Heikki Repo

Thanks! Quite interesting, I had read there were some factory built Super16 ACLs, but to think they were even in the pricelist back in 1974!

The concept has intrigued me, especially for super-8 and its very small frame. Nearly 14 years ago @Simon Wyss spoke highly of Gigabitfilm that was also available as a MP stock. In this old thread Simon tells they tested the stock without issues in motion picture film cameras. It seems that the Gigabitfilm website still exists and has been updated back in 2020. Simon could probably tell if 16mm stock is still available - while I might not be bold enough to run it in my ACL, I have a spring wound non-reflex camera that might be a great match for it...

My experience with BMPCC as the videotap was that it was quite possible to focus using the built-in focus assist feature. Now then, many of those board cameras I have mentioned have HD-SDI output. Get one of those (one with m12 lens mount), put it in a black box that you can easily setup in the place of viewfinder and make sure it is 90 degrees rotated. Take the signal out to a LCD panel with the focus assist feature. No need for 4K in the videotap, the ground glass is going to pull the resolution down in any case. Well, that's at least the plan I'm going to go forward with the other, viewfinderless ACL I have.

Yeah, I think that's why those board cameras tend to be the best option - even if cameras like BMPCC or Sigma FP are small, the bigger lenses and distances make the setup bulkier. Some people have been experimenting with Raspberry Pi 4 too: https://www.instagram.com/p/CXrV-XMOStA/?utm_medium=copy_link

No, the original BMPCC with S16 sized sensor. Here's the latest setup I had in 2020: https://www.instagram.com/p/CDE7S1ZluVf/?utm_medium=copy_link

I tried 50mm, 35mm and 25mm. If I remember correctly, the 35mm was the sweet spot, although 25mm worked as well.

That was the tricky part with BMPCC and ACL: finding the lens of correct focal length and then solving the close focus issue. I used c-mount lenses and spacers to get it working. My near future plan is to explore the board cameras (CCTV) again due to the smaller size and because new such CCTV cameras have wide dynamic range setting, which might solve some of the issues I previously faced.

And the second part of the quadrilogy, L'aria (Air), shot with my Eclair ACL on Fuji film (400T, 250D). It seems I haven't taken down the first part either, but at some point in the near future I'll have to do that when I finish the last two parts (Fire and Earth). Until then -- enjoy!

Here's how the flicker in my ACL was:

Hi Allyn, could you post some footage? Also, have you checked with a flashlight in a dark room there aren't any holes in your camera front. After my ACL conversion there was a tiny hole in the side of the outer TS-mount. Issues showed up when I used c-mount. I tried to find the cause for a long time and there it was, in front of my eyes (quite literally!) all the time... quick fix: gaffer's tape.

Well, 2009 was the 150 years jubilee for the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Missionary Society, so writing the script in 2008 it was a great chance for synergy and also helped finding financing from different sources. When researching for the script we found out that in 1906 - the year in which the film is ultimately set - women in Finland got the right to vote and the Missionary society also started training women that very same year. So the script became a story of strong women: the grandmother, who wants to use her authority to decide for her granddaughter, and the granddaughter, who (in fact due to the grandmother's instruction) happens to go into a missionary evening (it was a time of religious revivals) and feels then the calling to leave for Ovamboland (Namibia). Grandmother isn't too happy about that... I'm sure to tell him! He is a real wizard, very talented.

Thanks Phillip! It was cropped ?

Thanks Karim! Certainly your Finnish skills were extraordinary, since the first interpretation is pretty much spot on (even though it's her grandmother she has to take care of). Excellent! The film was shot with an Aaton XTR Prod and second generation Zeiss Super Speeds. Our DP was great and has had since then a successful career. Last I checked two weeks ago, he was in Greece scouting for a feature film with a Finnish director who has made his career in Hollywood and China. The production did take some time, fortunately me and my wife were students back then, so we had time for this kind of project. She took care of costumes and together we set up the grandmother's room (we spent quite a lot of time going around second hand stores). Other places were locations so we would just move a bit furniture. It's funny to think that that project began because I had just met my wife, she was interested in movie making and had studied also film research but not made any films. Me, I had only made some very small things on digital and super-8. I had some super-8 film in my fridge and then we started writing a script. A couple of months forward, we had secured first parts of financing, a recently graduated DP with a team of his student fellows was on board and we were going to shoot on 16mm. I was paying rental bills for items I had never heard of and juggling to secure locations, find further financing and arrange schedules. What an experience for beginners like us! As far as I know, our protagonist isn't related to Wanamaker, but you are correct, there is some resemblance! ?

I have once tried 416 in a Kodak workshop. That was real space-age technology. What an experience. Still, I like the "hands in the soil" feeling I get with my ACL ?

