Aapo Lettinen

my cheapest Konvas was 50 euros. The cheapest lens was something like 50 or 60 euros I think. They need some cla of course before one can use them but for such a low cost camera I am happy to take risks and cla them by myself. has worked fine so far ?

I purchased mine something like 10 years ago and I think I shot one or two rolls with it total. Purchased a Konvas later and shot thousands of feets with it. The Lomokino is a cool toy but it was not very useful even for art projects. One can hand crank a Konvas much more easily and get very usable results even for cinema release of the camera is properly used and maintained. The Lomokino is more like, look how cool new toy I have, then getting bored to it and putting it into storage forgetting it even existed. It is a nice toy but not a real camera by my opinion and one could get real cameras with almost the same price

there is cheap hdmi microscope cameras on ebay which can also be useful for experiments. I believe the gopro could be usable if you get the optics right so that you get full ground glass image to the sensor instead of a tiny image with lots of black area on sides. it can be challenging to find sensitive enough but at the same time small and cheap cameras with proper optics for this use. most cheap cameras are so noisy that it is hard to get good enough image out of them at such low light levels (which you get from the ground glass) to see any focus issues etc. and even framing can be hard with some of them

A simpler option might be to hack the rec button itself on that remote controller so that you don't have to emulate the communication protocol but just need a circuit which closes the button contacts momentarily when starting or stopping. Looks ugly but way easier to make

So you should start by finding a recorder with very simple and easily hackable wired remote button. Then continuing figuring out how to close the hacked button contacts with the camera. You may want to have the arduino between these if you need latching functions for example the camera contacts staying closed the whole take converted to simulated single short button push when starting or stopping the recording on the audio recorder and possibly the additional bleep sound on both start and stop but not in the middle of takes

Sound like a fun project! If you can find a audio recorder with very simple single button cable remote you can probably hack it pretty easily . how the cameras remote port works, does it just close contacts or does it output any signal? If it just closes contacts then it should be a bit easier to start. One option for basic audio sync would be to just create some kind of bleeper marker system to the camera which outputs short beep sound when you start or stop the camera. Just like the 16 and 35 movie cameras and even digital cameras like arri can do Depending on the system you may need some very simple and easy arduino programming. That is fun and easy and we can help with simple programs if needed

just purchase a larger lot of the old ones and sort them out to find the usable ones. the old ones are cheap https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=kodak+wratten+gelatin+filter&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_odkw=kodak+gelatin+filter&_osacat=0

gelatin filter lots tend to pop up in eBay every now and then. they are pretty cheap when purchased this way (old stock or ones with small portion cut out of them previously) . I purchased all the gelatins I'll ever need this way couple of years ago, I think I got 30 or 40 or something for the same price than one new costs

All krasnogorsks have a beamsplitter in the viewfinder optics next to the groundglass which splits some of the light to the light meter cell of the built in meter. One can use this beamsplitter for getting the image to the video tap, I tested this some 10 years ago and it works though one needs additional prism to get enough room for the tap to install it. But the beamsplitter is already there because the original internal exposure meter uses it

So the low budget is probably faster route but you most likely will never end up in the highest level productions in your career. As long as you are happy and can manage financially it does not matter much if you shoot sub 3mil movies instead of the 50+ mil ones

That generally requires going to the film school and getting the first jobs via internships because you need to work on pretty high profile productions for this to be usable. I an pretty sure that it would take more time and money for the op to go this route instead of the low and mid budget route. The goal was to get to shoot something as soon as possible and that does not work if you first do 10 years something else on sets and then can at last start to build your cinematography career

