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Gregg MacPherson

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Everything posted by Gregg MacPherson

  1. The ideas for this were updated recently to include off the shelf handle sets fixed with rosettes (to the same rod base made from C section aluminum), and V-lock battery/mount (with regulator). There was a ver with a single battery rod. I found an example regulated V-lock mount, which may be ok, or one may have to add a regulator. Regulated V-lock mount...$85 on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/HEDBOX-UNIX-12V-V-Lock-Adapter-BREAKWAY/dp/B07JYG96DW 2x95Wh V-lock Li-Ion batts with charger...$285. https://www.dandolighting.com/products/two-95wh-sony-v-mount-lithium-ion-broadcast-battery-d-tap-connector-dual-d-tap-charger Gregg.
  2. I seem to remember the HEDBOX guys had also a version without regulator. Maybe someone is bungling in the sales or despatch dept, sending the wrong part. Was that the case or was it the mount with regulator but no cable..? If one wants to install ones own 12V regulator they are cheap enough and available... https://www.vikingkayaks.co.nz/shop/accessories/fpv+lithium+batteries+and+accessories/fpv+-+12v+5a+voltage+regulator+8377 (USD=1.69NZD)
  3. Last updated....27/08/23 A work in progress that I can edit if you offer material, additions or corrections. No final order or structure yet. Useful links or pics/videos welcome. We may later include notes on gate cleaning etc that are generic to all the 16mm cameras with snap on mags.... Recommended that new ACL users see all the ACL links available in the pinned topics. Download the French Made ACL Manual, (it's ACL 1.5 I think) TOOLS Any screwdrivers for cameras need to be reasonable quality and need to fit well. Burrs on slotted screw heads are bad. Do not open the camera body unless you are a trained camera tech. If you have some precision, skills and patience there may be things you can do yourself on the camera or accessories. POWER SUPPLY There should be a separate section on batteries. A "12 V" NiCad/NiMhi battery with 10 cells will be about 14V fully charged. A Li-Ion V lock battery of "14.8V" will be 16.8V fully charged, so will need a regulator. Andre at AZ Spectrum gave the maximum voltage as 15.6V. At over12V the orange sync light on the motor will flash briefly on starting, indicating Xtal speed is reached. At less than 12V the light pulses for longer on starting, and if you don't get Xtal speed the light stays on (flat battery or mechanical/electrical problem). I never run the camera for long with the sync light on, I was told that the low V is bad for the electronics. The wiring of the connectors can be seen in some diagrams......The XLR4 connections are common with other cameras (pin 1 neg, pin 4 pos). see Erkan Umut's site https://sayyes2analog.wordpress.com/2015/01/23/eclair-acl/ Reverse polarity is bad. ACL I has no fuse so is really vulnerable. I think the fuse on the ACL II may give some protection (someone who knows for sure please say), but just never let it happen. You need a reliable multimeter to check your battery voltages, power cables, etc. There are some cheap tiny little V meters that some people may have put on each battery. Threads on the forum about that. ON/OFF SWITCHES ACL II There's a switch at the front of the camera base and a switch at the RH rear on the mount module for the RH handgrip. And a stop/start button on the anatomical handgrip. With the anatomical handgrip plugged in, front switch is on (green light shows), rear switch is off (hope I got that right), use handgrip button for start/stop. With the handgrip unplugged you can still start/stop the camera, but I don't think the mirror parking will work. With the handgrip unplugged, you would have rear switch on and stop/start with the front witch. If you have custom handle designs then you would make a cable to connect to the new start/stop button location. For specs on the 2 pin Lemo connector see Erkan Umut's site. For circuit diags for handgrip module and camera base of ACL 1.5 see manual page 35, The 9 pin Canon connections for the module on the 1.5 may be the same as on the ACL II. Someone who knows please say... MOUNTING THE MOTOR I've just realised that the manual covers this reasonably well on page 30. Read that first. Mounting the