Does anyone else have issues accessing their website? I get "403 Forbidden error". Using a web proxy service I'm able to access it. Most likely some configuration error, perhaps region based. Nevertheless, quite interesting news!

One important factor: We decided beforehand that we wouldn't go for full coverage of everything.

We shot this pretty much similar length, rather dialogue heavy short film back in 2008 on 9x400ft. 5 shooting days. As a director and producer (I wasn't the DP) I have the feeling we wouldn't have had enough time to shoot more, even if we had had more film. But your mileage may vary.

Wooden Camera has them available and instruction video can be seen here as well: https://woodencamera.com/products/lens-mount-shim-set-round#

I have one available used here, I could give discount on that price mentioned. It is possible to shim it to fine adjust it (opening the screws you see in the front and adding or removing shims from underneath), though I unfortunately don't have the extra shims available.

For a non-professional camera those ACLs sure were used a lot in the 1970s and 1980s by European TV-stations and documentary filmmakers. Its competitors were Arriflex SR and Aaton LTR. Calling it a beginner camera really makes me smile. Granted, it's easy to load and use. But a toy? ? That you refer to it being a toy in the modern world really makes me even more interested what features it is missing in your opinion. Please tell, I'm actually curious!

Well, Arriflex SR2 was introduced in 1982, ACL2 1979. There really isn't much difference in their age. What features is it missing Tyler? One can even get HD video tap for it at AZ Spectrum and motor modifications.

Having been the first customer and having helped him as a friend, I can tell that the reason for closing the lab was not financial. The reason behind building the lab was that A.A. wanted to make movies of his own on 16mm film and being a l'uomo universale, a true master of many things, building a lab & scanners was also a nice challenge for him. Running such an amateur lab can become a burden, however, if your original intention wasn't really to become a lab owner in the first place. His contribution was really nice at the time, but I'm happy that he can now concentrate on things he likes (building things) and not running a laboratory. Shame though that he never got in to making those movies he had planned to do.

How stable is "completely stable" for you? Just asking, as I have never seen "digital stable" footage out of any film footage online, be it SR3 or some other camera. If that's your standard, no film camera is going to give you what you want. Most classic films shot on 35mm film have that small movement too. Then again, usually everyone is watching the movie and not paying attention to the frame line, as long as it is stable enough. Start paying attention to stability only and soon you'll notice all shaky camera moves as well, bumps on the dolly tracks etc. ? I have been pasting this short piece of mine here way too often, but do you think the footage here is "completely stable"? That's shot on an Eclair ACL that was serviced just before the production.

If you are a super-8 shooter I can well understand your sentiments. As for 16mm, perhaps it has been previously much cheaper in the US than in Europe, but as I mentioned, I'm paying less than previously. But I agree, in the end it comes down to priorities and choices. And there is absolutely nothing wrong in deciding that film is too expensive to use and using digital. It's only a medium for telling stories. Me, I want to spend as little time as possible with digital cameras. I don't like them, even if my OCD tendencies don't always play well with working with film. And I don't mind having to struggle a bit with film cameras and film prices, I feel it adds something to my art even if only I can feel it. So it's just a personal preference. And combined with the fact that coating film is expensive and things are generally becoming ever more expensive, well, that's a choice I have to pay for. So choose what you find the best solution for you. It's okay to stick with digital.

My experience with Kodak and their QA service during the past year has given me everything but the impression of elitism. Warm, thoughtful, generous - those are the words I'd rather use, as funny it might seem when speaking of a big corporation. On the price of film, while it is true that especially super-8 has become much more expensive than it was when I started shooting on film - back in the 2005 with Kodachrome 40 with processing included! - my impression regarding 16mm is that I'm nowadays able to make a project for less than I was a bit over a decade ago. Back then I produced and directed a short film I wanted to have shot on super16. It was 19 minutes long, I bought 9x400ft of Vision2 200T of which a couple of rolls were recans. Film related costs not including VAT were about 3600 €. That was film, processing and HD telecine (to DVCAM & HDCAM!). Had I wanted to get files on hard drive from that post house, it would have cost €€€. So I had to find someone studying in an institution with HDCAM to do online edit there and get those TIFFs on the hard drive for the grading. Now I can get more for less. At least previously this year 9x400ft of Vision3 with processing and technical HD telecine with files delivered online to me would have cost only 2340 €. Quite a difference! And no need to play with those HDCAM tapes! Sure, the 2008 post house had comfy sofas and "free" Coca-Cola for us customers sitting watching the best light telecine (which ultimately was color tempwise opposite direction than what our DP wanted to take the project in the final grade) but I'm much happier with 2021 than I was with 2008. That was the time of elitism.