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My beloved LTR54


Mitch Gross

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Well I have not used her in over a year, and now that I work at Abel and have

access to a brand new Xtera it doesn't make sense to own her anymore. After

a dozen years itis time to part ways. I am open to offers, and this is

probably the nicest, most complete & tricked out Aaton LTR54 package around. The

description may be long-winded, but she's my baby. Note that with all the

accessories, the camera can mount and power them all at the same time, even for

handheld use. Everything packs neatlyinto six

fitted shipping cases.

 

- LTR54 body serial# circa 1210. One of the last of the LTRs. The camera

was recently overhauled at Abel in NY and has only had a bit of test film run

through it since. She has a brand new claw (runs whisper quiet), factory

Super-16 black gate and internal lightmeter (with switch to deactivate). The camera

is in Aaton mount. I have a handle-mounted B&W NTSC videotap with removeable

optic for switching between S-16 and regular 16mm (I'll include the old handle

and prism). There's a custom breakout box in the handle to split the video feed

for on-board monitor and external feed. There's also a custom mount with Noga

(aka Israeli) arm for the onboard monitor. That on-board is a Panasonic 7"

with custom cable to power off the camera and custom arm to undersling the

monitor(good in tight spaces like cars). The tap also powers off the camera or

from a block with a spare cable. The camera sports a custom frontrod mount that

takes screw-in rods like the later XTRs -- a very nice mod after years of

struggling with square-rod adapters. I replaced themirror a few years back and

had some new circuitry put into the motor. All service has been performed by

Abel NY for the past 12 years (the file is an inch thick with all my mods and

constant tweaking) and I am the second owner.

 

- Three mags, all converted to S-16 by Abel. This is not just the rollers

but also the more complicated flipping of the feed pass through and new guide

rails on the gate channel.

 

- Standard eyepiece, extension eyepiece and the rare left-eye eyepiece which

is heaven for handheld even to some right eye operators. All cover Super-16

and the viewfinder rotates the full 360 degrees.

 

- Four 16v batteries, although one seems to have gone south on me. The

others are in okay shape. For a charger I have the Abel Ax3 3-port charger which

can charge a battery in under an hour.

 

- Left & right handgrips (left is bicycle style and right is classic Aaton

walnut) with a double-rod coupler and two handgrip drop-down couplers (great for

getting the handgrip just where you find it comfortable). There are four

handgrip L2-L2 cables that I accumulated over the years. I also have a variety

of frontrods that screw into one another. The main ones are 6.5" with 2"

extensions, but I also have another set of 6.5" with 4" extensions (great for

really telephoto lenses) and a set of 3".

 

- 2-sided Chrosziel followfocus with extension post, 14" whip and spare

marking disc.

 

- Chrosziel Super-16 mattebox with 4x5.65 tray, 4x4 tray & 138mm screw-in

tray. Also has spare 4x4 tray to fit 4x5.65 slot and a 4.5" screw-in adaptor for

the 138mm tray. Rear bellows is 100mm with donuts that cover all my lenses

(95mm, 80mm, 75mm & 70mm). Front housing has the internal bellows and an

eyebrow (incorrectly called a French Flag by Chroszeil) that folds in half for easy

storage.

 

- Media Logic precision crystal speed control.

 

- Modulus 3000 video transmitter with spare custom cables.

 

- Casio 3" LCD TV handheld monitor.

 

- Custom leather barney and rain cover (built for an Aaton 35-3 but works

great for my camera with zoom.

 

Which leaves the glass. Everything covers Super-16.

- Canon 8-64 T2.5 zoom with Chroszeil fluid zoom dampner & two zoom sticks

(long & short).

- Optar Illumina set in Arri bayo mount. 9.5, 12, 16 & 25, all T1.3. A

lovely matched set that I prefer over Zeiss SuperSpeeds.

- Zeiss Contax converted lenses in Aaton mount. 35, 50, 85 & 135, all T1.4

except the 135 which is T2.1. All have focus rings added to them plus some

focus scales and they intercut well with the Canon & Optars.

