Eric Eader

Monty, Measure the outside diameter and compare that with push-on filter holders by Kodak, Tiffen, or Harrison and use the series filter closest to the lens size. There a million Harrison push-ons available on eBay. A brass or aluminum push-on mated to the back side or your mattebox (like cokin fits for their plastic square filter contraption) would allow for mattebox and pro size square, round, or rectangular filters, in addition to focus movement in and out. Many lenses for 16mm format did not have threads so push-ons ruled the day for every lens on the camera. ( Three 85B's, 85N6, 85N9 for wide. normal, & tele lenses... lenshoods? fuggit about it!!) If that fails, then ask your LA rental house whom they use for machine work. I went to Clairmont's back in the 80's for something, but stuff they were doing for "Batman" overloaded them, so they referred me to someone off LaCieniga (spelling?), Blvd. He did a great job for me but I don't remember his name, or know if his shop still exists. If this is not the right answer, then hopefully it will put you onto the right direction.

Allow me to add my two cents worth. As entertainment, it is wonderful. I've read a great many books on early Hollywood, (including Babylon), also lived and worked there, so am familiar with many of the stories as alluded to in the film. It was nice to see their take/spin on them ----- jazz riffs if you will. At the same time, in the back of my mind, I remember that censorship and/or good taste imposed a limit on how much a story could be illustrated, as contrasted with actual events, which were much wilder, more raw, and reprehensible (for some folks). Look at all the talent that went into making the original movies, and look around and see how a great many of them fell from grace, ran out of money (for whatever reason), were murdered or died otherwise tragic deaths. Babylon, the movie, stands as a parable, a warning that then as now, Hollywood may chew you up and spit you out (for any reason), or if you are very lucky, diligent, or not, you may succeed financially but don't dwell too much on the personal cost. And for some it actually is a fairy-tale come true. And that is why so many people still flock to Hollywood. Now, darn it, that doesn't answer the OP's question, but I had to say something good for a movie I did enjoy.

Michalis, You don't indicate whether it is film or digital. The 16mm/S16mm Aaton XTR Prod has the ability to phase/sync the TV screen with the action around it. Not having done it, it is my understanding, that with digital there has to be a cable (maybe wireless) sync to the camera meaning that camera must be able to adjust itself to the TV signal. Genlock is possibly involved. Hopefully others will respond with more detailed recommendations. Hope this tidbit helps.

Carlos, You're welcome. It just popped into my head that Panavision made a version of the "Obie Light" that was in a long rectangular box about the size of a lowell tota-light camera mounted in front of the magazine. It had rollers that dimmed the light. If I remember correctly, the rollers were painted from black to white used as an eyelight. I guess it was powered by the camera battery, but it may have had an AC line running to it. All the details are fuzzy now. Another avenue to explore.

Carlos, The "old school" way used colortran mini-pro 650's with a 30volt lamp and battery belt. Same with lowel omni lights. (30 volt lamp and belt). Both lights were open faced and focused by moving a lever positioning the globe closer to, or farther away from the reflector. Barn doors were sometimes used and one could cloths-pin a gel (frost, diffusion or color temp). to them. Frezzolini sold a small instrument not much bigger than a 30volt globe outfitted with a frost lens that ran off 14v (approximately), powered by the camera's battery. They were quite popular but did drain camera batteries more quickly. Lighting objects farther away were problematic with frezzi's but were convenient. All the above used a 5/8 inch "baby" spud. A cameraman from KCBS designed and marketed (at least locally in LA) the male spud bracket which fit cameras most in use then to the other stations there. (Or so I was told). DedoLights were so expensive to purchase and the battery/AC power converter was as awkward as an HMI ballast, that no one (in news) used them, BUT, they were/are a very nice light. LED's are after my time, but I suspect checking online for most popular LED manufacturers you may find some make a product that is the tungsten replacement. (Tiffen/Lowell to start). In SoCal check with Amnon at BandPro as he used to supply TV News with equipment in his early days. Alan Gordon Enterprises may still have the old stuff ---- but they have made at least one location move since the old days and the "old school" stuff may be long gone. Birns & Sawyer also, but they have moved around a lot as well. One tip: Tilting those 30v heads up toward the sky will dim the light hitting subjects close to camera and balance with your background. If it comes down to it, call a local TV news station and ask their head cameraman where they get the lights they use on camera. That more than anything might help you... hope so anyway.

