Fabrice Ducouret

Ah, your comment made me rethink my loading techniques on the Kinamo... I think that there were a couple of issues in how I was loading the film in the cassette (but of course I do it all in the dark) - I think one of the issues was that the film wasn't spooling around the core in a way that is perfectly flat, and that might have caused friction - another issue is that the film around the feeder core would expand like a spring and fill un the top part of the cassette and the last - but most significant issue is that the film wasn't secured to the take up spool properly enough and the take up spool wouldn't pull the film in properly as a result. I tried fixing all these issues and taped the film securely to the take up spool, and the camera has been running smoothly since...

Ah Eyemo, good idea. Not reflex though. kinamo is what I have - unfortunately it gets jammed and I cannot understand why. The takeup spool spins at the same speed although its diameter changes as the film winds around it? When it gets jammed I felt in the dark with my hands and the film was messed up in the takeup spool for some reason. If I can figure out why it’s doing that I might be able to use it more but I’m quite frustrated…

This is definitely one of the solutions I am considering, even though I do not love the idea of depending on batteries, cf my other reply. But it is very hard for me to find konvas cameras for sale, especially since I would love to have the option to use batteries or the crank. Not sure what a good marketplace to look for one would be?

I am not trying to emulate that style at all. I just like a light manual setup personally I find that batteries often add a long list of cumbersome considerations that I would rather do without. They have a short lifespan, you always have to charge them, they add a lot of weight to your set up, they can blow up if you store them somewhere too humid or in the sunlight for too long, and there is always a risk that you run out of battery in the middle of a project, you have to schlep adapters if you travel abroad, etc. If there was a way to make a miniaturized version of the Konvas battery, it might be a different story. I don’t really have that kind of budget though. I don’t have any motion film cameras that use batteries, except super 8 mm cameras that use AA batteries that I can easily find anywhere in case they die during a project and they don’t add much weight to the total mass of equipment. For 16 mm I use a Webo and a Beaulieu - love both but prefer the baseplate and center of gravity of the Webo - which can be handcranked or wound up for constant framerate.

I'd like to upgrade from my hand cranked camera which is often getting jammed and isn't reflex. I mostly do street cinematography and experimental short films with low budgets so I'm open to any offer ? Thanks

Hello How many feet and how much? DM me thanks

Ok, I definitely need to know more about this Addams Family reference! Can you explain? I hand crank a lot! ?

Ah, I did look for a similar question but could not find!

In the film Nope, one of the characters is using a manual 70mm/65mm film camera. Has such a camera ever been manufactured/existed? Or was it just made for the movie?

Wow, that's a great deal! Impressive. Might get one too if I find a similar deal, although a lot of the ones I see don't have a manual crank option. Where did you CLA it?

Thanks Aapo! I think part of my interest lied within the portability, and part lied within the fact that it's probably the only small 2 perf 35mm camera (quarter frame by still photography standards), so I wanted to play with it as a photographic instrument, and experiment (maybe put some anamorphics on it, why not... hehe). A mix of the Lomokino for the idea, and the Yashica Samurai for the manufacturing quality (motor drive/zoom lens) would have been amazing. I also have a 35mm Kinamo - also very small and hand-cranked - but the loading of the film is slightly more tedious so I haven't used it yet. How much did you pay for your Konvas including lenses?

I received my Lomokino yesterday. I always loved the idea of an amateur 35mm 2-perf camera for a long time, but finally decided to buy one. I've used other (better) film cameras in the past (Super-8, 16, 35...) but still was very curious to see what could come out of it (and still think that someone should make a quarter frame still film camera! but that's a discussion for another day). Here are the following issues I encountered while trying to shoot my first roll: Loading The crank that one uses to move the film in the camera is designed in a way that you can still turn the crank even if the film is jammed or stops because you're at the end of the roll. When that happens, it produces a clicking sound but the film doesn't move in the camera as it should. This was my main issue, as when I loaded the film, the crank would click and the take up spool wouldn't turn to secure the film on. Filming When I was filming, I feel like the same thing would happen: instead of moving continuously through the camera, it seemed that the film would move a bit, then stop, the crank would make the clicking sound, and the film would move forward again. In the user guide, they recommend looking at the rewing knob to see if the film is advancing in the camera. While I was shooting, the rewind knob would move then stop then move then stop etc. As I had expected, holding the camera steady was extremely difficult (there is no handle of any kind). I will definitely try my second roll with a tripod. Rewinding Rewinding was extremely difficult. I felt like the materials were very flimsy and risked breaking as I was rewinding. The rewinding knob kept popping out so I had to push it down at the same time as I was rewinding. I am not sure yet if this resistance was due to the path that the film takes in the camera, or if I just used a roll of film that was particularly jammy, or if it's just really difficult for anyone. I haven't gotten the roll back, but compared to my other 35mm attempts, this was sadly a bit disappointing. Could anyone share their experience shooting with the Lomokino and if they've hacked it to make it more usable?

Really enjoyed watching these high-budget home movies ? Keep it up, very inspiring.

I recently got a Double-8 (not Super-8) Bolex C8 camera in near mint condition. I mostly shoot Super-8 as far as small film gauge goes, but given the condition of the camera and how fun it looks to use, and also that I’ve never used this format, I thought I’d give it a go and get film and a good lens for it. I got a really nice D-mount 1.4 Yashica lens for it, but now I’m wondering how to expose film properly, since the camera has no electronics or auto settings. For still photography, I use iPhone lightmeters like Lux, and get really good results, but are there user-friendly ways to measure exposure settings for film, based on the chosen frame rate?

Thank you guys. Are there good and bad ones? Large and small ones? What model do you guys have?