Gregg MacPherson

SOLD

Heikki...Thursday at 10:08 AM "Now then, Bernie used to tell many of his customers that their ACLs were "bone dry". I'm pretty certain Bernie didn't fully disassemble those ACLs, so that would mean he lubed them in some other way...." We can't ask Bernie now about this, but maybe he talked to someone about it. It would be useful to know what exact lubrication practices the different technicians had for these cameras. My guess is that inappropriate protocols exercised by an otherwise well qualified tech may be just as harmful as when exercised by the inexperienced. If we are lost without adequate knowledge, I don't think it gives a blanket reassurance that overlubricating or using inappropriate lubricants is OK. Quite the opposite. Retired techs who have worked on the cameras may share some thoughts. Opinions may vary. This may be a tough knot to untangle.

Thanks, I saw that one. Zeiss are about the same price for 50 pc. We'll see what shipping is. Am i right to choose 8mm screw length? I suppose I can remove a screw on each lens and see if the end clearance for the screw is consistent. Gregg

I found some old parts drawings for the 8mm distagon (Arri-B), and some of the 35mm format lenses with PL mount (thanks Tom Jensen). The small cheese head screws are DIN920, and the PL mounts show screws with 8mm length. One can see the end clearance available. But no drawings for the 16mm format superspeeds. My 6mm length sample screws from the 50mm planar PL mount may not be correct. Their length of thread engagement is only 2mm. Searching for "m2-0.4x6mm din920" showed that Aspen Fasteners sold 500 for $293 Zeis in Germany have almost enough, but plenty with length of 8mm (these were the cheapest, available in packs of 50, and have a nice 2mm unthreaded grip length ). Duclose have stock. Cheers, Gregg.

I have some PL mounts I bought from Slomo Digital and I want to check the fit and find the screws. It's for a Zeiss 8mm-T2.1 and a set of 5 MKII (S16) superspeeds. I have a 50mm-T1.3 MKII Zeiss with factory PL mount here for reference. Do you have to buy the screws from Zeiss or somewhere like P+S Technik. I read on a forum (somewhere) that someone ordered from P+S T and got the wrong screws...I'm wondering if the screws are to a DIN or similar standard and easy to find once specified as such. They are almost the same as DIN84, but the cheese head diameter (dk) is 3.8mm for DIN84 and 2.8mm for the original screws with the factory PL mount. Prob'ly not relevant, but I noted that the screws for the Arri-B mount on the 8mm are length (l)=5mm, while the superspeeds have l=4mm. The screws from the factory PL mount on the 50mm I'll list dimensions here. I'm just going to ignore the manufactured tolerance for now. M2, so nominal d=2mm. Pitch=0.4mm. Length l=6mm. Cheese head diameter dk=2.8mm...(sample screw from Slomo had dk=3.0mm.) Cheese head height k=1.3mm. Slot width n=0.5mm (just giving DIN84) Slot depth t=0.6mm (DIN84) One of the screws had 2mm of unthreaded shank, the rest were fully threaded. Thanks for any ideas. Gregg.

There is a wave front of expensive technology for professional users. One can hide just behind that, where powerful desktop servers go for cheap. My Z800 is 10 years old now, so has drifted from the inflection point on the curve, but is still a real beast...specs on a previous thread.. https://cinematography.com/index.php?/forums/topic/80876-hp-z800-as-cheap-workstation-for-post/

I don't know much about NPR, but the pressure plate system on the right looks like the same concept used on the SR and the later ACL. There are four little posts that hold the main pressure plate at a distance from the plane of the gate, while the central pressure plate provides film contact at the gate only. So the film slides through a precise gap with pressure and contact just at the gate. I think this design minimises the loaded contact area on the film, so seems the best type for S16 to me. The design/engineering of the SR version is really nice looking. The Eclair versions look a bit less sophisticated. On the ACL mags with central pressure plate, the spring pressure on the main plate is higher than that of the earlier single piece pressure plate. The spring pressure on the centre part is much less. Is it the same for the NPR A/B mags? Do you have them there to check?

The vertical part looks like the "non orientable" Angenieux, or am I wrong. The swivel/diopter thumb screws and camera mount are recognisable. There must be added or modified optical elements, probably in the extended tube. My vote is that this was for ACL. For left eye operators. There must have been enough demand. The big Kinoptik finder can reach the left eye. I thought the "fully orientable" Ang could too. You would know Duncan.

I finally had some contact with eBay, gave my sob story about my seller limits (3 items and $200 total per month), and they fixed it (now 100 items and $5000 per month). Yippiekaiyay etc... SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD

Hey Nathaniel, Can you put up some pics of the camera port adapter(s) you have and the rear of the lens showing the mount. Someone will look. Not sure why you want DTAP connection on the battery. What's the connector on the camera, and the batteries you have. If DTAP's for a special charger etc, just make up an adapter cable. Gregg.

Can't give down votes for lunacy any more, so I gave an up vote for common sense.

