tom lombard

I saw comments on a thread about focusing on film cameras using distance measurements as it was more reliable than a monitor for sure and viewfinders (at least on less than top quality cameras) can still be difficult to focus accurately. That made me wonder about focus quality on LCD monitors on the backs of DSLRs (like my Canon T3i for example) as opposed to looking thru the eyepiece. I'm old school, 35mm stills and looking thru the eyepiece feels more natural. I also find that the LCD monitor requires that I deal with sunlight and glasses. But I see so many rigs & people shooting that seem to revolve around using the LCD monitor or an external monitor. Sunlight & glasses aside, am I really compromising my focusing by using that LCD monitor on the back of my DSLR rather than using the eyepiece? I will be doing some shooting next weekend with that Canon and with a Bolex EL to try out a few things for comparison & educational purposes. Thank, Tom

Stephen - You & I were exchanging emails on that second Prod package and you indicated you would provide me with a price. That was nearly a month ago and I've emailed since. Maybe PM here is more reliable means of communication :) I still am interested in an XTR Prod S16 package from you (or anyone for that matter). Thanks, Tom

Very informative links. Thanks to you both. I believe I'll be content to leave this as an educational exercise and continue my hands-on education down the 16/s16 path :)

My ignorance is so vast and questions so many that I'm hoping to be pointed to a good article or site on variations of number of 35mm perfs and their various pluses & minuses. I'm currently going down the 16/s16 mm path now but I keep seeing 35mm articles related to perfs and am wanting to educate myself a bit. It doesn't look like a real big leap (s16 to 35) in terms of just a camera body and it doesn't look like much of a leap in terms of stock & processing either so I might have to consider a new set of toys. Thanks, Tom

Gregg - I hear ya on both counts. I've looked at a lot of threads here (and other places) and mentally filtering out personality issues is just a part of it. Advice & opinions are just pieces of a puzzle that you eventually have to put together yourself. My dumping on eBay typically comes with what I know of the item and that I'm not an expert. Item is as-is but I've not hesitated when someone (only happened once that I recall) asks for a refund.

For a variety of reasons, this seems like the point at which I need to formalize things a bit (business cards, record keeping, banking, insurance, etc) so I need a "business name". The name likely doesn't matter much doing indie shorts but the hope is always to grow both production-wise & budget-wise. Does the name actually make a lot of difference? Do key words like cinema or productions or film actually carry much weight? Is something easy to remember, fairly generic, and family friendly good enough? Should I angst on this or just come up with something, go with it, and save my energy for more important issues? Thanks, Tom

On the topic of repair availability... If I acquire an Arri (likely SR2/3) that needs attention, what are repair options in US? Any "factory trained" techs? Parts availability for service due to normal wear & usage? How self serviceable by someone with tinkering skills? Same questions if go the Aaton route. Thanks, Tom

I sent a PM. Thanks.

A very interesting point on the direction of the prices and why it's happening. I may be in a position to act sooner so I'll give that some further serious consideration. On the eBay mention... I'm quite happy bottom fishing on eBay to allow me some hands on exposure but I readily dump back on eBay once I've done so. If I'm putting several grand into a long term purchase, it would likely be thru different channels (this forum being one). Thanks for the input.

I'm on my 4th Bolex now as I've tried out different models I could (cheaply) off of Ebay to get my feet wet in features and shooting film. The limitation of only being able to shoot for 27 seconds, and the limitation of having to change film before you've shot 3 minutes worth led me to settle on the EL which gives me options around those limitations. However, there are a couple of other limitations I'd like to get around and I'm inclined to go in a more "professional" hardware direction as well as go with S16. I do intend to get enough use out of this so that I'm looking at purchasing (and am kinda amazed at how inexpensive that can be). There are 2 major limitation that I have with the Bolex EL but there may be other limitations (that I haven't encountered yet) or reasons to upgrade. The first is sound. The EL is too noisy for close work and the sound recording options (based on my limited, non-first hand knowledge) appear to be fairly primitive with their own issues. The second is viewfinder. I've actually managed to cobble together a monitor for the EL by using an iPhone on the eyepiece and connecting the iPhone to my laptop. This allows me to do shots or angles where I can't physically be behind the EL but still be able to see what's in the frame of the shot. This is only a bit more than marginally functional at best. So I need sound and monitoring capabilities. It looks to me like Arri PL mount would be desirable. Another purchase factor would solidity & dependability. I'm not with a couple hours of nearest service so would likely need to ship to either coast for repairs. The options that jump out at me are Arri SR3, Aaton XTR Prod, or the A-Minima. In my dreams (but likely out of my budget) would be the Arri 416. Am I overlooking any serious contenders? What would be the feature differences between these that I should consider? I'm anticipating making a purchase in early 2018 so I have plenty of time to listen to input :) Thanks, Tom

