Cory Zapatka

This is all very encouraging to hear-- and even more so that my newest SR came in the mail yesterday. I'm shooting a handful of B&W documentaries around New York, hand processing and doing some DIY telecine. Looking forward to it!

I'm seriously considering buying a mint-condition SR, the only caveat being that it is 4:3. I would be using it for a series of black&white documentaries I am planning in NYC. I'd like to hear your thoughts on the aspect ratio. I'm telling myself that it is justifiable and that shooting 4:3 won't take away from the stories that I am trying to tell, but I'm worried that I'll find myself compositionally stuck. Any thoughts? Also, the deal on the camera might be too good to pass up, so I'm considering just doing it and working 4:3 for a while until I either convert or upgrade. Cory

Thanks for your replies-- I think I may have found the one. I may be stuck with an academy gate, but may deal with it as a limitation, not an impediment.

Recent film grad seeking reasonable priced, S16mm Arri or Aaton camera package, with mags, batteries and lens, preferably a zoom (12-120mm). Looking in range of $3-$6k. Working on series of black and white, hand-processed documentaries in the New York area. No, I don't have much money, but yes, I am adamant about shooting film. Any help or leads would be greatly appreciated! Cory Zapatka 401.714.6470 www.coryzapatka.com

It was, and I feel pretty embarrassed about it. It wasn't in the viewfinder, so I assumed everything was fine. It is, infact, outside of the 16:9 safe marks in the viewfinder. I guess now my question is: When getting a professional telecine, is the image taken between the perfs, and is there a good probability of being able to get rid of that nasty bugger? Pretty big bummer spending the time to shoot and hand process only to find out something so elementary was in the way. Cory

Figured it out.

I've been hand-processing for my thesis film, and I just realized that everything on my Bolex has this annoying, intrusive corner. The mark appears on every roll, but the gate is as clean as it can be... Does anybody have any idea what could be happening? It's in the image, upper right corner. Fortunately, I'll be cropping in a little after telecine, but it will still be slightly visible in the corner of the frame. Any help would be greatly appreciated. -Cory

Keith, I'm sure you've already found your way around the internet to find the information you need, but it would probably be best to go directly to the company to get the best info on the film stocks. Kodak and Fuji both have pretty informative sites with all of their information. However, if you are looking to learn how to load the cameras, I would try and get a manual to read. It is way better than searching online. I just bought David Elkins' "The Camera Assistant's Manual, 5th Edition" and it really is a gem. It touches on film stocks, but it also has great loading diagrams. The ASC Manual is also a great resource with many loading diagrams as well. Cheers.

Sundar- Just as opening up one stop allows TWICE the amount of light in, halving or doubling the ASA allows half as much or twice as much light. f/2.8 lets in twice as much light as f/4 shutter speed of 1/60 lets in twice as much light as 1/120 and an ISO/ASA of 100 makes the camera twice as sensitive as 50. Its a simple code in your camera that changes the sensitivity of the TTL meter. Therefore, keeping your shutter speed and aperture the same but doubling or halving the ASA will make your camera read as under one-stop or over one-stop. Hope this makes sense.

Are you looking to shoot MOS or Sync sound? The Konvas is a pretty loud camera and might make sync a difficult task without great audio equipment or a solid blimp for the camera. Also, is this your first time shooting 35mm? You should research the cost of the stock, processing and telecine. As Brian said, its definitely worth it to try and get another mag or two to have loaded on set. Just a few points to think about. Cheers!

4k scanning for a 16mm film is completely overkill at this point in time. Most editing programs still can't edit in 4k, and even national theaters are only starting to use 4k projection. 2k projection is a more common and easily editable format, but even for the purposes of a student film (which I'm assuming this is, due to it being posted in this forum), even 2k might be over the top. I've been blown away by the HD Super 16 transfers I've had done at National Boston. But I may be wrong.

Hey Jason, Coming from a photography background, as many people on this forum have, the differences between still photography and video lighting are both very similar and completely different at the same time. With stills, the amount of light used on a subject can be easily changed to compensate for all of the various settings on the still camera. This includes the camera's ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture. With video/film, there are a few more variables which can be limiting, especially when shooting on motion picture stock. Not only do you have to think about camera rating, shutter speed and aperture, but shutter angle as well. Film stocks are slower than digital still camera censors, with 500 being one of the fastest rated films you can shoot on today. With digital still cameras, you can bump up your ISO to 800, 1000 or even 2500 and still get usable results. Therefore, you need much more light needed when working with film. There are many, many more differences that you should read up on. Obviously, you can't use a strobe, but many of the basic elements of still photography lighting can be utilized with lighting for the moving image. Read up on different lighting set ups, and if you look through American Cinematographer, they often have great diagrams included with their articles showing the lighting setups for particular shots.

Makes complete sense. I had a hunch that Kodak was just lending a hand in compensating for the filter, but I just wanted to make sure. Thank you! 250 it is.

If I am shooting with 250D and will be using daylight-corrected tungsten lights (Arris with CTB), does this affect the ASA at which I should meter?

Film student looking for 100ft 16/35mm Lomo Tank to develop my own b/w negative. I know there has to be one sitting in an attic somewhere! Please message me, email me at czapatka@risd.edu or call me at 401.714.6470 Thank you!

I threw my Nikkor 60mm on today and got absolutely beautiful results. see here: http://vimeo.com/20264619

Panasonic AF100 Test Footage Just wanted to share!

AF100 Camera Test on Vimeo Just thought I'd share! :rolleyes:

Thanks!

I just finished reading an article in American Cinematographer, and Conrad Hall spoke about underexposing and "shooting at the bottom of the aperture." Does this simply mean opening up as far as possible to create a shallow DOF? I've never head that term "bottom of", so I'm assuming shooting at the "top" would refer to closing down? Thanks for any help!

I recently acquired a CP-16A, and I realize that since the viewfinder is prismatic, and built into the lens, then it must be hard to get other lenses that fit the camera. For the most part, am I stuck with the 12-120mm lens that came with the CP-16A? If I sell my CP-16A for another camera, is there a way to use Nikkor Lenses, with the traditional F-mount, on any particular 16mm camera? There must be some kind of adapter out there, but I was wondering if any of you could help me out. Here at RISD, we use CP-16Rs, which have the viewfinder built into the camera rather than the lens. I was wondering if a switch to a CP16R would make for a more versatile camera. I ultimately want to shoot U16 or S16, so I'm trying to consider my options. -Cory