- Kinoptik 5.7mm T2, with internal 2x2 filter slot, sunshade and mount

adapter to Aaton. My music video lens.

- Arri bayo to Aaton mount adapter. For the Optars.

- Nikon to Aaton mount adaptor. The better Optex design with the internal

black coating.

 

And the filters, 37 in all.

4x5.65:

85, 85ND6, ND6, 812, Tobacco 1, Sepia 1, 1/8 ProMist, 1/4 Black ProMist,

Classic Soft 1/2, 2

4x4:

ND6, 9, 85, 85ND6, 81EF, Hard Grad 3, 6, 9, Sunset Grad 1, 2, 3, Ultracon

1/4, 1/2, 1, Black ProMist 1/4, 1/2, 1

4.5" round:

85, ND 3, 6, 9

138:

Polariser

2x2:

clear, 85, 85B, ND6, ND12

:

I probably have some other Aaton-specific tools andtoys lying around. I'll

dig through the closet and throw in whatever I find.

 

I don't know a price so I'm asking for offers. I know that I wouldn't consider anything under US$18K and I'd prefer not to break up the package. Let the bidding begin, I guess.

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Guest Ian Marks

Oh, Mitch, I am seriously jonesing for this package.... but alas, can't do anything about it. The agony...

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I've had lots requests to buy various parts of the package, so I've decided

to break itup. I've also decided to list prices. I will offer some discount if

you buy a bunch of stuff. All gear is in New York City and you will have to

pay shipping or come get it from me.

 

- LTR54 body serial# circa 1210. One of the last of the LTRs. The camera

was recently overhauled at Abel in NY (a $1500 value!) and has only had a bit of

test film run through it since. She has a brand new claw (runs whisper

quiet), factory Super-16 black gate and internal lightmeter (with switch to

deactivate). The camera is in Aaton mount. I have a handle-mounted B&W NTSC

videotap with removeable optic for switching between S-16 and regular 16mm (I'll

include the old handle and prism). There's a custom breakout box in the handle to

split the video feed for on-board monitor and external feed. There's also a

custom mount with Noga (aka Israeli) arm for the onboard monitor. That

on-board is a Panasonic 7" with custom cable to power off the camera and custom arm

to undersling the monitor (good in tight spaces like cars). The tap also

powers off the camera or from a block with a spare cable. The camera sports a

custom frontrod mount that takes screw-in rods like the later XTRs -- a very nice

mod after years of struggling with square-rod adapters. I replaced the mirror

a few years back and had some new circuitry put into the motor. All service

has been performed by Abel NY for the past 12 years (the file is an inch thick

with all my mods and constant tweaking) and I am the second owner. Three

mags, all converted to S-16 by Abel. This is not just the rollers but also the

more complicated flipping of the feed pass through and new guide rails on the

gate channel. Standard eyepiece (eyepiece mount rotates full 360 degrees),

four 16v batteries, although one seems to have gone south on me. The others are

in okay shape. For a charger I have the Abel Ax3 3-port charger which can

charge a battery in under an hour. Left & right handgrips (left is bicycle style

and right is classic Aaton walnut) with a double-rod coupler and two handgrip

drop-down couplers (great for getting the handgrip just where you find it

comfortable). There are four handgrip L2-L2 cables that I accumulated over the

years. I'll include the main frontrods which are 6.5" with 2" extensions, plus

another set of 6.5" with 4" extensions (great for really telephoto lenses) and

a set of 3". Two cases, PRICE US$7500.00

 

- Aaton extension eyepiece, covers Super-16, $500.00

 

- Aaton left-eye eyepiece (a rarity!) which is heaven for handheld even to

some right eye operators. $500.00

 

- 2-sided Chrosziel followfocus with extension post, 14" whip and spare

marking disc. $2500.00

 

