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Peter Gilabert

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Posts posted by Peter Gilabert

  1. I've thought about getting a 16mm projector for viewing all types of films- until I saw the price of films!

    At least on eBay, this just seems like an expensive hobby when you have $30 Popeye cartoons and faded bad features for $300!

    Am I missing something here?

    Don't see any rental places either, except MOMA.

    Any resources I may have missed would be appreciated...

  2. I had some pretty bad fungus on this bayonet lens so I figured I didn't have much to lose by disassembling it.

    To my surprise I got it open and cleaned the fungus right off.

    4 little rear elements popped out too and I think I put them back in the right order but the focusing isn't sharp at all.

    I think this things been dropped at some point as I see evidence, also I hear a slight movement click if it's set anywhere but at 17mm tight.

    The 4 small lenses have the inscriptions k,k, backwards N I think and what looks an I and L.

    I think I've tried all permutations but maybe there's something deeper that's loose.

    Any suggestions welcome.

    (besides getting another lens, have that covered :) )

  3. I'm looking to cost-out 16mm SR3 (or similar) package rental for a ulb film project later this year. I'm finding it difficult to source 16mm camera equipment in San Diego.

     

    Can anyone recommend a 16mm rental source in SD or LA? Or do folks just buy a cam off eBay?

     

    Thanks!

    Tell me about it! Don't know anyone here in SD at all -- you can try Alan Gordon in LA on Melrose. They have those.

  4.  

    Instead of getting too hung up on aspect ratio:

     

    What I'm really trying to do, since I have one digital and two 16mm cameras ready, is to buckle down, finish pre-production and actually SET a Shooting start Date that I stick with and make this film!

    There's no way I can let silly little things like MONEY and TIME get in my way

    Seriously though I'll make it one way or another and I hope it comes out decent!

  5. Sorry Peter, I missed "reg" in your first sentence. Usually people who talk about ultra 16, anamorphic and cropping the top and bottom, are looking for 2.40:1. I apologize for my assumption.

     

    Super 16 cameras are very inexpensive today. I bought my Aaton LTR/XTR hybrid for $1500 bux, one just sold for $750 on ebay, so pissed I missed it.

     

    I'm not a fan of the CP16R, I've shot quite a few things with one, including a music documentary with lots of interview material. I lost quite a bit of material due to a backplate issue that came up on our "B" camera as well. The non-orientable viewfinder also killed us in tight spots. It's a good straight 16 camera for $500, but if you're going to shoot a serious project, it's far better to invest in something more worthy of it.

     

    Obviously the other solution is to simply modify the gate like you suggested, but you'd really need to use S16 glass if you did that since a lot of the wider lenses barley cover the straight 16 gate at minimal focus. I had a nice set of straight 16 glass that I tried to use on my S16 Aaton and was actually pretty shocked how far off it was, wound up selling it all on ebay in exchange for S16 glass.

     

    So it's kind of a catch 22... I have very successfully shot and delivered 1.33:1 shot straight 16 material in a 1.75:1 aspect ratio before. It's actually pretty common with older movies to simply crop the top and bottom to meet the "HD" standards of today. It doesn't look THAT bad honestly, you're only scraping off a tiny bit of the top and bottom... unlike the 1.67:1 to 2.40:1 that I thought you were trying to do earlier - whoops. :)

     

    Ohh... I just remembered, my college thesis film was made this same way... we had double perf B&W stock, so we had to shoot straight 16. So this is a 1080p telecine of early 7279 Vision 500T stock and Tri-x B&W stock. I cropped the top and bottom (zoomed up the image in post) to create this 1080p video. Someday I'll go back to the original source material and scan it, but this is about how bad it will get...

     

    https://vimeo.com/71441272

  6. Problem solved.

    Believe it or not, it wasn't the heighth of the sprocket, although that's super important.

    It was just a matter of ordering that silly little snap-on triangle shaped guide that fits on the entrance to the sprocket.

    It helped the film stay high enough to keep close to the pawl and sprocket so- no lost loop/jam.

    What a relief...I was getting pretty frustrated there.

    K-3 people sent me one for $5 and voila, good to go.

  7. Gareth,

    I own a quite well maintained CP-16R, but I researched and waited a whole year for a good deal, then pounced and still got lucky.

    I'd be weary of this listing since the seller may not know if it even runs, unless you can get lots of answers and he/she has a high rating, sounds dicey.