motor can be done in the field but it is not an operation to do quickly or carelessly or repetitiously. The 9 pin Canon connector is damageable. Alignment of the drive pins and 9 pin connector is critical, but mounting is fine with care and skill. Get in the habit of positioning the mirror in the parked position (centred over the gate) before removing the motor. The little screw on the inching knob should be next to the mirror icon. The pins for the motor drive coupling will be almost vertical. When mounting the motor the drive coupling pins need to be aligned with the holes in the rubber coupling. Before removing a motor one can put some paper tape to save the inching knob position, hence drive pins position. If you are mounting a different motor or if the camera movement has been rotated without the motor then line up the drive pins by eye (rotate the inch knob). Set the camera securely level on its side and hold the motor above its final position. Gently lower the drive pins and 9 pin canon connector into place simultaneously, keeping the motor level. There should be no resistance, no force required. Tighten the three motor mounting screws evenly. The torque just feels like a little nip with your finger tips. If you can find the torque spec somewhere, let others know. The motor screws are a little unusually shaped in the slot. Probably designed to fit small coins. You can reduce wear on them by grinding a cheap screwdriver. Tip 7x1.5mm. Grind an arc at the tip, about r=15mm. The Visual Products S16 ACLs have a dot on the rear of the shutter that is just appearing in frame as the mirror is centred. Can someone tell me if that dot is peculiar to their S16 shutter, or do all ACLs have it... MOUNTING THE VIEWFINDER While moving the VF towards the camera the threaded ring is rotated at the same time. Be delicate. If any force seems needed you are doing something wrong and may do harm. MOUNTING THE LENS PORT ADAPTER. Like the VF, you sort of move it towards the camera while gently rotating the threaded ring. The pin needs to align with the slot. The flange(s) on camera and adapter need to be kept parallel. Be delicate. LOADING MAGAZINES Read page 21 in the manual. Watching a demonstration or good video may be more useful. Search Youtube for "loading Eclair ACL magazine"...example... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmUTIcOx-fM Additional notes below may be useful. Opinions may vary on good practice. I normally had 13 perfs visible when I pulled film out of the pressure plate. A quick check is that you can pull the film to the edge of the casting (then close the guide shoe). The loops are important enough that a separate section on that is below... My drawing in red looks like the film is about to crease, but that's just my drawing. The pulling force is fairly light and with your finger tips at the film edges it won't crease. (drawing taken from ACL 1.5 manual page 21, mine in red)) If inexperienced with loading or with ACL it may be good to get tutored in person. SETTING THE LOOPS First, the length of film that can be pulled from the mag throat must be correct (13 frames). The loops should be set (IMO) so that the lower loop is a little bigger than the upper one. This is only meaningful if the initial claw engagement is controlled. Observe where the claw is with the mirror parked. Shift the film over the pressure pad a little so that a perf will be just below the claw, then adjust the loops with the drive sprocket inching knob. After mounting the mag to camera.... using the motor inching knob, move the claw down to engage the perf. You will hear it click in. Then run a few frames. When learning the camera, or when loading a fresh mag and feeling unsure of your loop sizes, you can run with the take up door off for a second or two. When learning the camera or testing the mags using clean scrap film, run with the take up door off whenever it's useful. