Charlie Peich

Rob, Have you seen any time-lapse footage shot with an Eyemo? I asked NCS if they had any feedback from users (Eyemos with their motor) or demo footage, but NCS didn't have any at the time. I'm curious to know if there is any "flicker" caused by shutter backlash and if the image is stable, or as good as an Eyemo in good shape can be (I realize it's not a Mitchell movement, but an Eyemo can be amazingly steady if tweaked with good parts in the gate). I'm sure moving the film at a slow speed would also help the registration. How steady is your Eyemo? Was it converted to Nikon mount when you bought it, or did you have it converted by Steve's? I'd like to do time-lapse with one of my Eyemos, but not sure it's worth spending the $1,000 for a motor if the results are marginal. I have read the book by John Ott, and there are pictures of his Eyemos set-up to do time-lapse in his studio (pre NCS motors), so they must have worked for him. However, I'd still like to see some footage shot with today's film and electronically controlled motors. I hope you let us know how your Eyemo/NCS motor does, and if possible, post some clips. Anyone else on the forum shoot time-lapse with an Eyemo? Charlie

Rob, Did you get the animation motor for your eyemo yet? I think you were looking at the motor from NCS Products. Charlie

Kodak plans to cut 3,000 more jobs! The latest from Cheif Executive Antonio Perez. "The dream was that we would wake up in 2008 with the digital company that we want to have. We're still right on that track," Chief Executive Antonio Perez said at an annual meeting of Kodak analysts and institutional investors. "Film is going to follow its own destiny," he said. "Right now, entertainment (motion-picture) imaging is very stable, is very good for the company. ... If that goes digital, which eventually I believe it will, then we'll do something else. We will do what's better for the shareholders."

Read this past topic...Horizontal flares

Here's a simple way to shoot the same scene at 2 different speeds... 2 camera rig Then he could combine the 2 pieces in post. Is this what he's thinking? :unsure:

is it a T* coated lens (having the special Zeiss coating, which makes a big difference) As it's based on the Zeiss 12.5-75 I wouldn't touch it without testing first. "Sharp" but excessive flare. The Zeiss 12.5-75 preceded the Zeiss 10-100 /T3.3 and was out of production long before the T* coatings were used. Zeiss was trying to compete with the very popular, at the time, angenieux 12-120 when they came out with their 10-100. The 10-100/T3.3 is also prone to excessive flare. One draw back to those earlier Zeiss zooms (until the series II T-2 10-100 lens) is the reversed travel of the "zoom" ring. Not the same direction as the more popular Angenieux zooms at that time, or just about any other cine zoom lenses. Just like Nikon's reversed direction of the focus ring as compared to almost all the other popular lenses in the world. One other concern about the design of the 12.5-75 and the 10-100 T3.3 lens, there are nylon rollers in the lens that wear out after awhile. What you will see is a slight jump in focus, as in "goes out of focus then back into focus" when you change zoom direction. Example, zoom to the long end, focus, then when you start zooming back from the 84mm, the image will pop out and back into focus. It is mostly noticeable at the longer focal lengths. It won't happen all the time, just the time when you are rolling film. Sometimes hard to see while filming, but you'll see it in the "how come...?" room. If you just use the lens as a "variable prime?, this focus "pop" won't be an issue. Just remember to check the focus through the lens each time you change focal length. It won't matter what tape measurements you have made, this is an internal mechanical problem and only gets worse with time. This is based on personal experience.

