Chris Elardo

Ahhh, I see. My only concern would be that this particular kind of grip activates the camera via the front release. The Declic H uses the side release. The flat base on your M-5 is drilled and tapped under the FRONT leather piece to accept the bracket for mounting the Bolex Matte Box accessory. The old style handle will interfere with this, hence the side release style of the later grips. Older cameras did not have this option, so the old grip wasn't a problem. I would go for the Declic to be safe. It's designed to work with the later accessories. Just something to consider-

I'm not sure which earlier style grip you're talking about, but I'm assuming it's the 'surefire' model which was pretty common. What you need is the Declic H handle with the quick release disc. This grip also is threaded on the bottom to attach to a tripod that has a standard screw-in mount. Why not just get the proper handle? They're plentiful on e-bay. Hope this helps-

Stepping down the asa to compensate is a nice, painless method, Richard. Good idea. What kind of light meter do you use? I used to use a Sekonic in school, but I can't remember what model it was. I could use a good back-up meter. Any recommendations? I know the Bolex manual tends to round the figures up and down- somewhat generously, like with the prism- but I never found the table and explanations that hard to follow. But you would think the Swiss would be a little more precise...

Bingo!

That sounds like a cool project, definitely! Gee, I wish I could get a discount like that- :huh: I do agree with everything you said Chris- take your meter reading and open up a third of a stop. Amen. I have the Bolex/Gossen meter and the meter in my POE lens, so I usually don't have to goof too much with any of it. That sight was the only one that had decent exposure times that I knew of, but it has goofy errors you have to sidestep. As I said before: Public flogging!

That table did not come out like I hoped. Here is the link where it's from: http://www.city-net.com/~fodder/bolex/shutter.html Ignore the 65 and 32-35 labels for shutter angle! They are wrong, but the exposure times are correct.

Here is something I have: variable shutter open variable shutter at 1/2 variable shutter at 1 130° film speed real adapted real adapted real adapted 12 fps 1/33 1/40 1/45 1/55 1/75 1/94 16 fps 1/45 1/55 1/60 1/75 1/100 1/125 18 fps 1/50 1/60 1/70 1/87 1/110 1/137 24 fps 1/65 1/80 1/90 1/112 1/150 1/163 32 fps 1/90 1/110 1/120 1/150 1/200 1/225 48 fps 1/130 1/160 1/180 1/225 1/300 1/375 64 fps 1/180 1/220 1/240 1/300 1/400 1/500 single frame 1/30 1/40 Exposure Time = (f.p.s. x 360)/(Shutter Opening) Example: Exposure time at 24 fps with a 130° shutter. ET= 24 x 360 / 130 = 66, or 1/66 second Shutter Opening = (f.p.s. x 360) / (Exposure Time) I hope this helps!

Yes, very true. I know the Bolex folks were trying to keep it simple so the average filmmaker could just turn the f-stop ring on the lens and go, but when you're playing with different filming speeds, filters, etc., it's good to know how to calculate things so you can advance your own skills. Unfortunately, Bolex doesn't provide a lot of tables or information on the deeper technical aspects of exposure. Luckily I do have an original manual for my Rex 5, but I've seen a lot of confusion over the f-stop/shutter angle issue. I have a good table that someone put together, but they made the mistake of labeling the 1/2 stop exposure column as "65 degrees" leading the reader to believe that half a stop also equals half the shutter angle from a full-open 130 degrees. But when you calculate any of the exposure times using the formula, nothing adds up to the stated 65 degree shutter angle. This person should be publicly flogged because it just promotes more confusion-

Forgive the error in typing the formula- I mean 'divided by' exposure time, and yes, it equals 96. This is the simplest way to at least get a reasonably convincing answer and I'm definitely not tearing apart my Rex 5 to measure the shutter with a protractor.

Keep in mind that when calculating shutter angle, the 1/2 setting on the lever means 1/2 of an f-stop, NOT 1/2 the shutter angle. People often make the mistake that one should equal the other, but this is not the case. When you set the variable shutter on the 1/2 mark, this IS NOT at 65 degrees. Remember that you have a circular object rotating in front of a rectangle, so geometrically, a perfect halving of the shutter angle is completely inaccurate. This leads to a lot of confusion. Using the Bolex exposure table, and the following calc: Shutter Opening = (f.p.s. x 360) / (Exposure Time), you can see that the unadjusted exposure time of 1/90th of a second with the variable shutter on 1/2 shooting at 24 fps does not equal 65 degrees. 24 x 360/90 = 96 degrees. Conversely, Exposure Time = (f.p.s. x 360)/(Shutter Opening) will give you your unadjusted exposure time. Then you only need to open your lens one-third (roughly) of a stop to compensate for the light loss through the reflex viewfinder. The Bolex table shows the corrected exposure to be 1/112th of a second. Without boring you with more math, you can calculate that the viewfinder steals a little less than 24.5% of your light.

If you're going to convert to S16, then you need to be aware of the kern/switar lenses that can safely be used with the camera. The important thing is that the lens opens up to larger than f2. For a zoom, the POE4 16-100mm accomodates S16. For prime lenses, the standard set is 10mm, 25 or 26mm, and the 75mm. Try and get the newer preset models if available, but if you're lucky enough to see a 26mm kern preset it will cost you an arm and a leg. They are in high demand and considered the best of the kern line developed for Bolex and used for S16. It's a super-fast lens stopping up to f1.1 I hope this helps.

Hello- I would just like to add that it's probably better to just step up to the 16-100mm POE lens if you need a good zoom. It has very good optics and also covers Super 16 should you decide to go that route. If you get the late POE4 model, it has settings up to asa 400. The older version only goes up to 200 asa. Just a thought.

I just had my Rex5 converted through Dieter Schaeffer at ProCam. He uses JK Camera ONLY for S16 and they did a very nice job. I had to clean a few specks off the new GG from the machining, but everything is very crisp through the viefinder. Other than JK, sending it to Bolex in Switzerland is probably your best bet. Just my opinion...

You're saying you have a Bolex reflex with a 144 degree shutter. Are you sure? The only Bolex I know with a 144 degree shutter is the M series cameras, which are non-reflex. Reflex models have a 131 degree shutter (spring wound), while the EBM has a 170 degree shutter. Just that I'd throw that in...

I was really trying to get ahold of one of those beauties. I have the preset 10mm and 75mm, but that 26 is in huge demand and for the prices they're currently fetching, I decided on a mint 25mm and a Super16 conversion for my camera!