Tim Carroll

If your script has much dialog, an Aaton LTR or XTR of ARRIFLEX 16SR or SRII might be the way to go. That or plan on doing some creative ADR in post. If you don't mind using an MOS camera, or your film has little dialog, you might go with a Bolex, but again, the 400ft mags make a tripod almost a necessity. Another good choice would be an ARRIFLEX 16S or 16S/B, not too unwieldy even with the 400ft mags, or even an ARRIFLEX 16M or M/B, which is primarily a 400ft mag camera. Lots of options out there. Might also be dependent on what glass you can find. Best, -Tim

It depends on what you want to do. If you just want to slap a different turret on your 16St, yeah, maybe the ground glass and film plane will line up. But they will probably both be out of spec. So let's say your 16S/B turret is a little "longer" than the stock turret (and this is assuming your current 16ST is still at factory spec, which is a huge assumption on cameras of this age and with this many miles on them). And again, by a little longer, we're talking thousandths of a millimeter. If your 16St was exactly at factory spec, then the image you see on the ground glass with the longer 16S/B turret will match the image the film sees at the film plane, but both images will not reach infinity. If your 16S/B turret is a little "shorter" than the stock turret, then the image you see on the ground glass will match the image the film sees at the film plane, but both images will come up short for close focus. This is why, the proper way to set up a turret swap on a 16St is to change the turret, then set the FFD (film plane) to factory spec (again, within 5/1000s of a millimeter, about 1/10th the diameter of a human hair), and then set the ground glass to match the FFD. Then you know that any correctly collimated lens you attach to the 16S/B turret will focus at infinity, close focus to spec, and the image you see in the ground glass will be the same image projected on the motion picture film at the gate. Best, -Tim

Someone, maybe ARRI themselves, made a service manual for the Arriflex IIC. You used to be able to find them on eBay all the time (this was back in like 2006). But I would check around, there's got to be a few of them out there floating around somewhere. Best, -Tim

In the old days ARRI could convert your 16S to a 16S/B by replacing the lens turret. Not the individual socket, but the whole turret. Finding an S/B turret may be a bit difficult these days, and buying a 16S/B camera just to salvage the turret would cost as much as just buying a 16S/B camera, so it may not be too practical. As far as doing it yourself, I wouldn't recommend it unless you have all the ARRI service tools, especially a FFD gauge as you would need to reset that, and then reset the ground glass once you installed the S/B turret. Best, -Tim

I never ran across one of those little Schneiders that didn't fit my 16SR, but I didn't deal with Schneider lenses much so there could have been versions that wouldn't have fit. I mostly used Cooke Kinetal and Zeiss. Best, -Tim

You could put an ARRI Standard to PL mount adapter on those and use them with your 16SR. Not sure the 16mm will cover Super 16, but I believe the 25mm and the 50mm should be no problem. Those old Schneider lenses aren't the sharpest or highest contrast, but that price is pretty low and they will make images for you. Best, -Tim

If you can get a good later production Aaton LTR or a good Aaton XTR, I've found both of those, when properly serviced can be very quiet. As far as the ARRI cameras go, the quietest I've ever used was the 416, but I don't know how reliable they are as I got out of the business just a couple years after the 416 was introduced. But the 416 I used was even quieter than my LTR & XTR.

Mendes, What Dom is saying, if you get an Arriflex 16S/B and can get a set of Zeiss Super Speed primes in ARRI bayonet mount, I think that will give you very good image quality. If you can only get an Arriflex 16S, then try to find a set of Cooke Kinetal primes in ARRI standard mount. With the Zeiss Super Speed primes, if they are properly serviced and have no defects (cleaning marks, scratches, haze, fungus) you should be fine. With the Cooke Kinetals, even though I've always loved those lenses, a lot will depend on the samples you acquire. I've seen them in "all over the map" condition (remember these were made Sixty plus years ago). The ones that are in good shape produce fantastically sharp and contrasty images (better than the Zeiss, but that's just my personal taste), but I've seen ones in not so good shape and the images are not terribly sharp and the contrast is not so good. So check them out first before shooting an important project with them. Best, -Tim