probably they have used it for something in the past but probably not many productions, maybe one or two before the USSR fell. The biggest issue with this type of rare cameras is that if some critical mechanical or optical parts are missing or broken it is extremely difficult and expensive to replace them because you need to manufacture the parts out of scratch which is very challenging for optical parts of movement parts and mirror shutter. If the electronics would be broken one could just design whole new ones out of scratch which was difficult back in the old days but much faster and more straightforward nowadays when CAD design and microcontrollers are used. Still takes lots of time and effort but not so much so than back in the old days ? If critical mechanical or optical parts would need to be replaced one would need to manufacture new ones which are similar manufacturing quality than the old ones. that is HARD to do well and will be very time consuming and expensive in any case because it can't be automatized and everything needs to be measured, manufactured and fitted manually by an expert with at least 15 or 20 years of experience making those parts

isopropanol or some other alcohol should remove the wd40 remains easily I believe. another stuff which removes rust is oxalic acid (by converting it to soluble clear substances, it is handy when removing rust stains from stainless steel surfaces like kitchen sink etc) but it of course corrodes steel as well to do this so if the normal rust removal solutions work, then of course use the most gentle method of removal

I could personally purchase this if it cost less than 1k but it is "collectors only" for that current price. This is because I am able to make new control electronics by myself to get it electrically working. Would still need to have Olex cla it and made the needed repairs and possibly manufacture new parts for it. You should ask olex what he thinks about the repair project begore buying. But personally I think it is a bit risky to expect to get it fully working for reasonable price if it is possible in the first place. Cool camera anyway as a props or collectors item

It is a Soviet copy of the Aaton35-3 but has a lot of differences. A somewhat experimental camera and extremely rare. That package on ebay is missing the batteries, cables and external regulator and is most likely not modified to BH perfs but it is likely that one could get it working if having it bh converted and the motor and control electronics updated and with full CLA and repairs. Probably we are talking something like 3k or 4k extra to get it in good enough condition to shoot serious stuff with it. I think there were something like 20 or 30 of them made total. Don't expect to find any spare parts for it. The last time I saw parts of this camera on ebay was maybe 6 years ago and never seen a full kit with batteries and cables and mags anywhere. You may need to get some parts manufactured from scratch if wanting to use this one for work

What do you currently do then? it should be possible to combine most professions with occasional photography work (depending on what your employer allows) because you already have great photography portfolio. Then you can expand that to combined stills + video work. Then, more video and less stills. That should work too. You can look for a stills photographer work on music videos, small commercials etc. where the main product is the video someone else is shooting but stills are also needed to support the video on social media etc. when it's published. this way you can get to the sets and learn from watching the others working without needing to actually run the set by yourself. You can do the first one "for free but if you pay me if you publish the photos" so that they don't have any risk but you will still get some money out of it. Next time you get hired you can charge for the work already and soon you can start to offer to shoot some "making of material" on video at the same time, because, well, you will be on the set anyway and always have the camera around. Then you are already doing paid video work and it was not risky for either you or the client and happened pretty quickly and you already got something for your reel ? Do cinematography experiments and small projects on your free time and make a gradual transition from shooting stills on set to shooting some kind of video on set to actually running a small set as a dp. then transition from smaller sets to bigger sets slowly but surely

I collected some Cinematography related videos some time ago to a playlist, they are very useful for aspiring Cinematographers. I recommend watching them all in that specific order whether having seem them previously or not, there is a reason why I chose them and why they are in that specific order on the list ? https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXvIUtmF3OxuGDEXV50C-1K4U81Jut4nu

Did I understand correctly that you are a professional photographer who has now completely given up photography work because you want to pursue cinematography instead? You will need a "soft" transition if wanting to pursue this cinematography stuff and photography is the field you already know so you should definitely still continue doing paid photography projects until you get enough video work to support your family (this can take couple of years or can be quicker depending on your contacts and luck and how much you get to work) . Otherwise you will quickly run out of money and then you need to take 2 or 3 "normal" jobs to pay the bills, working in MacDonalds and such. Then you don't have enough time and energy to pursue cinematography in the first place... So if you already have paid photography gigs, then keep it up and just start to do DP stuff as a "side job" when having time. When you have enough experience and contacts you will get more and more DP work so that you can phase out the photography section if you want. But "jumping off the cliff" by instantly stopping doing anything else and just concentrating on the Cinematography where you don't get any money from yet is clearly a mistake and will probably reduce your chances to became a Cinematographer in the first place. It is just too big leap of faith at the point when you are just starting out and don't have any income from this new field of interest yet. Additionally, the photography clients will bring you contacts which are helpful for video gigs too. They probably will even start order videos from you by themselves when finding out you can do much more than just photography ?

