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Brett Allbritton

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Everything posted by Brett Allbritton

  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.
  14. I think Roger Deakins and Emmanuel Lubezki are known for their preference for tungsten-balanced stocks and rarely using filters, even an 85 filter while outdoors. Their films would be a good start if you want examples of tungsten-balanced film being used for exteriors (besides the fact that they're two of the most respected cinematographers in the world, so anything they make is worth watching anyways), though bear in mind the color cast is being corrected later. If you're wanting cases where the bluish-cast was retained for creative reasons, a simple search on Vimeo might yield examples of this.
  15. Color correcting the bluish color cast isn't that different from color correcting any other footage. You'll just need to add back some warmth across the whole image. The best practice is to shoot a grey card or color chart in neutral light for your scene, then use that shot as a reference when you do your color correction. It makes everything much easier. You also could just use an 85 filter for your outside shots. Some cinematographers prefer to correct in post for various reasons, but I like to get everything as close to my desired final image as I can while shooting. It's also just generally quicker to put an 85 filter on my camera than it is to correct in the grade, especially if I've forgotten to shoot a color chart.
  16. Yeah, for a long time the Aaton XTR was at the top of my list, but I've now started looking for deals on good N16 cameras instead. Super 16 and a video tap are features I can live without for my projects. Specifically, I have been longing for an SR I or II, though your recommendation about not buying them for indie use might make me re-evaluate that. The Eclairs and CP16R are also interesting and generally lower-priced, but I've heard people recommend against them due to a lack of replacement parts. I've seen some of your posts about fixing old cameras though, and it's very encouraging to see that they can be made viable again with new electronics. While I don't have experience servicing cameras yet, I certainly wouldn't shy away from the challenge. Unfortunately, there are no rental houses within several hours of where I live, so renting a film camera has never been an option for me. I happen to be planning a move to Atlanta now, so that will change, but ultimately I would still love to have my own N16 sound camera and rent if I ever need anything more expensive.
  17. I suppose I'm repeating the obvious, but this is such a bummer for us little guys. I really love shooting 16mm just for fun, but it's going to be so hard to justify doing that, and I'll certainly have to reconsider my hopes to shoot my next narrative project on film. I've been waiting for the right time to invest in a 16mm sync sound camera for several years, but now I feel like I've missed the boat.
  18. From what I understand, the Krasnogorsk-3's lens mount can't be re-centered properly for Super 16, so you have to adjust your framing compared to what you'd typically do. I recommend checking out the video "Everything About The Krasnogorsk-3" by TrueFilm on YouTube. He explains what the seller was trying to tell you better than I would be able to in this post. If I were you, I would just buy a regular 16mm Krasnogorsk. I personally don't think the benefits of Super 16 are worth it if you just want a cheap wind-up camera to learn how to shoot film with. Super 16 would give you a larger image area and wider aspect ratio than either Regular or Ultra 16, but the trade-off with this camera is that you won't have a centered lens and any zooming will look strange as a result. Ultra 16 appeals to some people because it offers a 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio while still allowing you to use Regular 16mm lenses. However, as Raaf mentioned above, not every lab will accept Ultra 16. Alongside this, you can always just crop 1.37:1 Regular 16mm footage to your desired aspect ratio. I've done this recently and I doubt anyone would have ever noticed the difference, including myself. I love my Regular 16mm K-3 and have no intention to convert it. As the saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
  19. I'm resurrecting this thread because it deals with an issue I'm having. I'd like to get the input of other users of the Spectra meter because I'm not sure if mine has a problem or not. I bought a used Spectra IV-A off of eBay last year. It was in good condition and from the original owner, but when I compared it to my analogue Sekonic L-398A, I saw that they drastically disagreed. I sent the Spectra off to be re-calibrated, and was very curious to see which meter had been more accurate now that I was going to have a freshly calibrated meter. Upon receiving it back I discovered that my Sekonic had actually been spot on! I learned that Spectra recommends having your meter re-calibrated every year, but I quickly noticed that mine's readings starting shifting compared to the Sekonic months before the one year mark. To keep it accurate, I'd need to send it off to be re-calibrated after just a couple of months, which I just can't do. I've resorted to just using my trusty analogue Sekonic all over again. Sometimes I'll take readings with both meters, note the difference between them, and then adjust my Spectra's readings accordingly, but this is pretty annoying and I still can't trust its footcandle readings using this method. Is this is amount of re-calibration just common for the Spectra meter? Am I just expecting an unrealistic level of accuracy? Or might mine just be old and becoming less reliable with age? Based on my experience, it's quite hard for me to believe Spectra's claim that it's the "most accurate meter ever built" when my cheaper, analogue Sekonic gives me more reliable exposures.
  20. I hate to say this (because I'm sure it comes up again and again), but the lack of new film cameras - or even certain spare parts for older cameras - does make me worry about how long celluloid filmmaking can realistically continue. Hopefully the revived interest in analog filmmaking will result in more people who know how to keep them running, but is it really feasible that people will be able to shoot with these cameras 50 or more years from now? They have to give out eventually, right? Then again, when I visited the ASC a couple of years ago, I got to hand-crank a Mitchell that belonged to Mary Pickford. Our guide assured us that we could load it up and shoot with it today if we wanted, so hopefully I'm wrong.
  21. Hey guys, I stumbled upon this because I'm on a similar hunt. I have a quick question, though: Satsuki mentioned that he was weary of "side-load" designs, but what does that mean? The best I can tell is that a "side-load" tripod is where you have to tighten down on the tripod plate from the side, as compared to something like a Sachtler where you snap the camera plate in place. Is that correct? In particular, I've been eyeing the Miller CX10 head, but it seems that this would fall into that same category? Thanks!
  22. I saw these at some point. It's kind of cool that they did it, but I can't imagine buying one. Honestly, I don't really get why people put so much effort into trying to change their K-3s. The only modification I did to mine was having the loop formers removed (since it seems to be so unanimously recommended in order to prevent scratches). Beyond that, I'm just not very interested. I bought a K-3 because it's a cheap, basic camera that I could learn to shoot film with. Why try and make it into something it's not?
  23. Really? I know 16:9 is a TV format, but I've always thought that "4:3" and "1.33:1" were interchangeable terms since 4/3=1.33. I guess now that you mention it though if someone says 4:3 I do tend to think SD video.
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