Jefta Varwijk

Perhaps you chop off 1/4th off a 4perf 2x anamorphic film and see if you like it? Or is that not what you mean? 

20 hours ago, Dirk DeJonghe said:

I received a couple of experimental 35mm/1000ft rolls for testing. It was non-remjet 500T; It worked well in the processor, the colour balance was not yet correct, but the overall look was very clean, less sparkle;

Hi Dirk, thanks for sharing!

I’d be curious what you mean with “less sparkle”. And would you say ‘clean’ is more subtle grain, or just cleaner on the dust-front, so to speak?

i’m also curious about the rigidity of the filmstock: is it the same? And has thickness changed? 

i hope i’d still be able to shoot 500fps 16mm 2 perf 😶

On 7/3/2022 at 7:19 AM, Hemanth Kashinath said:

Boris and other members,

I'm working on solving a similar problem for a project I’m working on. I’ll share my findings. 

Curious if you have an update!

On 6/28/2022 at 6:47 PM, Robin Phillips said:

I looked into this some years ago before I found some ultra 16s. I dont have the details handy, but the issue was basically that any semi-off the shelf solutions would not clear the mirror on a rotary mirror film camera. You'd have to go down a very expensive road to solve that issue. I bet there'd be a market for it if one could be made and sold for $500, but I dont believe thats remotely possible.

Honestly one is better off finding a set of Elite or Optar lenses (maybe with a panther 35mm t1.3) to have a better range of focal lengths than the zeiss super speeds. IIRC you can use Digiprimes on a super16 film camera with the optex B4 to PL adapter as well. 

Its also worth noting that zeiss now sells a very nice set of new c mount lenses that cover super 16 (they're advertised as M4/3rds) if what you're after is a modern solution to wider lenses. https://www.zeiss.com/consumer-products/us/industrial-lenses/dimension-lenses.html

blast from the past! anywho, that link is no longer working but I'd be very interested to check out those c-mount lenses.

Another test, done early january 2025. Tested two newly aquired "balanced" mags at both 120º and 160º shutter. Also tested my older magazine used in earlier tests at those two shutters (showing a problem at 160 that is solved by 120), and also played around a bit with potential lightleaks (not counting the big red lightleak that got onto the whole film) and some tests regarding some separation around the filmgate on the magazineplate. (it does not seem to have any effect at 24fps).

Conclusion: the 2 newly aquired magazines pretty much solve all problems, and the earlier magazine (its an early serial number too) has some problems that might be solved by 120º shutter, but still would need some hispeed testing at 120º.

There is some wobble at 500fps with the 'new' 400ft mag that I don't see at 300fps. Could be a tripod/tripodplate thing. It's easily stabilised and looks great after stabilisation.

On 8/13/2024 at 11:56 AM, Mark Dunn said:

At 500pps it's sharp at first but jumps out after about 5 seconds, so about 120 frames or 3 feet. I wonder if the film on the supply spool is getting a bit loose and then snatching tight and moving the gate out. I may be talking rubbish but it won't hurt to check.

At the same point the shutter timing goes out as there is a bit of smearing (look at the white patch on the chart). It pops back at about 2:35 and the sharpness improves. I would be checking for dirt and film residue, especially around the gate.

About the supply/take up spool. I measured the supply and it seemed on spec. The take-up was also on spec pressure-wise but a tad wobbly, like it's going over traffic bumps, when testing. Not entirelty smooth. Could that impact filmtravel? The 2r (double perf) film is pulled down by two arms and 2pin registered.

Next test will be done with shutter angle closed down a bit, from it's native 160 to 155 and 140, and perhaps 135 and 120 too.

Hi mark, thanks for your pointers. The 500fps is a problem still indeed, I'm attacking it from multiple angles. I cannot get a hold of original photo-sonics mechanics, the only one who responded is the president of the company, and he referred me to people who I was already in contact with!

Right now it seems that the mag and sprockets are not perfectly aligned, and the magazine will require some tuning. The magazine and film movement is very rigid, works very differently then the 16mm mags i know. It seems that a part of the loop, after having gone through the gate, is pulling on the film a bit, thus pulling it away from the perfect focal plane because of centrifugal forces on the film at 500fps. I'm not 100% confident that can be fixed with the magazine I have, since I have a earlier 'non-balanced' magazine.

I did a PAM500 test and thought I'd share it with the hive-mind. Not an expert. I'm the guy headbanging.

It looks pretty good except at 500FPS where it loses too much sharpess. working on fixing that. (if anyone has experience...)

