Locam II

[David Auner aac]

Hi folks,

 

since my quest for the Hitachi's manual failed (see my other thread here on that) I'm settling on getting a Locam II. The search didn't surface much, so I thought I'd ask you guys anew. How many of you have used this camera or it's brethren? Any caveats? Recommendations?

 

Regards, Dave

[jacob thomas]

Hi folks,

 

since my quest for the Hitachi's manual failed (see my other thread here on that) I'm settling on getting a Locam II. The search didn't surface much, so I thought I'd ask you guys anew. How many of you have used this camera or it's brethren? Any caveats? Recommendations?

 

Regards, Dave

 

i got one last year and another forum member kindly emailed me the manual. I shot a test with it in december (only to discover the ffd was way out of spec) hopefully shoot a new test in the next month. They seem pretty rugged and well made although the threading is the hardest i've come across, make sure you have plenty of time to reload it takes a while.

I swapped the deutsch connecter with a xlr fairly easily (most of the wires on mine were redundant i.e. for heaters, etc which were not installed).

 

I've made a PDF of the manual:

rapidshare manual link

[David Auner aac]

i got one last year and another forum member kindly emailed me the manual. I shot a test with it in december (only to discover the ffd was way out of spec) hopefully shoot a new test in the next month. They seem pretty rugged and well made although the threading is the hardest i've come across, make sure you have plenty of time to reload it takes a while.

I swapped the deutsch connecter with a xlr fairly easily (most of the wires on mine were redundant i.e. for heaters, etc which were not installed).

 

Hi Jacob, thanks. What mount is yours? And how did you correct the ffd?

Yeah, I figured that the electronics would be rather easy to adapt. What model do you have? I guess it was Alexandros who mailed you the manual? Funnily enough I also made a pdf from his jpegs! :D

 

Cheers, Dave

[jacob thomas]

Hi Jacob, thanks. What mount is yours? And how did you correct the ffd?

Yeah, I figured that the electronics would be rather easy to adapt. What model do you have? I guess it was Alexandros who mailed you the manual? Funnily enough I also made a pdf from his jpegs! :D

 

Cheers, Dave

 

I've got a c-mount locam II, I haven't corrected the ffd yet I've left it with my camera tech, I would assume (the mother of all .... ups) that it's just a matter of shimming it.

As far as the electronics go there was only three wires that were doing anything the 28v + and - and the earth.

[Mark Dunn]

The Locam is C-mount. I'm not sure there was room for the Nikon. This makes long non-C-mount lenses problematic because the C- to Nikon adapter isn't that rigid. A 200 is about the limit, unless you use something like the Arri cradle.

Lock it down tight- there's no reflex viewing when it runs so you might as well unless you knock up some sort of sports finder- and if you regard it as a scientific instrument as much as a cine camera you'll do alright. But do a test before anything important- it's quite easy to foul up the loading, although it's usually just plain impossible if you do it wrong.

[jacob thomas]

The Locam is C-mount. I'm not sure there was room for the Nikon. This makes long non-C-mount lenses problematic because the C- to Nikon adapter isn't that rigid. A 200 is about the limit, unless you use something like the Arri cradle.

Lock it down tight- there's no reflex viewing when it runs so you might as well unless you knock up some sort of sports finder- and if you regard it as a scientific instrument as much as a cine camera you'll do alright. But do a test before anything important- it's quite easy to foul up the loading, although it's usually just plain impossible if you do it wrong.

 

There is actually a version with a fixed reflex prism (the view finder steals the usual 1/3-1/2 stop), iirc it has what is called a tracking view finder. (I have this version of Locam III, if anyone has the pinout for the Locam III it would be greatly appreciated as it is considerably more complicated than the II.)

Other versions had no viewfinder or a reflex prism that took 100% of the light and therefore could only be used when the camera wasn't running.

[Janne Pulkkila]

I purchased a Locam 51 three years ago and replaced the connector. Running the camera with a 24 V sealed lead acid battery. Anyone has any idea what might be the maximum frame rate with 24 V?

 

The main usage has been filming skateboarding.

A few shots from a documentary

 

The full movie can be viewed here for a limited time period:

babelgum.com

Please, vote if you like.