Got to disagree with you there Dom. When an Arriflex 16S is serviced PROPERLY, you make sure all three turrets are set to the proper dimension. In my years servicing the cameras I've very rarely came across a camera (aside from one that has suffered physical damage) where the lens sockets were not all the same. In a case where one wasn't, I had a special tool that I could use to remove a fraction of material from any "High" turret so they all matched (you used the lowest turret for the control). And, aside from a camera that has suffered physical damage, in the amount of time someone could "wear down" an Arriflex 16S socket, the camera would be in need of an overhaul anyway, and the sockets would again be set back to factory spec. Also remember that ARRI instructed users to use the ARRI grease (supplied with the original cameras), or a spot of Vaseline to lubricate the lens sockets for use with Cooke Kinetals, Zeiss, and the early Schneider lenses (the one's where the lens barrel rotated in the socket). A properly service Arriflex 16S will produce images of equal quality to a properly serviced Arriflex 16SR, given the same lens and same film stock, and the Arriflex 16S footage will not exhibit image weave (that is possible with the Arriflex 16SR). Best, -Tim

That is TOTAL BULLS**T!!! I serviced those cameras for years, and any trained ARRI technician can set a 16S to factory specs where every socket in the three socket turret is SPOT ON!!! We set those cameras up so we knew exactly where the focus plain was (on each socket) to a spec that was less than one tenth the diameter of a human hair. We would even set the focus plain to be slightly inside the thin layer of film emulsion on the surface of the film stock when a DP asked for that. Anyone who says they can't set the perfect flange focal distance for a 16S should never be allowed to take one apart. And to your second point, it is critical, if you "focus by eye" that not only is the flange focal distance spot on, but the setting of the ground glass must also be spot on. Again, no problem for any trained ARRI service technician. If you have a property serviced Arriflex 16S and a properly serviced Arriflex 16SR, and the same film stock, and the same lens, you will get the exact same image quality from what you shoot. Best, -Tim PS: The one advantage to shooting with the Arriflex 16S over the 16SR (besides hand held being easier) is that you can get a bit of weave with a 16SR, where as the 16S has a spring running along the film gate to make sure weave doesn't occur.

Michael, That's a governor controlled motor, 24fps, that you have pictured there. It is controlled by a mechanical governor. Been years since I rebuild and calibrated one, but if memory servers (and at this age that's questionable) the adjustment on them is about 1fps, so you could probably adjust it as low as 23fps or as high as 25fps. There would be no way to adjust it as slow as 18fps. Best, -Tim

Only way I know to do that is with a Tobin.

Hey Charlie, Shoot me a PM and let me know what you have. I've got crates of ARRI paper and was going through some of it today. I might have some already, but would be interested in seeing what you have. Best, -Tim

Hey Charlie, was digging through crates of old ARRI literature, and piles of data DVD's that I kept for years when I was originally doing the site, and I stumbled across this image from 2006. Made me think of you and your "fetish" for 200 ft mags. ;) Have a good weekend. Best, -Tim

This might be helpful: http://www.analogcams.com/Arri16S1.htm Best, -Tim

Like a bad penny, you just can't get rid of this little camera's web site. I've reposted what used to be the Arri16S.com web site. I no longer own the domain name, so the new web address is as below: http://www.analogcams.com/Arri16S1.htm The video clips of all the different lenses available for the camera no longer work, as the Sorenson Pro 3 codec from 2006 is no longer compatible with the current internet, that may someday get fixed, but for now it's not working. All the other information, including the user manuals for the cameras, and information about barney's, motors, blimps, etc. can all be found on the site. Best, -Tim

