Ruben Arce

No problem Jack, Yeah cleaning everything will definitely help, specially the gate and the pressure plate. try cleaning the rollers with alcohol sprocket, by sprocket if you can't polish them. Removing the loop formers will make the camera "manual" to load. Is not difficult at all, just watch some videos on youtube, try loading the camera a few times with dummy film and run it trough it and you will get used to it. I used to do it in total darkness and a lot of people have done it too. A good trick to make sure the sprocket holes are properly engaged is to move the film with your fingers back and forth when the film is engaged in the rollers (sprocket) and make sure it is engaged on the puller when it goes trough the gate and pressure plate. That guarantees the film will stay in the same shape and loops are not going to change in size.

I used to have a K3 that I converted to S16 myself, so I'm familiar with the camera. First of you have to clean as much as you can inside the film compartment. If you see dust I would start cleaning with a toothbrush, (carefully) then compressed air is a good idea. The stuff that you are seeing on top and bottom of the image is dirt accumulated on the pressure gate. If you are not familiar with removing the pressure plate, watch some videos on you tube to see how to remove the pressure plate and then clean the gate and the area. That stuff is massive and looks like emulsion accumulated on the gate after some time without a good clean. You can remove that stuff with a wooden or even plastic tooth picker. Never use anything made out of metal to clean the gate or any other parts of the camera really. You can use alcohol to clean the gate, the pressure plate and the rollers that touch the film. I can tell the camera was converted to S16. The scratches that you are seeing are on the area that was not designed to be used with film, so you will have to clean those areas that I mentioned before and ideally polish those pieces. If you camera has the loop formers that's another thing that you should remove. They are famous for scratching film. I don't think that's the case here but that's a good idea anyways. I had the same problem with my camera and as soon as I polished those parts the scratches were gone. I used a $10 dremel tool and polishing compound to do the job. Be careful with plastic parts, a rotating tool would damage those, so don't use it on plastic parts. I know this is not the ideal method, but if you don't want to spend the money getting the camera serviced that's a good work around.

I did it before and never had any problems, I guess I need a new soldering pencil too. I just got another set of batteries, I was almost done with the project and my design looks great and I'm sure it will perform well. Technically I broke the seal the manufacturer had on the batteries so I lost the warranty. I saw some spot soldering machines for around $100 usd which is not bad at all, but they are heavy and bulky, so another set of batteries for now and I have some spare ones.

If they agree to send the batteries your way try to get a few more. The point soldering is poorly done. I had to solder a few contacts because I was getting intermittent readings on the multi-meter, and a couple of batteries exploded in the process... I reordered and even when the seller is pretty close to my town it takes around a week to get the batteries in the mail.

Well some people on this forum has been nice to answer my questions before so I'll share that info now. https://www.ebay.com/itm/2pc-9-6V-Custom-NiMH-2100mAh-Battery-for-Pk-6-Bare-Lead-NT8JY-Futaba-4NBL-BF-BP/272062528085?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649#shpCntId And for those who are not DIY oriented, I'm going to have those batteries for sale soon, so they can just insert them in their camera and start shooting. It will include charger 🙂

I purchased two packs of batteries. They came soldered from the manufacturer, so I just used another connector (Thin, flat metal) from another rechargeable battery that I had and all set. The problem that I have right now which is not big is soldering the cables to the terminals before I screw the onto the plastic case, but I'll figure it out.

Thanks for doing that Gareth, Well after a lot of time trying to find the parts and a lot of work, I'm almost done with my new battery. It has 16 AA, 2200mAh rechargeable batteries and I'm going to add a 30A fuse as specified on the camera's manual.

Thanks Gareth, That's what I remembered, but I wanted to make sure. I like the camera and I didn't want to burn the circuit. I saw a post where one of the knowledgeable technicians around here confirmed that, but I spent hours searching and I didn't find it. Thanks again.

Yes, that's my question Gareth

I feel dumb by asking this question, but I can't remember where I found that info and I can't find it now.... What's the polarity of the battery?