Shot on fresh(ish) 500T 2R (bought may 2024 at BHphotovideo)

1 (unbalanced) mag was CLA'd by myself. Did not lube the gate itself except with my greasy fingers.

Camera movement was tested at all speeds. sounded good.

Powered by 2 sequenced 5500mah 14.4v Lipo batteries

Camera was on a heavy tripod with a plate and 1 3/8 screw.

no ND

Canon 8-64mm T2.8 (colimater-tested mid-july)

Cameragate also tested and found sharp on colimater (but a tad bloomy at wide)

On 8/11/2023 at 1:25 PM, Abel van Dijk said:

Thanks a lot for all the detailed feedback! I ended up going for the 4K arri scan, in DPX. Also just out of curiosity. For editing I have pro res 422 proxies. In the grading suite I am going to use the dpx. I am not in post yet, and haven't seen it in the grading suite, but it looks really promising as far as I can tell. 

curious how it turned out! I personally found out that making a prores4444xq (still quite large) helps quite a bit to get down the massive DPX size. There is no (humanly) perceptible loss of quality. 

I'm looking for good solutions to shoot very white-clear-cloud-like smoke. A very good example is this scene from The Tree Of Life. The size of the cloud that I will shoot will be similar, perhaps a tad bigger. I know that in this scene they just blast smoke for quite a while, but it doesnt have to be THAT big, haha.

I think they used a parafine-like smoke gun (an upgraded version?) to do this? I know it's a bit of a FX question really, but I figured perhaps some good gaffers out there can point me the right direction. A direciton to a film-FX related forum is also welcome.

I myself am considering a smaller parafine/gas cannister fogger ór a smoke machine and just chuck 100% glycerine in there.

I would like to have the cloud stay a (think) cloud as long as possible. (say, longer then 5 seconds.. It will dissapate and that is fine, it just need it to hang a little longer then your usual power-tiny smoke. I will shoot in a very moist and mos- covered forest with very little wind (I will wait for the right wind-day).

Would love to hear some thougts!

Just a thought: Perhaps check in with a larger filmlab in your area. They may have minima-spools lying around. If you give em business, I'm sure they would love for you to use their spools.

I think Dirk has the best deals in the NL area, because he offers a whole package. Quite unique and reassuring to have a one stop shop. I have good experience both buying, developing and scanning film with DeJonghe.

Alternatively you could check out camerarentals.nl for 100ft film rolls, or cinefacilities.nl for larger film orders, and go through haghefilm for dev+scan.

I was actually quite curious if by now, about 18ish months since last post in this thread, there have been more developments concerning the FF HDS+ scanner. Has it become steady?

On 12/20/2023 at 2:53 AM, Andrew Price said:

Looking to purchase an Aaton A Minima camera package, DM or email if anyone’s interested in selling or trading

thanks ?

contact Herman at cameramarket.eu

On 2/4/2020 at 12:01 PM, Stephen Perera said:

Presenting my rare......apparently, and peculiar...certainly....Aaton XTR XC for those that have not been bored by me enough......now I can post images again by becoming a sustaining member here she is....I bought it over the XTR Prod cos it has no electronics...I figured the less there are the longer it will work with no problems. Standard 16mm format.

As a Hasselblad photographer I like composing in this format and its looking like its in fashion......I looked into changing to S16 not knowing any better but decided to stay in standard 16 format. 

Apparently this is the camera one would take to the jungle and such like inhospitable parts of earth etc as back up in case the other ones had problems. The extended viewfinder I have (not in image) was owned by Michael Palin's camera guy and its been to the most extreme places on earth too!

what mount is it?

On 9/3/2012 at 2:38 PM, Guest Modesta said:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280867724903?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

 

Does this really work?

page not available anymore, would love to see what that was!

Check DedoWiegertFilm in Germany, they have a couple for sale!

the gopro7 has a removable m12 lensmount. could be an option for both spots.

I use an iphone on my vf of my XTR and it works quite well, using filmic pro legacy. Would recommend giving that a try.
Is it your minima or are you renting?

On 3/15/2023 at 2:21 AM, Boris Kalaidjiev said:

Hi everyone,

I have an upcoming project with the A-Minima and I have two main questions if you guys can help me out. 

1) We are shooting in Malaysia so there isn't a lab here anymore and it's a bit complicated with the core because the camera that we're renting only has about 10-15. That means we might need to re-wind film on to the cores ourselves and after we've shot on them to take the film off and put it on regular 16mm spools. This way i guess we can keep re-using the A-Minima cores and not send them to the lab. 

