Baltasar Thomas

Happened to be figuring this out with my newly acquired Aaton and wanted to make a small but important addition to Robert's explanation. In the feed side of the magazine, in the top left corner, there's a small thumbscrew screwed into the bottom of the magazine. This screw serves two purposes: you can actually use it to unscrew the core (of course you could also use a flathead screwdriver). it screws on top of the 100ft daylight reel once you've placed that on the shaft. This is actually quite important because it keeps the reel from moving around inside the magazine, which would make it noisy and could cause other problems.

Thanks.

Hi Carl, what's that mount, cameflex?

Very cool to hear these kids speak so enthusiastically about shooting on film. Celluloid Dreaming must be a rewarding endeavor, Tyler :). Will be tuning in for the next epsiode.

Does anyone happen to have a service manual saved to their hard drive? Nothing to be found at aaton.com (suspect it's been that way for a few years) and the only manual I can find is this instruction manual: https://tfma.temple.edu/sites/tfma/files/site-pdfs/AatonLTR.pdf. Thanks!

I did something similar as Todd, and it works great. Bought a very large changing bag (quite cheaply) off of Amazon. Made a square frame out of small diameter PVC pipes. The frame goes inside the changing bag. Another addition is a board (I used OSB wood) that lies inside the frame, on the bottom of the changing bag. I put 2 nails in the board, one for a 100ft spool and one for the Lomo spiral. The nails fit inside the center of the spool and spiral, so they don't go anywhere while I'm turning the spiral to load the film onto it. Works quite well, I'll see if I can make a photo later today 🙂 EDIT: Forgot to mention, the pipes are easily assembled and disassembled as well. Quite convenient and lightweight.

Thx aapo! Great suggestion..! Velcro...how could I forget! Thanks guys, it'll probably become some sort of monster using several of these combined..! I'll post a pic of my set-up when it's in use.

Hi Michael, Thanks for the extensive reply, haven't been able to further test the camera the past week. I suspect the camera's been tinkered with a bit, as you say. I'm going to run those tests you've described and see if I can correct it soon, I'll report back when there's progress, thanks a lot so far!

Hi Mark, something like that might do the trick! Hadn't thought of those, might be simple yet effective. Might be in the way of the filmdoor or wind-up crank though.

Hi Brian, thanks for thinking with me here. I'm aware of the noise of the camera and it not being suited to record sync-sound with for common purposes. I still want to mount a mic on it though, because I need one to be accessible just before, during and right after filming. Right now I'm thinking of gluing a cold-shoe mount on top of the camera. But I'd rather build a nice rig with a cheese plate, handle etc. So if anyone has any suggestions..!

Hi everyone, Upon reading my question most of you will probably be like: "...why?", but hear me out. I'm looking for options to mount a recorder/shotgun-mic combo on a Krasnogorsk 3 camera. For my own experimental documentary work I want to use my K3. I've used it a few times now. Hand-processed the film and am mostly satisfied with the results. I'm interested in using non-sync sound with the images. (Playing a lot with the sounddesign in the edit). For this purpose, the images are digitized. I finish most of my projects in digital. I like the K3 for its simplicity and small size. In terms of sound, I'm interested in the things that occur around the image, where the frame ends so to speak. Also - the things heard right before and after a scene. I'll be recording on my own and that's why I need a quick and easy to use setup. Having to put the camera down to handle a recorder-mic combo like a Zoom H6 would be to slow and I think I'd quickly run into situations where I would have no place to put the camera for the time being. Right now, I'm thinking of creating some sort of cage to mount a small recorder-mic unit like the Zoom F1 on top of the camera. Ideally, I'd be able to mount a rosette grip somewhere as well. The K3's is not making it easy on me though. I need to be able to access both sides in order to wind the camera and change the film, and I need to be able to access the back for the viewfinder. So, there it is! If any of you can think of some DIY solutions to this problem please do share! Or if you know of some very modular cages that might be suited, that would be great as well! Thanks!

So it works with the outer ring set to CLOSED at 6 o'clock. I'm guessing, by the photo in your article, I should be able to turn the outer ring, without turning the inner ring. But I can't, so that might be stuck somehow. I see there's two small screws holding the FADE control plate in place. I might just take a look and see if there's anything visible causing it to stick, unless you advise against it!

Still no luck I'm afraid! The white dot of the outer-manual ring is at 12 o'clock. The white dot of the inner auto-ring is at 6 o'clock. Pulled down the M' lever a few times. It's set to speed and 18fps (tried 12 and 24 as well). Still no movement with the only thing indicating power being the red dot above the viewfinder image. Guess all that remains is trying to open it up. Any advice on where to start? If I can't get it to work, maybe I can make someone happy with it to use for spare parts. Thanks for all the help so far Michael! *EDIT: The powerzoom buttons work as well, I just found out! **EDIT: I might have misunderstood! With the outer-manual ring white dot set to 6 o'clock it works!

The notch is intact. Yeah, I figured as much! Nothing happens when I push it back as well so I guess this can't be it. What I did notice just now is a red dot just above the image in the viewfinder, that's only visible with the power switched on, and only while pressing the trigger. There's no F-stops visible however, and no change in the light meter. Would the red dot indicate a dead battery perhaps? They're fresh batteries - so I guess there's still the chance of a contact failure somewhere in that case..?

Great articles Michael! I understand the camera a lot better now. Unfortunately still can't get it to work for now. I did notice that the battery compartment for the two AA batteries is not as tightly locked as I would expect. It locks, but there is some room to push the door of the compartment even farther in when locked, pushing the batteries inside a bit farther as well. The door of that compartment comes off completely as well when I open it, is that how it was designed? I could make a short video if it helps?