Mike Lary

I'm not sure about other lenses. My K3 is an M42 mount. When I checked into converting the M42 mount, the pricetab was about $350. That seems to be standard pricing, from what I've seen, for mount conversions on other cine cameras as well. You might check duall camera or any other company that provides cine camera maintenance. Mike

The M42 mount is threaded (the lens screws in). To see how many times the shutter is spinning for each single frame advance: remove the gate, remove the lens, hold the open side of the camera close to a light, then trip the cable release while looking through front of the camera. When the shutter is open, you'll see light. When it's closed, you won't. Align the red dots if you desire the speed indicated under that dot. Otherwise you are setting the camera somewhere inbetween speeds. You can gradually and incrementally increase and decrease the camera speed by adjusting the knob while you're shooting (it is not a click-stop for each camera speed). Kind of a nice feature, but you need to adjust the f-stop simultaneously unless you're looking for fluctuations in exposure. I hope that helps, and good luck with your K3! Mike

What are the characteristics that you like about this film stock? I've never used it. Mike

Hi folks, I just purchased a Switar 10mm RX lens, and the front element has a large scratch on it. The seller assured me that this element is a removable filter that requires a special key. In a way, this makes sense because the glass is flat (unlike the curved element under it) and it rests in the area where a filter would go (if compared to other RX lenses like the Switar 25). However, there is no way that I can see that it could be removed, so I'm wondering if it's a fixed element. I looked at a wide angle Switar for a Bolex H8 and it has a similar element that is fixed into the lens. Does anyone know what the deal is with this? I know the scratch will affect image quality, so the lens is no good if the front element can't be removed. You can see the element in this photo (it's not mine, but the same model lens). Thanks, Mike

K3s are a crapshoot. Some run great and others don't. The auto feed mechanism does not work, so you need to load the film manually (not a big deal once you get used to it). They are prone to film scratching (thanks to the auto feed assembly) and you might need to operate on the camera to make the necessary mods and fix the problem. Trouble is, K3s don't always work right once you put them back together. Mine is a paperweight at the moment, and I doubt it will ever run again. I've taken it apart several times, and every time I put it back together and resolve the problem something else goes wrong. Nothing breaks: it just doesn't work right. On the plus side, they are very rugged and comfortable to shoot with. If they jam, you can usually poke around the gears and get them running again (something you could never do with a Bolex). The internal light meter on mine didn't work, but I always use an incident meter anyways. I believe K3camera sells meter battery adapter kits for the K3 if you want to go that route. As far as lenses are concerned, I was pretty happy with the stock zoom. I took some really sweet pictures with it, but it only goes down to 17mm (not very wide for 16). The Peleng is a fisheye, not a high quality wide angle. The samples I saw looked very distorted. I looked into slapping a good wide angle on the K3 (12mm or lower), but it would have cost triple the camera price at least. If you can find a used Pentax mount lens you might be in luck, but it would be in the super wide category and probably pricey (maybe not in the UK?). If I were to buy a K3 today, I would try to find one that has already been modified (feed assembly removed) and successfully used by someone, as opposed to taking my chances with one that has been sitting in a warehouse in the Ukraine for however many years. After spending a couple weeks battling with the broken K3, I ended up buying a Bolex Rex with 10mm lens, for about twice the price I paid for the K3. In addition to having a nice wide angle lens, it also has a longer run time after winding, a locking run button, and backwinding capability. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

My friend's model is a non-reflex from the sixties. If you can send a pic or two of yours I can figure out what year it is and whether or not the shutter is the same. I'm not sure if there's a way to figure it out with just the serial number, but I'll look into that. Thanks, Mike

Hi folks, I'm looking for a good gray card to aid the telecine process (from 16mm BW negative). Kodak has discontinued their Gray Card Plus, and that seems to be the one most labs recommend. Has anyone used this one from GretagMacBeth? http://usa.gretagmacbethstore.com/index.cf...ray%20Scale.htm It looks like the same kind of card only smaller (8.5x11) and I wonder if the smaller size would be a big problem. Any suggestions? Thanks, Mike

A friend of mine is trying to locate a replacement shutter for his Bolex H16. Is your shutter in good shape? What year is your model?

In theory, loading in a shady area (away from direct sunlight or bright lights) should be fine as long as you don't dilly dally or get a nasty feed jam, but I don't take chances. I always load daylight spools in a windowless room in near darkness or, if I'm outside, I cover it with a thick cloth and load it blind. I'm using a K3, though, which takes a bit longer to load than most cameras due to the funky 'auto feed'.

I picked up a tripod screw bushing from BHPhoto.com. (I think they have them listed under Tripod Accessories) It screws into the the tripod mount on the bottom of the camera and allows a standard tripod screw to fit inside it. It's basically a hollowed out cylinder with threads on the inside and outside. They're a few bucks if you buy the generic one, or several times more for a brand name. Generic worked fine for me. The only pain about using a bushing is that you have to unscrew it (a coin will fit in the bottom to unscrew it) anytime you want to switch to the K3 pistol grip. Another option, but a much more expensive one, would be to buy a quick release plate for the tripod (if your head will accept one). You can buy release plates with the larger tripod screw size.

Looks like I'm back in business. Here's what I did: I reseated the baffle plate until it was perfectly flush and I took off the front of the camera. By looking at the gear assemblies I couldn't see anything jamming, but the wind crank just wouldn't turn unless the shutter button was depressed. I found that I could wind the camera by manually turning the shutter with my fingers while depressing the shutter button. I'd let go of the button before taking my fingers off the shutter, then depress the shutter button again and - the camera would run. After doing this a few times the wind crank started working again. I could wind the camera and run it. This doesn't make any sense to me, but it worked. Thanks again for the help, J. This is a sweet little camera. I'm glad it's working again.

Thanks for your reply. I'll try to describe the problem a little better. I managed to get the baffle plate back on the way you described (seating the gear inside the pawls). I thought they were properly in place because I could wind and run the camera. But after a few seconds the motor started to slow down and, after it stopped, I was unable to wind it again. This is why I suspected the main spring may have unwound. K3camera.com mentions that the pawls keep the gear in place which in turn keeps this from happening. I think things might not have been aligned properly when I wound and ran the camera, so the spring unwound. Regardless of how well seated the baffle plate, and regardless of gear/pawl position, the wind handle won't move in the wind direction.

Hey folks, I removed the baffle plate from my K3 to clean out a shard of film that was leaving scratches on my new film and so I could remove the loop formers. I reassembled the camera per instructions found here and on K3camera.com, but something went wrong when I reattached the baffle plate. It took a dozen tries to get those pesky spring-loaded pawls to stay in place and line up with the ratchet gear, and once I succeeded the motor started making irregular noises (like it was speeding up and slowing down) then it stopped working - I can't wind it at all unless the shutter release button is depressed. I'm thinking maybe the pawls didn't stay in place and the main spring unwound as a result. I've removed the baffle plate and inspected to make sure nothing is out of whack, broken or misaligned. The winding crank just locks when I try to turn it. Has anyone had this problem or know how to deal with an unwound spring if that's the problem? Thanks in advance, Mike