    I love mine, but it's not a "do it up" camera: the proprietary circuits mean it's kinda like a character in Logan's Run, it has a limited life span. Therefore it's not considered worth converting to Super 16. And the mount means CP mount or Arri adapter, and those Arri lenses have to clear the mirror.

    So it's basically a very interesting old quiet sync news camera, fun to use but a dead end to develop. Maybe why no one seems to post in the CP-16 forum anymore- it's like an abandoned building!

    I converted mine to Ultra 16 myself, but that isn't much of a big deal.

    I'd have fun with the K-3 then if you wanna branch out, take your time and if you don't want a CP, maybe look into an Eclair, an Arri or an Aaton.

  8. So the pull down is advancing the film, but the sprocket isn't feeding the loop through?

    II feeds it through fine, but the upper loop just dies after a second or two, then everything gets sucked in towards the pressure plate.

     

     

    There can only be a few reasons that the sprocket isn't engaging and pulling the film through. Either the sprocket is slipping (can you stop it turning by hand while the camera runs?), or the guides are not holding the film tightly enough against the sprocket (do they lock in, is the spacing correct?). I know the sprocket is tight, it can't be turned like you said. I completely understand how the flat part is held tight by that left screw, all good. Somehow I guess even though it's locked in, for some reason the film just isn't being held tight enough against the sprocket on that side. Before I run it, I pull and checked and its engaged and everything, then boom that loop just goes away and I see the perfs aren't engaged anymore.

     

    If the perfs are being ripped, the film is somehow being held on the take-up side (is the door clamping on the spool, does the spool spin freely?)

    yes it does. The perfs aren't ripping, but u sr little dents next to them when the film comes loose.

    Maybe I'll video tape this to give a better visual.

    I bought this cheap a couple years ago and it actually needed to be taken apart down to the main spring by me to get working again but strangely, it did run with ought the loop loss. I'm pretty sure this thing has been dropped though.

    I appreciate the help and suggestions Dom

  9. I know it's just a K-3, but-

     

    I've tried everything, taken this little sucker apart and put back together dozens of times, watched all those k-3 threading videos and for the love of God CANNOT FIGURE OUT what is going on to cause the upper loop to disappear and jam.

    I've raised and lowered the main sprocket, (loop formers are removed), it just won't hold the film in the perfs on the upper loop. ( I can tell by the damage, it goes through ok for a second or two).

    It couldn't be that silly v shaped plastic thing you snap on the T shape lock is it? Cause I think I tossed that. So frustrating that everything else seems to work... Help!

    Ideas?

  10. Robert,

    Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking. I feel like they dumbed it down for me and chose a 16:9 that looked the best to them. Perhaps I should've specifically stated I wanted the whole area to work with.

    I would've thought since they knew it was an ultra 16 test they'd give me at least all the area evenly on both sides.

    I still can't believe how easy it was to convert myself, knowing I can always still just use the reg 16mm 4:3 anytime I want later...

  11. The results of my self-done Ultra 16 conversion, shot on 10 and 20 year old Fuji daylight and tungsten respectively.

    I'm pleasantly surprised how well the film stock itself looks.

    The vingetting occuring between 14-25mm isn't surprising but why only ONE side?

    Any theories welcome, they cropped it at the lab so I may have to inspect the negative closer to figure it out (?)

     

    Use password

    ultra 16

     

    https://vimeo.com/199517069

  12. Yes J. Winfield,

    I'm not going to spend a lot of money on actors and locations only to have sketchy film running through a sketchy camera...

    Hence my leaning towards saving film for just specialty dream sequences, unless my budget allows me to go full force on film as opposed to digital.

    Best of luck with your S16 feature, feel free to share your experience.

  13. Gregg,

    Yes I am the writer-director in question, and the present cinematographer out of necessity.

    If you or anyone else is curious, it's a comedy/thriller about a terrible inventor called "Fear of Life" and I've shot a digital teaser:

    It could be described as if Woody Allen had to write a Twilight Zone episode.

    I would love to shoot it on film but may have to shoot digitally and use film for dream sequences, etc. We'll see- I'm drawing up budgets for both scenarios.

    It's written and I'm investigating resources.

     

    Really appreciate all the helpful feedback, too.

  14. Yes David,

    Thanks for the clarification. I didn't really think it through as far as HOW a 1.33 anamorphic adapter on a reg 16mm gate gets a similar aspect as a super16 gate by itself.

    Two different ways to get to 16:9 (approx.) but not looking like each other in the end.

    And then there's the red-headed stepchild ultra16, just sitting there all lonely...

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