David Nethery

There are a few tutorials I've run across on opening up and lubricating an old camera , but most are so complex I'd be nervous to try disassembling them . But there's one very simple camera I'd like to try : The Kodak Instamatic M2 . This is the "good one" that doesn't have the gear rot problem of the later M-series like the infamous M22 . I came across a blog post that had photos of one opened up , here: http://scz319.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/1965-kodak-instamatic-m2-super-8/ But the person who posted the photos didn't mention specifically which parts of the camera had lube applied and what kind of lube to use . If I were to open up an M2 like this, what parts should get a drop of lube ?

Yes, only a pipe dream. (and how many pipe smokers do you see these days ? About as many as the people who still shoot Super 8mm film I would expect) . But the pipe dreaming is kind of fun ... besides the 200 ft. magazine option (like the Wilcam W-1) the other thing I'd want to see in any new camera is a true pin registered pressure plate drive system (which Lasse Roedtnes mentions as part of his hypothetical dream camera) like the very rare Mekel VIC SP-1 Cine-8 : http://www.super8data.com/database/cameras_list/cameras_vic/vic_sp1.htm

I would be interested in seeing some comparison tests of footage shot with the Quarz and footage shot with a Canon 814 that prove that . I admit that have always been intrigured by the Quarz 1x8S-2 because of wind-up motor (no batteries !) and the ability to remove the zoom lens and attach an anamorphic lens , but honestly I have never seen any footage from a Quarz 1x8S-2 that looks sharp to my eyes. All the footage I've seen looks "soft focus" . (which in certain cases can be a desired effect , but not usually . And I'd rather get a soft focus effect with filters or a matte box with gauze ) . I've shot film with a Canon 814 Autozoom and the footage is always very sharp. And most footage I've seen from any of the Canon 814 series (Autozoom, Electronic, and the XL-S) looks very sharp. My own eyes tell me the lens on the Canon is better. Can anyone post footage from a Quarz 1x8S-2 that looks as sharp (or even close) as footage from a Canon 814 ? I would love to be proved wrong on this. Even footage from the little Canon 512 XL and Canon 310 XL cameras looks sharper in most cases. Olex, do you have any suggestions for getting sharp images from the Quarz 1x8S-2 ? On an older thread on this forum David Leugers writes: http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=20930&p=155738 Has anyone found that following this suggestion to "clean the gunk on the outside surface of the lens half that is inside the camera body and then clean the backside of the removed lens" helps improve the image sharpness of footage captured by the Quarz 1x8S-2 ? Also , has anyone ever found a way to adapt other C-Mount lenses to fit on the Quarz 1x8S-2 ? Even though the Quarz is C-mount as I understand it it is only possible to use the Quarz zoom lens that comes with the camera , because of how the focus plane is configured. It would be very interesting to see how the Quarz would perform if other C-mount lenses could be adapted to work with it.

Andreas - I'm glad no data was lost and you were able to recover your forum. By the way I registered a new account at your forum and made a few post that were to be viewed by a moderator before being allowed on the forum. I undestand that a new , unknown user's posts are subject to moderator approval, but it's been about 5 days since I made my first posts and those posts have yet to appear. Is the forum being moderated and are you accepting new members or not ?

Well , hypothetically I'd be willing to pay what it takes to bring such a camera to the market . Although I would tend to think that such a camera would be more naturally suited for RENTAL through a professional camera house , at about the same rates one would expect to rent a similar 16mm camera. If we are talking about a real project here (not just a hypothetical project) you mentioned : "frame rate is programmable from 16fps to 54fps frames pr. second" but while you're at it I would suggest expanding that range from 12fps to 80fps . 80fps gets over 3x slow-motion which would be especially appreciated . (I always liked this feature on the Beaulieu 4008 ). If you could increase it to 4x at 96fps all the better (meaning that it's continuously programmable through that entire range , so slow motion could be a "mild" boost to 36fps , then up to 2x at 48fps , 54fps , 3x at 72fps , 80fps , or 4x at 96fps ). But honestly if you produced such a camera with frame rate programmable from 16 fps to 54fps that would be amazing and the top speed of 54fps would not keep me from considering the camera. I'm just saying as long as we're dreaming about such a camera why not say it could do slow-motion up to 80 or 96fps ? Would you consider an optional 200 ft. magazine version , similar to the Wilcam W-1 http://www.super8data.com/database/cameras_list/cameras_wilcam/wilcam_w1.htm

This blog post caught my eye: Modernized Nizos from Paris The French Filmverlag Re: Voir, known for its DVD editions of experimental film classics, now also sells reconditioned Nizo Super 8 cameras .The cameras were set to illuminate the contemporary film locations Ektachrome 100D, 50D and 500T vision properly. They are sold with three months warranty. Behind the offer stands beside Pip Chodorov, filmmaker and founder of Re: Voir , the film technology innovators Christophe Goulard .

