Henri Titchen

Thanks Henry, but i guess this info isn't updated. Filmplus just do b&w and avid uses tanks (so limited to 100ft spools). Anyway, thank you.

That is disappointing the Kodak site is out of date. Let us know if you find anyone who can do >100ft lengths of reversal. (I always wanted to try 35mm Kodachrome but have missed my chance perhaps I should try E6.)

Henry.

is there any? thanks you.,

The Kodak lab locator shows:

Avid Tech

Film Plus

Nanotech

I don't know if the Kodak site is still current though.

Henry.

Thanks for the info, Henry, good information to have. How does the temperature, film path length and speed of the film affect the processing and it's parameters if you don't mind me asking?

Hi James,

The time the film spends in the tanks and the temperature of the solutions is important to ensure succesful processing. Here is a link to a Kodak publication that has some info on ECN-2.

http://www.kodak.com/US/plugins/acrobat/en.../h247/h2407.pdf

Henry.

The machine can do both ECN2 and ECP. As for the FPM, I honestly have no idea. I took a quick glance at the oparator's manual but that didn't help at all. I may have to do some research to answer that question. Is there such a thing as a normal or average FPM rate for most processors?

The rate varies a lot depending on the machine. Some commercial machines apparently do 50-200 feet / minute. Smaller machines are usually a lot less. 5-10 feet/min.

The temperature, film path length and speed of the film are important processing parameters.

Henry.

The Bray processing machine looks good. You are very fortunate to have located such a compact modern processing machine!

Can the Bray do ECN2 and ECP? Do you know how many feet/minute it runs at?

Henry.

Congratulations on your succesful experiment! Well done!

Please keep us all informed on your progress.

Henry.

James,

You asked in one of your previous posts for recommendations of books that deal with lab work.

I have a copy of a book called Principles of Cinematography (A Handbook of Motion Picture Technology) by Leslie J.Wheeler. This book has chapters on:

Film Emulsions

Film Processing Equipment

General Quality Control in Film ProcessingSensitometry

Printing Motion Picture Film

and others...

I have the 4th edition which dates from the 1970's. I have found it a very interesting reference. Abebooks would likely list a copy.

The other excellent source of materials relating to labs is:

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/...ssing/h24.jhtml

I haven't seen any video material relating to labs.

Hope this helps.

Henry.

Thanks for your reply John,

I very much appreciate your advice regarding the Versamat. I would like to try and develop camera negatives so I might experiment to see if I can add a pump to provide additional agitation in the developer.

They look like a very well engineered Kodak machine....it will be good to get it in use again.

Thanks From,

Henry.

The Versamat machines are not the best choice for processing B&W camera films -- the do not have good agitation, and so lower contrast camera films have poor uniformity in them. Mostly were used for high contrast microfilms, mattes, titles, and sound negatives.

Hi Karl,

Thanks for your reply. It seems that the Versamat processors were intended for B&W film. The temperatures are usually 80-85 Farenheit (26.5-29 Celcius).

Speed of film seems to be variable between around 3-10 feet/minute. I'm not sure what model processor it is at the moment. One model has a path length of 8.5ft another 4ft in the developer.

There are some photos of a similar Versamat machine at:

http://www.rockymountainfilm.com/equipment/versamat.htm

I haven't seen hard rollers like this before.

Thanks From,

Henry.

Pretty much every color processor can be used for B&W. You just have to turn the fixer and stabilizer tanks, if Versamat had a stabilizer.. . into water wash tanks. as all you'll need are a developer and fix tank with no water washes inbetween.

 

You'll have to adjust the machine's speed through testing so that it will develop the film to the proper gamma, and possibly adjust chemical concentrations if you can't compensate completely with speed and temperature adjustments.

 

What are the times the film is in each of the tanks when the versamat processor is in its standard configuration, and what temperature does it usually run at?

 

Regards,

 

~Karl Borowski

Hi,

I have come across an old Kodak Versamat processing machine.

Special versamat chemistry is usually used in these machines. The rollers are hard.

Can this machine be readily used for B&W motion picture use? I'm interested in any opinions/knowledge relating to these machines.

Thanks From,

Henry.

It depends on what framerate you are looking for. There are a lot of high speed instrumentation type motion picture cameras that appear on e-bay. Manufacturers include:

Fastax

Milliken

Photo-sonics

Hycam

Redlake

These sort of cameras have a few problems that need to be considered:

-may have unusual frame size

-Small film capacity

-Many use a rotating prism rather than the conventional shutter

-Require ancilliary electronics

-More common in 16mm than 35mm.

I wonder what speed an Eyemo can manage before registration becomes an issue?

Henry.

Hi,

Is it possible to purchase an adapter to use Nikon mount lenses on the Eyemo? I know that it is possible to fit a "hardfront" which has the mount permanently changed.

It appears the Nikon lenses sit further from film. (Eyemo 1.50")( Nikon 1.83"). Therefore my GUESS is that an adapter could be made that would still permit lenses to properly focus at infinity.

Thanks From,

Henry.

Continuous contact printers are used for most release prints. There are resolution limits due to the physics of the duplication process. It looks like figures of 50 line pairs/mm are achieved with some printers. See specs of a typical printer at http://www.rtico.com/bhp/6127specs.pdf

Henry.

I never seem to be able to get an absolute answer to this question.

I realize there possibly isn't one, but what I read is very confusing.

 

I have heard the figure of '4000 lines' used but other deny this.

