Robino Jones

Update: I's fixed! Richard guided me through email and I was able to adjust my Vistavision movement pressure. Here's some information if anyone in the future need to adjust the movement pressure for ACME projector, pretty sure Oxberry works the same way. Everything needed is on the CAM block. There's a set screw on the side of the cam block, you have to loosen it to adjust the cam block. Basically there are 2 rings, one behind the cam and another one in the back. The front ring is easily accessible when removing the movement, it's right there.. the one in the back you have to remove the shaft coupler from the back of the CAM block and the ring is there. It's a ring with 2 little holes so you insert a small screw driver and can rotate it. Doesn't look like something you can adjust but once you insert a tool in one of the hole the ring turns very smoothly. You can now move the cam back and forth, forward increases the pressure and back loosens it. Front ring is more like a guide, once you set the pressure needed you turn the ring to set the position and the back ring allows you to move the cam block back and forth. Once everything is set you tighten the set screw on the side of the cam block and that's it. See image for details.

The bearings are fine, I have many movements (vista vision and a couple 4 perfs) and they all have the issue. The clamshell is not going down enough, that's the problem. It still works ok, vertical and lateral registration is perfect, issue is the film is not held tight enough so one corner flaps a little bit when playing back footage. Small update - I talked to Richard Bennett at Cinema Gear and he said it can be adjusted but that once adjusted, Only the movement used during the adjustment will work properly. Richard is very busy right now but will get back to me next week. If I could figure it out sooner would be great, some of my scan are a little sloppy because of this.

I need to adjust the cam on my ACME optical projector to adjust the pressure in the shuttle movement so the film is held tighter in the gate. If anyone around here knows a technician familiar with optical printers please let me know. thanks!

Makes sense -

yes - once your mag is in the changing bag, snip/cut the film in front of the take up core and you'll be able to remove this mini roll of exposed film. You can then install a new core in its place and re-thread. Actually you don't even need to re-thread because the film loop is already done outside the mag so you can just slide the remaining film inside the slot of the new take-up core and give it a couple turns, depends on what mag you're using, just do the same as when you loaded the mag the first time. I agree with Tyler that there are tests available to watch and they are very valuable- especially the Kodak Vision 3 videos. The issue for me is you have no idea how they actually did their testing, you only see the end result and it looks great when shot by an ASC cinematographer. Also most film footage / tests on Vimeo and YouTube are older. Other people's test don't represent what you will be shooting, the color palettes, environments etc. It's very important to know how it will come out when YOU are shooting, not other people. You don't want to shoot important stuff and figure out mistakes on your actual project. It's also a really great learning experience, having to go back in the mag a couple times, dealing with the Lab and most importantly seeing what you and the film can do. If you can test, test, you'll be a lot more confident. I can only speak for Fotokem but 3 weeks ago I had them process 6 mini test rolls for me and the shortest was 25' maybe other labs have minimums but Fotokem can definitely do shorter than 100'

If you plan on shooting your project using fresh stock I would recommend testing with fresh stock so you get accurate results. Short ends are totally fine if they come from a reliable source. Older stock need their own testing.. Before you start you should get a bunch of empty film cans with lightproof bags. If you're in L.A you can just go to Fotokem and grab them for free on the side of the building near will call. They have cores, cans and bags for 16mm, 35mm and 65mm. For your film speed tests (I assume you mean testing 50D, 250D, 200T, 500T) you can do your over/under exposing on the same rolls and all sorts of tests. For push/pull (let's say you're working with the 250D), shoot the exposure tests and then take the mag in the changing bag, then "snip" and "can" that roll and VERY IMPORTANT, label/identify it correctly. Re-thread the remaining film and shoot the "push +1" test, then "snip" and "can" and LABEL . Then shoot the "push +2" and so forth.. When you're done you should have 5 cans: ROLL 1 (250D Exposure tests), ROLL 2 (250D PUSH+1), ROLL 3 (250D PUSH+2), ROLL 4 (250D PULL-1), ROLL 5 (250D PULL-2), you can do extra tests like Cross Process/bleach bypass etc.. Economical Tip: Sometimes if your test rolls are small you can put 2 or 3 rolls (of the same kind of test) in 1 can and bag, for example if you have push +1 test for 50D, 250D and 200T then you can put all those in one can and bag and label that can PUSH +1 / That requires organization and make sure NOT to mix up rolls. When you send to the lab you will have to fill out a form and you'll be able to tell them which rolls need to be "processed normal" and which rolls need to be "pushed" or "pulled". Now if you cannot prep your film on your own for scanning you'll have to have the lab do it for you, basically they will take each mini rolls, add some leader and tail, splice them together, and do an ultrasonic cleaning on the roll. I've done this a couple times and sent rolls of all sizes including very small ones (around 25 feet). Just make sure to shoot a couple feet before each test to make sure you're exposing non-exposed film, when you take out the mag for snip and can you burn some. Have fun testing you'll love it

