David Nethery

I just ordered a replacement part for my Bauer C2A from Cine-Super8 . ( Posted about > HERE ) I was very pleased with the transaction. He shipped the item promptly. He does seem to have a good stock of hard to find replacement parts. .

I'm sure many of us have come across the beautiful late 1960's/ early 1970's Bauer Super-8 cameras such as the Bauer C2A, which have broken battery compartment doors ( this seems to be a design flaw common in this era of Bauer cameras) . I have a Bauer C2A which was in perfect working order , except that the battery compartment door had cracked . I was able to use either gaffer's tape or a velcro strap to keep the battery door on , but the velcro tended to loosen over time (so did not maintain firm contact of the battery terminals against the batteries) , and the tape method was unsightly. Neither solution was ideal. I located a supplier in France who has Bauer spare parts , http://www.cine-super8.net/ . I ordered the replacement part from Cine-Super8 (cost with shipping to the U.S. was about $21.89 dollars / 16.20 euros. The base price is 9.00 euros ) . This is more than I paid for the camera on eBay ($15.00) , BUT for me it was worth it to have the camera complete again , without the unsightly and awkward tape or velcro. Cine-Super8 shipped the item quickly and I just wanted to post this link for any other Bauer C2A owners who have experienced the infamous battery door piece breakage and would like to have a source for replacing the part. They have parts for other Bauer (and Nizo) cameras : http://www.cine-super8.net/index.php?pg ... Bauer-Nizo The part for the Bauer C2A is Bouchon de piles Bauer (4 piles) Bouchon de poignée de piles (4 piles ) pour les caméras BAUER anciennes muettes de la série C1, C2, C2A, C2M, D1,D2, D2A, D2M I'll probably purchase another one to keep on hand if this one ever breaks. These are very nice cameras, with elegant styling . Bright, clear viewfinder and easy to focus. 12, 18, 24 fps (and single frame with cable release) , auto and manual exposure . Lens: Bauer Vario 1.8 / 7.5 - 60 mm zoom . They can usually be purchased for between $10.00 - $45.00 on eBay , but frequently have the broken battery chamber door. (ask first if the seller doesn't mention it in the description ! And of course always ask if the interior of the battery chamber is clean or if it has corrosion) .

You'll likely get more of a response in the Super-8 forum .

Really ? Well, that's irritating . <_< If they have it printed on their current Products list then the remarks should clearly say DISCONTINUED or UNAVAILABLE , instead of "none" .

I did some further checking and the updated Kodak Motion Picture Products list has this: 456 16 16 mm–1 Edge R-190 200-ft spool B none with notes listed as "none" , so it doesn't specify for A-Minima . .

Good choice. If the one you buy doesn't come with a user manual you can find it here: http://super8exchange.com/camera_instructions.php Film can be ordered by phone direct from Kodak or from labs like Spectra Film. List of labs ; http://motion.kodak.com/motion/Products/Production/Spotlight_on_Super_8/Super_8mm_Products/index.htm

I have a Cine Special II and wanted to find out information about lubricating it , so this thread was very helpful. I just purchased one of the 200 ft. magazines for it . Does anyone know of a place to buy 16mm on 200 ft. spools ? Or will I have to buy 400 ft. core and load it on to the 200 ft. spools myself in a darkroom ?

I think the issue might be the flushing it with water. I don't think that's a good idea. To get rid of battery acid corrosion just make a mixture of baking soda with vinegar and lightly moisten a toothbrush with the vinegar/baking soda mixture , then scrub off the battery corrosion . Let dry and then clean up any baking soda residue with a lightly moistened Q-tip with alcohol. You don't really want to get it wet . I'm afraid flushing out the battery chamber with water may have seeped in to the innards and fried the camera's electronics.

I'd agree that a great all around camera would be Nizo 561 Macro or Nizo 481 Macro . One of those or the aforementioned Nikon R10 or Nikon R8 or Canon 814 AutoZoom. To see the different features available on these cameras look them up on the Super 8 database or Super 8 Wiki. The Canon 814 AZ has the least features (no lap dissolve, no time lapse exposure, no slow-motion) but it's a solid camera with a great lens . In today's world of digital editing not having a feature like lap dissolve is not a big drawback , since you can add that when you're editing in Premiere or Final Cut , etc. All of those are good cameras , but as Richard Hadfield mentioned those models are also cameras which you can still get SERVICED . In fact, for the Nizo cameras , as well as the Canon 814 AZ , Willard Engineering has a modification which rewires the light meter, eliminating the need for the Wein Cell 1.35 v batteries to power the light meter.