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/52z215f3mzl6rcmczsy6f/ECU-mag-loops.mp4?rlkey=0yi0l5izy6tu3i8su7bid154x&dl=0 MOUNTING THE MAGAZINE See ACL 1.5 manual page 23... Ideally, set the loops as described above, with the perf just below the claw position. After mounting the mag, inch the claw down to engage the perf. You will hear a tiny click. Always inch the camera half a frame or more to ensure that both the claw and the magazine drive coupler are engaged. If before mounting the mag the relation of the claw and perf is random then the loops can shift by up to one perf as the claw engages. This is not serious but will often affect camera noise. Also, sometimes when the mag is mounted, the mag drive coupling does not immediately engage. You then hear it engage (loud click) as you inch. This changes the loop size, so I would normally pull the mag, reset the loops and re-mount. A question I wonder about is, what is the best position for the mirror/shutter when changing mags. The ACL shutter is very close to the film plane and is damageable. Be very aware of this, don't get bumped when you have the nose of your "rocket" syringe cleaning near the gate. Even so, I think it's better to have the shutter there, closing the gate to keep contaminants out of the camera body. RUBBER EYECUP AND EYEPATCHES The eyecup is important as it positions the eye in the right place immediately. And the eyecup/patch seal out the light, which otherwise can leak onto your frame. Keep your eye socket pressed on the eyecup whenever running. The original Kinoptik rubber eyecup I didn't like much, but it's hard to find good eyecups that fit. My ACL I had a new SR one I am fairly sure. The big Kinoptik eyepiece has a 32mm diameter in the recess where the rubber fits. If someone knows this dimension for the orientable Angenieux please let us know.... Sources of eye cups... - Calkovsky Camera (may be out of stock) - Asherphoto in Israel...eBay..https://www.ebay.com/itm/256333899511?hash=item3baeb0e6f7:g:wRgAAOSwIuNhkNwa The hole ID=28mm and it easily stretches onto a 32mm tube, but that's all I could check.. - DU-All Camera have some very similar looking eye cups that may have a bigger hole ID. If anyone has a good source of eyecups for the various ACL VF, and the eyepatches that fit, let us know... THE AZ SPECTRUM VIDEO assist See their website for all the versions. My notes are for the SD taps I have had. http://www.az-spectrum.com/acl_vid.html It's an SD tap, horizontal resolution 420 TV lines. Check if PAL/NTSC (most monitors may take PAL/NTSC). If you are used to shooting digital, the flickering, low res output from an SD video tap may be disappointing. It's not for focussing or checking the lighting. It's an aid for framing, basic composition, very useful on a steadicam or a jib arm/crane etc. If the director is a good visualizer he will be standing near the lens axis with a good mental picture of the frame, and with a useful proximity to all the people involved. The best approach for a monitor is to find a used pro SD onboard monitor like a 5" Transvideo Rainbow SB (superbright). They can be cheap. Has BNC to BNC for the video connection. Has XLR4 power connection so you could run it off your second camera battery socket. There are some cheap chinese monitors but you may need a little converter box. FITING THE AZ SPECTRUM VIDEO ASSIST These video assists (VA) are normally installed by AZ Spectrum and remain on the camera. They obviously have longer screws and there may be a spacer affecting the optics. The VF optics may also be adjusted when the VA is first installed. I found that removing the VA put the VF diopter adjustment out of range. It may be safer to remove the VA if shipping the camera body in a carton. The mounting screws/threads may be vulnerable. If the camera body at the VF mount does not have steel thread inserts, be careful with the aluminum threads. Using the short arm of the allen key, tighten the screws with a finger tip pinch. BATTERIES I'll let someone more learned give detail on the relative properties of the NiCad/NiMH/Li-Pol batteries, their charge/discharge behaviour. You can find good basic summaries on the web such as ..https://www.batteryuniverse.com/help/battery-chemistries . On the plus side for NiCad is they have the best cold temp tolerance, and higher life cycles, though they won't achieve that if they are seldom used and poorly maintained.. I can say from experience that NiCad can be high maintenance and not a good type if you rarely use them. The charge memory is a common problem if charge/discharge cycles are not deep, and individual cells can loose charge and even have polarity reversal. I have fixed that by zapping individual cells with 12V. I would rather switch to NiMH and get an inexpensive