The old Arri16S.com website has been re-published. I no longer own the www.Arri16S.com domain name (and the current owners want thousands of dollars to sell it back to me, which ain't happening) so the new address for the site is as posted below: http://www.analogcams.com/Arri16S1.htm The video links are not active, as the video that I created for the original site back in 2006 are no longer compatible with the current internet. Someday that might get fixed, but for now I just wanted to have the other information available for anyone who is still interested in these great little cameras. Best, -Tim

Dom, The site is up and running again. No longer own the www.Arri16S.com domain name so the new address is: http://www.analogcams.com/Arri16S1.htm Most of the original content is there, save for the film clips of the popular lenses from back in the day, the Cookes, Schneiders, Zeiss and Angenieux. And the manuals are up on the site as well. A couple of links no longer link to their original web sites as the companies are no longer in business. Best, -Tim

I think I still have an ARRI to Aaton adapter. Let me know if you still need one. Best, -Tim

Hey Charlie, Glad to see you're still around here as well. I haven't looked at a 16BL in many years and really can't remember how the mirror came standard. But in my many years of servicing the 16S series cameras, I saw all breeds with painted mirrors and unpainted mirrors. I think, from the factory all the early 16S, 16M, 16S/B etc. came with mirrors with the stripe you are referring to. But not sure the latest cameras had the stripe, or maybe replacement mirrors did not all have the stripe, really not sure, but I definitely saw cameras come through my shop with mirrors that lacked that stripe. Best, -Tim

The early Cooke Kinetal 16mm lenses will work with N16 (regular 16) and Super 16, all except the 9mm one. So you're good to go with the 12.5mm, 17.5mm, 25mm, 37.5mm, 50mm, and 75mm. Some of the early Zeiss, and Schneider lenses, especially anything below 25mm, will vignette on Super 16. Best, -Tim

You're right Brendan, I was wrong. I confused the G/S with the APEC door version. Sorry. If your camera is as you described, it sounds like it is a G/S model. The user manual I linked to above has info about the G/S model and how it is used. Best, -Tim

Sorry Brendan, screw up on my part. This is the camera with the Apec door. Not necessarily a G/S. As pictured below: See my modified post above for more info on the G/S. Best, -Tim

My bad, serious mind fart. I was confusing the G/S model with the model that came out with the APEC door. The G/S has the sound sync module on the back. It's a square shaped box on the back side of the camera. If you could post a pic of the back side of the camera, that would help. Also, you can read more about the camera, in particular the G/S part, in the camera manual posted here: http://artsites.ucsc.edu/faculty/gustafson/FILM%20200C/Arri_S.pdf Best, -Tim

Hey Dom, Been looking for a way to put the Arri16S.com web site back up, but running into a few issues. One is that whomever owns the domain name wants a few thousand dollars for me to buy it back, so that ain't happening, and the other is, since I took the site down, the way video is posted on the internet now has changed, and the dozens of sample videos I had on the old site no longer work on the internet. So it's on the back burner for now. But in the meantime, about the Arriflex 16M. It's a decent camera. The one issue I always found with it is that the film isn't held as steady and flat as it goes through the gate with the 16M when compared to the 16S & 16S/B. I think it has something to do with that extra drive sprocket before and after the film goes through the gate on the 16S cameras. Otherwise, it's a fine machine. They had 400ft and 200ft mags for the 16M, and they weren't interchangeable with the 16BL. The 200ft mags were adorably cute, but they don't really sell 200ft loads of 16mm film anymore, so they're a bit impractical. Here's a link to the PDF Arriflex 16M manual I made that was posted on the old www.Arri16S.com web site: http://www.timcarrollphotography.com/Forums/Arriflex16M.pdf I'll leave this up until the end of May for anyone who wants to download it, then I'll be taking it down, as it's a pretty big file. Best, -Tim PS: Almost forgot, there was also a 1200ft mag for the Arriflex 16M, you could shoot all day with that sucker.