Got it from Alan Gordon via Clairmont. It's a 4 Perf.

Thanks for the info - I don't hear any weird noises, sounds like a nice even purr. I never adjusted the pitch because I never heard anything strange. About the steadiness, I never found my footage to be rock solid, it always slightly jitters from time to time and my last roll was scary with lateral and vertical unsteadiness. Since getting that last roll I really looked into the loop situation thinking it might have been the source of my issue. Also this last roll was expired and stored in a very cold fridge and I shot it maybe 1 hour or less after taking it out. Maybe that had something to do with it. Anyhow - I'm picking up a bunch of test rolls from Fotokem later this afternoon, I shot all different loop sizes, testing all my mags etc. And yes I think Andree will tune it up and figure out my issue, he seemed very confident about it.

Looking for people with experience loading the AATON 35-III and what loop size you use. I've been told when I purchased my camera that the loop size was around 2 fingers but after talking with other people I got conflicting information, some say it's 3 fingers, some 2 loose fingers. I never found my camera to be the steadiest, not terrible but not great. This is the information from the the AATON manual "The correct loop size can be adjusted, by using the loop tool delivered with the magazine. If you cannot insert the tool between the mag pressure plate and the film, you need to enlarge the loop. To do so, push the disk marked "push for loop adjust" with your right thumb while holding the film against the pressure plate with your right forefinger. Using your left hand rotate the upper magnetic wheel clockwise until the loop length allows you to insert the tool." During my research I came across a picture of the actual loop tool and also a technical drawing from AATON showing the loop tool on the magazine. See them below: The strange thing is the picture of the loop tool appears to be taller than in the technical drawing. These images got me thinking so I printed the technical drawing to scale and using a little piece of sheet metal I built ( hammered ;) my own loop tool with the exact dimension found on the technical drawing. When using my custom tool the loop size is a "tight" 2 fingers loop. See images of my custom tool below: I will be dropping off my camera to Andree Martin at AM Camera after the Holiday for a checkup and tuneup but in the meantime, has anyone seen or worked with an actual loop tool before and if so, is my tool accurate / the correct size? ..If you haven't - what size loop do you use when loading?

Nevermind I saw on the Vimeo description you metered at 50.

Hi Jay - looks great - did you expose at stock speed / 100ASA?

Thanks Tyler - I just tried moving the pin in and added more pressure, tried different levels of pressure but the claw is still is skipping some perfs, Maybe I should bring it - i'll call you.

Thanks Mark - That's a good guess and I tried it the correct way as well - it still is loosing the loop either way.

I explained that in my original post. The guides are closed and clicked - I really think the issue is with the claw as Dom said but that's beyond home repair (for me) at this point - I'll try to find someone to look at in in the Los Angeles area - if anyone has tech suggestions let me know - thanks everyone.

Yes that's exactly what's happening. I saw this by advancing manually and it skips a perf here and there. I took the gate out and cleaned it very well, the claw is moving inside a hole in the gate and it is secured by 5 screws with not much play to adjust it so I'm not sure how else the actual gate could be the culprit. Maybe it is I don't have experience with this camera. I'll have to check alignment and pressure plate.