Robin Phillips

if you are able to report back at all on how 16mm performs on the 416 please do.

well if it opened up a world where you could get motion runs of just about any stills film, that would be pretty incredible. though if tons of cameras/mags need modification, thats certainly something thats a bit worrying given how few technicians are still in that game. seems like theres a decent chance kodak is playing with fire. but if they have people at corporate who think motion would continue sales at stills prices... yoish...

I've seen a few rumblings online that kodak is moving to remove the remjet layer entirely from its motion line of film stocks (both on fb and reddit). While someone posted screencaps of what appeared to be a technical document onto fb, they wouldnt actually post the full document or link to it from a kodak source. does anyone know whats going on? is this a weird rumor thats starting to spread, or is kodak actually eliminating the remjet layer?

Im sure Paul at Shruco Tool can do this to a donor glass / screen. Though sometimes the easiest way to get ahold of him is through Andree at AM Camera. you probably would want marks on the screen where your gate limits are though, even if just hooks, since the viewfinder optics will show you more of the image circle than the gate gets (normally the shaded area on an arri ground glass/fiberscreen).

Roundabout has a director, I think its the older 10k model https://www.roundabout.com/restoration-remastering also Cinelab Boston's xena scanner can do the same sort of thing. I did some s16mm tests a few years ago with them, and the range that was extractable was insane, especially on 50D negative. Cinelab does consumer, hobbiest, and professional scanning. I dont know if Fotokem has added to their scanner line up or not, but its been my experience that as long as you can afford their rate they wont say no to money. I think thats generally the attitude with any of the labs these days to be honest. though Im sure some have a minimum charge.

just FYI you are very unlikely to find one in mint condition. if you did, you'd want it serviced regardless. also an SR3 HS will almost certainly be louder than an XTR Prod, so I'd recommend sorting out if you actually need 150fps or not. if you do need it, you really want a HS Advanced model if you dont want to have to worry about replacing the rails as they wear on the normal HS.

lightbeam has a super 16 SR gate assembly for sale in their spare parts site if you need it. I have no affiliation with them, I just check their parts site every now and then and saw it. heres the link https://lightbeamequip.com/shop/arriflex-sr-super-16-gate/

it probably will depend on how well colimated the sigma and speed booster together are. it would make for an interesting test though.

for one, it likely serves the narrative in a unique way. it also makes it stand out in a world where we've somewhat left behind the older way of shooting scenes where the camera movement is part of the blocking and helping to advance the story without cuts. I havent seen it myself, but given what you laid out it undoubtably would have been a different movie if it was shot more traditionally. sometimes creating a novel piece of art is worth all the headaches. a film isnt just what you can do or how efficient you can do it, its giving a experience for the audience. that experience is the goal.

I think the indie assist for the 235 is brand new. probably very unlikely to find one second hand. I once saw one sketchy ebay listing for a 416 one, but I doubt it was legit. realistically if you actually need one, you'll have to order one new. unless perhaps you find a camera thats for sale one is already bolted to

I think its important to note that there is no way to refine an after market product without having a camera body to test with. also the tools to re-spool the film the way the a minima needs. if it was a simple matter of 3d printing parts with the same dimensions this problem would have been solved already. I think you'll find that the materials will be critical to any successful reproduction, along with the insights of a technician who troubleshooted a lot of these cameras. to be clear Im not saying dont try. but I cant see any way of being successful without a camera, mags, and a film rewinder to facilitate any tests. (you could alternatively get fotokem to respool the film for the camera, but that adds up fast)

I'd say that if shooting in daylight, shoot 50D. if you are shooting under tungsten light, shoot 200T and over expose. I normally shoot 7213 at 160. I know people who shoot it at 2/3rds over. Im not sure if shooting a full stop over has a major benefit, but it could be done. I'd note I did once shoot 50D at 25 and honestly there wasnt a big difference between shot at box speed. was comparing with Ultra 16s, so theres not getting much sharper than that.

so its worth noting that we need to be talking about resolving power, not "sharpness." In my experience at box speed 250D has always been grainier than 200T. 50D less so than 200T. and this makes sense, you need larger grains for faster exposures. if you over expose, you'll get smaller grains in the film to expose and will give you a bit more detail. you will run into optical limitations though depending on the capabilities of your lenses and the colimation of both the camera flange and lenses. making sure these are dialed in as best as possible will mean you'll get the most out of your glass. that all being said, the contrasiter you make your lighting the more you'll gain apparent sharpness regardless of the resolving power of your combination of glass, camera, and film.

one thing you might consider, you can get a good condition set of Ultra Primes in the 20-25k USD range these days. just something to consider.

my preferred scanner is Fotoken's Scanity 4k, or if I have the option the lasergraphics director Roundabout has. those are true RGB scanners. that being said, if you run a lasergraphics scan station, a bayer patern scanner, in HDR mode, the color reproduction gets damn near that of the Scanity. some vendors offer hdr mode for a modest price bump but some charge quite a bit for it (requires two flashes per frame, so the machine runs slower)