Taking the "Sunny 16" rule as reference your speed should be the reciprocal of the ISO of your film, in this case 50D has an ISO of 50 which is extremely close to 1/48th of a second the shutter speed you get when shooting 24fps with a 180° in that case if the sun is behind you your aperture should be f16 which is kind of limiting, so if you want to have more artistic results a ND filter is a good idea. Now, most Super 8 cameras don't have a shutter angle of 180° some of them have 220° which allows more light to reach the film, so depending on the shutter speed of your camera you could have to shoot at f22. Never assume that 180° is a standard because you see that everywhere. That's an standard on professional 35mm and some 16mm cameras. Super 8 was originally created to shoot 18fps if you are planing to shoot at that speed or if that's the only speed your camera can shoot then that's another variable on your exposure, is just a third of a stop, but those are the factors that make the difference. It's impossible to know the conditions where and when you are going to shoot, but I think is a great idea to a have a ND filter at hand.

I just got an Eclair NPR for a great price, and it came with this Perfectone Type MC 1440 C motor. I have done a lot of research and I couldn't fine any information about this motors. I read all the topics that I could find here in the forum and I found some interesting but mixed information. I understand the original motor didn't have any lights or switches. This motor that I have has a little bulb and it has a switch, for that reason I guess the motor was modified, but I don't know if it's Crystal Sync and I have no idea what the switch does. The XLR connector is a 5 Pin connector. I read at least two versions of the manual and it doesn't mention 5 pin connectors, it mentions that the Perfectone has a 4 pin connector. I learned by searching the threads here that some motors worked with an external box, but I have no idea what was it's function, I saw a picture of one of those boxes and it has a 4 pin Cannon connector too, so I'm confused. As shown in the picture of the removed Cannon connector at the base there are 5 cables coming out of the motor, I guess the two thin green ones carry pulse tone and the 3 thicker ones are the most important in terms of power, one is red which is the thickest one, one is purple and one is orange. Purple is soldered to pin number 1, orange goes trough the main power switch and ends up at pin number 4 and the red one goes trough the switch as well and ends up soldered to pin number 5. I'm going to test with a multi meter, but just looking at the circuit I think red is +, purple is - (coonected to pin 1 as the current standard) but I have no idea what the orange one does. Of course I want to replace the connector with a 4 pin standard so any help with that is welcomed too.

As suggested before try loading your camera in total darkness, you get rid of those light burns and you take advantage of your film. I have seen a similar problem with the Krasnogorsk K3, the film counter window lets light in and causes the same slow flashing effect that I see on your film. I can tell is more noticeable when you shoot at night or with less light. Judging by the grain I think those were shot using 500T which obviously is more sensitive to light coming either from the lens or a light leak. I always tape around the joint of the mags, no matter what camera I'm using, no matter if it has an actual magazine or no. Try doing that, that's a good thing to do for several reasons and it may fix your problem. I use a still photography flash to find leaks on cameras. I point the flash towards the lens, I cover around it wit with gaffers tape, T-shirts or whatever I have to keep the light traveling only trough the lens and so I don't see direct light from the flash, then remove the pressure plate, close the cover and start firing the flash (wireless makes it easier) and you can try taking pictures or seeing with your eyes to try to find a light leak. I agree with Tyler, it may be X-Ray damage too.

I think what you consider a "Cinematic look" is just good camera work. You may say, yes it looks very good but it looks digital or analog (not shot on film). What I see on those shots is a Betacam camera or DigiBeta camera operated by someone who knows what he/she what he/she's doing. What I see is a 29.76 of 30fps analog video, with not a lot of dynamic range, but still great shots. If you are trying to recreate that you may try using a small sensor camera, shoot at 29.76 or NTSC, and use good camera techniques, that's all it is. Take good shots with good framing, and lighting and it should look like that.

I bought a CP-16r just to try a few modifications on it, It came without a lens, battery and magazine so Instead of looking for a battery I decided to make my own. I'm using some of those rechargeable batteries and I'm getting 19.6v which is pretty close to the 20v that the camera needs. Those batteries are rated at 2200mAh vs the 500mAh on the original battery.That's a lot of footage, I guess thousands of feet. Since I didn't have a battery to begin with I 3D printed my own version, which has more space (still not much space) I got the banana connectors and I'm almost done with the design. I don't know how Gareth is charging those batteries, but seems like the amounts of cells you use and the volts are a limitation with chargers, but I'll figure it out. So yes it is possible, less expensive and you get more mAh than with the original battery. Be careful with the charger, I'm not an expert but I know you need different chargers for different battery chemistry, the wrong charger can damage the batteries or make them explode.