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Frank Wylie

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Everything posted by Frank Wylie

  1. What's funny is a Curator who asks for a 4K scan and wants to see the entire area of the film, but still thinks they are getting a 4K program image. No amount of explanation will seem to convince them otherwise...
  2. Richard, I see. I wish you luck, but would council that you first become acquainted with what it actually takes to copy film properly. There are underlying principals in film stock duplication, in both physical transport and color science, that are not readily apparent to casual observation. It is not a trivial task, nor is developing a new film stock. I will also state that the lack of copying services for 8mm film is not due to a lack of knowledge, skill or even equipment (although it would take great effort and expense to assemble such a service), it is due to the lack of consumers who would be willing to pay the actual cost of such a service. Good luck.
  3. Yes, this is a selling point for archival scanners. Curators want to see everything; out to the edge of the film to capture edge codes and even inked sync numbers.
  4. Richard, I am not being condescending or dismissive of your ideas, but you are about 70 to 100 years too late to the game. All this has come and gone; the machinery is rare, the duplicating film stocks required for color work are long since discontinued and the market for film copies is practically non-existent. What exactly are you trying to do? Are you hoping to dupe and sell old 8mm copies of films sold for home projection? Like I say, I am just trying to understand your end-goals; maybe then I can offer some useful suggestions. Frank
  5. Not being flippant, but why are you trying to determine this? Do you just like/not like the quality or ??? Used to be scanning out to the edge of the film was an unusual characteristic; more in line with an archival-purposed scanner, but now I am unsure if this is a unique quality with among the latest generation of motion picture film scanners.
  6. The wetgate was used to minimize damage print through on each matrix. Wear was a real problem for each matrix.
  7. Karim, It is really strange how some motion picture elements can lead a charmed life while others can barely seem to make to the cinema before vanishing from the face of the Earth. "Purposeful" destruction, fires, floods, poor storage and neglect are among the most prevalent reasons, but it varies wildly on a title by title basis. Hollywood, as a general term, is a business and it thinks in business-like terms even today.
  8. I would think it is a sun shade that is mounted upside down on the viewer, just to keep it handy while not in use. That's funny, because I timed the reconstruction of this film a few years back; https://willmckinley.wordpress.com/2015/11/16/girl-reconstructed-clara-bow-in-get-your-man-1927/ We had to bridge gaps with stills and titles, but it was all we had.
  9. I was beginning to wonder if that wasn't a lens mounted for a USSR Rodina 35mm camera but it has 4 lugs on the mount.
  10. That is indeed an interesting camera! Any additional information would be great!
  11. I would gladly provide the skip in the form of a shipping container to the US!
  12. Take a few feet and develop it in Dektol and see if there are images.
  13. You might be able to get it to turn with a drop or two of 99% isopropyl alcohol injected into the threads of the helicoid, but that will probably be a very temporary fix and you run the risk of dissolving the old grease and having it migrate onto the aperture or inner lens surfaces. Heat helps, but that's more risky and the lubricant just goes back to it's petrified state once the lens cools, so why bother? It's best to clean all the old grease out and reapply new very sparingly. There is a fellow on YouTube; Mikeo62, who has a ton of videos on camera and lens repair. Have a look at his channel and you'll find quite a few tutorials on various Nikon AI and Pre-AI lenses he has cleaned and re-lubricated. While it may not directly relate to the Switar, the general techniques he uses to disassemble these lenses and maintain proper infinity focus is worth watching. Go slow, take lots of photos for reference and when in doubt or frustrated, sit the lens down and go do something else! Come back when you have the energy and patience. I learned that the hard way... Good luck.
  14. I was saying to reverse and invert the film AFTER processing...
  15. There are many helicoid greases available on Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=helicoid+grease&_sacat=0 I use the #10 on SLR primes VERY SPARINGLY. I mean it. Just a little and the surface must be SPOTLESS. If you don't know how to take apart helicoids, do some research or you'll have some serious problems... Start here: https://richardhaw.com/2016/04/10/repair-helicoids/
  16. True. I totally spaced that because the trick was taught to me last Century when we were only shooting B&W or VNF in Film School. No one could afford color negative! Hmmm. Guess it's only valid in color if you are going to scan it and flip/reverse it in post. isn't DP 16mm only special order now?
  17. Used for X-Ray motion picture analysis in the past; mainly in open heart surgery. I have owned several from surplus auctions. Variable speed, single frame with a Geneva Cross Movement. Could be used for rotoscoping if you worked on the holdback tensions on the platters. I was going to use it as a bed for a DIY scanner in the mid 2000's, but wound up using an Oxberry Optical Printer head instead.
  18. The manual lists "unlimited reverse running" under Technical Specifications, but then does mention it is only for rewinding. Depending on what your end product is, there is an old trick where you can film the scene with the camera upside-down and flip the film base to emulsion, plus heads to tails, and get the same effect, with the caveat that you will be opposite wind in regards to all other film shot in a normal manner. If you are printing from the camera original, you'll have degraded definition. If you are scanning for electronic post, you can avoid the hit and simply flip the image in post and reverse the action.
  19. The wetgate was developed by Technicolor as part of their 3 color matrix printing system.
  20. I would spot meter the trace from a pattern that would fill the spot meter target with a full intensity patch and open up 1/2 a stop. Since the meter is looking for 18% gray, the 1/2 stop extra light will allow the trace to be brighter than mid-gray, but should not blow-out the most intense areas. It depends upon how much detail you are trying to capture of the less intense portions of the trace, but if you are afraid of blowing out the brightest portion of the trace, I would be conservative and tend to use less than more exposure. I assume the phosphor will be green, but you didn't specify. The curves on 250D show that green is slightly less sensitive than Blue and much more sensitive than red, so a modern spot meter should give you a reasonable reading. You also don't mention your end delivery media; film or digital or what? If it is a film print, you can boost the gamma of the print coming off of the negative to assure proper blacks OR with a digital scan, just pull the toe of your curves down to crush the blacks a bit. Of course, nothing beats a bracketing test which ever way you are going...
  21. I think you're on the right path and, no, it IS complicated! While I am certainly no real expert on optical printing, I work with two former West Coast Optical Printers who did title work for a living. Maybe I can get them to give you some pointers? Send me a PM with your contact information and maybe I can get them to communicate with you directly... Just for grins; what optical printer are you using?
  22. Hoping to find someone with a knowledge of this production house. I am going through the original elements for Ivan Dixon's "The Spook that Sat by the Door" (1973) and this production house keeps appearing on the opticals for the trailer elements. Let me know if you worked with them or knew of who owned the business.
  23. Roll your own image transform. You don't have to use Blackmagic's issued parameters. Make it yours!
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