JK printer to be discontinued :(

[Timothy Jones]

First post here...I've never exposed a frame of film, so go easy on me!

 

Anyway, I just noticed that JK's website says "For this item no new orders are

accepted at current time":

 

http://www.jkcamera.com/

 

I emailed him, and he says he's considering making one more batch, but only if there's enough interest. I was really excited to get one, since I'm so enamored with Pat O'Neill, Jordan Belson, et al. and their amazing optical printer work.

 

SO...I hope nobody minds if I bring up this (seems like a taboo subject almost) but is there an alternative? There are definitely other single-frame motors for the Bolex, and I think that a mini-lathe, and an xy-table plus some off-the-shelf optical mounts could substitute for the camera and lens motions, but what about the projector? I think that JKs are pin-registered and quite steady, but the Bolex is not so perhaps that's overkill. I almost wonder if I could just get a second Bolex, and make or modify a pressure pad so it has a mirror behind the gate, and use it as the projector?

 

It would have to be a lot less bright, since the condenser lens for the lamp would be farther from the film plane, but I think there's just barely enough space in the Bolex to make it possible.

[Shawn Gallagher]

Very interesting idea making a second Bolex into the projector, but I've noticed steadiness problems with the Bolex as well, and especially when shooting single frame (I'm using a Tobin TTL motor with mine). My suggestion would be why not use a mitchell instead, although I don't have nearly enough technical expertise to attempt a conversion like that I am really interested to hear what you think.

 

I wanted to make an aerial image projector using a JK projector and was saddened as well to see that they are no longer accepting orders. Are there any other projectors that will do single frame advancement? I tried my EIKI's "single frame" feature and it would run in 2-3 frame bursts, not very exact.