I presume what this is saying is that if the camera was precision framed up to a chart of 2000 north-south black lines on a white background, that is, so that 2000 black lines are focussed across the negative area, the lines should be visible on the processed negative. How visible will of course depend on the efficiency of the focus puller and the quality of the lens used. :D

 

But given 100 ASA film approximation, the lines should be visible at least on the negative.

 

Is this correct, and if it is, would you expect to also see the lines on a positive print, made by wet-gate perhaps?

 

My other question is, I have heard that HD cameras like the Cine Alta can only resolve about 500 black lines on white background. Is this right? It sounds unlikely to me.

The "special features" disc of the James Bond movie Thunderball shows some cameras that appear to be Arri 2B's. They appear to be used to film car stuntwork. One cameraman was shown operating the camera on a wooden tripod, panning to follow cars zooming past.

Henry.

Hi,

I have a question about the Angenieux 35-150mm zoom lens. This is commonly found in Arri and PL mounts. How does this lens stack up against modern zooms?

Thanks From,

Henry.

Thanks!

This helps SO much.

 

Now it's time to get a good shotgun mic. I've been checking out B&H and seems like I can get a good one for under $500.

 

Anybody with suggestions on that? Will probably make my own boom pole.

 

Alex

 

www.alexardenti.com

Regarding the shotgun microphone the Rode NTG-2 gets very good reviews. There is also the Rode NTG-1 which I understand is phantom power only.

Henry.

Hi,

 

I want to compile a list of makers of 16mm film. Could anyone that knows any other maker share the info?

 

The ones I know of:

 

Kodak: color/bw reversal/negative (www.kodak.com)

Fuji: Color Negative (www.fujifilm.com)

Orwo: BW negative - can be developed reversal (www.filmotec.de)

Foma: BW reversal (www.foma.cz)

 

cheers

Hi,

The Chinese company called "Lucky Film" is another one. Here is their web page.

http://www.luckyfilm.com/eng/products_1_3.html

There is another company called Tasma that I think may have stopped making 16mm. Svema may still be making 16mm.

Henry.

I have found out that straight magazine gears = 16BL, angled gears = 16M.

Henry.

Hi,

Does anyone know if the Arri 16mm 360m/1200foot magazine (Cat1629) fits the Arri 16M or 16BL or both? A picture of the magazine is shown at:

http://www.visualproducts.com/storeProduct...t=3&Cat2=38

The manual that is shown at the following site (Page 4) shows one being used with a BL.

http://fm.hunter.cuny.edu/handbook/product...ual-arri_bl.pdf

Thanks From,

Henry.

How many feet of B&W film can be developed in a 3.8 litre (1 US Gallon) D-76 developer kit? (They only cost about $6.)

Obviously there are other considerations such as cost of fixer etc. Also time involved and the lack of quality control systems (test strips etc).

Henry.

Hi,

 

I recently picked up an Arriflex synchronous motor to suit the Arri IIB. I have a couple of questions.

 

It is marked TYP 50 No 110. Does anyone know if this model is designed to run from 50 or 60Hz?

 

Also I am looking for the transfer gear. Anyone know where I can source one? I have tried Axel.

 

Thanks From,

Henry.

I have dismantled the AC base further. It is clear now that the motor is 120V 50Hz.

Best Regards From,

Henry.

Hi,

I recently picked up an Arriflex synchronous motor to suit the Arri IIB. I have a couple of questions.

It is marked TYP 50 No 110. Does anyone know if this model is designed to run from 50 or 60Hz?

Also I am looking for the transfer gear. Anyone know where I can source one? I have tried Axel.

Thanks From,

Henry.

It would help if you tell us where you are located.

 

I don't know do they sell it in the US. I guess it just depends where you live. Perhaps the volume of sale is big enough around here, because you don't have to make a special order, even though it is a special order product. It comes in 400' and 1000' and is called Fuji FG 71112 80D/64T.

Hi,

Thanks for the replies.

I am located in Australia. I have called my local Fuji rep and they told me that they only sell the color negative stock. (They have a great range of color though and sent me a lot of useful data on their color stock).

From my reading there are a number of other B&W films that still seem to be around.

-Kodak (of course)

-Agfa (designed for still photography and only available from what I can tell in 100' rolls, KH Perf)

-Orwo (Several options)

-Lucky (A Chinese manufacturer, http://www.luckyfilm.com/eng/products_2_1.html )

-Foma (Several options)

-Ilford Delta (designed for still photography and only available from what I can tell in 100' rolls,KH perf)

...and there are some others eg Forte, Svema, Rollei, Maco etc

I am interested in trying the Fuji as their Neopan film appears to be well regarded in the stills world for its fine grain. It does seem to be hard to purchase though! Any recommendations on where to purchase some would be well received.

Thanks From,

Henry.

The still photography film have KS perforation, You can use any 35 mm cine camera with one transport pin, similar Konvas, Arri 2C, or any russian 35 mm cine camera with registration pin ( Kinor-35S, H, Drugba, Rodina, KSK, SKL )

The russian cameras compatible with 35 mm film with KS perforation.

Hi Olex,

Thanks for your reply.

I would prefer the proper perforation (BH) as I don't want to complicate post processing. I suspect that it may create some difficulties in printing/telecine/scanning if I were to use the KH perf.

If I can't find a source of B&W motion picture Fuji I may resort to the still version.

Henry.

Hi,

I would like to make some tests using Fuji B&W motion picture film. The trouble is I can't find out where to purchase any!

Can anyone recommend where to purchase some?

I realise that I can buy 100' of Fuji Neopan for still photography however the perforations are different from motion picture film.

Any recommendations?

Thanks From,

Henry.