Heikki Repo

That notch is part of the TS-mount design - it locks the adapter in correct position. New PL-mount adapter should be available from C7 adapters very soon. Also, @Aapo Lettinen is making brand new ACL motors. I have a couple of them and now preordering the final 2.0 version that should have even more features than the original heavy duty motor :) I'm buying it to future proof my camera - the original motor is quite good, but it was made in the 1970s and there's pretty much only one place that knows how to repair them so...

A revolutionary camera nonetheless 😂

So if one wanted to manufacture a new professional 16mm camera, just copy this one to have one with the easiest to make parts? 😂 But Super16 it apparently isn't... 😉

I answer myself: most likely not - https://rangefinderforum.com/threads/chinese-red-flag-20-and-lenses.23816/post-580646

Is it this one? "SX16K was made by Linxia Sine Equipement Research Institute. It shoots at 6-144 frames/second, and is powered by a 27V battery. At 6-48 frames, the stability is within 0.01mm, and at 48-120 frames, it is within 0.02mm." https://rangefinderforum.com/threads/chinese-red-flag-20-and-lenses.23816/post-903201 https://images.app.goo.gl/ZVDSDpCMfM8ZrFMy5

If partial documentary style is your plan, you might consider those 16mm Eclair cameras. They were used a lot by documentary film makers. As for what can be achieved with one in good condition, see these I have shot on my S16 ACL with Optar Illumina Primes (first one is 500T, second one 500T and 250D and in the end a bit BMPCC OG)

Hi Moses, You mention that you haven't shot with larger film formats than super-8 thus far - what is your experience thus far with larger and heavier digital cameras? Are you planning to shoot your films with a very bare bones team or do you envision having larger team to support you? I'm asking you this because while I haven't shot 35mm film, I have moderate experience with Super16 and shooting closer to solo, only very rarely with a first camera assistant (however, I have always loaded my camera myself). My camera is Eclair ACL, which is lighter than Arriflex SR series cameras. Now then: even though it's 16mm film and the camera is light, with everything loaded on it (rods, matte box, modern prime lenses, 400ft film mag...) it weighs closer to 10 kg and it does start to feel heavy after a while. The tripod and fluid head I have are actually made for 35mm film cameras (150mm), I use them as they are reliable and sturdy. However, moving them around without a team - haha, it isn't fast or comfortable! When you move on to 35mm, the gear is going to be even heavier and the need for a team considerably higher. Even if you have a great team lighting your scenes you'll most likely still need a good focus puller since the frame size is so much bigger and the dof shallower. Now, I'm not saying not to do it - but having myself every now and then been tempted by 35mm film, these are the realities I was reminded of by other, much more experienced cinematographers and I'm thankful of that. So that's why I myself am staying in the S16 ecosystem with my Eclair ACL :)

Most likely the rumour has started because of the yellowing, but I very much doubt there are any radioactive elements in any viewfinder. Why? First of all, these viewfinders are rather recent, the fully orientable Kinoptik from the late 1970s / early 1980s. For example, even the last shoe-fitting fluoroscope devices were banned in the West Germany by 1973. There was already then awareness of harms of radiation (even if it took until 1989 in Switzerland to ban them). Furthermore, radioactive elements are expensive to put in a lens - they are rare even in the Angenieux cine lenses and those are for imaging, not just for framing purposes.

The wait times can be very long these days at Bosher. I sent an Eclair ACL to be converted to him, it took around 8 months. Got it back, it required further work, sent it back, called him at least once a month (a nice guy, pleasant calls and he was just about to do it every time I called) and finally got it back after another 7 months and while the camera now works, the quick fix used causes the camera to flicker in one corner. Ah well, Davinci Resolve has a plugin for flicker...

It's most likely better buy one that's already converted to S16. There was super recently another person from UK looking for information on the value of a S16 Bolex - and that was factory made conversion. https://cinematography.com/index.php?/forums/topic/102069-help-on-value-super-16-sbm/

I think most didn't realize this is not the Fomapan 100R but a new offering - I for sure didn't until yesterday! It's great news, looking forward to seeing first footage!

This trailer really made me want to see the whole film! Very, very beautiful! Did you use a gimbal for the smooth camera moves or was that all just digital stabilization?

