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Nathan Milford

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Everything posted by Nathan Milford

  1. Robert, Most people on this forum are too politic to point these things out and I don't know if you're aware, because I am assuming you don't intend to come off this way, but you comments sound ungrateful, coarse and impatient for replies to your badly worded and ambiguous question. Especially to those with any training in camera repair or even geometry for that matter. videlicit: "I have better things to do than splitting hairs. " Tim is a fully trained technician and probably the only guy in the US I would trust an ARRI S with (it's his specialty). Chuck is one of those old school techs that could probably strip down and reassembly anything that is put in front of him. Did you know, when you posted to this forum, that you're question would be viewed addressed by such professionals? Based on your apparent impatience and lack of understanding of some simple technical concepts I'm not too confident that you'll find a way to modify your ARRI S without breaking it. Shaving down the circumference edge of the shutter will produce a light leak. Shaving down the blade edges and reducing the angle from 180 degrees could very well cause shutter/claw timing issues and cause streaking/pulsing if done to an extent that will cause any noticeable change in motion blur/exposure. That said, I'll assume the best of you and think that you meant my friends here on this forum no disrespect. Have a lovely day and good luck modifying your camera.:) - nathan
  2. We typically refer to them as a junction box. You can get them in different configurations with two Lemo6's or one Lemo6 and an assistant side start/stop switch among others. They typically mount on XTRplus and XTRprod style camera on the assistant side where the yellow and red diodes live (there is a plate that with four M2.5 screws that is replaced by the box). They go for somewhere between $400-$500 depending on the configuration. They would not mount on your camera though so the junction box would just dangle. A competent electronics tech with access to lemo and amphanol connectors as well as a pinout of the amphanol9 port on your camera's PBX (said pinout is in the operators manual) should be able to whip you up something to your liking that you can velcro to your camera that might not cost so much.
  3. I quite agree and I don't think it is a camera that someone should just pick up and assume it works like any other and use it in a pinch. Like the A-Minima, I don't think of it as a general purpose camera and you have to work around it's quirks for it to become a truly useful tool. In a perfect world, one wouldn't have to be a technician and work with these cameras everyday to be able to use them thoughtlessly like I tend to do. I end up on the occasional set of a Panavision or ARRI shoot where the AC's are completely baffled by the camera because they haven't spent enough time with them and they load so completely differently. I am, sometimes, very defensive of the lesser Aatons (i.e. not of the LTR->Xtera line) as they get a bad rap and are many times labeled fussy, temperamental or fragile when many times their idiosyncrasies that make them so different from other cameras are a result of design choices to make them more fault-tolerant, rugged and robust. People sometimes just can't load them in a pinch without a proper introduction to them. Many of these quirks will be dealt with in Penelope which we hope to see before the end of the year. I think that would be a tragedy. You're obviously a man of experience and someone whose insight could be a valuable asset to this forum and it's voluminous database of knowledge.
  4. While not the quietest, feature-rich nor easiest to load 35mm camera around I feel I cannot let that pass. In defense of the Aaton 35, a camera I have shot with on many occasions and know more or less better than most people, yes it is difficult to load, but only scratches when you don't know what you're doing. I've shot a few shorts on it in addition to shooting tests regularly with the one we have at Abel as well as scratch testing every magazine each time it rents. I have, on only rare occasions, seen it scratch (when loaded by a competant assistant). And at that point it was because of raised and worn insulation interfering with the film path. That said, I would prefer to shoot on an ARRICAM or a Moviecam anyday.