You can easily do this with a 435 or Arricam (I just tried it on a 435). Here?s what you need to do and get. All off the shelf parts from Arri: Set the lens mount on the camera for Super 35. This gives you the full width of the film stock and will save you time shifting the image latter on in transfer. Arri doesn?t have a HARD MASK for 2.35 in Academy format anyway. Change the Format Mask or hard mask in the gate to the Super 35 / 2.35 centric mask Arri offers. This is part number K5.59773.0 . Arri Guide. This mask has an opening of 24.9mm x 11.1mm. The height of the full frame S-35 frame is 18mm, so there will be a frame line that has an overlap of about 1mm thick consisting of the very top and very bottom of the exposed frames with this mask. I just traced this out on a piece of film. I?m sure you could get Arri to make a 8.9mm high mask if this 2-perf method was acceptable. Next you?ll have to change the ground glass to Arri?s S-35 / 2.35 centric glass Arri has. This is part number K2.47416.0 . You?ll have to watch the very top and bottom of your frame because of the 1mm overlap of the frames. Again, if this method of 2 perf shooting suits you, you can always have Arri custom make a g. glass that has the proper aspect ratio. Load your film and shoot away. Perhaps you would slate this ?Pass A?. As mentioned above, don?t run out at the end of the roll. When you get to the end, open the mirror and trace the outline of the 2.35 frame onto the film. Put a big x in it to help you find it after you reload the film. Reload the mag. Find the frame with the ?outlined? frame you made, and line that up in the gate. Then shift it by 2 perfs either up or down. Slate this Pass B and shoot away. Possible to do, but is it practical with all the risks? Some of the drawbacks weather shooting a big budget shoot or your very own ?out of pocket? produced shoot: Any mechanical problems that could happen on pass B could and would ruin a scene you shot on pass A and vise versa, especially if you have to open the camera door. Checking the gate through the front of the camera will be the only way to check because opening the door while shooting pass B you would fog any scene previously shot on pass A, or while on pass A, you would fog the film for pass B yet to be shot. Once you loaded the film for a pass, you have to keep the door closed. Period. Also, when checking the gate with the lens off, you usually expose the film with so much light, the over exposure will ?bleed? over to the frames before and after the frame your checking, resulting in a flash on previously exposed film on pass A or a flash on the yet to be exposed scenes on pass B. This will make it harder to check the gate. Ok, I?m sure this could be fixed in post, but it will add more time to your edit. This running the film through the camera twice used to be done in the old standard 8mm home movie days with 16mm wide film perforated for regular 8mm. After you rolled the film through the 1st time you would flip the roll over and run it through again to expose the other half of the film. Then the film was slit in half after processing. It worked. It will take more time to reload if you take the mag off, go into the bag, reload it etc. You could shoot 2 or 3 rolls on pass A, then shoot the pass B on the 2 or 3 rolls. If you are shooting 400 ft rolls, you expose pass A, then start shooting pass B, then you finish with 150 ft left, you have to cap the lens and finder and roll off the remaining 150 ft. Remember, you can?t just open the door and unthread the mag? you?ll ruin shots on pass A. I don?t think registration with these cameras would be a problem, as you would be using new perfs for pass B. Would Kodak?s Key Code work on pass B? You would have to keep good logs of what you shot, and the lab would have to get the rolls prepped in the proper order to save you color correction and transfer time. I also agree with the warnings from Del Olsen. Trying to modify an Eyemo would be a lot of time and $$. Most of the aperture plates for those cameras are in Academy format. Maybe you?ll find one in the ?silent? or now S-35 format. You can cut the smaller Academy format aperture to the larger S-35 easily, but what are you going to use to ?fill? in the aperture to the opening for a 2-perf aperture? When you run the film through the Eyemo the 2nd time, you would be using unblemished perfs as the Eyemo has the pull down claw on the one side. Hopefully you have a machinist who will work with you. It would be best to find someone who is familiar with cine cameras or has worked on Eyemos. These cameras look simple, but they need precise alignment when changing the gate. A camera set for 2-perf pull down is the only way to go for speed in production, no worries of previously exposed scenes and economy in post. However, I?m tempted to try this on the 435 at some point.

Hello Vikash... They could be using Vantage Blue Vision filters made by Vantage Film, the makers of Hawk Anamorphic lenses. Vantage's home page.

Paul, Try this link Norris Film Products. It just worked for me.