charger. It is also feasible to use V-lock Li-Pol batteries with a regulator. A well maintained ACL with a charged "12V" NiCad/NiMH battery, measuring say 13.8V may use a bit over 1A at 24fps. If the battery is lower Ah capacity, like say 1.9Ah, then running 50fps or 75fps may cause a voltage drop to less than 12V. This depends some on the condition of the camera...the condition of the lubricants and clearance (and condition) of all the contact surfaces of the moving parts (ie the friction) . With the voltage drop at high fps the amperage can be up to something like 5A and the system may not be viable. The lower the voltage the higher the amps go and the battery drains quickly. The sync light will come on with the later motors (Xtal at all speeds). The normal solution with NiCad/NiMH is to use higher capacity batteries, maybe 5Ah. With the V-lock Li-Pol batteries, one can use a regulator. There are even some V-lock mounts with inbuilt 12V, 5A regulators. I don't know who has tried this yet, but it looks really promising, and not too expensive. Regulated V-lock mount...$85 on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/HEDBOX-UNIX-12V-V-Lock-Adapter-BREAKWAY/dp/B07JYG96DW 2x95Wh V-lock Li-Ion batts with charger...$285. https://www.dandolighting.com/products/two-95wh-sony-v-mount-lithium-ion-broadcast-battery-d-tap-connector-dual-d-tap-charger If re-celling ACL on-board battery packs with sub-C NiMH cells there are 10 cell packs you can buy which I thought would fit. Edward P. Davee did this and had trouble fitting due to the cabling in the pack (I think), but they should fit.... The company or brand is TENERGY... NiMH battery pack 4.2Ah ...$95 https://power.tenergy.com/at-tenergy-12v-4200mah-nimh-rechargeable-battery-pack-10s1p-50-4wh-30a-rate-tamiya-sbs-config/ NiMH charger ..$33 https://power.tenergy.com/tenergy-smart-universal-charger-for-nimh-nicd-battery-packs-6v-12v-ul/ CRADLE THE CAMERA TO CUSHION SUDDEN LOADS Apart from the obvious avoiding of severe bumps, try to cradle the camera to soften sudden inertial loads, like when jumping off trucks etc. The tendency will be to hold the top handle and the loads on the top handle mount, lens mount and magazine lock can be high. If the mag lock spring is old, weak and the locking teeth (tongue) position isn't ideal then a mag can come off under the above type load cases. It is possible to improve the position of the locking teeth by shimming.... https://cinematography.com/index.php?/forums/topic/91664-english-acl-400-mags-facts-and-myths/ (April 9 2022) STRENGTH OF THE MOTOR MOUNT TO CAMERA BODY (screw connection). The screws connecting the inner (small) motor mount bracket to the camera body are (I think) at the same spacing for all ACLs (someone please confirm). That engineering was for the small Thomson motor on ACL I. The ACL 1.5 and 2 have a bigger, heavier motor with a spacer bracket screwed to the original small bracket. My opinion is that the four inner mounting screws to the body casting are a bit under-engineered for the bigger motors. but this will only be relevant if the rear of the motor electronics case gets a severe bump or the camera is dropped. If shipping the camera body in a carton it may be safer to remove the motor (tape the inching knob and cover the hole with the rubber drive coupler).
  4. Paul Scaglione at VP said recently that he will still do them. I think Les Bosher still does, but doesn't do an etched S16 ground glass. I am certain that there are one or two people in Europe who could do it. The French Eclair/ACL comunity don't visit here much. I wish they did. I think we have to be patient with some of these skilled people. As an illustration, the servicing/repair of my ACL motors at AZ Spectrum...I called him in early April, he said he could do it in June, they were shipped back in mid July. You should have bought my spare S16 ACL II body and motor when I was desperate to sell, though that might not have been low enough to qualify as pig-in-a-poke. Gregg.
  5. The camera kit is sold, pending on payment, $8000. With 1x400', 2x200' S16 mags. There are still 2 400' mags left and I am undecided on whether to sell them. If I build my remaining ACL II into a kit I may need mags. I actually had the offer a couple of months ago but I wanted to get the motor back from service before I made a deal. Gregg.
