David Sekanina

A camera with quick swap pressure-plate-mags is not possible in that price range. Really think of simpler A Minima or a beefed up Ikonoskop.

This is a curious idea maybe worth a one-off prototype - commercially not viable, but it made me smile imagining a baby-coax mag for an XTR for shooting in very tight places. Nice Andrew :)

I was thinking the same, thanks for your thoughts.

with a small batch production of 20 units around 6-8K

I started working on a niche compact 16mmm camera using 100ft daylight spools (coax), and I decided to change the layout, so it can also take 200ft daylight spools. They still can be bought new for around 30$, and I can also manufacture my own for less than 100$. Would a less expensive single body&mag design like the Ikonoskop be too limiting and should I opt for a separate mag design like the A Minima even if it drives up the cost by 3-4K? Curious about your opinions.

Documenting the progress on our legged robot on 16mm, I filmed dozens of engineers in front of their desktop and laptop LCD screens from various brands and in different lighting condition at 24fps, and had no flickering nor banding issue like on a CRT. The colors shifts can be weird though, depending on the brand of the screen. edit: when your footage playing on the screen is running at 24 fps and you're capturing the footage at 24fps two things can happen: A: the switch to the next image of your screen footage is always happening during the closed shutter phase of your film camera - meaning you will always record a single frame displayed on the screen onto a single frame of film. B: the next image of your screen switches when your shutter is open on your film camera - you will always record two frames of screen footage onto one frame of film - for fast moving objects you will see the image shift of the two frames. So Phil's method of shooting frame per frame might be the safest one

Most of my books on optics are in German, but two English books I regularly take out of my shelf are: Applied photographic optics by Sidney F. Ray and Scientific photography and applied imaging by the same author.

Unfortunately I had to cancel the video tap - there have been changes to the sensor board I was unaware of, since my prototype. Luke and Brody have been refunded. I am profoundly sorry for not catching this earlier - mea culpa.

Hi Mitchell You made four posts for your 535b in one week. Please keep it in one post, thank you.

Thank you very much Evan!

I want to build an run/stop switch for steadicam use and I was wondering, the Aaton rocker switch on the wooden handle is connected to a 2 pin Lemo on the camera. Connecting the two pins makes the camera run. flipping the switch to the other side, opens the gate. Does this position on the switch have a resistor, so the camera knows which one has been pressed, and if yes, whats the resistance?

Chris, I can see a small delay with fast moving objects - a frame or two. I'll post a video soon.

I thought the full HD video tap from AZ for the XTR Prod (and the taps from other vendors) had the exact same issue, because i suspect we all use the same camera module (judging from the menu layout). My tap can be installed by the end user, hence the external DC/DC. For the AZ solution, you have to send in your camera. But if he has a tap that shows no rolling bar at 24 fps, then you should definitely get his. I can't provide that. EDIT: I looked again at the AZ full HD tap for the XTR Prod (PDF and video) and it has the exact same rolling bar at 24fps.

The sensor has a readout of 25, 30, 50 or 60fps. Running the camera at 24 fps, it is one frame off the sensor readout of 25fps, hence the pulsing wave that travels through the frame.

Here's the tap showing flicker free operation at 25fps, and almost no flicker at 24fps. Menu can be accessed directly with the front buttons, to flip the image, change to B&W, change to 30fps, 50fps or 60fps for flicker free operation at these frame rates etc. https://vimeo.com/404338635

The Y8 is currently on hold - the longer I worked on it, the more I thought, why am I not putting all that energy into a really small 16mm camera ? David, thank you for the images, it would help if you could open the cap of your video tap port, to see how it looks concerning the relay lens. New pictures are up on the site now, videos will follow soon

If I remember correctly the XTR has the same side port as the XTR prod, so, yes, it'll fit. Image of an XTR I found on the web:

In that case, it would be possible, if I adapt the attachment of the sensor and the housing - I would need the camera for a couple days to do the measurements and it's a heavy beast to send half around the globe. Send me an image of your camera and tap and I will try to find one in Europe with the same tap attached. EDIT: Reading your document, your tap has a C mount - is that correct, is it attached directly through this mount to the 35 III?

This is an upgrade of the standard def video tap of an Aaton XTR Prod, meaning the old electronics and sensor are removed, but the existing beam splitter and relay lens stay in the camera. They form the image on the newly installed fullHD image sensor. So this would only work on your 35III if you already have an old standard def tap installed. I would still have to check the sensor size of that old tap and adapt the mounting mechanism. to the port. I'd rather invest the time into adapting my solution to upgrade ARRI SR III and 435/535 taps, as I feel only very few 35 III owners would upgrade.

Glad to hear Tyler. I will have more details, images and videos by the end of the month. Then I have see how it handles hot and cold environments, vibrations, shocks etc. So end of April would be the earliest the system is available.

As I'm planning to sell the fullHD video tap for 900-1200$, I don't want to disclose which camera it is. The potential group of buyers is so small, that the machining costs of the housing and other parts stay quite high (total BOM roughly 540$). I hope you understand.

waiting for the final PCB for the front arrow keypad (where the circle is cut out) it's almost flicker free at 24fps. you can judge focus on a fullHD monitor and focus peaking works too , if the monitor provides it. I will post final pictures soon, and a video

hi in order to mount more devices on my Aaton, i designed a cheese plate that also allows you to attach a top rod - so finally i can reach the iris gear on my short elite primes. this wasn't possible with the bottom rods. Also my fullHD video tap is working: not as compact as AZ one but still very small ?

The pro unit has a machined aluminum housing for both the sensor and the display housing. The horns can be replaced to a narrower angle as soon as they become available. Some of the images on his website still show the old prototypes. Not sure if the all-in-one unit has a machined housing as well (I think it does, just because of the low volume manufacturing making an injection molded housing not economic). Edit: confirmed, you can see the machined parts of the all-in-one unit on his Facebook page.

Love your January footage Tyler - hope they can fix the scratch ? Instead of a cinetape, have a look at the cinerangefinder. I've yet to use my pro unit on a shoot, not just an in house test - will let you know my experience with it.