Herb Montes

Thanks for understanding. I know most here do this for a living. I don't. I shoot film because I love it and I just don't feel the same kind of magic with video. I don't know, I'm just that way, an old fart who loves to tinker with obsolete technology.

Thanks for the advice but I'm stubborn about this. Video no, film yes.

Never having seen a picture of anyone actually using a Kinor it looked like a camera that would sit on your shoulder. I like the NPR and the ACL. I have heard the NPR is easy to hold for long periods of time much more so with the ACL. And a quick change mag would have been helpful in this instance. I would like to have done some filming in an indoor pavilion where some of the ceremonies were being held. A second mag with more sensitive film like a 200 asa stock would have been great to use at that point. There was some sunlight coming through skylights so it would not have to be tungsten balanced film. A CP-16 would be a second choice since it does have a larger profile but I do see them on eBay at times. Though for an investment like that I would rather buy from a reputable dealer/owner rather than that crapshoot that eBay is. I'll keep an eye on the classifieds section here since I have seen some good deals lately. Thanks for the advice.

I went to the Houston Highland Games and Celtic Festival this past Saturday and filmed much of the events with my Bolex H16 M4. I used the Pan Cinor zoom with the reflex finder. I shot on Kodak 7245 50D color negative. Got it from Raw Stock in New York for $.016 a foot. I purchased two 400 foot rolls but because of time I had to spool down one roll to daylight spools myself. I shot 400 feet of film that day and got the main shot, the grand parade of the clans with the U.S. Army color guard leading the way. Bagpipe and drum groups creating a din that could awaken D.W. Griffith. Quite an experience. I did learn some hard lessons that day. Most of my gear is set up for animation. I thought simply putting a pistol grip on my Bolex and shooting 100 foot rolls was good enough. But after holding and carrying around the Bolex my arms were tired. What I really needed was a shoulder supported camera. And having to change out rolls or winding the camera between shots got tedious. I was recording background sounds to add to the final video with a small digital recorder. I had a clip-on mike but would have preferred a shotgun mike. The person who was to assist me came down with a stomach ailment so I was on my own. I came to the decision if I was going to document more of these local events I would need a camera more suited for this kind of filming: electric powered, 400 foot capacity, shoulder mounted, and silent for sync sound filming. My list of candidates comes down to these models: CP-16 Eclair NPR Eclair ACL Kinor 16SX-2M So I throw this discussion open to those of you with experience with these cameras as to what would be a good one to invest in. Thank you.

The standard tripod thread socket for American cameras is 1/4"-20. There are cameras, especially heavy ones that use a larger tripod thread: 3/8"-16. They make an adapter to fit cameras with a 3/8"-16 thread to 1/4"-20. It's a threaded sleeve that screws into the tripod socket on the camera.

I had a Singer once. Ate film like it was spaghetti. Go with a Kodak Pageant. When I worked at the University of Texas film library many years ago they used noting but Pageants because of their reliability. I ran hours of film on campus without a jam or film breaking. I own two Pageants now.

Sorry about that. I don't know if I can edit to remove the email address.

I have such a device I bought off eBay. It's a large handcrank you install in place of the winding key. It can also allow you to handcrank the K3 like a silent-era camera. I don't know if the seller has offered anymore but I can try to find his email address. Edit: The seller was a Luke Pendergast in Australia. Here is his email address: hluke@ncable.net.au

Contact this guy, he might sell you a replacement "pellicle" which is what it's called: http://www.webodoctor.co.uk/

Sorry, I haven't had much of a chance lately. Will try to get something sketched this week. Been so busy with other art projects including trying to launch a web comic and developing designs for an animated short.

Not having taken apart one of these I'm going to guess the camera uses a speed govenor. You'll have to keep that intact and duplicate the torque of the spring drive with the electric one. The Bolex uses a similar setup with the EM motor. I don't know if the camera can be made Super 16 because of the pelicle. You might want to ask a Pathe expert like this one if it can be done: http://www.webodoctor.co.uk/index.htm

I have also bought film from them in the past. It took almost a month to get it. Now I get my shortends from Media Distributors and I get it in less than a week.