  5. It sounds like a blender. A loud blender. Blending a loud-berry smoothie that isn't so smooth. There is a reason why ARRI doesn't list a dB spec... because it is, as you've stated yourself, not in anyway intended for the purpose of shooting near a microphone. So, this is what you do to remedy that problem: Place your actors far away, out of doors, up wind on a windy day near a highway. Rent some wireless lavs, or get creative with placing mics in shrubs and rent a 500mm or so lens. Place your camera a quarter mile away and shoot at small apertures so you're focus puller doesn't have a heart attack. Then, once everything is in the can, put your actors in an ADR studio and loop all their dialogue and proclaim loudly that this is what you meant to do in the first place. OR Rent a 35BL or MovieCam or even an Aaton 35-III and shoot the movie you intended without any expensive ADR studio time. You'll save money and have a better movie even if you, for whatever reason, were getting the 235 for free. Good luck and godspeed :)
  6. Crop the S16 frame or shoot 2-perf 35mm. Costs are similar if you can get your hands on a 2-perf camera. You can play the 'anamorphic on 16mm' game, but if you do a quick search you will see the dozen or so conversations about what fun that is.
  7. There are a half-dozen or so books/guides listing thousands of festivals world wide. Chris Gore's Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide is worth mentioning.
  8. Are you posting on behalf of your DP? Or are you posting in lieu of a DP and making technical decisions in abstract of him/her. I've always found when directors do that, it ends up being a fun (as in not fun) shoot...
  9. The owner serial pairing sounds familliar... I'd have to look it up though.
  10. Lately, I've come to accept that every camera under C1000 (and many over) needs some major service... usually an overhaul. Each one is such an adventure due to neglect (I've found dead beetles in one) and aborted modifications (I don't know how many times I've had to cleanup after someone attempting to install their own video tap) and more often than not some of the 'unique' solutions previous service techs have used (I can't even begin to describe what some people will do to get rid of a symptom rather than fix the underlying problem just to save a few hours of labor that they'll probably bill the client for anyway). I'm working on Robert Houlliahan's LTR7 at the moment. I tell ya... Robert has treated it well, but this is turning out the be quite an adventure. I've never disassembled an LTR so completely (mind you, the last camera on my desk was an XTRprod in for an overhuual and upgrade to Xtera). I've stripped the chassis down to where only the vertical and horizontal references remain. I actually was able to put his chassis in the ultrasonic cleaner (why not?) and not worry about getting agitene in the PBX (now removed to trim some odd protruding wires). Additionally the pechan prism had a collapsed support so I had to replace the whole assembly, nay, the whole viewfinder arm as I could not extract the pechan assembly because the set screws holding everything together were rusted in or stripped and drilling them out and helicoiling the holes wasn't an option due to the prism being so close under the thin aluminum wall of the viewfinder arm. Surprisingly, his crankshaft only has 2 microns (.002mm) of play in the bearings so his registration should be absolutely solid with a properly set claw. We allow for up to 3 microns, but have seen cameras with something like 10 microns pass reliably before we need to replace the bearings. There is very little in this world I dislike more than replacing bearings and very few services that will cost you more. That's one day's work. I haven't started re-assembling it. The bearings (which required extensive polishing to take out wear marks) are now in the vacuum with oil to repack the sintered aluminum. When it's together, the camera will be pristine mechanically and he'll be able to give it (an already 30 year old camera) to his kids in good working order when they grow up (if he keeps it maintained). The current will drop from 1000ma (what it came in at, the motor alone was pulling 500ma, should be pulling 240-300ma) down to 500-600ma and you'll lose quite a few decibels of noise with a reset and polished claw, and oiled and polished bearings. This is why overhauling LTRs costs a bit more than a newer camera. The older cameras are a battle. The same is true of old Arri's and Eclairs etc... If you want your camera to be brand new you'll have to endure it. Of course... I have pretty high standards for your camera so I typically demand that you do too... Just thought I'd share that rant with you. >8) I'm sure Robert doesn't mind as his camera will be fantastic when it's done. Just imagine, when you buy a camera (any camera) from eBay, this is what you might end up with...
  11. Now that you mention it... I think I have too.
  12. Unless you're like me and will sometimes buy lenses specifically without (or with single) coating because you like the look of them... Ahhhh, subjectivity...
