Trevor Greenfield

No I think the compelling part is what leads us to have a passion and a desire for everything - to one up our last effort, to try things we never have before, to achieve something we can look on with a smile. I meet people everyday who put in a 9-5, and just go home to their wife and kids and forget about work. Me I am just compelled to think film, filmmaking, producing, writing, and directing all the time. Rarely is there a time when Im not. I dont know if Ill ever figure out why exactly other than I really enjoy it.

Yeah it may or may not help you, but I got a Pentax istDL last month and it takes wonderful pics. Also recently discovered in a thread here that it directly translates to film... so now I can do all of my exposure practicing with my light meter with the Pentax! Unfortunately, its not as resillient as my K1000, and it stopped working so I had to send it in.

anyone know the prices on these cameras? Rental looks to be about the same as the cinealta.

If you've been able to come close to the wonderful treatment of Madsen Papamichael gave in the infamous Giamatti/Madsen porch scene, I think you're swell and she's about as lucky as an actress could be.

I am getting that wagon. In fact I would have gotten it today except that I had to get back. Ill be able to let you know my findings, my main thought is I dont want the tread on the tires to cause vibration.

I too had some help from Cinematography.com and made "High Fire Danger!" on 7265. I did everything I could to make it authentic to the 1920's, with period costumes, props and locations. It has now played 3 fests (it won Best Cinematography in its premiere) and we're going to Gold Beach, OR where we shot it in November for a special screening at the Savoy Theater. http://highfiredanger.com . Sorry its not online yet, though.

Obviously the K3 is not exactly rocket science. Its either leaking around the cover seal, the roll remaining counter, or the gate somehow. I always gaff tape my k3 anywhere there could be a light leak just to make sure. People wonder if thats how the camera is being held together :)

I would hope so?

There is a freebie plugin for VirtualDub if you are on PC. My first camera got a stuck pixel and this program disguised it. Its not a substitute, but it will do its best to hide it.

Pretty cool when my film was playing at a film festival at a cineplex and there in the lobby was a standup of "Akeelah.." with David's name on it, which I said to several other filmmakers, "hey he posts on cinematography.com and is a rather helpful guy!" Then in starbucks the other day during a business meeting, our coasters were from Akeelah. Hope it does really well, David deserves it :D

I'm not trying to be rude here, but you dont. If you had read just one book, any book, on cinematography, such as Cinematography co-written by cinematography.com 's own David Mullen, you would understand why you need a lightmeter, can't properly expose an image by eye unless you're some kind of superman, and why there is no such thing as "bad" film that kodak sells. Im sure Fuji is exactly the same. They dont sell crap. They have poured millions into R&D to craft each and every film stock they sell. They have been around for a century or so. Film stocks are chosen for purpose and effect, not because one is bad and one is good. A book would tell you that. Call Kodak and talk to them. You'll be suprised, they might work out a discount for you, they will certainly tell you the pricing of any stock you want, and they will even sell film to you! (ok, your parents).

There is no such thing as the "best" film. Every film has a different purpose. If you are shooting in well lit areas, 50D is tighter grain and sharper than other daylight film like 250D. All kodak 16mm color negative stock is around $36 a roll. The reason, again, is because there is no "best" there is only film made for intended purposes. You'd do well to take the $36 + shipping you will spend on one roll of stock with no processing and buy 2-3 books on how to shoot film.

"No, only video cameras can you adjust exposure in a WYSIWYG manner by looking in the viewfinder. If you are shooting film, you need a light meter ($25-$50 used on ebay). Become one with the lightmeter. Get smarter than the lightmeter. Otherwise there is really no cheat to measuring light except to use the lightmeter inside the K3. Some people say these are totally innacurate. Mine is perfect, but a handheld lightmeter will ALWAYS be better if you know how to use it."

So, you went and shot half of your roll, then decided to learn what you were doing? Here's a good site with some K3 info...http://www.k3camera.com/ This is a stock K3... Note the stock 17-69mm f1.9 zoom precision Zenit Lens as indicated by the numbers located on the zoom lever. If that didn't come with your camera then you either didnt get a m42 mount k3 (you got a bayonnet) or you simply didnt get the stock lens. IMO no, 17mm is not *super* wide, but it will get the job done. The Peleng is an alternative. no, just set the shutter speed accordingly: Shooting Speed (fps) Shutter Speed 8 1/20 12 1/30 16 1/40 24 1/60 32 1/80 48 1/120 single-frame 1/30 I assume you were looking at digital spot meters or something. A regular sekonic should only cost $25-$50 used. "I'm not too impressed with these prices" -- this is filmmaking, son, if you're getting ulcers over the cost of a light meter this may not be for you or you may need to get a higher paying job on the side. Stock costs, production costs, sound equipment, developing, transfer, copies, post costs, websites, festival submissions, travelling expenses, etc... filmmaking aint cheap. If you want easy and cheap, sell your K3 and get a DV camera. You could have easily bought one for the price of the K3 on ebay. Tapes cost $3 for an hour. Almost any modern computer can edit dv, put it on a dvd and hey youve saved a lot. It looks like video but at least you got away cheap. If you want to shoot film you need to take the time to learn and do it properly. Yes, it costs more. IMO, yes it is worth it. But then again with the ease and inexpensiveness of video I think its imparative to learn there first but treat it like film. Nothing like seeing a $15k thesis film that should have been shot on dv.