Really interesting pictures. The motor looks like its clicks into a bionic socket in your shoulder. Is that dinky adjustable pad to prevent that accidentally happening... I'm looking for the wear spot from the perf, I see something on the left side of frame but not the right. There is a place that looks relieved near the frame edge, visible on both left and right, more visible on the right. Has anyone seen wear from the perf like that before, and can confirm that's what it is, and the why of only showing wear on one side. The angled abrasions at the top of the gate plate (also some on the RH guide block). Are they telling anything? Can you see any difference in the edge radius on the left vs the rest of the aperture?

Hey Seth, It's bad feeling when a piece of your equipment is delayed, somewhere else, and you can't get any communication. But in Les' case you just have to be tolerant...semi retired, often on holiday, too many emails, noisy machine shop, too many phone messages, and a lot of jobs to do. Sending a lot of emails and phone messages may just make it worse. It may be too late now, but with a camera mod in the queue, a single email, marked urgent, would stand out. You can put Whatsapp on your cell phone for free and call anywhere on earth for free using your data allowance. The idea suggested of letting the phone ring might work, if the messaging is switched off. Your assumption above, that he has read your emails and is (thus) knowingly keeping your property, is flawed... Gregg,

The question arose from assuming you were shooting in Nigeria, and wondering at your possible choices of lab. Were you intending to shoot in Nigeria?

Samuel, for the project you guys were intending, what Lab were you going to use..? Gregg.

You chaps may already know of this FIAF list. Thought I would post the link in case not. I wonder if all the archive labs are accessible to all. I rang the Archives NZ lab about 3 years ago and taking civilian jobs seemed a novel concept, though possible. https://www.fiafnet.org/pages/e-resources/film-labs-list.html Gregg.

Swiss-made Perfectone 24fps 50hz governor controlled motor for Eclair NPR 16mm movie camera. Has a 4-pin XLR female socket (industry standard). A flat-base NPR motor cradle is included with the motor. In quite used, but good working condition. 150gbp + postage Contact Ian Samels iansamels(at)hotmail.com I found Ian, a photographer in London, when chasing a very old lead on some Eclair parts. He mentioned this motor for sale. Gregg. SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD

I too was wondering about that duration of two years, so I quizzed Samuel. Initially Les was away on holiday, then the conversion and upgrades, repairs took 4 months. Then Samuel left the camera with Les, planning to sell it. Gregg.

I must have misread, or read something out of date. Thanks.

Sorry, I should have said the Eclair Flea Market thread. You've visited already. You can see it now on the Eclair subforum and there is a link to it in the pinned threads at the top of that page (Eclair). The idea with The Eclair Flea Market thread was that items for sale are put in a reply. We end up with all Eclair items in one thread, easy to find, not disappearing downstream in the high volume traffic of cinemarketplace. And it's a useful summary of what people are selling... But if one wants to start a thread to advertise in the Eclair sub-forum, one can, no problem Any other questions or suggestions let me know. Gregg.

Should've put it in the Flea Market thread....

Samuel, I put a short notification in the Eclair Flea Market thread... https://cinematography.com/index.php?/forums/topic/91893-eclair-flea-market/ That topic is also listed in a "directory" of links in a pinned thread in the Eclair sub-forum.

FS: Eclair NPR Super 16mm Camera Package. See Samuel Adeiza's post May 16, 2020 in Cine Marketplace https://cinematography.com/index.php?/forums/topic/83794-fs-eclair-npr-super-16mm-camera-package/ Still for sale SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD

Just to be clear, I never got a sense of reluctance from Paul. I think he likes ACLs and likes working on them. But he works for VP, and they make more money selling and servicing Arri/Aaton, so he has to follow that theme.

Hey Raymond, You bring up some important ideas and things to clarify... Many, maybe most of these camera techs are busy and keeping up with correspondence takes time. So I think we need to be patient and strateigic in how we try to communicate with them. Be imediately clear on what you want from them. Limit the number of emails or calls, be super organized, write well, be breif unless they invite detail. And then, as Heikki says, there's timing and luck.... And then, Gregg says, our own particular experience may be misinterpreted as a general principal.... The DU-ALL info I just took from their website. I think, just like Paul at Visual Products (VP), parts could cause serious delay in an overhaul that brought up some repairs. Raymond, if you know or find out the name(s) of the tech(s) at DU-ALL actually doing the work on Eclairs can you let us know, we will update our list. There's only one guy in the states that we know works on the ACL motor electronics, Andrew at AZSpectrum. If DU-ALL used to service motors this would be useful to know. Paul at VP confirmed on 25th/March/2022 that "Both (he) and Andrzej at AZ-Spectrum will work on Eclair bits up to & including conversions however (it will) always come behind equipment sales and can unfortunately sit on the shelf for months before completion." I pasted a summary here...scroll about half way down... https://cinematography.com/index.php?/forums/topic/87469-technicians-who-service-eclair-acls/page/2/#comments It's perplexing how DU-ALL might be unaware of Paul at VP. Maybe Heikki's right again...competitive feelings or giggery pokery between repair houses. Ditto for the Bernie thing. I've had chats with a client of plural techs who extoled one and derided another, then a kind of reverse story from someone else. The parts drawings are super useful for camera service techs. There are links to them in one of the pinned threads on the Eclair sub-form. DU-AlL will have them, unless they don't need them. Point him to the link. Gregg.