  6. Hey Duncan, II had a look at that one. It looks basically brand new, so if someone has used it they have been really gentle. It's very easy to get chips and wear on paint when cameras are used with some urgency. I think it is overpriced at 12.5K given the lack of mags and useful lens port adapters. But mostly, I'm almost certain that it is standard 16, so a decent conversion will add/subtract over $2K. Those 12-120 Ang lenses give a nice image that is just not as sharp as an old 10-100 T3.1 Zeiss. They are super nice to use hand held and were cheap to service back in the day. May only be worth $500 to $1000. Some of you guys may disagree, but I think the kit I just sold at $8K is a realistic benchmark for a minty, super low mileage kit with useful mags and accessories. So for the kit above one could start subtracting...(using the values from the shipping list, such that the kit sums to $8K) - VP S16 conversion....guessing.............$2000 - 2x200' S16 mags @$700 ea................$1400 - PL/TS adapter...guessing.......................$350 - ARRI-B/S/TS adapter...guessing............$300 - AZ Spectrum video assist (used)...........$600 (Edit. forgot to add that, so I adjusted the numbers below) So the kit above could be valued at $8000-4650 = $3350....but add maybe $800 for the 12-120 Ang if it's good, so I value it at $4150. But I'm ignoring ebay fees. Forgot to add the rod set and maybe something else, but you get the idea... Comments anyone? Cheers, Gregg
  7. The camera kit is sold, pending on payment, $8000. With 1x400', 2x200' S16 mags. There are still 2 400' mags left and I am undecided on whether to sell them. If I build my remaining ACL II into a kit I may need mags. Kit was sold to Sam Risley in London. The offer was made a couple of months ago but I wanted to get the motor back from service before I made a deal. On the price, I think it's really good value for money. ACL is not as nimble as an AMinima, OK, but it's still really compact with 200, and the core/spool system is normal, no fuss. It's more robust and I like the shoulder mounting idea better. I think the swappable lens port system is great. I'm preaching to the choir here.... Gregg.
  8. Do you also have the ACL version? I'm not fond of the ergonomics with the VF in that eBay link. Gregg.
  9. That 100/150 adapter at B&H in your link...looks, reads like it's to fit a 150mm head onto a 100mm tripod... I have seen the adapter you need advertised. O'Conner, Sachtler and maybe others make them...https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/78910-REG/Sachtler_3901_Adapter_100_150_100mm_Ball.html Maybe Proaim or E-Image make a cheap version... There may have been a 150mm ball base that could fit to that head. It looked like you might just swap out the 100mm ball base. I saw one for sale a few years ago at ICE in the UK. Good luck.
  10. There's a good history of Q&A on useful older primes that used to come up on eBay with Arri-B or S mount. Actually they still do. There are a few good Schneiders showing on that page you link to. Also look for Cooke Kinetals. Some early lenses, like the Zeiss distagon 8mm in your link, focus by having the mount rotate in the port. A little vaseline on there and the old timers were fine with it. If you do get an ACL and are thinking about mounting early lenses, there is a very common ver of the factory TS/Arri-B mount that also takes Arri-S. Gregg
  11. They look like MK III focus markings. People like those even better. ?
  12. Have you measured the diameter of the cells in that TENERGY 12V pack? I'm wondering if the packaging and tape is causing the bulge. Sub-C cells are normally given as 22.2mm diameter. Old ones I just took out measured 22.3mm. Did you measure the height available in the case? Also wondering if the TENERGY cells have factory tabs, or some other clever system...? Any Eclair gear for sale it's worth also notifying in the Eclair Fleamarket subforum... https://cinematography.com/index.php?/forums/topic/91893-eclair-flea-market/ Cheers, Gregg.
  13. The common PL/TS mount that Les B. makes fits to the large outer thread on the camera flange. The C mount is not involved. It's a very robust and well made mount. I'm surprised Les did not give you an answer on whether a 1.5 pound lens of specified length would be safe. Maybe he didn't know the lens and it's centre of mass (CoM) and was just being cautious. But lenses weighing about twice as much were routinely used on all the 16mm cameras, so my guess is that it is fine for normal use. All mechanical parts are designed for normal use within some notional envelope, and may bend or break when the loads go to a specified point beyond that. Understanding the failure modes and how they come about is a complex and fuzzy area. A heavier lens with the CoM further away from the screws connecting the TS flange to the camera body, its inertia could overload that screw connection if the camera got a severe vertical bump. Gregg.