Sean, I have what I think is the last sales brochure for the Arri S / ST system. I acquired this brochure from Victor Duncan in Chicago. It was printed in West Germany. There is no date on it, but I 'm sure it was the early 80's. At this time Arri was selling new S cameras to be powered with 12 volts. Pictures of the camera with a Pilotone generator and the mags' torque motor have "12 volt" stenciled on it. Arri offered 4 drive motors: Variable Speed 4 ? 50 FPS forward or reverse, Governor Controlled at 24 or 25 fps forward only, 110 t0 240 volt Synchronous Motor with Power Supply and the newest Quartz Drive System A 16 ST E. Arri offered a Single Frame Gear Unit that required the use of the Governor Controlled motor. Now the part you are interested in.... the 12 Volt variable speed motor they show is exactly like the one you have. The transistor on top, with the smallish direction switch right behind the transistor. The silver i.d. label is positioned opposite the transistor. I would guess your motor is the last version of the variable speed motor Arri made, redesigned for 12 volts. If you can get through to him, talk to Rodger Reddy in the electronic repair section at Arri in N.Y. He's the most knowledgeable on the older motors. I have a 16 S price list dated 11/1980 printed in the U.S., it lists a 8/12-volt variable speed motor. The description: "Variable Speed 8/12 volt DC motor for 5 - 40 FPS forward and reverse operation". There may have been a typo in the FPS, as the sales brochure states the speed to be 4 - 50 FPS. There is no picture on the price list, so it?s hard to tell which model. List price - $850 The new Quartz Drive System A 16 ST E or motor was the one to get. 24 or 25 fps ?quartz? sync, 8 ? 50 fps variable, forward/reverse, single frame with external pulse generator and most important, ?shutter stopping device with quick stop for unimpeded viewing through the viewfinder (especially important for the 16 St with built-in exposure control)?. List price - $3,264 11/1980 16 S/B basic camera list price - $8,375 16 S/B - GS $10,445 APEC, Precision Exposure Control, when ordered with a new camera $1,695 Charlie Peich

Daniel, This Zeiss zoom is a 10-100mm T3 lens with T* coating that was converted to a 12-120 to cover super 16. It is a mark II for that series/design of the 10-100 Vario-Sonnar Zeiss made at the time. The mark I was a T3.3 without the T* coating. That's the only difference that I'm aware of between the 2 versions, the coating and the slight increase in speed. The 10-100 is very good optically and is a relatively small and compact lens. Very desirable for hand held shooting. However there is one drawback to this lens I never see mentioned when this lens is brought up. The zoom ring operates in reverse of all other "popular" zoom lenses including the later model Zeiss T2 10-100 (Zeiss corrected this with the new design). What this means, all zooms go from tight to wide when you rotate the zoom ring clockwise. This Zeiss lens is just the opposite.. wide to tight. When Angenieux come out with the 1st pro zooms for 16mm, they kind of set the standard for this focal length change direction. If you had been using Angenieux zooms for a while, you became "instinctly" conditioned which way to turn the ring when you wanted to change image size. Lets say, you're shooting a very emotional interview and you want to tighten the shot, you don't have to think which way to turn the ring to tighten up, you have the "feel" and you rotate the ring counter clockwise, and your shot tightens up. If you use an assistant and have a motor on the lens, the same thing, the assistant is conditioned as to which way to push the button on the controller. Now you put up this lens, and all that conditioning is thrown off. You have a complicated tracking/zoom shot, the pressure is on to get it in one take, you roll, the A.C. is following focus, getting ready to pull out at the next mark, now zoom.... oops wrong direction on the zoom. I feel this reversed zoom direction was one of the drawbacks for this lens' popularity at the time. After all, Zeiss did change this on the next model lens. One other concern about the lens, there are nylon rollers in the lens that wear out after awhile. What you will see is a slight jump in focus, as in "goes out of focus then back into focus" when you change zoom direction. Example, zoom into 90mm, focus, then when you start zooming back from the 90mm, the image will pop out and back into focus. It is mostly noticeable at the longer focal lengths. It won't happen all the time, just the time when you are rolling film :o . If you just use the lens as a "variable prime" , this focus "pop" won't be an issue. Just remember to check the focus through the lens each time you change focal length. It won't matter what tape measurements you made, this is an internal mechanical problem. I still have a 10-100 T3.3 and a 10-100 T2 series I. The above comments are based on my experience with the lenses. I've rebuilt or changed the rollers in the T3.3 once, and it was starting to show signs of needing repair when I decided to purchased the T2 version, that and assistants groaning every time we put the T3.3 up... the zoom direction thing <_<. Charlie

Rod... Check out the bh_filmo70 group. Read the past messages, there is information about oiling and lubing.