Sorry I dont know about the Zenitar, but for someone as novice to film as yourself or at least 16mm I find it odd that you are just skipping right over the stock meteor zoom and going right for obtaining primes. From what I've seen/heard/experieced the zoom is fine unless you need to cut it with say an Arri with some nice glass. Dont get me wrong primes are almost always sharper and better, so its a good idea, just strange that you would consider a 16mm prime when a 17mm zoom comes stock with the camera. Remember though, if you decide to use a M42 mount lens for 35mm cameras, its a 2:1 factor, so a 15mm m42 lens made for 35mm cameras will be the equiv. of 30mm lens in 16mm cameras. No, only video cameras can you adjust exposure in a WYSIWYG manner by looking in the viewfinder. If you are shooting film, you need a light meter ($25-$50 used on ebay). Become one with the lightmeter. Get smarter than the lightmeter. Otherwise there is really no cheat to measuring light except to use the lightmeter inside the K3. Some people say these are totally innacurate. Mine is perfect, but a handheld lightmeter will ALWAYS be better if you know how to use it.

My last film was spotless. No spots, no hairs, nada. Super clean.

My hope is since they only have a Rank Cintel for transfers that they save some scones and get a spirit with Hdd 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 transfer.

I just used Forde for processing and prep for Alpha Cine to telecine my footage for editing for HFD!. It was reversal so AC couldnt process it anyway. Considering their close proximity and the fact that there are several rooms that are fairly unused upstairs at AC, this makes total sense to me. I was happy with both and did a supervised session at AC, which was great. I hope to do more business with them but Im not sure if I will shoot reversal any time soon.

How are you acheiving critical focus? Are you removing the camera, or using the camera, and if so, does it really provide enough res with that monitor to be able to tell? I found it hard with a dv camera hooked into a cheapo TFT LCD to see enough res to make a critical focus adjustment, maybe you wouldnt mind explaining this area, also which camera and LCD you are using. Also, with the vid tap and everything else, doesnt it make the already painful film changing even take longer? How are you dealing with this? Thanks for the inspiration though, I love my little K3... I just won a cinematography award with it!

LOL thank you for your advice. I guess the best way to go is to just get one of the lenses and shoot a test, starting with infinity. (Although this will end up costing as much as the lens does). "However, when people say "calibrated for Bolex" I suspect they are just talking nonsense to say that it will fit a c-mount. The RX- series of lenses were specially calibrated for the reflex bolex and are special for that camera, but I honestly can't imagine that a dogleg lens would be calibrated for a reflex bolex, as it already is reflex, why would you stick a dogleg lens on it! " Thats pretty much what I figured.

Sure you can connect an invertor straight to a battery. I have done this many times for camera power (giving hours if not days of shooting power before recharging), and a couple of times to run small lights from a little 12v gel cell. Of course this is impossible with an HMI as an HMI requires a very specific and sync power source. Also, you have to consider the amperage draw on a 12v from a larger non HMI like a 500, 650 or 1000 tungsten or even halogen. Also to consider is that a generator or wall outlet will provide a much cleaner sine wave of energy than a battery through an inverter. Lights wise I don't know how this plays out but I would assume especially flo's like clean power. Sync cameras however, can have real problems getting sync without clean power. So, If you are talking about a few practicals, I'd say 100% go for it, but if you are talking about running a 1k or something, well, someone here will probably say that its not a good idea.

Hi gents. I just bought an old 16mm non reflex camera that takes c-mount lenses with doglegs. All the time I read on Angenieux and Som Berthiot zooms, "Calibrated for Bolex" Does this have a specific meaning that in particular it won't work with another camera? Is this calibration from the rear element to the film plane or is it something else? Thanks for your help.

1. Yes its worth it by far (as you can see in the examples). 2. They use a Rank-Cintel telecine (from their website) which is not as good as say a Spirit but its plenty good for the price. I have talked to 3516 and was actually looking at their site, make sure you read everything carefully and call them there are a couple small charges that are outside of processing and transfer like $125 for a hard drive and a couple of others.

The problem with recording dialogue when using a Konvas is it is rated at something like 55 db before blimping. Unless you wanted to shoot it all telephoto you would definitely pick up the camera noise in the audio.

Why not just process the film yourself and run it through a projector then record it off a wall? That'll save even more money! Often when I start to think about this game I think back to the old triangle theory that I recently read Gore recite in his book: .........GOOD FAST............CHEAP You can have two parts of the triangle but you can't have three. El Mariachi is good but obviously low budget and was filmed on 16mm. Rodriguez had to rerecord all dialogue in ADR. There is maybe a reason why he never made a film in this method again.