Here's the gist of what I cobbled together... http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=T_3301_001virtualkey52360000virtualkey523-T3301-001 Amphenol Tuchel T 3301 001 - $8.15 This is the connector to the EL. It comes unassembled as you'll need to solder in your wires. http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Eagle-Plastic-Devices/12BH310D-GR/?qs=%2fha2pyFadujE%252bViE25LLnlGEZuJx6YyGX68bPFU%252bZ5v4mOXz4N60oA%3d%3d holder for 10 AA batteries - $2.08 These come with different connectors depending on how you want to do your wiring. You can get them with the snap on connectors like you see on rectangular 9V batteries, you can get them with little "ear"(?) connectors to solder to, or you can get them with about 3" lead wires. AA rechargeable batteries (NiMH low self discharge 2500 mAh, 1.2V) - 10 for around $25 There are a number of options but go for the higher mAh output. I initially tried some that were 2000 mAh and my EL worked OK at 24FPS but didn't work properly at higher or lower FPS. I suspect my (recently acquired) EL needs a professional service and may have some internal gunk that the batteries worked to overcome. AC/DC power supply - 12V 3.33A Kodak MPA690B12 AC Power Supply Charger Adapter - $3 I went to a Goodwill Store (Salvation Army?) and they had well over 100 adapters for me to look thru. I had tried one that I had at home with a 2.2 mAh output but, like with the batteries, I had issues at high/low FPS. Do pay attention to output if you are buying like I did (as opposed to spending more & getting something new). Some in the pile will be AC output which would likely fry your EL. DC voltage output will also vary quite a bit. So that was about $40 for my battery as well as my AC/DC power. That doesn't include some minor soldering supplies & wires. My soldering skill is minimal but I did find that the original wiring I did gave me fairly unreliable results. After resoldering and doing a much better job, the reliability was there. I also spent more as I double up on a few things. I got 2 of the connectors to the EL, an extra battery holder, and extra batteries. That way I can have backup. I don't know how long a set of batteries will last but I did quite a bit of testing different FPS, put about 15 minutes at 24FPS, and then some additional testing. There was certainly enough battery power there to get thru a 400' roll and likely even a second. Checking the batteries after that showed they still had about a third of a charge. Good luck with the project. Save some money to buy for film :)

I might have been involved in the other threads as I recently got an EL with no power supply. I can give you links & info on what I did to put together a rechargeable battery pack and an AC/DC power adapter. May have as much as $75 invested in power at this point :)

i'm sorry if what i saw when i looked at the auction was misleading but it seemed like something the US members of this community would want to take into consideration. it does look like a nice camera and i hope you sell it at a good price.

"Shipping: May not ship to United States"

Miracle? Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

i like the looks of the battery grip i've seen on eBay for the EBM. would that work on the EL as well? it looks so much easier to hold the camera than just cradling it in your hands.

http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=23663 is the thread that gave me a start in the right direction. the link to the connector at Mouser was still good however it may be that you'll need a different connector for the EBM than for the EL. http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=73979 is the thread i started as i progressed thru. i initially had an AC to 12vDC power supply that provided 2 amps (or bit more) but it wouldn't fire my EL. the one i mention in this thread provides 3.3 amps and works very well. for batteries, i initially tried (just because i had them) 8, 1.5V AA alkalizes but they didn't work. i went to 10, 1.2V rechargeable AA but the amperage would only fire my EL at some FPS speeds but not all. i them went to a better grade of rechargeable AA and that seemed to work fine at most FPS speeds. i redid a big of my amateurish soldering and it worked even better :)

I just went thru similar situation with an EL that I purchased that didn't come with power supply. I ended up getting an AC/DC power supply from the local Salvation Army (they had dozens and I found one that met my requirements) for $3. I needed to purchase the specific connector online for the EL which was another $10 and did a minor bit of soldering. It works great. For battery pack, I got a holder for 10 AA batteries and bought some decent rechargeables. I think battery holder was $4 and about $25 worth of batteries. And another minor bit of soldering. All together, I've got about $50 invested and have power if I have an outlet or need to run off of batteries. I can provide links & additional info.