Leon, Here's a couple of suggestions for your quest: International Combat Camera Association, Inc. Link Is your dad a member? Have you viewed "Shooting War: WWII Combat Cameramen" by Richard Schickel, executive producer S. Spielberg and hosted by Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, err, I meant to say Tom Hanks. This is a good doc that aired on ABC 12/ 2000. I'm sure your Dad must have seen this, as my Dad, also in his 80's and served in the Pacific, catches all the WW II docs. Perhaps you could contact some of the archival researchers listed in the credits. Although this is after the war, but another interesting doc about combat shooters who went on to shoot A-Bomb tests is: Hollywood's Top Secret Film Studio by Peter Kuran. He produced 5 films on the A-bombs, so he had to search some gov. archives. There is some incredible footage of the early A-Bomb tests. Some of it shot in 65mm and 3-D (you get a pair of glasses with the DVD). I do hope you can find at least couple of rolls your dad shot. Did he get to keep any of the cameras he used? Charlie Peich D.o.P Chicago

Breaking news..... In an attempt to thwart the spread of the bird flu, George W. Bush has bombed the Canary Islands!

A few years ago when I was considering purchasing the 435 Advanced, I had heard the rumor about the possibility of a high-speed 435 in the future. It was explained to me that the 435 movement we are all familiar with, the one that has been in use since day one, will run up to 200fps. The reason the current 435s will not go this fast is the design of the present magazine. While the 435's magazines are a vast improvement over the 2C and 35III mags, there is still one common element left over from the older mags, the throat containing the gear drive and feed/take up sprockets. I was told this design could not handle frame rates much above 150fps. By the time the speed reached 200fps, the magazine started to vibrate so much it caused damage to the film, mag and the camera. Apparently the operator of that test ran away seeking cover when the camera hit 170fps.... just kidding... My next question was.... "Why didn't you just redesign the mags to handle the 200fps?". The answer falls into the marketing aspect of introducing new equipment, what does the customer want and what will he pay for it. To Arri's credit, when they started the 435 program, they questioned D.o.Ps, camera owners and rental houses to find out what they would like in a new mos camera. I'll only address one request as it pertains to the 200fps issue. Owner operators and rental houses wanted to be able to use their existing 2C and 35III mags on the new camera. I'm also keeping this discussion to 400ft mags and not the 1000 footers. There are different issues with the 1000 footers. The 35III mags are able to reach 130fps without any modifications other than changing the brass drive gear to a harder steel one if your mag didn't already have one. Remember, the 1st 35III ran up to 100fps, the 2nd generation reached 120fps and the 3rd generation reached 130fps. Someone must have felt the extra 10fps was worth it. When using the old style mags on the 435, you lose the ability to run at 150 fps, the camera will not let it run over 130fps (I personally don't like to run them over 120fps anyway). There is a sensor that senses when the old style mags are on the camera and then slows down the range of speed ramps you can do. You also loose end of roll shut off, but that wasn't a problem as we never had that feature before so it didn't matter, at least to that generation of shooters. You can have the older style mags modified to run at 150fps by PS Technik and that includes magnets installed for the sensors in the 435. I haven't used one, so I can't comment on its performance.... anyone out there use one?? By agreeing to stay with the old throat design, I imagine Arri saved a lot of time and money not having to redesign this part of the mag, a part that has proven it's reliability for decades on thousands of mags. Plus Arri was already making these parts and had bins full of them in the stock room. I'm not saying it's the best solution, but to Arri it may have meant less engineering time and time saved having to manufacture new parts. Also, Arri could pass that savings on to a customer per mag and the customers saved by the number of mags they initially had to invest in. With the new 435 mag housing design, including the improved take up drive, Arri achieved 150fps out of the existing throat and its gear drive and sprockets. Another thing to remember, the camera housing is made to accept this throat design, and the magazine gear drive in the camera is built to drive the older style mags. Any new mag designs that would solve the high-speed problems would most likely not fit the camera and be incompatible with the camera drive. New camera then? Maybe Arri regrets not completely designing new mags to go at higher speed from the get go...???? The new 235 uses the same mag throat design also. The lid latch on the 200ft mag is the same design as the old style 400ft mags. Did they have a bin of these parts left over also? Why didn?t they use the latches that are on the 435 mags? The movement is a pre existing movement that was developed for another camera design that was scraped, so Arri adapted it for the 235, therefore keeping the price for the 235 down. The 235 doesn?t have all the features of a 435, but it answers a request for a smaller, lighter and cheaper camera that is able to use some bits and pieces from other cameras. Also, the 235 would most likely get more use and with a lower price than the 435, posibly there would be more sold than a High-speed camera. Is the jury still out on this camera? The 435 Advanced and subsequently the Xtrem was originally designed to answer a specific use?.. to be compatible for use on motion control rigs. It was originally going to be called the ?435 MoCo?. One of the new improvements was the motor for the shutter. The new motor is 2.5 faster than the 435ES allowing for smoother and faster ramps with exposure compensation. With the Xtrem version, you can now do ramps from .01fps to 150fps (without full exposure compensation however). Arri could start from scratch and design a whole new high-speed camera that starts at 150fps and goes to whatever speed they can get out of a pin registered movement. Or the new camera could be just like the 435Xtrem, but with newly designed magazines that enables it to go to 200fps. Will 200fps satisfy the commercial shooters? Will there be a market for it to make it worth Arri?s time, effort and investment? If you read some of the posts on this list and on CML, there seems to be a lot of ?posters? in the business who definitely feel film will be gone in 3 to 5 years for production. Who wants to invest in a new camera then? Maybe Arri has read these posts also. :unsure: Charlie D.o.P. Chicago

