Gareth Blackstock

Hello, Yeah, I was quite careful with running the camera. beforehand I removed the right hand side panel of the camera body and got a visual on all the gears, everything looked well coated with grease. I thought perhaps a little over greased, but looking closely I found no buildup of hardened grease, and no clumps of greasy dust. I also made a short video of the pull down claw, gate lifting slowly, and shutter in background. I manually turned the camera. So I am unsure if it has had charmed life of hardly been used, or has been maintained in the last few years. As the camera is not mine, I resisted the urge to get more covers off and peer into the camera's innards...

And I took some quick clips of the film chamber while the camera was running, one clip with film, one without. The clips were made at different motor speeds

So a quick update.... the owner of the camera kit has asked me to sell it for him. I was keen as it gave me the opportunity to have a really close look at the camera, take lots of photos, and get it running. I am hoping it sells to a film shooter... but I reckon the owner will be happy to get some money for it. I have posted it on three popular sites, sadly I cannot list it here. If people have more info on this interesting and well made camera, please let me know. Gareth

Hello, Simon So have you come across these types of adaptations before? Do you know what type of voltage? I am assuming 50's because the type of cable seemed popular in the 50's and 60's Thanks

And the viewfinder is still present..... Anyone come across a similar setup?

So while I was looking in a second hand shop at cameras I came across a Kodak model E. When I looked closer at it, I noticed a few odd things.... it has a power cable...... it has no speed selector, no winding handle or cavity in the casing for a winder to be inserted, and no run lever. It has no special mounting lugs, like may be used if it was mounted in an aircraft or mounted as a security camera... really odd. I remember I saw a Bolex advertised once that was similarly 'bare bones' and the seller stated the camera was an early speed camera that was activated mechanically. I am half tempted to buy this camera just to examine it closer... perhaps a 12volt Kodak model E would be quite useable? There is a paint stamp on the front of the camera 'AN z225' perhaps a local camera shop that modified the camera.

The lens mount is not PL, a short tube with a guide, a smaller rotation of 70 degrees to remove.

I returned to the shop, and while the guy I spoke to earlier was not there, I left his wife print outs of the information I could find. I took a few more pics. It seems in good condition. Although he has a price tag on the kit for AUD$3600, I suggested to his wife it may be worth much more, especially as it has two Cooke Panchro series II lenses attached, a 50mm and 75mm one. I had a quick look at the lenses and they appear, without cleaning them, to be just a little dusty. The 75mm one has a yellowish tint to it. Anyway, I look forward to hearing back from the owner, not as I am looking to buy it, mostly so I can tell him he has a very cool camera that may be worth much more than $3600

Hello, Simon Thanks for offering some valuable info on this camera. At least I can tell the owner it most likely runs on 12v. Cheers, Gareth

So I came across this cine camera, quite a big thing, in a second hand shop. The shop owner initially told me the camera was off the floor, being stored in a private room. I seemed pretty keen, I thought it might be an old Auricon, he told me the camera was an old newsreel camera. He eventually took me upstairs to see the camera. From the distance I thought it was an Eclair, but getting closer it seemed to big. Anyway, turns out to be a pretty good condition Newman and Sinclair NS400. The attached picture is not of the actual camera, its from the net. The camera in the shop came with around 5 lenses and a magazine. Does anyone have any info on these cameras? Any documents? The shop owner seems keen to power it up, but I warned him off until he knows exactly what voltage etc is needed, otherwise he risks killing the motor. And the price tag is AUD$3600... Cheers, Gareth

Thanks for posting this really handy guide! I wonder how many people who bought such lenses have given it go to clean them up. I have a couple of Kiev lenses that I might attempt to clean up. Thanks for posting this, Sebastian

Hello, These are very cool, nicely designed too. I have been lugging around a heavy 12v motorcycle battery in a camera case for when I need a power source. Have you considered putting a couple on one of the popular auction sites? Not necessarily to sell, but to let the google bots find the listings and make it very easy for a film maker/tinkerer to source your battery packs? I like the voltage regulator idea, it does away with making a d.i.y supply for each camera one owns that have different voltages. Gareth

Hello, Aapo I can appreciate where you are coming from... but I have too many cameras for the very small amount of film I shoot... I am trying hard not to become a home for 'lost cameras' that no-one else wants... And diverting time from my other projects to mount motors onto Kievs..... I have to prioritise... And I really do not think in Australia at the moment that I could even get $150 for a nice working Kiev... and I dont think film students down here use cine cameras as part of their studies... I might be wrong though.. and although I have 5 cameras, I only have two sets of lenses. The Kiev 16U lenses have been widely bought up in the last 15 years by stills photographers.... they are pursuing the fabled 'bokeh' characteristic of old soviet lenses. Some would think chasing lenses with imperfections a strange pursuit, but many of those lenses have nice qualities.... The annoying part is it seems almost every old Kiev lens get very very stiff due to the ageing grease, so either the seller gets them over-hauled, which adds more to the cost, or they sell them in 'as is' condition, after which the buyer gets stuck with the stiffest lenses imaginable... Gareth