Jump to content

Brett Allbritton

Basic Member
  • Posts

    79
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Occupation
    Other
  • Location
    Tallahassee, FL

Recent Profile Visitors

7,608 profile views
  1. I agree. I often regret not getting my own 758 Cine when you could still get it new. I admittedly haven't used it myself, but I was quite turned off by the touchscreen of the 858. Considering that a used 758 (when you can actually find one) now sells on eBay for higher prices than when it was brand new, I suspect that many people feel similarly.
  2. Thanks, Dom. I was much too nervous to try and open up the camera myself when I had the loop formers removed, but as time has gone on I feel a bit more confident attempting that sort of thing. Perhaps it's time I open it up and take a look, myself.
  3. When I got my K-3 back in 2015, I seem to recall it being able to run for about 30 seconds at 24 fps on a full wind. I've always tried to take very good care of it and can only think of one occasion where I accidentally started to overwind it, which I promptly stopped doing. Still, nowadays I seem to only get about 10 seconds out of it, maybe about 15 if I'm lucky. Does anyone have any advice on how I can get longer takes again? I know 30 seconds is about as much as you can hope for with these cameras, but lately I have felt particularly limited with the camera.
  4. I personally haven't shot motion picture 35mm film yet, but given the expense of the format, it's worth it to invest in a proper, well-calibrated cine meter to ensure the best outcome. The go-to meter right now seems to be the Sekonic L-858D-U, but if you can live without the built-in spot meter you could go with the Sekonic L-748D-U instead and save some money. An alternative would be the Kenko KFM-2200, which has both an incident and spot meter and is cheaper than the Sekonic combo meter. I second the recommendation for the Spectra IV-A. It's straight forward and reliable, but I happen to know that new ones are currently on back-order. Having said that, you can generally find good deals for used ones on eBay and have Spectra calibrate it for you. I use mine in conjunction with a Minolta Spotmeter F, which is an older meter but works great for my purposes. It might get annoying swapping back and forth between meters, but since one will generally be favored over the other depending on the situation, I find it tolerable for now. I've never used it personally, but I also know that many people love the Minolta IVF or VF. Again, these are older, discontinued and incident-only meters, but they have cine settings and can be found for pretty terrific prices on eBay.
  5. False alarm. It seems I should have waited just another half hour to get my response from Spectra before posting this. Moderators feel free to delete this thread lest I cause unnecessary concern. ? It seems that B&H only listed it as "discontinued" because they have been on backorder for abnormally long. However, Spectra has not actually discontinued the meter, it's just that there is still a global supply chain shortage of microprocessors. In the meantime, Spectra is still offering their calibration and repair services.
  6. I've been considering purchasing a second Spectra IV-A meter, but they have been out of stock on B&H lately. Today, to my surprise, I received a notification that the meter is being discontinued. I emailed Spectra to see if this is true, but if so then it's a real bummer that this longtime industry staple won't be made anymore. Though I had an issue with mine at first (and to be fair, I purchased it used), I'm quite fond of its easy-to-use, simple design. I'll update this thread if I get any word back from Spectra. I know that there are other IV-A fans on these forums and felt the need to break the unfortunate news.
  7. You're very welcome, I'm glad I was able to help you after all. Coincidentally, I'm about to send off my Minolta Spot Meter F to them for calibration as well. Hope it works out well for you.
  8. I know that this is several months old, but I figured I'd contribute in case anybody else is searching for this information. The only place I know of is Spectra Cine Inc., located in Burbank. They provide calibration services even if your meter is not a Spectra (http://www.spectracine.com/repair.html) I'm very curious to hear what other options are available (whether in LA or beyond), though.
  9. I have a brand new box of 50D that got wet when the mini-fridge I store my film in got unplugged. I keep all my refrigerated film in Ziploc bags, but it seems that I didn't completely close this one and, as a result, it got wet when the freezer walls melted. I dried off the outside and hoped that no moisture got in. Well, I just discovered that some moisture did get inside the box. Not a lot, but the sides of the daylight spool were a little wet and there was a light layer of tiny water droplets on the plastic tray that the roll sits in. When I pulled some of the film off the spool, I noticed that it's sticking to itself. There were also small purplish stains, both on the tray and my hands, which I assume are chemicals from the film strip. I probably already know the answer, but should I assume this roll is unusable? I could maybe find the end of the sticky film and cut it off, but if there's any danger of running this roll through my camera then I'd rather avoid it. What would happen if you shoot film that has gotten wet?
  10. For me it's the general production cost. I have a script I want to make regardless, but suddenly becoming rich would certainly make it easier to pay a crew fairly. My preference would be to shoot it on film, so that would be cool too, but in the real world I'm by no means stickler for celluloid. I've browsed some of those old 16mm films on eBay out of curiosity before, there's some really cool stuff that pops up!
  11. If I suddenly never had to worry about money ever again, I would immediately embark on an indefinite trip around the world, going wherever my heart desires. Then, like Tyler, I would get to work on a low-budget feature. Other than that, I'd donate a bunch to charity and help out my family.
  12. I thought I'd revisit this because I've noticed that sync sound 16mm cameras seem to be becoming rarer on eBay these days. (Now I'm kicking myself for not taking the chance to snag the camera package that inspired me to start this topic!) Given the massive renewed interest in 16mm, I'd imagine that camera prices will be going up altogether. Does anybody have a feel for the going rates on regular 16mm SRs, Eclairs, Aatons, and CP-16s lately?
  13. I loved it! The atmosphere is wonderful and I couldn't stop thinking about it long after it ended. Funny enough, I almost made a thread about it myself right after watching but decided to hold off. It was certainly one of my favorites of the year. I've frequently cited Robert Elswit's work on PTA movies as my favorite cinematography, though between this and Phantom Thread (as well as The Master, for that matter) I'm beginning to wonder how much it's just PTA's aesthetic that I'm drawn to. I'd love to learn more about the production and I wish there had been an article about it in American Cinematographer.
×
×
  • Create New...