How difficult is it to do all of this? 

 

2) How bad is the BW Video tap in low light? If for-instance you had to put a 7stops ND (2.1) for outdoors would it be very bad? I am asking because I will mainly be relying on the Video Tap for framing because I wont be able to look through the viewfinder for this shoot.

Is it possible to attach a small camera for instance a GoPro or something to the viewfinder? I have a GoPro that comes originally with a C-Mount, I don't know if that could be of any help. 

 

Thanks a lot!!

Perhaps a firmly attached iphone could do?

David I'd love to get it, I'll send you a DM

Btw your RAF product link might be better then mine, i use a 77mm version. Perhaps the 82 might just clear the 9,5mm. Would love to hear if it does! 

On 4/5/2023 at 12:25 PM, Boris Kalaidjiev said:

Hello, 

Has anyone clipped on NDs on Zeiss Super Speed MKIII (S16). The front lens diameter is 80mm and I am trying to find a solution for small ND filters to clip onto the lens (circular ones). Will 82mm work or do you think it might vignette on the 9.5mm lens from the set? 

I know there is 95mm clamp-on adapter but 95mm filters are also harder to find.

I found this link but not sure if it will works. 

https://rafcamera.com/clamp-80mm-to-m82x0-75f

Thanks, 

Boris 

Hi Boris, 

i sometimes put circular vnd on s16 mk2’s, 9,5mm will vignette a tad. 

i think the only way to have a (v)nd on the 9,5 without vignette, you could use a clamp on mattebox, and remove the hood, like so: https://www.dropbox.com/s/dofkrppz60ppmc8/2023-04-30 12.52.11-1.jpg?dl=0 this is a polar pro with the hood removed. 

i use a RAF camera clamp, for each of my (4) mk2 superspeeds and then I can use 77mm (v)nd’s , with the 9,5 vignetting slightly. Picture of my 25mm with a RAF adapter and attached a 77mm vnd: https://www.dropbox.com/s/uclg5mvgwps1k4c/2023-04-30 12.52.11.jpg?dl=0 i taped the raf adapter for a better fit with my 87mm to mattebox clamp. The clamp i use is a more basic one, i’ve put some tape on the superspeed, you screw down with the adapter on the tape and its pretty tight and snugg on there. 

My only way to have 9,5 not vignette is to not use a raf 77mm clamp adapter, and just clamp a 80mm adapter ring directly to the front of the lens a use a hoodless polarpro mattebox for the nd. the profile and weight are still quite limited with this setup, usable for steadicam/gimbal work. 

polar pro is not THE vnd mattebox i’d recommend probably, there is a bright tangarine out there that does the same but a bit betterc for a similar price. 

curious if these were sold yet!

On 11/2/2022 at 4:45 PM, Niels kakelveld said:

Some time ago I shot a club with pretty dark but varied lighting in Super 8 with my Canon 1014 Electronic Auto Zoom.

The meter was all the way to f1,4 at the dance floor sequences so I am pretty pleased it turned out reasonable.

The blue grain is a bit troublesome though, so I wonder if using 250D and pushing it 1 or two stops would have been better than 500t in this case?

I don't know what club lighting is usually balanced to, tungsten or daylight?

Here is an ungraded sample:

 

So a late reply here but, i’d go 500t without push but get a dpx scan. Push -and i’ve pushed quite a bit- i feel is better if you want to make film feel more like film. 500t can sometimes be just very very beautiful, and clean (when scanned and graded right). 
 

I also did a club-film test setting of sorts, see https://vimeo.com/750146954/ab163375d9 (not a perfect grade btw)

Light-temp i wouldnt worry about, just shoot it, and 500t will give you most. combining it with 1.3 type lenses should just about get you there. 
 

i also recognise the blue noise. That’s a tungsten balance thing bút also something that with the right grade, doesnt really need to be there when treated right. Key (in my mind) is push the blacks a tad, go doooown with the mids and do whatever with the highs.

my 2 cents. 
 

On 12/19/2022 at 12:52 PM, Jonathan Martin said:

Hi!

I have been shooting with a Bolex for years and am now looking for a silent 16 or S16 camera.

My preference would be for an Aaton XTR or LTR, although I could gladly go for another model depending on price and availability.

I'm based in the South of France so looking preferably in France and neighbouring countries, including UK.

Thanks!

Jonathan

not sure if the LTR will be quiet. XTR a bit more so.