- Chrosziel Super-16 mattebox with 4x5.65 tray, 4x4 tray & 138mm screw-in

tray. Also has spare 4x4 tray to fit 4x5.65 slot and a 4.5" screw-in adaptor for

the 138mm tray. Rear bellows is 100mm with donuts that cover all my lenses

(95mm, 80mm, 75mm & 70mm). Front housing has the internal bellows and an

eyebrow (incorrectly called a French Flag by Chroszeil) that folds in half for easy

storage. $2500.00

 

- Media Logic precision crystal speed control, Aaton cable. Unit modified

with an Aaton Amphenol-9 jack on it to act as a power pass-thru to be able to

run other accessories off the same camera power port. $500.00

 

- Modulus 3000 video transmitter with spare custom cables for Aaton. $1000

 

- Casio 3" LCD TV handheld monitor. $50

 

- Custom leather barney, $200.00

 

- Rain cover (built for an Aaton 35-3 but works great for my camera with

zoom. $200.00

 

Which leaves the glass. Everything covers Super-16. I have a case that can

hold the two prime sets or one prime set and the zoom. Buy either pairing and

I'll throw in the case with foam (hey, buy it all and get cases for

everything!).

- Canon 8-64 T2.5 zoom with Chroszeil fluid zoom dampner & two zoom sticks

(long & short). $6500.00

- Optar Illumina set in Arri bayo mount. 9.5, 12, 16 & 25, all T1.3. A

lovely matched set that I prefer over Zeiss SuperSpeeds. $6000.00

- Zeiss Contax converted lenses in Aaton mount. 35, 50, 85 & 135, all T1.4

except the 135 which is T2.1. All have focus rings added to them plus some

focus scales and they intercut well with the Canon & Optars. $2000.00

- Kinoptik 5.7mm T2, with internal 2x2 filter slot, sunshade and mount

adapter to Aaton. The mount under the adapter is Arri standard. I'll throw inthe

2x2 filters I have, which are Clear,85, 85B, ND6, ND12. My music video lens.

$1000.00

- Arri bayo to Aaton mount adapter. For the Optars or any Arri bayo lens.

$200.00

- Nikon to Aaton mount adaptor. The better Optex design with the internal

black coating. $200.00

 

And the filters, 32 in all, including case. $1000.00

4x5.65:

85, 85ND6, ND6, 812, Tobacco 1, Sepia 1, 1/8 ProMist, 1/4 Black ProMist,

Classic Soft 1/2, 2

4x4:

ND6, 9, 85, 85ND6, 81EF, Hard Grad 3, 6, 9, Sunset Grad 1, 2, 3, Ultracon

1/4, 1/2, 1, Black ProMist 1/4, 1/2, 1

4.5" round:

85, ND 3, 6, 9

138:

Polariser

 

So that's $32,350.00 for everything. But if you buy it all at once I'll cut

it to $20,000!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Don't hurt yourself trying too hard. The camera still has not officially sold, but I do have a few people looking. As I've said, I'm giving first refusal to those who want to buy the whole package. But anything is possible.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • Premium Member
Don't hurt yourself trying too hard. The camera still has not officially sold, but I do have a few people looking. As I've said, I'm giving first refusal to those who want to buy the whole package. But anything is possible.

 

It's a great package if it's still for sale. Bump.

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  • Premium Member

Hey guys. My name is Vincent Sweeney and I'm the one who bought Mitch's LTR54. Just after attending an Apple and RED sales-pitch-demo in Washington D.C. I drove up to NY to meet with Mitch about this camera. I didn't realize how good NY's Italian food can be!

 

Anyway, hopefully I can share some information as well as ask a few questions on here about it. It looks like a good place to do both. I used to be a member here but I guess it's been two years or more by now. Glad to be back. I'm based on the east coast but shot a feature in LA too so I get around if anyone needs to know.

 

As far as the LTR goes, I'm becoming more familiar with it everyday. I'm going to shoot some tests soon with a roll of 7217 I have in the fridge. I'll likely keep everything in the package but it looks at though I may have to sell the Canon zoom soon. I hoped not to but this camera's first major job isn't until the fall and I'm at the point where I'll talk reasonable offers for the zoom so I can pay back some of this loan.

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