I've always read it referred to as 'dog leg' viewfinder.

If you were asking me , I'd say spend the money to get someone to shoot it on 35mm (Greg Ford or someone else ) , instead of spending the money on converting your regular 16mm Bolex to "Super 16mm" . Do you already have a camera stand for the Bolex ? If you go the DIY route with shooting your cels on the Bolex what is the reason for paying extra money to get it converted to Super 16mm ? "Super 16mm" is so you can compose in the HDTV 16:9 aspect ratio . But for animation you can compose your shots with a 16:9 ("HD/Super 16") Field Guide from Cartoon Colour Co. , so your scene layouts are composed for 16:9 framing , but just shoot it on regular 16mm and crop it accordingly . (you draw on regular 12 field paper , which is 4:3 aspect ratio , but you use the HD 16:9 field guide to make sure that all the important elements in your composition stay within the 16:9 aspect ratio , you see ? Regular 12 Field , 4:3 aspect ratio: HD/16:9 aspect ratio 12 Field : If your regular 16mm Bolex is functioning normally I see no reason to have it converted to Super 16mm (16:9 aspect) for shooting animation. . .

This isn't mine , but I just found this on Vimeo and thought it looked really great , so wanted to share it here: http://vimeo.com/25779578 The cinematographer, Moisés Pérez, writes:

Set up a custom search on eBay to notify you when one is put up for auction. I see them fairly often on eBay. As of today (Sept. 9, 2013) there is one currently listed “In superb condition and perfect working order.” http://www.ebay.com/itm/Eumig-Nautica-Super-8-underwater-camera-Set-/111160005163 There is a "Buy It Now" price listed, but also the "Make an Offer" option . ( I'm not the seller. I'm just pointing this out to you since you asked about getting a Eumig Nautica) .

Hi, Charles, Do you already own the 16mm Bolex camera converted to Super 16 ? (with an animation stand to mount it on ?) Are you planning on doing all the shooting yourself ? The reason I ask is because when shooting animation you're not really investing a lot in film stock (the shooting ratios is pretty much 1:1 ) , so the cost to have it shot on 35mm stock wouldn't be a whole lot more if you are going to hire the work out to a camera service. The real cost is in the time and labor for someone to shoot all the cels . Now , on the other hand, actually finding a camera service that still has a working 35mm animation camera and stand might be a challenge. As you know Mark Kausler's last two films , "It's the Cat" and "There Must be Some Other Cat" were shot on a 35mm Acme camera stand that is owned by the producer of Mark's films , Greg Ford. You might want to find out what Greg would charge to shoot your film on his Acme stand in 35mm . I think Dean Kalman-Lennert is shooting his film "Dear Anna Olson" on an Oxberry stand in 35mm. I'm not sure if Dean owns the Oxberry stand himself , or if he's found someone in the NYC area that still has one which is operational . On the other hand if you're going to go the complete DIY route and you've already got the Bolex camera converted to Super 16 and have built a camera stand for it then you'll save a lot of money shooting it yourself. What I'm suggesting is that if you're going to hire out the camera work anyway , you might want to just consider having it shot in 35mm . Did you see this entry on Cartoon Brew ? -- http://www.cartoonbrew.com/shorts/imitation-of-life-sneaks-animation-into-the-venice-biennale-88149.html The production mentioned in the article, "Imitation of Life" , was made in the traditional manner with hand-inked cels and shot on 35mm. I'm not sure who handled the camera work . The production company, DUCK Studios, is in Santa Monica. They might still have their own in-house animation camera stand that they took out of storage for this unusual "retro" production. .

The discussion you guys are having IS actually interesting , but it has sort of hijacked this thread about Lasse's prototype camera. Is there a moderator who could split it to a new topic ?