Charles, Bell & Howell would factory retro fit any existing Filmo 70 DA through DR cameras to use a 400 ft magazine and electric motor. To use the motor and mag your camera would need the following installed: motor shaft and hand crank socket (included on DL model) motor support rod socket take up pulley and drive starting button lock (included on DL model) Veeder footage counter ( you could go without this, but you would have to keep track of the number of times your existing counter went past the 100 ft mark. Easier with the veeder) attachment plate for the magazine magazine door lock control plunger (this opens the light valves in the magazine when the camera door is locked) inside of the camera door, a push bar needs to be added (this activates the previously mentioned plunger when the latches are turned the quarter turn to the closed position) for the finder on the door, you would need to add the 1-inch spacer between the door and finder assembly, otherwise you?ll never get your eye to the finder. On eBay now there is a 70-HR body , 115V AC/DC motor and a new 400 ft magazine B&H offered 4 motors for the Filmo in the early 50s: 12V DC - 8 to 64 fps, 24V DC - 8 to 64 fps, 115V AC/DC - 8 to 64 fps and 115V 60-hz AC only ? synchronous - 24 fps only. The 50s version 24 volt motors have a clutch in that is adjusted to an output torque of 7 to 8 inch-pounds. If a motor slips during camera operation, it indicates that the output torque of the motor has not been properly adjusted. The motor has a gear reduction of 21 to 1 and weighs approximately 3 ½ pounds. A problem with the Filmo motors is the failure of the phenolic ?worm wheel? due to age, wear, abuse and lack of lubrication. When using the motor on the camera, you must 1st run the spring down and lock the starting button in the ?run? position. The motor does not wind or over drive the spring. You set the running speed/fps as you would while using the spring drive, with the speed adjustment dial on the camera. The speed governor in the camera controls the speed while the clutch in the motor controls the torque the motor needs to put out for the speed selected. If the clutch in the motor were to fail and all the torque went to the camera, or if the run button was not locked in the run position, I think gears would strip 1st with out affecting the spring. Perhaps that is the reason for the phenolic clutch gear. When Bell & Howell discontinued making Eyemos and Filmos, Alan Gordon in L.A. bought all the parts and tools. A couple of years ago Alan Gordon sold the remaining Filmo parts etc. to Kinemaman in Miami. Kinemaman is always running auctions on eBay. He probably has the parts to convert your camera, but you would have to contact him. I don?t know if he would do the modifications. Of course, how much do you want to spend? Lets flash back to 1954 (because that?s the date of the B&H catalog I have in front of me). B&H is cranking out Filmos as usual. You have a DL and want to add the above features. This is what B&H was charging for the adaptations to your camera: Adapt for use with external motor $20. Adapt for use with external magazines $128.50. Install Veeder footage counter $55. Install 70-H type door complete with parallax correcting positive viewfinder system and 1? objective $100 (credit allowance on return of old door $15), so the door is $85. 1- 400ft mag $162.50. Finally, 1 motor (non synchronous) $142. That totals $593 in 1954 dollars. I don?t think you would find parts, then get an experienced tech that?s knowledgeable with this camera to do these modifications for $593. You best bet would to keep watching eBay for a 70-H, 70-HR or a 70-KM (military) body or ?kit? with camera, mags and a motor to show up. I found a 70-HR with 3 lenses, 24V motor, 1 mag and case in near mint condition for $425. I was lucky. A majority of the kits come from high schools that used them filming sports for training. Charlie

