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

Hello, Aaron A bunch of kievs? Very tempting.... I already suffer from collectilitus... and already have 5 Kiev 16u's... I was tempted recently to acquire some electric motors, but converting them to modern AA's I think would be time consuming... Gareth

Hello, Sebastian Thanks for the awesome feeback on my efforts with the Kiev 16U. I also created a sister site with updated info on the Kiev, plus an English manual I translated... here is the site: https://aussiecine.wordpress.com/using-16mm-film/ I hope you have lots of good shooting with the Kiev. When researching the Kiev I visited LOTS of websites and old chat groups, there was an interesting opinion I found: some cameras that suffer soft focus regardless of lens use or adjustment, may actually have incorrect flange distance. This is a hard measurement to make, let alone adjust. A camera tech is best for this one. These cameras reportedly offer excellent results consistently. It is always good to hear my efforts on the repair sites have helped another camera get back into service, Cheers, Gareth

So just a quick update, the processor is working well and I am within 3 to 5 months of going to be able to process some film. I still have a few items to adapt, a blower heater for the drying cabinet, and working out the temps so I don't cook film. The vacuum process is pretty much sorted, and I will install an extra roller in one of the racks, should assist the film going through the processor better. And once I process some film I may have to adjust a few things depending on the results. I have run the processor to establish times for development etc. It take an hour to feed the leader through from start to finish, so if I attached some 400 ft exposed film to the tail, it would take another hour to process that... so 2 hours... when they told me it was a slow B&W processor they weren't joking! Power supply is stable, a 3 phase generator with an extension.... Before doing any processing everything needs a good clean, and I have to make up a cover for the whole processor to protect it from dust etc. Thankfully it is a small processor, maybe 10 feet in length. I have also received lots of positive support from local film processors and experienced people, and suggestions like modifying it to run colour film.... not sure about that one, sounds to be very difficult... I also keep a regularly updated blog of my progress, with pictures and videos of the processor: https://aussiecine.wordpress.com/filmlab-engineering-bw-processor-blog/ Gareth

Ha Ha.... yeah... next I'm bringing back 8 track! Well the processor was ear marked for the scrap heap, and I would hate for a good machine to go to waste... much like the 16mm cameras I like to repair... And I love to tinker...

Hello, So I have been working slowly but steadily on the processor, I have been adjusting the rollers, currently replacing some perished roller tires, and continued working on disconnecting some heavy draw motors and will later replace with lower voltage motors. I purchased a 3 phase petrol generator and the processor runs on it very well. Although I think I am still around 5 months from getting close to experimenting processing some film in caffenol, I may still come across obstacles. I created a blog so I could add pics and explanations as I go. https://aussiecine.wordpress.com/filmlab-engineering-bw-processor-blog/ getting there slowly.... Cheers, Gareth

Actually search for another member here, Aappo... he builds motors for Russian cameras...

The two links below might be a good start: http://konvas.org/faq/faqs/faq And this one deals with re-wiring to an XLR connector. http://konvas.org/faq/faqs/faq/konvas-17ep-and-19ep-motor-power-requirements If need be you could always remove the casing and examine the wiring, following the wires to an earth or others to capacitors etc should be easy to recognise.

Hello, I recently took apart another Kiev 16U, this one was very noisy. I recorded the racket it made before, and recorded it again after, the difference is quite stark. Almost 10Db quieter. One should also remember that by strapping the smart phone to the tripod leg would add a few Db as well from vibration... but I simply wanted to see the difference before service and after. With lenses inserted and testing from 5 feet away, I reckon the 16U would be acceptably quiet for most shooting needs.

Thanks for the feedback Frank, I have enjoyed working on the Kiev. Also, David, there are pistol grips available occasionally on ebay... I bought one recently as you are right, the Kiev is very hard to hold for hand held shooting. Gareth

And a pic of the clockwork assembly...