Alexander McCarron

Hi, I’m trying to shoot something on Plus - X, I have a Bolex Rex-5 with a wonky viewfinder that kind of comes out of the camera body and has to be pushed back in if you knock it out of place. My lens is an Angenieux 12-120mm 1:2.2 Bolex H16 RX. I want to be able to focus with tape because the viewfinder is so dark and I’m shooting some interiors where I have to be all the way open. When I tried to set my camera to the difference between focal plane and subject was 7 ft, the image was soft in the viewfinder. I focused by eye to around 5 ft. I was at 30mm, f/4. I checked to see if the viewfinder was focused by taking off the lens, pointing the camera at a bright light and fiddling with the viewfinder focus ring to make the texture of the ground glass visible. It seems to be fine. What’s going on here? Is the back focus off? Is my lens not currently parfocal and I shouldn’t be using the zoom to focus? Am I going to have to take my camera to a camera tech or can I fix/deal with this myself? Is there some place or someone affordable in New York who can help? Thanks guys, Alex

Also the wall behind me was black.

Thanks for the replies. This sensometric curve seems to be saying it's 5 stops under before you hit black. I did shoot something though with one side of my face 2 stops under, the other side two stops over and the wall behind me 4 stops under and the darker side of my face looks fairly dark, like one more stop under would be just barely exposed. I guess there is also a problem with digital transfer?

Hi, I cannot for the life of me figure out where to get information about the dynamic range of different kinds of 16mm film. Kodak's website is horrible and B&H just lists 7219's latitude as "wide". Any clues? A chart with comparisons of dynamic range across different formats? Thanks, Alex

So I bought a second hand Sekonic L-588R and I'm reading about all the features I would have if I had the Cine version. I figure this has to just be a difference in software and I'm wondering if anyone has ever heard of someone hacking or somehow updating the software on a light meter before. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Hi, I was looking to invest in a new light meter that would let me take a reading of something like a wall of a building I can't close to. I don't need anything fancy or new. Any suggestions? Thanks, Alex

Awesome! Thanks a lot, guys.

Thanks for the response, John. I don't know if it matters but the Scoopic uses a prism not a mirrored shutter.

So here's the deal: I was shooting with a Canon Scoopic, I was using Tri-X, I was stopped down to f/2.8, I was going to have it pushed since it should really be a f/2 but I didn't close the viewfinder cover in a bathroom full of light and when I put my light meter right on top of the viewfinder I was getting a reading of f/1. So should I just process it normally and hope for the best? Should I pull my footage? Am I completely screwed? Thanks in advance, Alex

I should add that it plays the telecined footage just fine, I don't think it's just that the computer is slow.

I just transferred a film I shot on 16mm to 1080i HD to a hard drive at NFL films. The technician told me that I should remove the 3:2 pull down with Cinema Tools when I got home and something about "A frames". I have tried every setting they have in Cinema Tools and every time what I get back is choppy video. I just want to have a version of this film small enough to fit on a DVD with some other short films and to be able to upload it online without interlacing lines. I'm under the gun too, I need to get this done ASAP. I'm so stressed it's making me stupid. PLEASE HELP!

Hi, I was trying to look through the archives for an updated list of labs people trust and was having trouble finding anything. Are there any East Coast labs people really like? I have two 100' rolls of Vision 2 and Vision 3 500T I want to push two stops. Thanks, Alex

Very useful information. Thank you.

I see. But when you telecine or print you need to make sure the lab understands you need some adjustments made to the image? Does the opposite work? Can you increase grain by under exposing? Thanks.

Hi, I'm just wondering how long I can run the camera at 64 fps before I break it. I broke it once just leaving it running to see how long the battery lasted. Obviously that was an incredibly stupid, rookie move, but it's left me a little cautious and I just want to be sure it can handle an extended slow motion shot. Also: I'm at a loss as to what kind of cable release I need for the single frame option. The limited manual information I've found online doesn't say. Thanks a lot, Alex

I'm a little confused by this. You underrate your film and then, when you process it, the technician pushes it slightly so everything looks right? Do you inform him that you've underrated your film? Do they charge you for pushing less than a full stop? And this is all in the interest of making the film look grainier?

I figured out the first question. I read that you need to do the reading for reflected light in the same way that you do a high slide reading and then immediately forgot about it.

I'm also wondering how sensitive this thing is. With the high slide out it doesn't seem to give much of a crap whether if something is just kinda dark or absolutely black.

Thanks for the advice, guys.

Hi, I have a question about a newly purchased Sekonic Studio Deluxe III L-398A light meter: I'm really confused by the lumigrid (the attachment for reflected light). I just pointed the meter at my light table with the lumigrid and got a reading of 160 footcandles. I put in the lumidisc (incident attachment) and got a reading of 450 footcandles from the same poisition (a little above the surface of the table). So it would seem that I would need to stop down more to photograph an object illuminated by the light table rather than if I pointed the camera at the light table itself. What's going on here? Thanks, Alex

I have a question about depth of field. I have a Scoopic 16M that's only marked with t-stops. I know that t/2.5 = f/1.8 on my lens. Should I just subtract 1.3 from any given t-stop to get the proper f-stop if I want to measure the depth of field? Thanks.

Hi, I recently inherited some expired, negative film:100' of Fuji Reala 500D, 100' of Fuji F-500, and 200' of a 250D B&W Kodak roll. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice on how to expose it. I searched the archives but the info was a little unclear. I should over-expose it, right? By one f stop? More? Less? It's just come out of someone's refrigerator and I've been informed I can't refrigerate it now. So I guess I shoot it immediately? Any advice anyone has is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Can't I use still stocks though if that's true? Isn't that what Godard did in Breathless? Join still 35mm to motion picture 35mm? Also, what's DI? Thank again.

Thanks a lot. And I meant motion picture 35mm, but I guess it's the same issue? Is the issue the perforation when trying to stick cut down 35mm film in a 16mm camera? I'm very much in love with the idea of shooting without lighting at night and am willing to take a silly, round about route in making it work.

Hi, I just wanted to know if there was any 16mm film out there with an ASA higher than 500. I'm having trouble finding it. And if not, could I cut up some fast 35mm? Is there anyway to do that? Thanks