yes there is lots of persons competing with gear, especially in the town I live in. The issue is, by just buying expensive gear and "starting shooting stuff" this way and learning on the fly means that one is just copying what everyone else is doing and just does stuff "in the way that works for everybody" so they don't have their own style or voice and thus they are replaceable whenever the producers find someone cheaper who has newer and more expensive camera to show off. I actually just 5 minutes ago turned down a indie feature because I had a bad feeling about them not appreciating my style and experience enough and them being mostly after cheap gear (but my camera is not the newest so they were not happy enough about it). They used a relative newbie to shoot their demo for the movie and asking about it I got a bad feeling that they don't care enough about who shoots their films as long as SOMETHING is captured to finish the edit. This type of stuff is incredibly common so one has to be careful and especially not to purchase anything expensive for a single project so that others can exploit you

normally you would want at least double the load rating needed to get a stable enough combination for cine work. I would look for something which has the maximum load rating of about 18 or 20kg (for example the Sachtler Video 18 and 20 heads were common in the past for this type of cameras here on lower budget shoots) . You can surely find something useful for under 2k or 3k and you can always purchase the head and the tripods separately if getting a good deal

How about first making a short fashion film or a music video with this type of b/w stuff? It would help to get you noticed and to get the first small projects started

my reasoning is, you are used to tell a story with a single image when working on photography. Now you will first need projects where you will combine couple of images to tell a smaller story (commercials are ideal because they need to be short and you generally only have those couple of images to tell complex things and emotions) . Music videos usually have couple of simple scenes stitched together with no dialogue and are easy to shoot and edit so they are equally useful as a learning tool. So you have started with a single image in the past, now you will continue with from 3 to 8 images combined together to tell a story. After that it is easier to use 20, 30, or 50 images and more complex scenes and storytelling. This is where the cinematography differs a lot from the stills photography: the connections between the images are much more important than a single image itself and the dynamics tell their own story as well. The images are not "single enclosed entities" like they are in stills photography where the whole dynamics are built into a single image to compress the whole story into a single shot

if having still photography background I would investigate the possibilities to shoot small commercials and music videos first. They are short projects and rely heavily on making people and products look beautiful which you already know how to do as a photographer. You just need to start with something small and build your experience and reel from there. After a while you can shoot short films more confidently (I would concentrate on the about 5 min short films first) and from short films it should be possible to gradually transition to indie features. Just make sure that the first projects are ones with easier schedule and that you have time to prep carefully so that you know how to block and light the scenes. You need to be able to solve problems on the fly and to keep up with the schedule. I would concentrate on the cinematography on these projects and would have a gaffer and a key grip who already have experience working on such projects so that they can help you with the gear and working methods which differ a lot from the stills photography

One could easily design and manufacture such a camera completely out of scratch in 6 months even working on it part time. So it is probably safe to say now that it is not a real product at all

in most Finnish productions it seems that they generally lack about 20% or 30% of the budget and time to make the show great without counting on luck and the freewill of the workers. So the script and schedule is usually about 20% or 30% too optimistic and then corners need to be cut on set to try to stay on schedule and still make the show worth watching. The issue is that everyone is doing this so every show needs to be 20% or 30% bigger than they have resources for because, well, every single one of your competitors is doing that as well and you would look cheap if doing everything by the book all the time ? In most parts of the world it can be worse than this I have understood. but it is generally with films and tv-series just like it is with your jeans or t-shirts or a nice jacket which is comfy and nice cool looking: if it is cheap and still great it is absolutely certainly made in a sweatshop and someone suffered greatly stitching it together