My theory on this. Once these people get hold of a tank, try to figure out how it works, see how much work is involved, see how much it costs to get the material together to process a roll, then maybe process 1 roll with bad results, have sore wrists, haven't thrown them on the floor in anger and frustration destroying them, then they will put them back up on eBay. I figure there's maybe 3 or 4 of these tanks left in the world just recycling on eBay :D . Look through some of the Super 8 sites. Some guys want poorly processed film for a look. You can process your film in a bucket if you want. Charlie (Still has his Morse G-3)

Hello James!! Have you checked out the Visual Products "Visual Video Tap for Arri II C/B Cameras"? Here's a direct link to the door/tap: http://www.visualproducts.com/storeProduct...ctID=443&Cat=11 I haven't used it, so I can't comment on how it looks. Having not used the tap, I don't know what type of beam splitter they use, so you may have to use a "circular" polarizer to prevent darkening of the viewing image and/or the video tap. Be sure to ask them about this if you are interested in this tap. Read the Schnieder filter info on polarizers. Link: http://www.schneideroptics.com/filters/fil...ion/polarizers/ I think you have to send them your door and they exchange it for the all ready modified door with tap. Not sure though. It could be they just simply modify your door. I do recall Visual was looking for "extra or spare" II-C doors when they sarted offering this tap a few years ago. You'll have to contact them to find out about the PAL camera. Hope this helps. I do know one of the techs at Visual, if you need additional help, let me know. I just checked the exchange rate... $1 = 0.5612 GBP. Now's the time to up grade your camera! Charlie (owns a II-b)

Jay, Your camera is the last model 16mm camera Bell and Howell manufactured. The 240 is the 1st complete redesign from the decades old ?70 series?. Not having shot with the 240, I can?t say if it was better or worse than the 70 series or would last as long as the 70 series cameras have. One of the new features of the 240 is the ?electric eye?. This was B&H?s attempt to make 16mm shooting more or less ?point and shoot?. I recall seeing some footage shot with the 240 in the auto exposure mode years ago. I remember that the exposure change was not instantaneous, but would settle in after a second or so. This was on very slow Kodachrome film. But, it did work well for ?home movies?. On the electric eye, the film speeds go from ASA 10 to ASA 50. If you are going to use faster film, you?ll have to use some N.D.s on the lens if you want to use the auto eye feature. Did you get a manual with your camera? The manual should tell you the type of battery you need. Most likely the code # for the battery is no longer used today. You?ll have to do a search for a cross-reference list. I?ve had good luck at a place called Batteries Plus. Look them up on the web. Your 4.5 volt battery most likely is made up of 3 smaller cells inside the cardboard cover. Carefully cut the cardboard on one of the batteries and see what?s in side. If this is the case, the smaller battery should have a # on it. Then try and find that # in a list. I discovered this with a Duracell bat. I had. Duracell stopped manufacturing them, but Battery Plus still made them. This was a 4.5 volt battery made up of 3 cells. If you can get the smaller cells, you can make your own. I have a manual for the B&H 16mm 200EE magazine load camera. This has a similar electric eye. This camera takes 6 Mallory RM-1R cells. The modern equivalent of the RM-1R is the PX1A, E1N, MR52, RM-1R, and V1PX. Check out these links: http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/in...?showtopic=3492 http://www.craigcamera.com/ib_bell.htm http://www.mugjoint.com/media/manuals/manuals2.html These guys repair B&H 16mm cameras: http://www.utphoto.com/ Call them; they might have batteries for your camera. One thing to remember, this camera came out in 1957 and with time the photocell in the electric eye may not be as accurate as it was when manufactured or it may not work at all. The photocell in the camera generates current to a needle mounted on a shaft inside the camera. As the meter is deflected to one side or the other from the impulses from the photocell (light or dark scenes), it closes an electrical circuit through a motor and the batteries, which drive it. This motor drives gears which then rotates the iris of the lens. You may get new batteries and the motor may still work, but if the photocell is not generating the proper amount of current, it won?t give accurate readings. The best steps to take when you get the meter fired up and before you shoot any film relying on the ?eye?, compare the ?eye?s? readings with a reliable meter. Your 240 meter takes ?reflective? readings. You can manually set the iris. If you have no battery to power the eye, the stop will stay the same when you run the camera. You will feel a slight amount of drag on the iris ring from the gears and the motor. If you have a working battery in the photocell is working properly, the stop will adjust when you run the camera. If you don?t want your selected stop to change with a ?powered? eye, B&H recommended you hold the iris still with a finger when filming, but not too long as it will drain the battery. You can take the battery out or put a piece of paper between the battery and the camera contact to keep the eye inactive. Hope this helps Charlie

