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K3 quesions


zanardi

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I on the fringes of buying a k3 and was wondering what they are actually made of, the images i see off ebay and general seem to show that they are built of plastic, something that i personally am not keen to shell out cash for, and since i'm fairly new ot 16mm, i thought i get even further out of my depth and ask what an arri bayo mount can offer, i imagine arri sr lenses or something like that, and what is the benefit of a pl mount, what lenses does it offer?

 

thx

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Guest 3ldfilms

The K-3 is solid metal...it's like an old russian artilary shell.

 

It has an M42 screwmount...the old kind used on almost every brand of 35mm still cameras before everyone got greedy and started making proprietary lenses.

 

You can get a PL mount added for like $500...but that's twice the price of the camera...and odds are if you can afford PL glass then you will probably want some more modern features.

 

That said...the K-3 can't be beat for size and price. I've got one with a crystal motor and arri standard mount and it's great for guerrila handheld work.

 

But for $200, you're not going to find a better camera. Hands down.

 

And frankly, if you buy it, use it, and don't like it...then you can sell it for what you paid for it (excluding shipping).

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Guest 3ldfilms

That video was shot with a mix of K-3 and a DVX100...all of the raw footage was shot on K-3 and projected and then the scenes in which you saw the projections were shot on DV. The look was largely defined in the transfer room...we had a really good colorist.

 

Any camera can look good if you embrace its faults and have some time/money to play with it in post. I'm a big fan of the K-3...just don't expect it to look like at SR2 with Zeiss primes.

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I've read that the k-3 can only take daylight spools, can someone explain the full ramifications of this, since i'm not completely sure of the what that means, no tungsten film? no nifght shooting etc etc

All 100' reels are daylight spools, they are just black metal spools with solid sides so light can't get onto the edges of the rolled film. But just because they say "daylight load" doesn't mean you should... anything faster than Kodachrome (including almost all negative stock) should always be loaded in a changing bag or in complete darkness. Its like in the marines when they blindfold you and you have to assemble your M-16 without looking.

 

It has nothing to do with the tungsten or daylight film... you can use any Motion Picture camera film in 100' loads that Kodak or Fuji makes and its alot of fun trying different stocks.

 

As everyone has said, K-3's are build like tanks. The cheap fake vynyl-like outer covering can start to come up, but the cameras are pretty solid. Remember, experiment and shoot test reels to make sure you're getting the results you want before you do a major shoot. Its a good idea to have your $200 K-3 checked out by a tech and even upgraded to S-16 (maybe another $250) before you spend all that money on film. Remember, by the time you buy, process and transfer 16mm, $300 might only get you 4 or 5 100' reels.

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thank you all of you for your responses and the speed of them, just another question, what is the variable speeds on a k-3, and with an arri bayo mount what selection of lenses might i be able to use as an example?

 

thx

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thank you all of you for your responses and the speed of them, just another question, what is the variable speeds on a k-3, and with an arri bayo mount what selection of lenses might i be able to use as an example?

 

thx

Speed is variable from 8 - 48 fps. It actually might go a little higher than 48 but it sounds like it might explode at 48fps. Very loud. At 48fps the slow-mo effect is very cool. If you're used to video slow-mo you'll be impressed by a real film slow-motion effect. Looks very fluid.

 

If you don't already have arri lenses then don't bother with it. They can be very expensive and if you're new to film, it might be money better spent on actual film and processing for learning purposes. There are some great M42 lenses out there on eBay pretty cheap. The lens that comes with the camera can be really good too, although I find it a little hard to focus with.

 

Once you get used to the camera you can always upgrade it if you need to.

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Last question thanks for the replies, is there anywhere that you can get k-3 mags, or get the loader enlarger etc like a special modification shop, because i would really prefer a larger anyone know of anywhere i know of the k-2 or k-1 mags but no k-3?

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Guest Ian Marks

Yeah... adding an Arri mount might be technically feasible, but the cost of the modification alone would be more than the camera, and so would the cost of most high-quality lenses in an Arri mount. There are many inexpensive still camera lenses in the "Pentax Screw" or "M42" mount (two ways of describing the same mount) that will go right on your K3 and work just fine. Of these, the Multi-Coated Takumars are probably the best. Look for a 24mm or 28mm to use as your "normal" lens, and a 50mm to be a sharp, fast telephoto (great for head and shoulders shots and close ups). For a wide angle, your choices are somewhat limited, but the 8mm Peleng is one way to go.

 

As for adding a larger magazine to the camera, it's not going to happen. You're better off enjoying the camera for what it is. . . a compact, reflex, wind-up bargain.

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For a wide angle, your choices are somewhat limited, but the 8mm Peleng is one way to go.

The 16mm Zenit is a good lens and it covers the S16 area if you have that mod. There is little edge distortion with this lens on a K3, compared to the Peleng where its pretty noticable (curved edges). But the Peleng is fun too.

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I have used a special thin based polyester base filmstock made by Ilford, it would fit 200ft on a standard 16mm daylight spool. So that is twice as much film as normal. Sadly, I don't think Ilford makes this filmstock anymore. It was their SFX emulsion on polyester base. May have been special order anyway. I'm sure there is a way to modify the camera to hold a mag on the back but the cost to do it would probably be more then the camera itself.

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