Ross Wilson

I recently bought an A-Mima and I'm loving it, but unfortunately I never checked the state of the spools from the seller as I wasn't sure what I'd be looking for, they looked fine to me at a glance. The problem I've had is after having some 400ft rolls spooled onto the minima spools as I've gone through these rolls I'm discovering some of the spools weren't even assembled properly. And others had tabs broken. This hasn't seemed to have affected their use however. One of the spools had the legs inserted so as to be on the wrong side of the clips so they couldn't clip into place yet the tightness of the fit meant it still held together. Another had only one clip on one side that was unbroken and yet it fed the camera fine. So other than trying to figure out if these spools were damaged and assembled incorrectly before I got them or at the lab somehow did it, does anyone know how these spools work exactly in camera and if it's safe to continue to use the ones with the broken tabs? Are the tabs etc just for holding the spool sides together and don't make a difference when the camera is actually spinning them in place? Any insights would be gratefully received. Cheers

Finally a conclusion! Might want to make a mental note of this... I contacted the film sales company I used who put me onto Kodak. Kodak were very helpful and lunched an investigation. I just learned that it was indeed a quality control problem at Kodak which explains the fact the explanations here didn't ever seem to fit. Kodak have been very apologetic and from what I gather this is a rare event, they've offered to send me a few rolls and cover the cost of processing. Of course we'll have to pay out again to re-shoot because of this, but that's always a risk with film be it mechanical, lab, user or indeed supplier fault. Main thing is we know we know where the issue was. This won't put me off shooting film but I might do a quick check on the leader of a new roll with a magnifying lens from now on. Hope this helps anyone who comes across scratches like this is the future!

I can see the issue on frame one of the video. It's faint but definitely there. If you have the video at the start and arrow key one frame at a time you can see them. I've attached a screen shot where I've upped the contrast to make it more obvious. It's obviously a lot clearer during the image though. First frame after the hole punch at start:

I've just had the tests back from the lab and both mags are acting fine. No scratches or anything. Thanks for the input Tyler. I struggle to see how it can be the loop though - when you're threading the mag you're doing it all slowly by hand and you can see nothing is touching anything. Even if the loop grew when running the camera there eIf would be a clean part at the start of the reel (the manual loading first few feet) then that might make sense. But this is on frame one to last frame All I can think is that it must have been something between where the neg comes through from the feed to the gate or from the gate to the take up. Everything has to go through those. Frame one to the last frame. Maybe it's now been dislodged. Will definitely check those areas from now on before I load. I'm going to talk to Kodak and Arri service to see if I can get any answers but for now im pretty stumped.

Thanks again guys. Really useful information. I've posted the first 10 seconds of the roll, what you see happens throughout the reel. https://www.dropbox.com/s/jwd6bx0pcve3i45/Scratches.mov?dl=0 I've done scratch tests on the mags now and can see nothing resembling these marks. I'm using a loop used for looking at rock minerals so looking pretty closely. Also ran 100ft through each mag to check them, that'll be back soon. As Dom says what is strange is that these scratches aren't vertical but horizontal. And I agree it's almost impossible to mess up a loop so bad it might do this. I see what you're saying Simon, if the tests come back okay it seems most likely to be not me, I sort of hope it was me really, I can fix me. Yes he did mention they tape the end of one roll to the next. I suppose between the first and second reel something could have been left in an unfortunate place like you say and then removed for the next reel. That is a nightmare I'd rather not think about. The film was newly purchased from my usual source Eric, it came as usual and looked totally fine. I think however it would not be impossible to open and re-tape a roll. The little sticker was on the leader part that tapes it to the roll for all that's worth. It would seem like a lot of effort to run a whole roll through a camera only to re-spool it and send it back. Possible though. I'll shoot an email over to Kodak, hopefully ill be able to rule out the mags tomorrow when the tests come back. The mystery continues...

Just a couple of other bits of information which might help. Yes this reel in particular was scratched from top to tail from the very first to last frame. Before this happened the same mag had been used for another reel on the same shoot and we had no problems with that one. Minutes after this mag ran out (the scratched reel mag) I loaded another mag and shot that with no problems at all so I'm confident it's not the camera at fault but the mag/film. The lab explained that they stitch all the reels together and there were five I sent in, this was the first reel to be developed yet the scratching ends immediately before the next reel starts in the scan (it's one five reel long file). So I'd be really surprised if it was the lab, they are one of the two tops labs in the UK called Cine Lab and do a lot of high end feature work. I've removed the throat of the mag and there's no obvious causes, clean as a whistle. You'd think when threading the mag with the initial few feet that it wouldn't create the exact same kind of scratches seeing as the film has been slowly pushed through the system. So that initial mag threading section is scratched the same way the rest of the reel is. Weird. As others have said it's really hard to get the loop wrong. Even if I didn't hang the film correctly how come these scratches are on the first frames which wouldn't have travelled past the gate at all? Same for if I made the loop too big, surely the start of the film would have no scratches? Anyway, im about to shoot a steady test with all my mags and see if this crops up again. I've also found a section in the ASC manual that explains how to feed the film through the system, inspect it, then mark the film at various points so you can see where it's starting at least. In theory. Let you know what I find.