Joerg, Thank you for the info!! The 35mm list confirmed seller's photos relative to filter type. Now is there anyone who can point me toward a pamphlet or book that shows "Spectrophotometric Absorption Curves" of Arri B&W filters? Kodak (Wratten), Harrison, and Agfa published curves for their filters, so maybe Arri did this as well? It turns out that my little Agfa book was published in Soviet Occupied Germany (1954), and although I don't speak or read German, internet translation gets me close to understanding what was written, and the charts are definitely understandable. Thanks again, Joerg.

Hello, Is there a list somewhere (downloadable) that outlines Arri filter nomenclature so I can tell filters meant for B&W film from color film? Agfa, Wratten, Tiffen, Nikon, and Harrison published charts listing their filters, but I could not with several internet searches find such a list for Arriflex filters. Arri didn't mark their glass. Technically, not even the box either, except for hand lettering. I don't want to buy a filter meant for color film, just B&W film. (Also, a comparison like the old Wratten graphs indicating "extinction and transmission"? That would be a nice bonus). A list or an explanation would be very helpful. Thank you in advance, Eric

Hello, portabrace makes lots of bags. One may work for you.

The above isn't meant as a slam against the other respondents just a remembrance of some good people no longer living.

Don, Your clip reminds me of a projector jumping film splices while viewing edited product. (how often does film get projected these days??) That leads me to believe that your 400' mag is outrunning the camera speed and pulling the film through the gate un-clawed (as it were), inducing slippage non-stop, rather than intermittent movement when properly clawed. Because the camera, you indicate, works normally without the added mag, the fault may be with the mag take-up. That doesn't eliminate a fault in the camera, (it takes two to tango), but mag tension makes it visible. If you have a digital high-speed-capable camera, load your rig up with the biggest "dummy load" you can scrounge and leave the door off the side of the filmo and shoot some HS footage. Shoot without the mag as well for "normal" and study the difference. It will help the tech when you send it out for service. Maybe????? My two and a half cents worth from someone who used several filmos, including my personal one, (though none with 400' capability), many, many years ago. We had the Arri S with big mag mostly for sports. No primes, just Ang 12-120. I feel certain that 60 yrs. ago this problem would have been instantly recognized and solved, but, I guess most of those guys are gone now. Hope my comments help.

My experience with carbon arc is limited to follow spot use in a theatre setting; but, let me tell you it is unique. The light is brilliant, sharp, hard, crisp, and very crystal clean. It has a wrapping quality to it, but with a quick fall-off to shadow on the unlit side. Vilmos Zsigmond shot some scenes from "Cinderella Liberty" at our local train station in which he utilized Carbon arcs. It was a perfect example of taking existing afternoon light and boosting it for (artistic) exposure. (He used 9-lights behind tracing paper to crosslight through windows in the walkway leading down to the train). As my reporter and I had to go to a story we could only spend about 15 minutes or so observing. It was enough time to note the smoke, and some noise generated by the arcs, and verify that it required a person standing by to trim the arc rods and be ready to change them. So, while whatever problems HMI's have, they are more convenient... but they do not project the quality of light that a Carbon Arc does. Not even close. They just do not move through the air and cause it to vibrate the way an arc does. (And put it on the screen to be seen). Mole Richardson youtube Carbon arc videos give a hint of what I mean. Since someone is trying to resurrect the dodo bird, maybe interest in arcs could be rekindled, but like a movie theater dedicated to reruns a decade ago found out, good rods are hard to find. (Bad ones sputter and flicker abominably). Arcs consume a lot of power also. My two cents worth. A final thought, hooray for the fresnel lens!!