  13. Well... I don't know how the economics would work out, but I don't think Jean-Pierre would disapprove of after-market base electronics and anyone can get the schematics to produce new boards and possibly even improve upon them. But, I find that many LTR owners can barely afford to own thier LTR, let alone invest in an electronics upgrade and would be more likely, in the event of an electronics meltdown to abandon the camera than be able to fix it. So, the economics don't quite pan out unless you can provide, for not much overhead, additional features that would make the low cost of an LTR body ($5-10K, include an overhaul in the price) combined with some sort fo LTR-evolution package rival a plain XTR that can be found for $10-15K. You'd want more accessory ports, all crystal speeds, maybe a side-display, (it'd be an easy mod on the panel that covers the mag latch mechanism), bluetooth cell phone remote software and detachable ninja star firing mechanism.... With a silent, recently overhauled body that would make a fine kit and with a decent plug tap like the visual products or AZ spectrum you'd have something to rival a modern Aaton in creature comforts. --- On that note, I disassembled your camera today, Robert. You have a very odd one indeed. It is the first LTR7 I have EVER seen with AatonCode (albeit, not functioning) electronics, fiber bundles and LEDs installed. Someone had modified the base to add C1500-series XTR-style electronics, with an AatonCode I prom. It all looks like a factory modification too... Someone dropped a load of money to get that done. I will probably have to remove the TC bundle if I can't get it to properly fire up as we can't support it and it may fry the rest of the electronics like the old light meters used to do. We'll see.
  14. I don't think he is looking for pre-existing solutions, but more of a project to work on. Something to learn from in addition to expanding the capabilities of his camera kit. Writing the software would be easy, debugging the interface with the camera (probably through the amph9) and not frying the electronics of the camera would be more tricky. It is all in the schematics which you should be able to get from Aaton, but I am sure we could sell you if they are unable to produce them. I might also be easy enough to buy a used speed control and hijack it to interface with whatever card you use in your computer. I doubt it would be all to difficult... have fun and remember, LTR electronics are not replaceable there are no spares and you cannot modify XTR electronics to fit in their place cheaper than the cost of buying another LTR.
  15. You should invest in John Fauer's Arri SR book. It'll clear up the differences as well as come in very handy should you come to own one. And, I day say, you might want to look into an Aaton as well... but then again, I am awfully biased. - nathan
  16. If they're in PL mount we can do it. We can collimate, project and ultimately service them. Ask for Jon in service he can give you a quote. - nathan
  17. What I wouldn't do for a Leica M8... it has a Kodak sensor in it.
  18. Earlier today I spoke with a few friends at Kodak, both in stills and entertainment imaging. Kodak is not selling it's film business, nor is it considering doing so (at least publicly). The statement made by Kodak's CEO were misconstrued and the journalists reporting those remarks have made some broad interpretations. The statement about selling a division of Kodak was about selling it's medical division, which had just happened. The rest of the statement went on to talk about their film products in general, but no mention was made, after the discussion about medical imaging, of selling any division of Kodak. I have be assured by these individuals that there is another line of motion picture films in deep development to surpass\replace the VISION2 line. I have changed the title of this thread accordingly to keep from alarming more people.
  19. I don't suppose that Kodak would sell it's 'professional' and motion picture imaging divisions. They'd hold onto to their prestige markets even if they ran at a bit of a loss. I do, however imagine Kodak might sell it's consumer film line and cut production and development in the prestige lines.
  20. It has been covered quite a bit before. Use the search function and you'll find a wealth of information on the subject.
  21. Generally speaking... a video tap for a particular camera is built for that specific camera, accepting the proper voltage, connectors and mounting or threading onto the right spot with the proper optics in place to work with the relay system already in the camera. You really can't buy a small spy camera and expect it to work with out a bit for manufacturing, machining and soldering. And have fun finding proper optics to feed into the relay system.... If you try to build your own, you will be miserable in the end. It won't be as nice or functional as a professionally made one. You have no support or warrenty and it won't look professional hanging off of your camera. That is something many roll-your-own type's fail to understand. Your client's (especially in commercials) perception of you and how your kit affects it. Go with the Visual products video tap. It's one sweet unit.
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