Stewart McLain

I shot a 2 minute film for Roger Corman's Quaratine Film Challenge. That was actually about a month ago now but the results aren't in yet and it's probably the most exciting thing I've done. Hacking away at a screenplay. Spending far too much time looking at facebook and playing word games on my phone. Long walks with my wife and the dog. Now that the days are nicer we're doing a fair amount of gardening. Watched "Paper Moon" again two nights ago and "Sanjuro" for the first time last night.

Very nice look and great ending!

Very cool, Jurgen!

Hi Brad. To be honest, I don't really remember because I shot that like six years ago. I will say that it's likely that I did because I tend to get a little wound up trying do things the "right" way. I know I read a number of posts about how Super 8 cameras interpret modern cartridges and things like that. So there's a good chance I read about the current notch system and used the compensation dial but I can't swear to it. I do remember that I used an external daylight filter. I also remember that I had to bribe my nephews with ice cream to do a second day of shooting. Little kids have no work ethic.

Good to know. Thank you, Seth.

So I recently picked up a Bolex 551 that has a broken battery holder. I'm wondering if either someone here has a spare holder from a similar model that I could purchase or if anyone has some suggestions on how to power it. I was able to test it with the holder from another Bolex so I know that it works but I don't have access to that holder anymore. I picked up a 6AA holder from a hobby shop with the thought that I might solder the leads to the contacts inside the camera which are in the handle. Unfortunately the holder is slightly too big to allow the handle latch to close. I was thinking maybe I could stick the holder on the outside of the camera but the handle is made of plastic so I'm reticent to try drilling a hole through it the feed the wires through. Has anyone tried something like this? My other thought is that 6AA batteries produce 9 volts so maybe I could buy a holder for a single 9v battery which might have a better chance of fitting inside the handle. Might that work? Is there any reason not to try that? Sorry for a lengthy post on what is kind of a dull subject but any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Mark, that was my first thought. And I'm still tempted to do it too although now that Simon has identified the date of manufacture as 1944 it doesn't seem like a horrible idea to have it serviced. It's possible it hasn't been been lubricated since WWII :o (Although it did work pretty darn flawlessly back around 1998 or so which is a testament to the great build quality of these cameras)

That's some good info, Simon. Thanks! I pulled that 1966 date off another website…maybe I misunderstood the table they had. 1944 puts it closer to what I originally thought the date might be.

The serial number is 23081 so I think that makes it a 1966 model. It's hard not to love a Bolex, even the humble H-16. They're just beautiful little machines.

Thank you, Simon.

I have an old Bolex H16 that I haven't used for about 15 years. I've been thinking about shooting something with it so I brought it out of the closet to get reacquainted with the controls etc and I discovered that the edges of the shutter blades have what I think is corrosion due to chipping. I lightly scraped it with an orange stick and white powder came off. I don't think the blades are bent. The shutter seems to spin smoothly when run. I kind of think that the blades have been like this the entire time I've owned the camera but maybe the corrosion has worsened a little over time. It did not affect the film last time I shot with it but if it has worsened I'm afraid that the corrosion would come off into the gate while the film is running. I guess my question is, is there an easy solution to this? Like I'm sort of wondering if there is a paint that I could use on the edges of the blades that would seal over the chipped area. Any advice is appreciated!

I have a Minolta XLSound 42 that I'm interested in converting to a 24fps capable camera per these instructions:   http://super8wiki.com/index.php/Minolta:_how_to_modify_XL-42%2C_XL-64_to_add_24_fps   I'm curious if:   1) Anyone here has tried this and can give me any insight into the process.   2)  Does anyone know how a modification like this might affect exposure readings?  Will they be accurate at 24fps if I make this modification?   Thanks for your help!

I have a Chinon Pacific 60 SMR XL that came back to life after about 10 minutes of persistent button pushing. Seriously. The guy who sold it to me kept insisting that would work. I was willing to take it anyway because he only wanted 10 bucks for it but he wouldn't let me take it until it starting running. Which, thankfully, it finally did and it's worked fine since then. Same thing with an old DAT machine that sat unused for many years. I just kept pushing buttons and turning it on and off until things starting moving again. Took about 20 minutes. Anyways, worth a shot.

Lower fps is a good idea. Next time, next time... That Luke is swordsman to be reckoned with!

Thanks Friedemann!