This may be bordering on blasphemy but what I'm wanting to film this Summer will be digitized & edited digitally so there won't be a "projector" involved. If something like a mic does show up, I can fix it in post (pretend I didn't really actually say that) but am concerned about stuff I'd like to be in view but at the edge of my shot. It's likely that I shouldn't be trying to shoot that too precisely anyway so this may be more of a technical matter than a practical one.

This is a Bolex EL specific question... Is what you see in the viewfinder exactly (or very close) to what exposes on the film? Or is there a significant difference and in what direction? Examples: If I have a boom mic just outside of my field of view thru the viewfinder, might that mic still be in the shot? Conversely, might a prop that is just within the field of view thru the viewfinder actually be out of the shot? Thanks, Tom

Yep. Pulled it and found the screws. They & the plate they retain are free. Thanks, Tom

There are a couple of uses I can see for using a matte-box/bellows on my EL. However, the front of the base on my EL doesn't appear to have any way to mount one. I've looked at a lot of photos of various Bolexes and various matte-box/bellows and it appears that there should be a threaded opening on the front of the camera base to allow the bellows to be bolted on. Is there a special plate I need to find (or make) for the front of my camera base? Is the missing threaded opening just a designed limitation of the EL? Maybe what I am looking for is hidden under the leather and I just need to pull it off? Thanks, Tom

Just a follow-up... I did get it rigged up with 10 decent AA rechargeables putting out 2.5 amps and was getting all speeds from 24fps & up to work fine. There was still the stopping issue after a couple of frames at lower fps settings. I wanted to see how long a set of batteries would run so I did quite a bit of short & couple of longer runs as well as revisiting the slower fps settings. As it happened, the slower speeds started working. There was still some stopping after a few frames but I would do a second firing and it would run fine. After a bit more of this, I was able to go to all speeds and they would work fine. My suspicion is that this EL hadn't been used much recently and possibly not for a long time at those slower settings so there was some stickage that needed to work itself out. I've satisfied myself that this camera is sound enough that I'll likely invest it sending it off for a good servicing. May have it converted to ultra16 at the same time. Thanks for your collective input! Tom

I scored! Went to the local Goodwill and sorted thru about a hundred AC/DC adapters and found something that looked good. 12V 3.33A Kodak MPA690B12 AC Power Supply Charger Adapter I paid $3 & change for it, hooked it up to the EL and have all speeds now (sounding good to my ears at least) including reverse. This will work when I have AC to work with but I'm still wanting to put together a battery pack. What I was trying initially was 8 Radio Shack alkaline AA just because that's what I had on hand. I'm going to get 10 NiMH rechargeable Energizers & see how they work out. I think they are 2.8A. I'm open to suggestions for alternate battery rigs for the EL :) Thanks, Tom

This is a recently acquired Bolex EL (MK 1 I believe) so could be an issue with the camera itself. It didn't come with power supply so I've been cobbling things together so could also be issue with what I've put together. Camera seems to run fine (no film) at 24 & 25 fps and light meter seems to work fine too so that covers my main uses. Single frame also seems fine. However, things are odd at other frame rates. Again, 24 fps runs continuously & constantly as long as I hold the button in. At 20 fps, it runs for maybe a second then stops. At 18, it runs about 3/4 of a second then stops. Less fps, and it runs a shorter time before stopping. Going up in fps is different as (beyond 25) it starts out slowly like it's binding or something then speeds up as it seems to free up. Then it slows down again. I've only run higher than 25 for a few seconds at a time. Didn't think to try reverse. This is with power supplied by an AC/DC adapter that's 12V and 2A. I tried power from 8, fresh AA batteries but couldn't get any more than single frame out of it. Sound like I need to refine my power supply situation? Sound like I have an electrical issue? Sound like the EL may just need a good service? Thanks, Tom