Thanks for all your input guys, much appreciated. I agree, it looks like the film is rapidly slamming against something, and I could see how a large loop would do that. I just can't believe I made the loop that big, I've loaded so many rolls now and loop size is pretty easy to get right and check with these mags and to spot when it's too big. But I guess it's possible. Perhaps if the gears are slipping it's allowing a larger loop to form? I've found some tests in the ASC manual to do and obviously will run some test stock through the mags. On the one hand I'm hoping the issue wont show so I don't have to get the mags serviced but then I'll never really know what it was, I think if there's no issues next time I'll have to assume it was the loop size. Thanks again!

I can see how cinch marks might create a few one offs but this is every single frame multiple times a frame. Jump marks could be it, I just don't know where it would be jumping on that mag. I've uploaded the leader section of video so if anyone wants to see it in motion they can: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xqjhp84aj3j9cdy/FilmMarks.mov?dl=0

Hi all, if anyone here with experience with super 16mm film damage can wade in on this I'd appreciate it. One of five rolls came back from our lab with scratches on every frame, kind of looks like streaky rain jumping around. Intensity remains consistent. It was the last roll of the shoot so all other rolls were not affected. We used two mags and this one had been used on the same shoot for another one roll at least with no issues. We're shooting on an Arri SR3 Advanced, timecode mags, 24fps, 180shutter, Kodak 7222 if that helps. The only thing of note was that at one point during the shoot, I leant a bit on the mag and the camera made a bit of a loud noise as it was running, when I immediately moved off the sound stopped. That said this issue is from frame one on this roll and the aforementioned incident didn't occur until mid roll so I don't see how the problem was caused by that. Anyway the lab manager is inspecting the footage but thought I'd see what you guys thought too.

I recently found a section in an old Aaton LTR camera manual that states never to transport the camera with a zoom lens attached due to the possible forces applied at the lens mount and ultaimetly throwing off focus whilst not causing any outwardly obvious damage. Does anyone have any opinions on travelling with zooms attached? Is a lens support do you think enough to mitigate these effects? Cheers

I've been looking for the original Arri shoulder pad that sits flush with the base of the SR3 for a while now and can't find one. Does anyone know what a good modern option would be that won't lift the camera too high off the shoulder?

Hi guys, I've got hold of an Arri SR3 and the thing is much heavier than I expected. I used to have An Aaton LTR54 a while ago and distinctly remember it being significantly lighter. I've looked up the spec online however and they don't seem that much different. Has anyone here experience of the SR3 and Aatons, and can you attest to whether there is a noticeable difference in weight? For instance I've seen people online holding the Aatons one handed by the hand grip with the camera tipped forward, you could never do this with the Arri. Any help would be really helpful as the project I'm suiting the camera to needs to be lighter and preferably sync sound, and I can't get hold of an Aaton to try without buying one. Thanks

Thanks again for everything. I've found a couple of things I think will help get me going, works out cheaper than lights and will useful in a lot of projects. Going for a sunbounce: http://www.sunbounce.com/cms/index.php?id=..._ttproducts_pi1[backPID]=502&tx_ttproducts_pi1[product]=392&cHash=e52d309a9b And swatter: http://www.sunbounce.com/cms/index.php?id=..._ttproducts_pi1[backPID]=504&tx_ttproducts_pi1[product]=401&cHash=e32352f923

A little more guidance would be really appreciated.. I'm going to forget lights to make my talent look good in daylight.. and so I found this: http://www.lastolite.com/skylite-kits.php ..to act as a diffuser and add some reflectors in too. I'm a little worried though it's going to effect too small an area, what do you guys think? To be honest if this doesn't work it seems the only thing that will is a huge crew and budget so I'm thinking of just shooting with nothing and forgetting about doing anything with the light.

Well thanks for putting me straight guys before I blew a load of money on lights. Gonna have a look into the diffusers and reflectors, saw some over Westcott that look good, also some scrim jims that might come in handy I'm thinking. Cheers