Ian Cooper

Don't know about America, but the latest BBC series of "Spooks" broadcast last November was shot entirely on Fuji 16mm. Broadcast last September, the ITV drama "Albert's Memorial" was shot on 16mm Fuji Vivid160T, 250D and 400T. Fuji are reasonably happy to advertise when their products have been used on projects, Kodak don't seem as keen, so no doubt there's been stuff shot on Kodak as well.

I don't think there was any logic behind the change - just necessary for the UK to fall into line with what Europe wants to do. Unfortunately in the real world it just means everyone has to learn two systems, and as for the 'blue' and 'black' having now swapped functions... :rolleyes:

If you read the comments associated with the second video linked, then it says it wasn't actually shot with a Beaulieu R16, but it was in the style of the Beaulieu. What ever that's supposed to mean! The first link does give the impression it was shot with a Beaulieu R16, but there doesn't seem to be any indication as to the lens(es) used. Assuming the camera hasn't been modified with a different mount, then the standard camera just has a 'C' mount - so the range of lenses available are pretty wide, and by using a lens mount adapter they're even wider! Whilst none of it is telecined in HD, this clip of mine was shot on a Beaulieu R16 with an Angenieux 12-120. This second film of mine was shot on an R16 with Ang. 12-120, with the additional shots (those not featuring the steam tractor) being shot on an Eclair NPR with (a different) Angenieux 12-120 and a Kinoptik 5.7 (first shot in the church yard) I'll leave it up to you to decide whether they fall into the 'shoddy' category or not!

I guess where in the world you live will have some bearing on the cost/accessibility of Ultra16 compared to R16/S16.

I appreciate you may feel uncomfortable making something yourself, but I'm sure you could find something suitable located in the Uk and thus save the costs of importing. Even if that fails, you shouldn't be too afraid about tackling it yourself either. A 12V 3.4Ah sealed lead acid battery could be picked up for less than £10 (eg. here) A charger for less than £20 (clicky) You will obviously need to come up with a lead to go from this to the camera. The battery takes spade connectors, such as these. To fit these you would need a pair of crimpers, a cheap set like this would do. For the cable to the camera you might be able to modify the one for your existing battery pack - cut the cable at the battery end and crimp on the connectors to the new battery. Alternatively you could purchase a commercial XLR lead and cut one end off that to modify yourself to go to the new battery. You would need to make sure you connect the lead up to the battery the correct way round, but with a little guidance that shouldn't be too difficult to sort either. If all else fails then I'm sure you could find someone able to help. A lot of car electrics make use of crimped on connectors (or at least used to), so if you took the bits to a self-employed car electrician (or small garage) they might be prepared to crimp the connectors on the end for you. I'd tend to avoid main dealers and garages that are part of a large chain. I accept this approach doesn't give you a stylish battery pack in a shoulder bag, but if you take the battery to a shop stocking camera bags you'll probably find something you can stuff the battery in that'll give it a shoulder strap and a bit more of a professional appearance. I wouldn't necessarily bin the original battery either, there are firms in the UK who will fit new cells in old battery packs for a fraction of the cost of a new "Arri" compatible camera battery. For the moderate cost it would give you a spare working motor should you ever encounter problems with the crystal sync system in the future. You never know, you might find you want to use the variable speed motor yourself to film something in slow-motion (or speeded up)

Fuji has their "Complete 16" promotion, in association with ilab, Technicolor and Soho Film Lab. Kodak has "Sweet-16" in association with Soho Film Lab and Rushes. Given that you only want to expose one roll of film, the Fuji promotion would be the one to consider. The Kodak package is for either 5 or 8 400ft rolls of film. Unfortunately the Fuji promotion is only for a standard definition best light 'rushes' package telecine. But I'm sure if you contacted the labs they might be prepared to quote for a different Tk deal for an additional charge.

There was Kodak 7289 - Vision 800T, but that was discontinued a number of years ago. Thank you.

500asa is the fastest stock available in any form. (and yes, it is available on 100ft spools) Kodak 7229 V2 Expression 500T Kodak 7219 V3 500T Fuji 8647 Vivid 500T Fuji 8673 Eterna 500T Fuji 8692 Reala 500D

So long as you're using 100ft loads of film (which are the only ones that will go inside the Scoopic) then these are supplied on daylight safe spools that have solid sides to protect the film from light. It'll probably be best not to load the camera in bright sun, but I've loaded 500asa film just in the 'normal' ambient lighting without experiencing any problems. After loading, you need to run the camera to 'wind on' the bit of film you fogged during the loading process. This will vary according to the camera design, but is probably around 10 to 15 seconds. If you unload the camera in a changing bag (usually just a case of opening it up and taking the spool out - so dead easy) then you won't fog the last 10-15 seconds or so of film you shot ;)

The "Complete-16" package via Fuji was modified a month or so back. The price for just 100ft of film went up (from £50 to £75 - 400ft price remained the same I think), and at the same time "Soho FilmLab" and "Technicolor" got onboard alongside "ilab" as well.

