Heikki Repo

Does your camera have the original TS-mount or has the camera been modified to have an Aaton mount? If you only use Aaton-TS -adapter, you could buy another adapter, for example Arri S adapter. Those lenses don't seem to be too expensive... Other option is to use C-mount adapter and something like Contax Zeiss in Contax Yashica mount. The downside is that wide end 10mm/16mm isn't really available or costs the same as PL-mount primes.

Haha, now I know what I'll be doing with our Thule two-seater Chariot (if just my wife allows it!). Should have lots of space for an Eclair ACL 😉 Great idea!

Keep also in mind that old lights might have asbestos in them.

Aapo, have you asked if Elokuvakonepaja would like you to build one for them? I guess it wouldn't really make much sense for private person to own a camera oriented for so specific case but a rentals company might be interested...

Re: 75 fps - Bernie also warned that using the highest speed may leave the camera in such gear mode that the noise level stays high even after using lower ones again unless it is serviced by a tech. Just a bit of knowledge one should be aware of as techs can be quite far away and camera becoming noisier during a production with location sound can be quite nasty surprise.

I asked Bernie from Super16inc about this. His reply was to stick to 12V - there is a real risk of frying your camera with higher voltages.

Further info: Georg Bogner has retired and only services Arris now and then.

That's how AZ Spectrum does it. If you look at these photos https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/eclair-acl-azspectrum-w-video-assist-440415649 and compare them with the ones on the AZ Spectrum home page (http://www.az-spectrum.com/acl_vid.html) you'll notice that the viewfinder tube/threads on the camera side has been removed so that the video assist sits right next to the camera body. The tube with the threads has been moved to the side of the video assist. It is not visible in the worthpoint photos, as the owner has most likely put it back to the camera. The video assist then has in it the prism and the small (CCTV/industrial) imager that films the ground glass through the prism. One stop of brightness is lost due to the prism. There might be some other optical element as well to keep the optical distance from the viewfinder to the ground glass same.

I have replaced the Jaeger with a 4-pin XLR in my ACL 1.5. If I remember correctly, it was quite trivial (unlike replacing the very small Cannon connector between camera base and the motor after the pins in the original one got bent -- whew!). As it seemed difficult to fit a connector within the base, I made it in to a tail of sorts (cable + male XLR) coming out of the camera. The extra wiring is for pilotone module -- I'm not sure if I just left those out. You can find some pin outs in this PDF, page 36: http://www.my16mm.com/assets/pdfs/manuals/eclairacl2man.pdf

Just contacted them, I'll visit them next week 😁

Nice ideas, thanks! There are threads on the viewfinder and in the lens, but the difference between them is enormous. The viewfinder threads are more like plumbing sizes whereas the lens threads are normal filter threads. I'll have to try to find out the viewfinder thread size, I'd guess that it adheres to some thread standard. I myself don't have access to a metal lathe nor the expertise to run one. But hey, I know the Hydraulic Press Channel guy, perhaps he (or more likely his father, haha) would have time to do such machining for me. No idea about the cost though... Aapo, are you suggesting a bracket around here?

I have there a 5mm macro ring, the lens is 25mm. Still waiting for 1mm rings to get it in the sweet spot without having the lens partly out of the mount 😉 How to mount this securely is definitely a good question - it is currently usable but might occasionally need a bit wiggling to get the exact framing. The toy car tire helps to keep the lens quite close to the right position. As the lens is only 25mm, I use the zoom setting on my monitor. I have ordered from China a 50mm lens just to see, if it would allow for a better resolution by not having to use the digital zoom feature.

The nice thing about this setup is that BMPCC has many shutter angles. With the widest angles the ACL shutter becomes practically invisible, only darkening the screen a bit. Surprisingly this video assist also seems to make it possible to pull focus while operating - I really haven't been able to do that with the optical viewfinder.

And here it is: Ahh, the sheer size of it. But it's okay, works well even handheld on the shoulder. Yay, focus assist works! And then the final, missing piece... thanks to my son, who hasn't always been that nice to his toys...

Thanks Uli for that contact, it seems that Georg Bogner services Eclairs as well 🙂