Hello Robert! The motor you have is a 12 volt variable speed motor, 4-50 fps forward and reverse. It will take 8-12 volts. This motor replaced the original 8 volt variable speed motor you are familiar with. At the end of the 16s manufacturing run, Arri changed the 16s?s motors and magazine torque motors to operate on the popular 12 volts Arri?s newer cameras where using. Arri also changed the 8 volt Governor Controlled Motor to a 12 volt version. They came out with a 12 volt crystal controlled motor that was crystal sync at 24 or 25 fps, variable from 8-50 fps, single frame operation, and able to phase with monitors. But the real nice thing about this motor is, it stops with the shutter in the viewing position. This was important because of the APEC meter that was available. No more reaching around and spinning the inching knob to see an image. If your 16s camera came with 400ft mags, I?m sure the torque motors will be 12 volts. It will be marked on the outside of the torque motor. If you see no ?12 Volt? printed on the motor, most likely it will be the 8 volt model. Don't use them with 12 volts! They?ll run, but way too much torque will be applied, and the film will snap. The 8 volt torque motors can be modified to handle 12 volts. I had my torque motors modified by Tobin http://www.tobincinemasystems.com/. Also, the old 8 volt variable speed motor will run on 12 volts. You can get the speed up to 64 fps. I like my 16sb camera. I have built a nice kit and I?m able to use it with the Arri bridge plate and accessories (6X6 matte box, FF-4, 18-100mm Cooke, and other long lenses). I did add the excellent Tobin Crystal motor, which solved shooting sync (shooting outside with a long lens and/or lots of packing blankets), shooting monitors, shooting with HMIs and other non-continuous light sources. However, the problem with the 16s is?. hard to adapt to PL mount, adapting for video assist while viewing through the eyepiece, and next to impossible to modify to super 16. Most of these modifications have been done, but off hand I don?t know who is still doing these. Possibly someone on the list has some info. Arri did built a dozen or two 16s super 16 versions. Hope this helps! Charlie

Jon, As to which oil to use on the Filmos, I use a "camera" oil from Arri on my Filmos. The Arri oil I use is the one for the earlier Arri 16mm cameras such as the Arri S, M and BL. There was a discussion on the Filmo Group about which oil to use.... look that up. You can call Alan Gordon service dept. in L.A. Alan Gordon did end up with all the B&H Filmo and Eyemo parts and tools when B&H went out of the motion picture camera business. I believe Alan Gordon just sold off the Filmo parts and tools to International Cinema in Miami,FL. Another place to call about oil is U.T. Photo Service in Burbank. Their phone # 323 245 6631. I've heard U.T. does good service, and you may want to have them clean your cameras, or just the better one of the two. Unfortunately, having your cameras cleaned and tuned up WILL cost a lot more than what you spent purchasing them. You can send your camera to them for an evaluation / estimate 1st. BTW, the "DR" model 1st appeared in either 1955 or 1956. Charlie

There is a yahoo group for Bell & Howell Filmo users and collectors: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bh_filmo70/ It's not always active, but you can read through past messages and get some information on the Filmo. Join and ask some questions, the moderator is real helpful. There isn't much else on the web that has information about the Filmo. You may want to have your cameras cleaned and re-lubed before shooting anything with them. Usually these cameras have been sitting for years and the oil and grease has dried or stiffened. Once cleaned and oiled/lubed they should run forever. At least oil it before running it anymore! Don't forget the oil port under the silver pin on the turret. Charlie