Marcos, In both photos, the foreground is slightly brighter than the background. The color shot is both softer in light, and more subtle with its increased light intensity. In the B&W production shot, the actors are in a backlight (3/4 side light) with ample soft fill, (Natural or artificial). The building and shoppers are in shadow but not excessively dark. Probably light colored buildings off to camera right providing soft fill light naturally. Also the light colored clothing has a way of grabbing our eye.... Her hair and his face brightly sunlit. We look to where the camera is focused. BG soft-focus falls-off quite quickly with wider f stop in color pic. Light what you want the audience to see, let the rest go. (To a point!!). You do need a good if not nice composition. Check out "Report to the Commissioner" and "Across 110th Street" for hard edge gritty color film work and "Kramer vs. Kramer" for softer color work. A lot of priceless (pun intended), Black and White film noir is available online for instructive free viewing as well. The ones you really like, buy the DVD!! Lastly, check out "Tar;" A stunning story with soft digital color palette, unconventional camera placement at times, all integrated to tell that story. Go to the ASC site and watch the video with the Director and Cinematographer (of "Tar)." (Reminded me of "Kramer vs Kramer" in some ways). That should get you started. Hope this helps.

Hello, It's possible that in converting to PL mount, Flange Focal Distance differences caused a change in focal length. (I am not a tech). So, as I remember, and not having looked on the internet, many TV news type lenses were 9mm wide focal length to whatever varying "long" focal length. They had zoom boxes on the right for hand holding and for cables to be plugged in for on-the-tripod head handle operation. Not all Canon Zoom lenses had 2X extenders but that box on the left would have been been put there by Canon if it started out in life as a 2X type. Look for screw holes on the right underside of the collar to indicate missing zoom-iris box. Try looking for lenses to fit Sony 5, 7, or so models. Or earlier Ikegami 77-79 etc. NBC used Panasonic cameras, but I don't remember models. Those were News cameras utilized by Network and Network owned and operated stations, and (Independent stations in Los Angeles), of that period. Like I said, many were 9mm at the short end (with max aperture of f1.9), and some camera persons, but not all, would add on a Century wide angle adaptor for hall way "gangbangs" (ex. ganging up on attorneys or defendants leaving courtrooms), or adding telephoto extensions when a plane crash or crime scene was too far away for in-camera 2X to give a meaningful picture. (Not done by everyone as this was an out of pocket expense). (Would occasionally shake like hell in a moderate Southern California ocean breeze). The more I look at that picture of the lens the more I think it is a Fuji lens (they were green ringed and had that rubber focus grip (reminding me of my Triumph Bonney 750 motorcycle throttle and brake grips). (Add in the apparent differences in black finish color etc.). But that may be old age senility creeping in. Fuji had 2X as well so I don't see the need to make a Canon Extender fit a Fuji lens. Our Canon lenses had white lettering all over, but if it is a later model, it may have been changed to yellow. Reason and logic caution that I am simply misremembering. Well, as the King of Siam said to Anna, (in the King and I), "Tis a puzzlement." The techs can speak to specs, but given the inherent softness of TV at that era/timeframe, your lens may give very crisp images with a nice "bokeh" and a working "macro" should make for quick convenient close-ups of some objects. While Canon (and Fuji), made wider zooms, 9mm wide was about the widest available (for News) with a necessary longer end, Too long at the wide end (above 9mm) just failed in cramped spaces, which were more the norm than not. Too long at the long end meant handholding became very shaky; but working off a tripod meant missing fast happening events. More than one person was "invited" to go back home for failing to understand this, or those that stayed got off the tripod pronto. (Press conferences and limited access venues (a U.S. President's speech) being the exception to off-the-tripod operating). To recap, look for 9mm wide (x12) f1.9 with 2X extender lenses as a base; usually Canon or Fuji. Nikon simply wasn't used in the LA market. If I rambled, sorry, but I hope this helps.