"Old school" miniature models and forced perspective can give great results. http://petapixel.com/2013/08/23/using-toys-and-forced-perspective-to-get-professional-low-budget-visual-effects/ http://vashivisuals.com/visual-effects-low-budget-filmmaking/

A bit off-topic, but this came to my attention today: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/star-wars-cinematographer-gilbert-taylor-dies-613654

Well done , Lasse ! I'm excited to see the photos of the prototype and I wish you all success with bringing this new Super 8 camera project to fruition. The basic "black box" design does not bother me as long as it works properly , especially the pressure plate and pen-registration to steady the image , and the accurate , crystal sync frame rates. As others have said , the legendary Leicina Special (and the Mekel Vic SP-1 pressure-plate camera) are unadorned "boxes" , perhaps not triumphs of exterior design , but highly functional precision machines . All things being equal, would I prefer that your camera have the good looks of a Braun Nizo ? Well, yes, of course , but to me the important thing at this point is that this is a real prototype for a working product that you actually intend to manufacture.

Yes , the metal spring on the interior of the door will seat the cartridge correctly in the chamber. It's good that it pops out easily when you tilt the camera back slightly because this makes it easy and fast to change cartridges . I have a Nizo 480 (similar to your Nizo 481) . The only thing I don't like about it is the back-loading of the film because it is more difficult to access the film gate for cleaning with a soft brush . To me that is the only design flaw of the Nizo 480 and similar cameras . I like that the side-loading cameras I have owned (Canon 814, Canon 514 , Nikon R8) offer easy access to clean the gate , but in every other respect I love the design and functionality of Nizo. If you are worried that the cartridge is not seated correctly and that the film is not advancing properly , you can test it by making a black dot with an ink pen (Sharpie) on the middle of the film in the exposed part of the cartridge at the beginning . Insert the cartridge and press the trigger of a second to advance the film. Then remove the cart to see that the black dot is no longer visible on the film, which will confirm for you that the film is advancing properly. The meter on the left side of the camera will also show that the film is advancing properly .

I am not sure what the problem is you are describing. Do you mean the door will not close (latch) properly when you insert the film cartridge ? Loading the camera is simple: slide the cartridge in (film facing forward) and then close the door . Make sure the door is closed all the way, the latch should "click" closed and door should stay closed . The metal spring piece on the interior of the door will push the cartridge all the way forward in the chamber so the film is pushed up flat against the film gate. You can find the user manual here: http://super8arena.com/camera_manuals.php

I agree. Kodachrome was unforgiving in terms of latitude , but if you were careful with exposure and careful to shoot under the right kind of lighting conditions it looked SO GOOD. And the same for Plus X. It just looked/looks gorgeous to my eyes , especially when projected large . Such fine grain.

Ok, thanks for the clarification. I'm not sure why I had "200 ft. magazine" in mind when I saw the photos. The English version by Google Translate is garbled , but I did understand that they were using Fuji Single-8 film in the magazine , so perhaps I was thinking : Fuji Single-8 is polyester film = THINNER film = 200 ft. of film in compact magazine ? .

That's insane. But even more so when I see people posting expired Ektachrome 160 A and Ektachrome 160 Type G for high prices on eBay. I don't really care if that ICK-ta-chrome Type G has been in a freezer since 1992 , who cares ? (and I bet in many cases it hasn't been kept in a freezer , but found inside an old cupboard , then put into a freezer , so they can say : "kept in freezer". ) Man, this is depressing ... just for kicks I searched for Plus X Super 8 on eBay and someone is asking for $68.00 a cart. Waahhhhh. :wacko: . I think I miss Plus X more than Kodachrome 40 . (yeah, yeah, I know, neg. stock is so much better , no one should cry over the demise of "amateur" stock like Kodachrome ... but I like reversal because I can PROJECT it on a large screen with my Elmo projector . To me movies mean projecting on a big screen , not telecine and watching only on YouTube or Vimeo .)

I believe the Whit Stillman film "Metropolitan" was shot on Super 16. (did someone already mention that one ?) http://www.criterion.com/films/774-metropolitan

While we're waiting ... Does anyone know if this was a real modification or are these just Photoshopped imaginings of what could be ? -- Canon 1014 and 814 modified for 200 ft. magazine (that link is the Google Translate version of the page from Japanese to English) The page makes it as if this modification was actually done . Original page : http://www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~s8mmeiga/page035.html Really ? ---