It seems Dom got it right here. Someone had opened the lens and didn't know how to put it back together. The focus scale was completely off and the back focus nowhere near where it should be. Now, after it was correctly put back together it works. I'm also going to have it cleaned relubricated, so that it'll be in much better than before condition when I get it back. What is interesting is that apparently someone had previously modified this lens so that the focus stop is different, in order to allow for better close focus... 🤔

Sorry, can't tell - I shipped the lens off already 🙂

Thanks Dom! I just tested the lens on my ACL again and it holds focus perfectly, it's just that the infinity isn't reachable. I'll send this lens to Martin Rodensjö, he should have the know-how and necessary facilities for working on it. :)

I recently bought a Zeiss 10-100mm T* f2.8 (T3.1 Arri-B mount) for use with my Eclair ACL and BMD Ursa Mini 4.6k. The lens seems to be in quite nice condition, but for some reason I'm unable to reach infinity focus. At first I was worried if this was an issue with the Arri-B to EF mount adapter I use with the Ursa, but then I mounted the lens on my ACL and the same issue is present there too. Using Optar Illumina Arri-B lenses I have no such problem. This is one of those "for use with Arriflex SR only" lenses, but there's nothing protruding from the rear. Any ideas? Just so that I don't send it to an expensive check-up just to hear that there is something non-standard to begin with with a lens like this and the issue actually is not using an Arriflex SR 😉

I have a Bosher converted ACL that has the shutter close perfectly before the mirror moves. But: this is the camera that originally had the light leak issue through the lens mount (Bernie solved the light leak). Apparently the two things are interconnected - Les shaved so much stuff of the camera body that the mirror has enough space to take a longer time to travel from side to side. Thus the mirror never moves over the gate when it's open. My second S16 modified ACL by Bosher originally had the same characteristics minus the light leak. Alas, it would give a small *ding* sound every other frame - the mirror was hitting something inside. I sent the camera to Les for further shaving of the body and finally received it back without the mirror hitting the insides - alas, the timing is now problematic and there's slight flicker in the corner. So, Les fixed it by just changing the mirror trajectory - I can confirm this by comparing the two S16 ACLs side by side.

Yes, when inserting footage for the first time on the timeline it'll ask if you want to change the timeline frame rate - if it differs from the footage.

This needs to be done only if you have different frame rate material on a timeline and you want Resolve to use it as raw frames instead of trying to maintain the same speed (ie. if you have 60 fps and 30 fps footage on 30 fps timeline and you want 60 fps play out as if it was shot 30 fps - because if this setting is set to none, the 60 fps footage is going to be slow motion among the 30 fps footage). No idea how it functions with fractional frames.

Just make sure that when you convert 25 -> 24 fps you have set in the Resolve General options the mixed frame rate mode to none. Otherwise it'll drop frames. This has to be selected before anything else is done, otherwise it's greyed out.

That's correct, no need to do anything on the timeline, just have correct fps set in the timeline settings.

My 16mm film camera has been set to run on 25 fps but I have sometimes accidentally (or intentionally) edited projects as 24 fps. I really can't tell any difference. Sometimes if I have had to change the fps to another, I have imported the rendered project to a different fps timeline and exported again. I haven't encountered any audio issues either. I work in Resolve. AFAIK it doesn't discard any frames, it just changes the playback speed.

Yes, the tendency of ACL to flicker in certain lighting conditions is something that can't be fully avoided. Then again, with the current digital tools something like that isn't as fatal as in the past. I'm thinking of just using deflicker in Resolve even with that other S16 ACL I have. The possible degradation of image it might cause in the corner of the image where the flicker is, is something I can live with. That camera has spent over 1.5 years in Wales which is enough ? One regular 16 ACL I have has also flicker, but its over the whole frame and I'm rather certain it's due to tightness in the movement. I'll have to open that one up again and play with the parts until I'm able to fit the gears in such way that the movement is fully smooth.

Ah ha! I wonder if this was the cause for the super bad light leak in my first S16 ACL - using C-mount lenses (not TS-mount) light would leak in through the lens mount, unless I taped it. It was fixed by Bernie who mentioned that it wasn't that simple job...

I have two ACLs converted by Les Bosher. The earlier one has no flicker at all. I'm very satisfied with that one - and apparently the shutter wasn't extended in that one. This latter one has flicker in one corner. As far as I know, the issue is related to the mirror. When I first received it from Les the shutter/mirror timing was perfect. Unfortunately the mirror would touch the insides, after which I sent it back to Les to be machined a bit. So, I'm not sure if that was done, because now there isn't enough time for the mirror - which leads me to believe that Les (only...) changed the rod that pushes and pulls the mirror. This affects its timing through how far it moves in each side.