Shades of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." LOL

Hello, To my eye that looks like a 1970's - '90's era broadcast video lens minus the right handheld zoom - iris control box. I never had any reason to be aware of sensor size, so, other than standard broadcast size, I can't tell about S16 or regular 16mm coverage. The lever on the left (or bottom of picture), side appears to be a focal length doubler, making it a 20-320mm f4'ish lens. Behind that (closer to the mount), is what appears to be a macro lever that is continuous throughout the entire zoom range, affording some nice close-ups at any zoom setting. The lens techs and actual users of TV lenses converted to film use can better respond to coverages and resolution factors. One thing on the technical side I can comment on is that the aperture is not constant throughout the entire zoom range, but with our camera's auto-iris, adjustment was automatic, or if on manual, one hit momentary and it adjusted to the scene. It became really obvious in low light situations where the iris could not open any wider. I've never done this with a zoom lens, but as with still photo lenses, place the lens on something to keep it from rolling away from you looking through a window in a darkened room and move a small white index card close enough to allow an infinity focused image to come into focus. Measure and diagram the resulting image circle. From this one can determine if the possibility of 16mm and S16mm frames fitting inside the circle. That may not guarantee mechanical success, but at least will indicate theoretical optical success or failure. As I come to the end of this response, it occurs to me that if someone went to the trouble of fitting a PL mount to this lens then it will at least fit 16mm. Unless it doesn't and is just a "Frankenstein." Hope this helps.

Sorry, I hit a wrong key. Found: Purple/Violet Green Pink Magenta Yellow/Gold Yellow Green (Bright) All in Rectangular and Circular Table sizes. These are not Motion Picture fabrics, but if you are on a budget and need softlight or color accents and haven't the proper gel color on hand, but you need something quick, and there is a Dollar Tree close by, then these will work. Each is made of plastic and is six or eight feet in longest dimension and is only $1.25 per item. Only thing better is free but how often does that happen?

Hello, First off, I have no connection whatsoever with Dollar Tree, except to occasionally shop there for cheap snacks, or drinking glasses, etc. On the wall I saw several more colored table cloths, to wit:

Uli, I have silently admired your "home movies" and appreciate that you still use film. As you know, with the Arri's viewfinder at the rear of the camera it means that it hangs/is supported in space out in front of you. And, the motor juts out below. That is a big problem, the one you're trying to solve, and, short of the kind of rig Haskell Wexler developed for his Eclair there isn't much to recommend. (There have been evolutions of that, since his rig). Back in the day I filmed news with an Auricon Pro600, with Som-Berthiou Zoom Lens, amplifier and battery. We used a rig called a Leo Pod which consisted of a wide plastic band around the waist fastened with a car/airline seatbelt. An arm bolted to the shoulder plastic and extended out to another arm that lowered, but would not extend upward for above the head shots. It was not a good solution. But it may form a starting point for fertile imagination. That Auricon was put to pasture with the coming of the CP-16. (But it was the quietest camera I ever used including Panaflex). There were also other rigs (I've forgotten names), that were two arms, one resting on the shoulder and the other centered in the gut that held the camera out in space, but because of the 2C motor that may position the eyepiece too high. Without using Steadicam, to hold any of the cameras that are not resting on the shoulder, one needs to learn a funny way of walking keeping the hips and shoulders from causing any obnoxious camera movement. Rising and lowering and standing still are not easy but can be learned. Breathing and filming and keeping the camera motionless is something else one must keep in mind. These are skills that appear to be lost except at the highest level of camera operating. Those shoulder rigs made today featuring double handles out in front mean a lone operator cannot zoom or follow focus; someone else has to do it for him/her. I'm fairly certain that you as "a home movie" person will not have a 1st AC. That would be two family members always missing from the shots, LOL. As a professional, I'm sure you have seen most, if not all, of the rigs used to support and move cameras and know just how complicated and marvelous they really are. You've got a real problem to solve, and I hope you do. There may be some money in it for you!! If this is for personal projects, much like a pro musician, spend more time practicing with your camera. With all of your other obligations this is easier said than done, but nothing extra added to complicate things. Respectfully, Eric

Hello, Just fabricate and bolt a slightly bigger shelf to fit the undersized shelf. Or: Bolt a lip to the outside rails (on two sides), just large enough to hold the case but leave the inside of the shelf available for use. The lip looking like one arm of a swastika (from the side), with a block near the center to prevent the case from sliding and the other side just a side extension to form a slightly deeper shelf. In 1985, on my vacation to London, I took a really long Tube and Bus ride out to Samualson's and they were very nice giving me a tour of the place. At Christmas time that year, they even sent me the thin green manual like Mark Dunn describes. It has somehow gotten away from me, but I still have the bigger "hands on" Manual. Agree that it is a bummer the cart shelf is short by so little. Good luck.