  14. Go to the top right hand side of this page. Look for the envelope icon next to the bell. Good luck.
  15. I think fully charged V-lock (LiPo) will be 16.8V..? This may be too high for the NPR. Someone must know what the max allowable V is. This issue came up when considering V-lock for ACL, which I think Andrzej at AZ Spectrum said had a max allowable V=15.6V. One solution is to use a 12V regulated V-lock mount. I found one that has a 5A max output. But 4.2A with the existing cable, so may need to upgrade the cable. It's only about $85 on Amazon... https://www.amazon.com/HEDBOX-UNIX-12V-V-Lock-Adapter-BREAKWAY/dp/B07JYG96DW The tail in the photo is the regulated output. So you would solder an XLR4 Canon connector onto that. There's an Eclair sub-forum where you might find one or two guys knowledgeable on NPR. Cheers, Gregg.
  16. Yes, I think they have shifted the screw locations when they drilled for the threaded insert. I was trying to come up with a reason why one wouldn't just do it that way. Some conversions the VF may not have been recentered, so one might want to avoid opening the body to machine the threads for the inserts. Maybe? A flat shim might work, if it was ok to rotate the screw locations for the "VF adapter". Gregg.
  17. Adding to Boris...It's the distance to the GG that has to match the distance to the film plane. The VF is just a tool to see the GG. If you try displacing your VF slightly from the camera you should be able to refocus the GG with the eyepiece "diopter". That has been true in my own experiment a while ago. My understanding of the theory is marginal, but I think there will be a "lens" at either end of the VF which has a diopter function. Displacing the VF, for example by adding a shim, means you have to shift the point of focus back to the GG, by adjusting the eyepiece. As a notion, i imagine that the light rays between these two lenses at either end of the VF are parallel in the original factory configuration. But if the VF is displaced and you correct that with the eyepiece diopter, they no longer will be (parallel). I really dislike the idea of the wedged shim, if that is to re-centre the VF onto the S16 GG. The Visual Products S16 bodies I have here have thread inserts for the VF, which I assume are to allow a shift for re-centering. I wondered if there was a way to do the re-centering using a flat (non tapered) shim to effect a simple offset. Assuming there being a motivation for that vs the threaded inserts. Interesting to think about, Gregg.
  18. Two successive deals for the ACL II have lapsed... $7.4K and $7K, with different mags chosen. The kit is still available. Meanwhile I found a fault in the mirror parking, in the motor. Motor was sent to AZ Spectrum and will be repaired in June. I can entertain offers before then, but I prefer that the camera ships after the motor returns.
  19. Two successive deals have lapsed. The kit is still available. Meanwhile I found a fault in the mirror parking, in the motor. Motor was sent to AZ Spectrum and will be repaired in June. I can entertain offers before then, but I prefer that the camera ships after the motor returns.
  20. Hey Aapo, Much as I admire your efforts to design/build modern motor systems for old film cameras, there is some lack of accuracy or fuzzy generalisation creeping in here. ACLs already have enough emphatic commentators spreading inaccurate information. I don't want you to become one more of them.? To peg a value on any camera without specific reference to its condition or service history is meaningless. Even trying to establish the value of an ACL 1.5 or 2 in good condition with known service history is difficult. Very few good ACLs are offered for sale at the moment (almost none), so not much data. The very low prices from a few years ago confuse the issue. As do a few overpriced, mediocre kits on eBay. So I counsel more caution on quoting values on the ACL cameras, and on qualifying those opinions. Re the relative noise, NPR vs ACL. What is the evidence for that? Is it anecdotal, with one or other camera arbitrarily chosen by fate to be poorly tuned? ACL properly tuned can be very quiet. Re the age of these cameras...referring to Boris Belays notes, looks like the oldest ACL 1.5 may indeed be 50 years old, and the ACL 2s are between 38 and 44 years old. Components like viewfinders are almost never offered at the moment. A few years ago, after prices started to rise again, there were a few sold. I think people are holding back on their cameras and components at the moment. The market is hard for them to interpret. But at the same time, cameras or bodies are rarely offered without a VF (I know, there is or just was an exception on eBay right now) The notion of trying to buy a kit that has all the components you need already, mags, mounts, video tap...was a good one, even when components were more available on eBay. Now it is even more true. Re the value of Aatons. Two were recently listed on the forum for $20K+ and $27K+. D John Carroll's one just sold for $20K. So what's an LTR 54, or a 7 worth (in good condition, with service history)? The market value of the Aatons is, in part, very well deserved, and partly just popular psychology, the tribal mood in the market. It would be interesting to compare the historical USD prices of some of these cameras (inflation adjusted price in brackets) - Wikipedia gives SR II in 1982 at $24K. ($70K). - Eclair price list gives ACL II kit with 2x400' mags at $22K ($58K). - The first Aaton LTR 7s available in NZ were about $18K ($52K), but I can't remember if that is USD or NZD, which spoils the spiel. In NZ the Aatons arrived as the underdogs, and maybe the low price was just to gain market entry. Gregg. PS...Re good cheap lenses. For standard 16 I would be looking at old Cooke Kinetals and Schneiders..