I have a Pathe Webo Super 16 like yours. And I have a manual in English. The lever on the front is for the variable shutter. The viewfinder on the bottom is the reflex one, it looks through the lens for accurate framing and focusing. There a small lever below this to close the viewfinder when not looking through it to prevent fogging the film when using the upper viewfinder. Much like the viewfinder shutter on a Bolex Rex. The upper viewfinder is for filming since the lower one gets pretty dim with the lens closed down. The camera will backwind for multiple exposures. The shutter on the top can be set for continuous run, locking the run button on or off, and single frame.

I have a K2 in my collection. It can't use the 100' daylight spools like the K3. Instead it uses preloaded 100' magazines you load yourself with 16mm film on a core. It uses special magazines, not the Kodak kind. This makes the camera a little smaller than the K3. My K2 has a bayonet mount for the zoom lens and has the same functions as the K3. The K1 which is not as common is similar to the K2 but has a prime lens instead of a zoom.

I have an A-9, it doesn't take a cable release but it does single frame.

I purchased a Rex4 that had been modified to take the 400 foot magazine. This was done in Germany where the original owner had it done before I bought it.

Instead of welding I was going to use the existing bolt holes when you remove the round mount. I was going to bolt a plate onto the carriage and then brackets to hold another plate away from the carriage. I was going to mount the camera to that plate so the top of the camera is toward the column. I can work up a simple sketch in my CAD program and post it to show you what I mean. I've seen those tape down registration pegs before. They were used in the printing industry to hold separation negatives in register when burning printing plates. They fit the holes made by your standard office hole punch. Right now I use tape down Acme pegbars to hold my Acme punched animation paper. I also used to make my own registration system with screw down metal pegs and an paper punched with an office punch. I can also post a picture of a simple animation stand I made from a small photo enlarger. It will only hold 8mm cameras and lightweight 16mm models.

The camera mount fits into that large round socket. I bought another carriage from a person on eBay selling parts of an MP-4. I wanted to build a support for my Bolex using the carriage base itself. The round part can be removed. It's a matter of pulling the carriage off the top of the column to get to the screws underneath. I was going to bolt a plate to the carriage with brackets to hold a mounting plate for my Bolex. As it is now the universal camera mount is a bit weak to hold the heavy Bolex. I'll see about taking a picture of the mount I have so you can see what it looks like. You might be able to strip down the Polaroid camera to get the mount off of it.

The Bell and Howell Filmo is a good sturdy camera and produces good pictures. They and their 35mm brother the Eyemo produced much of the World War 2 battle footage seen today. There are many around and are a good camera to get started with. A good second choice is the Bolex. The non-reflex models are a good buy along with the early reflex models. Other good 16mm choices include the Kodak K100 and the later Bell and Howell model 240.

What kind of mount do you have on the carriage now? Did it come with one?

I have considered doing this myself. I thought of using the front turret from a non-reflex H16 in place of the one on the H8 since the mounting holes look the same. I have two H8s to work with but haven't gotten around to getting an H16 yet. Though I may consider using the front from my M4 as an experiment.

This is a shoulder brace made for video cameras I got off eBay. I adapted it for my Bolex though I had to adjust the reflex finder to come off the side to reach my eye.

In my early teens I was shooting my first animation experiments in Regular 8mm and Super 8mm. My first 16mm camera was a Bell & Howell 240 single lens model. It could single frame but wasn't relfex. I was able to line it up on my copystand by shining a light through the film gate and lens. Also the lens was a fixed focus so I made it focus closer with a simple paper shim. Much later I replaced it with my first Bolex, also a non-reflex. I owned a Beaulieu for a while but it had a tendency to lose its loop. I also have two ancient Kodak Cine Specials. Bolexes are still my favorite though and I own several.

This web page shows how two Bolexes are coupled together for 3D stereo filmmaking. Timing belts and pulleys are used. Something similar can be used for your setup. http://www.sci.fi/~animato/3d/3d2.html This way you can use a single motor drive.

How are you coupling the cameras to keep them in sync with each other?