you can check my Tiny Footage Counter v1.0 for very simple affordable counter, and it is possible to make other types of counters too like with 7-digit led displays or oled displays https://cinematography.com/index.php?/forums/topic/103526-acls-tiny-footage-counter-for-cp16r-and-other-cameras/

I am working on a small footage counter device, literally matchbox sized, which works with my 45-speed CP16R crystal update but is compatible with other cameras too. The same device would work with original CP16R electronics too if the operating power and correct signal is taken from the original circuit board which is why I made a separate thread for this device. Or could work with other cameras too if proper operating voltage and a 1 pulse per frame signal can be provided for the counter. It is, like mentioned, designed to be almost exactly matchbox sized and relatively affordable, something between 150usd and 180usd depending on how many orders I would get for the first batch which affects how much the cnc machined body of the device costs. The circuit board itself does not cost much, I am using almost all the money on the outer casing and connectors to get them finished nicely. The device is connected to the camera via a thin cable, the 45-speed system uses Hirose 6-pin connector to connect to the camera but original cp16r users can use whichever connector they like or permanently connect the wires inside the camera. if using the device with cable and connector, it would be possible to attach it to the magazine with velcro etc to keep it with the magazine rather than attached to the camera. Possible to reset to 100ft, 200ft, 300ft and 400ft and one led light to show each amount, additionally 30ft led to show when the mag is almost empty. Footage amount is stored in the internal memory and counts down until reaching about 3ft after which the small internal summer starts buzzing. Reset the summer with the button, then can reset the counter back to 100/200/300/400ft and shoot again. It is already possible to order these, I ordered the front panels now and have the circuit boards already with test samples assembled. Will work on the software and outer casing when having time from the NPR motor project, should be ready for shipping somewhere in August or September or so. dm here or on Instagram (aaplet14)

brushless motor drive holders for my NPR camera motor project! cnc machined aluminium. this holder keeps the motor drive at correct placement inside the rubber vibration reduction mount inside the crystal motor. I will make one tiny change to these three using Dremel and these can already be used for the final motors. the main batch will have that change corrected in the file so it will be machined in factory. Will 3d print the current version of the shock reduction mount next week and then start testing with the actual brushless motor used on this project 🙂 these have pretty good tolerances, I will just polish the center hole a tiny bit and then the motor drive will fit perfectly without any play and mounts in place with the three screws.

I determined that I would have possibility to sell some incomplete installation kits for cheaper if someone would like to purchase them. Incomplete means that there would be all the circuit boards and aluminium panels included as well as the IO connectors, but there would NOT be internal wiring included so you would need to make your own wiring to connect the circuit boards together and to the switches and panel connectors, display and battery etc. making the cable bundles for the camera internal wiring is pretty time consuming and stressful for me, lots of manual work needed. so would gladly sell some kits without wiring if someone would like to buy them. It depends on the amount of orders how much the kits would cost a piece without wiring but I would assume savings of at least 150usd and at most 200usd per kit. Let me know before June 20th if wanting to purchase these kits without wiring.

Small cover panel which is mounted in place of the cover next to the battery release button on the front of the camera. The 6-pin connector will be of Hirose type and is meant for connecting external footage counters, start stop switches etc. will send to manufacturing next week after collecting some other stuff to the same shipment.

SOLD! that was the last remaining 10-speed motor, glad it found a new home! if anyone else still needs ACL crystal motors, I have the 4-speed (6 crystal speeds) model available for order (650usd without mounting parts, 850usd with ACL mounting parts including shipping). And the ACL2025 motor model is possible to order too for 1600usd, that one has oled display and from 15 to 20 crystal speeds, footage counters etc. and will ship in December2025.

Testing circuit board fitting! seems to work fine, just making a very small cutout to the motor holder so that it surely clears the IO module. will assemble a prototype board next and start software testing

I am ordering Kinor specific CNC parts now for my 10-speed and 4-speed Universal crystal motors and the aluminium motor bodies for the 4-speed motors. Let me know asap if needing these motor types for Kinor, will need to get the 4-speed ones to machining before June 15th. dm here or on Instagram (aaplet14)

ANYONE NEEDING THE 4-SPEED OR 10-SPEED UNIVERSAL MOTOR FOR KINOR16, LET ME KNOW ASAP. dm here or on Instagram (aaplet14). I am ordering Kinor specific mounting parts soon and need to know how many are needed. Additionally will order the motor bodies for the 4-speed system in the next 7 days, thus needing the exact amount needed. If missing out it can take months to make another batch of motors so please let me know before June 15th !

film layers scratch each other even if they move just a tiny bit, for example if pulling from the loose end of the film roll

I will try to gain resources for making larger batch of 4-speed motors this month. thus can sell this last remaining 10-speed ACL crystal motor for 900usd with shipping if it is purchased before June 11th. It will only help with the 4-speed project if paid before 11th and after that date the price goes back to 1100usd. let me know by dm here or on Instagram (aaplet14). facebook messages don't work.

Preordering for normal basic crystal version will close in June 20th. After that, only tcxo version is available for ordering. like mentioned, please let me know beforehand if wanting to order this 45-speed CP16R update kit even if you don't have possibility to purchase it just yet. I need to make all the possible extra boards in June2025 because they need to be made in batches of 5 or more. I can easily add extra ones to the June batch but it may not be possible to make single boards one by one later on and I don't know if I have possibility to make any of these in 2026 anymore. the couple of extra ones I will make will quickly run out of stock, thus want to know if someone would for example purchase these kits in September2025 so that I can prepare by making one additional kit or too in June

I have plans for the footage counter system already. there is that one extra cover panel on the camera over the point where the front handle attaches. I would make a replacement aluminium panel which mounts in place of that cover and which has a 6-pin connector, likely Hirose type and slightly different pinout than on the back panel gx16 accessory connector. A small matchbox-sized or little larger footage counter device is connected to the Hirose connector with a short cable and it takes the frame pulses for counting and its operating voltage from the connector. The counter device is small and lightweight so it can even be attached to the magazines with velcro if needed. One could have separate counter device for every magazine to keep track on how much film there is left. The most affordable counter device has couple of led lights indicating different amounts of film left. I could make slightly larger sized counters with proper display, for example lcd or 7-segment etc, but they would be more expensive. I would estimate less than 200 usd for the very simple led light indicators counter device + panel + cable. A more advanced counter with proper display could be something like 300usd or tiny bit more. externally attached counter allows both setting the film amount more freely and it is is easier to read than a built-into-camera counter would be.