Garland, The cheapest product I've seen, while not exactly Grid cloth, is a White Plastic Table Cover 54"x108" (40.5 sq.ft) for a WHOPPING $1.25 plus tax at Dollar General. It even comes in circular for round tables!! Wait, there's more: it's also sold in black, red, and blue!! Find it in the party favors section. Not a Motion Picture Fabric, but cheap, and it will diffuse your light. Test for color shift/rendition before using on a project. Fabric stores can also be a quick and not as cheap anymore, (but what is?), source of "git'er done now," diffusion fabrics. Hope this helps.

Michal, If you anticipate doing this a lot, and not just as a onetime thing, then consider renting or purchasing combined 85N3, 85N6, 85N9, filters in a series 8 or series 9 utilizing step-up rings from your 58mm lens size. 85N3 = 1and2/3 stops 85N6 = 2 and 2/3 stops 85N9 = 3 and 2/3 stops (The Orange correction is combined with Neutral Density to make one filter). Eliminates stacking problems outlined above. Tiffen Filters is a starting point. Since you are in London, that might not be as easy to do as in the USA, though. But for long term film shooting it is much more convenient than stacking.

Turns out that while the interior of the Hindenburg was filled with Hydrogen, the exterior was painted with their favorite rocket fuel. It was less degraded by elements it faced day and night. That is what ignited when sparked by static electricity. I haven't a clue as to whether or not Hydrogen burns, but for damn sure rocket fuel will burn. Some PBS documentary I watched many years ago indicated that the color of the fire as witnessed by spectators matched that of RF ingredients and was confirmed when original specifications long buried and forgotten revealed the ingredients of the painted outer surface. It took many years before this was confirmed. But, a quick internet check of something I thought of, shows that this is still a controversial subject and may not satisfy everyone.

Johanon, Back when I was a Marine Corps Motion Picture camaraman, I lusted after this lens! I had occasion to film bombing runs at a range on Camp Pendleton with a CP-16 and a 10 to 150 Angenieux lens. Since it wouldn't be healthy to be in the valley they were bombing, I filmed from afar and higher up looking down on the action. Man, I wanted closer shots but 150mm couldn't cut it, and the expense was too great for our unit's small budget allowance. (Cinema Products was close by, and were very encouraging to this young Marine), but taxpayers escaped satisfying my desires. Post Marine Corps, found me buying a used one for stills photography. I found it worked best from a tripod. The lens is bulky and it is full frame. The aperture is not constant for the long end. With less than full frame (24x36mm), there will be substantial flare. The length and bulk will require lens support. Motorizing zoom and attaching follow focus will be a small problem: availability of gears; and, remember, focusing on Nikon lenses goes the opposite way to normal stills and cinema lenses. Sometimes focus will drift with certain variable zoom conditions... sometimes you're lucky, sometimes you're not. An aiS version should be as good as it gets performance wise, but, on say 16mm formats, inherent magnification may enhance deficiencies of focusing and steadiness (solidity of mounting). If you can get one cheaply, find an adapter for your camera, and build lens support, for certain types of shots (longer end variable prime), it can work. One other thing comes to mind, at the end: with it being a stills lens, zooming smoothly, especially manually, may be spotty. (gearing and lube design difference). Others with more experience can state the pros and cons and what cine lens would be a better choice. Back in the day Alan Gordon Enterprises had a Tamaha 50-500mm cine zoom lens (35mm format), they were hot to place with our El Toro unit, but that expense was several orders of magnitude costlier!! Today may be different. Hope this helps, Eric

Niels, Angenieux is located in France, and while they may no longer support the vintage lens you have, they most probably have a list of people who do still work on that lens. It surely won't hurt to contact them. Eric

Adrian, The last time I tried to smell perfume underwater didn't go well for me.