  21. Hey Louis, It's good behaviour to not use multiple posts. It's one of the forum protocols. Best of luck. Gregg.
  22. That is actually a fair price in todays market. Prices for 16mm gear have risen. Even at the low point a few years ago one might still have paid $200 or more for that adapter. You asked about remounting your zoom from Arri-S to cameflex (CA-1). The mounts exist for the zooms (10x12, 10x9.5, 10x15), I'm sure of that. But I don't think its a DIY job, and it will need collimation after. Not a good spend strategy. Better to buy the TS/Arri-B/S adapter, then you have a factory camera mount for all S or B lenses. I looked at Du-All's page and didn't see that adapter yet, but saw a cheaper option...page down about 6 times...The language can get confusing. i interpret this as what I call a CA-1/Arri-S or Arri-B but maybe it does both S/B. "Arri Std/ bayo Mt - Eclair CA-1 mt lens adapter $150 Arri Standard or Arri bayonette Mount - Eclair CA-1 mount lens adapter Works with Eclair NPR or Eclair ACL CA1 Mount cameras Stainless Steel" Not sure if you get an adapter that can do both S/B or if you have to choose. Obviously if its the later, then the price is $300 if making comparison to the TS/Arri S/B adapter at $350.. Most importantly, the TS/Arri-S or B adapter is the best way to keep the flange distance accurate. With the CA-1/Arri-S adapter I found you introduce another source of error...TS/CA-1/Arri-S Hope you are convinced.
  23. Me too...looks like Arri standard (Arri-S). I'm guessing you don't have an Arri-S or Arri-B/S camera mount "adapter', that screws onto the camera flange. I think the ACL native camera mount is TS (or is that TS-1?) and the camera mount adapter is called TS/Arri-S etc...The B/S one does both, the button on the side retracts the tab that sits in the Arri-S groove. Those two "adapters" are the most common ones around and used to be easy to find, just becoming scarce when prices rose again. Happy to take notes from Simon if I have muddled a term or got it backwards.
  24. Hey Chris, Nice to hear from you. This could be an interesting dance...The camera kit is a honey as you know. It may have shot only one short film from new, then just scratch tests. It's still almost brand new. Setting a price is difficult....A few years ago there was a low point in 16mm prices, a nadir where I think I saw an XTERA kit on eBay sell for $2.5K. Now we have forum members listing their XTRs for over $20K and $27K. The value of good ACL kits will also rise. As a reference, the recent eBay sale (item:266036424167), an ACL1.5 S16, good Ang. VF, PL and Arri-B mounts, 1x400', 2x200'mags (don't think the mags were S16)..sold for $5K (I checked with the seller). Using that reference, I value my kit at about $7K without fees. Yes there are some inflated eBay listings of ACL kits that can be ignored. Commonly standard 16, not well optioned, with poor viewfinders or crap ground glass. Listings at USD7K, 10K, 9.6K from provideofilm. And multiple ACL Is, minimum kit for about USD3K from antiqu-photo. A recent S16 listing with a crap ground glass sat at over USD10K. I got an offer of $7K for my kit as listed above, before CLA, then modified to $7.4K with 2x400' S16, 2x200' S16 mags. I'd like to accept that offer, but we still have a hurdle to jump with shipping. Until I have a firm commitment I am still seeking offers. Gregg. PS...My email is the same as back then. Is yours? We can discus it further.
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