I've not had such experiences with ilab myself. I've used them both as part of the complete-16 package, and seperatly. They've generally processed & Tk'ed pretty much by return of post. I've certainly had material back within a week. They haven't always been prompt about getting back to emails, but I've had no problems when I've telephoned and they've been helpful answering questions. Their processing & Tk results have been comparible with material I've had done elsewhere.

I've had similar experiences: I expose the film 2/3 stop over, using a known accurate light meter (no probs when I use it with reversal film). The film gets sent off for processing & best light Tk, only to find the tape version I get back looks under exposed with very obvious grain (even using 50D). ...at least in my opinion it is anyway. I've brought up waveforms of the image and found similar levels to yourself, and also gone back to the lab who've checked the negative and confirmed the exposure on that is ample. I posted a thread in the telecine section seeking people's opinions on the last film I shot - as you'll see from the thread, the general consensus on the forum seemed to agree with the response I got back from the lab - that there's nothing wrong with it. Have to confess it's left me somewhat disillusioned with 16mm at the moment - I don't have lots of spare cash to keep spending on multiple telecine sessions, and living 200 miles from London doesn't exactly make popping into a lab easy for me either! Lol. :D It's frustrating, because I can shoot reversal film and get results that look fine, but shooting neg. stock for Tk seems 'mission impossible'!

If you have a look on the original Fuji website then you'll find further information on each of the scenes (including which were S16), together with a PDF explanation document version of the details as well.

With that sort of budget you're probably better off looking at second hand. A new Sekonic L308 is about £125 ($191), so you might find a second hand one on ebay that's just inside your budget. Personally I'd stay away from the analogue moving needle meters. Although I have got a Western Master which was very good, isn't really any competition to my digital meter. A reliable light meter is a useful tool which will last for years, and the cost of a basic one isn't much different from getting 400ft of film processed and telecined.

Depends on the type, some external light meters are expensive, but basic models can be picked up for more reasonable amounts. A possible alternative would be to use a normal 'still' SLR camera as a light meter. You'd need to set the film speed to 500asa (probably one dot after the 400asa marking) and you'd want to set the camera's shutter speed to 1/60th second (which is the closest you'd get to the K3's shutter speed). Assuming the light meter on your K3 works, sticking with that and just opening the lens up 1 stop from the indicated setting is probably your quickest/easiest option. If nothing else it saves carrying around another camera.

Depends how you use the camera. If you don't use the internal light meter, then totally ignore the speed dial on the camera, set your external light meter to EI500 / 500asa and just transfer the reading from that to the lens. If you are using the internal light meter, then set it at EI250 / 250asa. The reading this gives will be one stop over-exposed - so if the meter indicates the exposure is correct with the lens at f5.6, then adjust the aperture to read f8 instead. If you put any neutral density filter in front of the lens it will affect both the light meter and the film by the same amount. Putting a 2 stop neutral density filter on the camera would "reduce the sensitivity" to the same as a film stock of 125asa without any filters, but you'd still need to set the light meter on the camera to 500asa to match the filmstock actually loaded.

Are you needing to record sync. sound? If not, then there are various clockwork 16mm cameras that will keep feeding film through for as long as your wrist will keep rewinding them! :)

Probably not a whole deal of use, but "smallformat" magazine did a pair of articles in issues 3 & 4 back in 2008. They covered the various models and differences etc. Although they've stopped publishing the english language version, the german edition continues. It might be worth contacting them to see if they've still got any back-issues available.

Whilst I don't know if he's specifically done that mod before, I would suggest you try contacting Les Bosher. He's a fine camera engineer and I've been quite happy with what he's done for me in the past. As for processing: Whilst it's not something I've specifically gone round the labs enquiring about, I suspect you'll find processing it is possible (it's just 16mm film, although I understand there may be a risk of damaging between the perfs if the machine isn't suitably adjusted/checked), but as for actually getting it telecined... I wouldn't hold your breath! ...But do let us know if you find somewhere. Chances are your best/quickest bet is to start contacting the labs yourself, there aren't too many over here to try. Best of luck and hope you enjoy the 'new' camera. Ian.

Besides trying a step-up ring, it is also possible to get purpose built thin filters for use on wide-angle lenses. This example is probably in the wrong country for you, but I'm sure a search around might find a local supplier.

What gauge film are you wanting to Tk? Reversal or negative? New or second-hand? A rough idea of your budget might also help people with their suggestions: A stupidly cheap second-hand Spirit is still probably more expensive than a new Flashscan or Moviestuff machine ...but they're intended for different usage and areas of the market.

Have you tried filming without any filter on the lens, just to confirm the problem does lie with the filters and not that it's just the lens that's vignetting?