Are these any easier or more difficult to load than the Russian reloadable cartridges that are sometimes available on eBay and other sources ?

Well, more checking around revealed the answers : Nizo S480 - YES, the Nizo S480 MUST have the WeinCell MRB625 batteries inserted for the Manual Exposure to work. YES, I should just leave the filter setting on Tungsten and use an 85a filter over the lens when shooting in daylight. (rather than fight with the sticky switch on the Nizo and also to avoid any potential problems from the internal gelatin daylight filter which may have deteriorated with age) Elmo 240XL - For the rotting foam rubber on the Elmo 240XL door and film window I found a suggestion to cut thin strips from a mouse pad or to use 'Lily Sugar n' Cream' black cotton crochet yarn, product #CA00111 Thanks to this website of Matt Denton's: http://mattsclassiccameras.com/repairtips.html One thing I'm not wild about on the Nizo S480's design is the rear-loading cartridge , which makes it difficult to access the film gate for cleaning (with a soft bristle toothbrush) . However that was solved by putting a bend in the plastic toothbrush handle , so the brush is now at the right angle to reach in to give the gate a gentle wipe. .

One more thing about the Nizo S 480 : The switch for the Daylight ("sun") and Tungsten ("light bulb" ) is very sticky and difficult to move . If I choose to leave it one or the other positions , which is the best position to leave it "stuck" on ? Would I be better off to leave it on Tungsten ("light bulb") and use a screw on daylight 85a filter over the front of the lens if I want to shoot in daylight ? I've read that some people open up their Super-8's and remove the internal 85a filter entirely (since these tend to deterioate with age) , and simply use a screw on filter for shooting in daylight. Is this advisable with the Nizo S 480 ? I'm not sure about attempting to disassemble it to do this or if I should just leave it in the tungsten position ("light bulb") and simply use the 85a screw on filter.

Scored a couple of cameras at an estate sale for practically nothing : Nizo S 480 Great camera , many features. (slow motion 54fps , fade-in/fade-out , cross dissolve , time-lapse , nice Schneider Variogon lens ) http://super8wiki.com/index.php/Nizo_S_480 and Elmo 240 XLS . Simple camera, 18 fps only , but has Auto & Manual exposure . A nice "back-up" camera. http://super8wiki.com/index.php/Elmo_240_S-XL (only interesting thing about Elmos 240 XLS is it is one of the cameras that was built to take the Kodak 200 ft. cartridges , which is of course irrelevant now . Also it is a VERY QUIET camera compared to most Super-8 cameras , which could make it a good choice as a back-up camera for a wedding cinematographer) Here are some issues I hope someone can advise me on: 1.) The Nizo S 480 did not come with a user's manual, so I'm having to piece things together from the internet. I haven't found a complete user's manual download yet . QUESTION for anyone who has owned a Nizo S 480 : Does the manual exposure over-ride on the Nizo 480 not respond if the exposure meter doesn't have the PX625 batteries inserted (or rather the WeinCell MRB625 Replacement Batteries) ? Everything else seems to be working . Viewfinder is bright , lens is clean , no visible scratches, fungus, or fogging. The battery chamber is clean , no corrosion or rust , and I inserted the AA batteries. The motor runs nice and smooth , power zoom works . But I don't have any WeinCell MRB625 batteries on hand for the internal light meter . (will go to the photo store on Monday to get those) So obviously I realize the Auto Exposure won't register anything without batteries , but what I notice is that right now if I switch it to Manual Exposure that I get NO MOVEMENT of the needle up and down the F-stop scale . Nothing happens. Is that normal if there are no MRB625 batteries inserted ? Or did I get a camera that appears cosmetically just about "perfect" , but the manual exposure is not functioning ? 2. ) The Elmo 240 XLS - Put the batteries in . Motor runs , the power zoom works, all appears to work. (obviously nothing is for sure until I run test film through it and see the results) . However, I noticed immediately that the black foam rubber seals around the film chamber door and film chamber window have turned to black goop . The black foam rubber falls apart if I touch it . Obviously this needs to be scraped off and replaced. What should I replace the deterioted foam rubber with? Can I just cut thin strips of black foam or silicone or something like that and glue them on along the edges to form a light-tight seal ? I'm not too heavily invested in it , but would like to replace the rotted foam sealing . Any ideas ? Thanks.