Ah, in that case things are rather different! Lol ...and if you've got a super-16 Bolex then you've got no need for any further conversions either. The aperture of Super-16 is 7.5mm x 12.4mm, whilst ultra-16 is smaller at 6.23 x 11.8mm. Therefore, if you particularly like the look of the smaller frame from ultra-16 you can save your money and just get the lab to telecine/print a 6.2x11.8 section out of the larger S16 frame. The results will be the same and you can use pretty much any motion picture lab anywhere in the world to do it. A google around seems to suggest the Bolex will weigh in around the 6lb mark, and I've just checked my own R16 and found that too is about 6lbs (compared to 20lbs for my NPR!!!). So the Beaulieu isn't likely to be any lighter weight than the Bolex. Having said that, I don't tend to turn down free cameras myself either! All the best, Ian.

I get the impression from one of your previous posts that you're based in the Uk. If you're planning to get a Bolex EL S16 body, Beaulieu R16, plus lenses, then get Ultra 16 conversions, then you've got a reasonable budget. A super-16 Bolex EL body is likely to cost around £1300+ The 100mmRX is likely to be another £200 or so. You also intend to get an R16 (although this is effectively much the same camera as the electric Bolex EL), with the "usual" Angenieux zoom lens. Beaulieu R16s crop up on UK Ebay reasonably frequently, but if you mean the Angenieux 12-120mm when you mention "usual" zoom, then I think you'll find it is rather rare to find that on Uk R16s, they tend to have either some other prime lens, a CCTV zoom lens, or sometimes an Angenieux 17-70mm zoom. The price for the R16 is likely to be around £250-£300 or so (unless you're lucky), then the price for a 'C' mount Angenieux 12-120 is probably going to be around another £200-£250 or so. The set of prime lenses you're talking about will also start to add up. The 5mm in particular won't come cheap and you'll have to be patient to find one! Unless you buy ready serviced from a dealer you'd also be advised to get both cameras serviced - another £200-£300 each. That may sound expensive, but wasting film with misalignment or scratches costs even more! So far your budget is in the region of £1300+£200+£275+£250+£250+£250 = around £2500+ You haven't shot any film with that, haven't converted anything to U16, and still haven't got any of the prime lenses you're asking about. You'll have an S16 electric Bolex that shoots 100ft spools and an R16 Beaulieu that's otherwise much the same - neither will really allow you to easily record sound. If you look on UK ebay at the moment there's an Arri 16BL listed with an Ang 12-120mm which keeps popping up from time to time and not selling. Bids starting at £650, buy-it-now at £800. I think it's accepted the BL can't be converted to super-16 and I'm not sure about ultra-16. You may find other 'issues' about getting repairs, it is a silent camera, although from the listing I'm not sure if that one is crystal sync. Alternatively also listed on UK Ebay is an Eclair ACL which also appears from time to time without selling. This too comes with the Ang 12-120 zoom, is crystal sync (25fps) and silent. It's also a lot more compact than the Arri 16BL. Bids starting at £750. The ACL can be converted to both Super-16 (industry standard support available in UK and worldwide), and also Ultra-16 (no support in the UK I'm aware of, with limited support in the USA) I don't know either seller and don't know the condition of either camera, usual buyer beware. But if you factor an additional £300 for a basic service then you might get a silent regular-16 magazine based production camera for £1000 less than you're currently planning for two daylight loading MOS cameras. Les Bosher advertises a Super 16 conversion for the ACL for £600, still leaving you around £1000 to spend on test film! Converting to S16 does leave the lens problem (the 12-120 won't cover), but Les also advertises an Arri PL to Eclair ACL adapter for £380, thus opening up the prospect of renting an industry quality lens... and you'd still be saving money compared to your current plans. The "Complete-16" package from Fuji at the moment has 400ft of film including processing and rushes Tk for £140. Even if you found the camera needed some attention and repairs, assuming you don't go mad with the purchase price then your budget still has room to get "more of a camera for your money". Clearly it has been covered in your other threads that a lot will depend on your intended use for the cameras as to which will best suit your plans, but usually a bolex or an R16 is thought of as cheaper than the alternatives. Best of luck with your purchases which ever route you choose to follow.

Unless it's a very short race, probably the operator carrying the Beaulieu will win as it's a fraction the weight of the Eclair! Having said that, the pictures obtained during the race from the shoulder mounted Eclair will probably look better than from the R16 held waving around in mid-air! Being slightly more serious: I have an R16, and later when the opportunity arose got an NPR as well - so I now have both. The comparisons remain much the same really: The R16 is much lighter, but unless you fiddle with the external 200ft magazines (which sometimes can have a reputation for not running very smooth) the camera is limited to 100ft internal spools of film. The R16 does have a mirror shutter - so there's no light loss - and as standard also has a C-Mount. Like the Bolex, the R16 is rather noisy, and neither does it have a crystal sync motor... having said that, the motor does have electronic speed control with a basic closed loop system to keep the speed steady. If you adjust the speed of the camera whilst looking at the roll-bar on a PAL TV you can get the speed pretty darn close to 25fps, not spot on - but darn close! So for short sequences of dialogue filmed outdoors you probably could get away with it. Essentially though it's still like comparing a Bolex to an Eclair - two different cameras designed for different markets. If I'm going to be carrying a camera around all day hiking over fields and hills then my first choice would be the R16 on weight and size grounds, otherwise I'll choose the NPR.