 

A manual for the LOCAM would be nice to have... The rapidshare link didn't work anymore.

[David Auner aac]

A manual for the LOCAM would be nice to have... The rapidshare link didn't work anymore.

 

Hi Janne,

 

have a look here: LOCAM II manual.

I'm currently looking for a Deutsch connector to suit the camera, if I fail I'll just swap the plug as you guys did. Any idea whether a non-reflex LOCAM could somehow be converted to a reflex one? How much is different? I guess too much to make it feasible.

 

But here is my idea how to bypass that. You take a cheap Angie (or what ever) Zoom in C-mount. Frame the picture, tighten down the head/camera mount, take the lens off and mount your taking lens and focus by measurement as you would do anyways.

 

Did any of you guys ever try running it from a 24V DC power supply?

 

Cheers, Dave

[alexandros petin]

Hello

 

there is a guy in Ebay (35mos user name) that sold me one of these connectors. After i bought it i noticed that he sold 2-3 of these again. So maybe you could contact him. But make sure that the connector is a good shape because mine got here full of iron solder but luckily in pins 2 and 3 that arent needed in a Locam. (i think these are for Millikens)

 

I power mine with two 12volt NiCd batteries and the camera runs ok and sounds as if it gains full speed. I havent done any telecine for these rolls yet to tell you for sure about the speed.

Mine is also non reflex and i was thinking that i could buy a beaten up reflex on and try to combine the two cameras. After i saw the schematics i started to have second thoughts and watch angenieux lenses in ebay...

 

alexandros

[David Auner aac]

there is a guy in Ebay (35mos user name) that sold me one of these connectors. After i bought it i noticed that he sold 2-3 of these again. So maybe you could contact him. But make sure that the connector is a good shape because mine got here full of iron solder but luckily in pins 2 and 3 that arent needed in a Locam. (i think these are for Millikens)

 

Thanks Alexxandros! I'll try the guys if all else fails. how much did you pay?

 

Another thing: is there any problem in the lab when using long pitch film? I guess there shouldn't be as you can telecine prints too and I suspect that negative lab stocks (IN stock and the like) are long pitch as well and are developed in the same bath as camera neg, right? But it's better to be sure than to be sorry!

 

Cheers, Dave

[alexandros petin]

:blink:

i remembered another source

 

http://www.lukechips.com/search/?search=tr...p;Submit=Search

 

(the connector is Deutsch DM9702-19S if you use their search engine)

 

but when i contacted them they wanted a shipping account number (UPS, FedEx or DHL) so that they can send me the part because i am outside usa.

 

I think i paid 50$ for it which seems a lot but didnt want to hack the camera so..

as for the film i used normal pitch film.

Btw locam uses both pitches why did you preferred the long one? does it perform better?

[David Auner aac]

Hi Alexandros,

 

a very simple reason: Kodak can get me 7219 2R on 400ft daylight spools in long pitch. They are currently sitting in the US and I can get them in about 2 weeks. The only ones in short pitch they have are in Japan and I'd have to wait much longer!

 

Regards, Dave

[David Auner aac]

Hi folks,

 

I'll rewire my Locam to 4pin XLR. Can anyone who owns a Locam and has recently re-wired it check what color codes the wires for 28+ 28- and gnd are? Thanks, that would save me some time!

 

 

Thanks, Dave

[jacob thomas]

Hi folks,

 

I'll rewire my Locam to 4pin XLR. Can anyone who owns a Locam and has recently re-wired it check what color codes the wires for 28+ 28- and gnd are? Thanks, that would save me some time!

 

 

Thanks, Dave

 

On mine they're red (+), black (-) and green (earth).

[David Auner aac]

On mine they're red (+), black (-) and green (earth).

 

Thanks Jacob, I can see these wires. Can anyone confirm that? Any other things to look out for?

 

Cheers, Dave

[David Auner aac]

Ok, I rewired the wires. Voltmeter reads around 27.5V which should be more than enough, camera hums but doesn't move an inch! What could be wrong here, aside from the magnetic trip switch which I moved to several positions to no avail? Will the camera only run threaded with film? Is there some hidden fuse? Some magic button to press/depress? And does anyone have the remaining pages of the camera manual, mine only goes to page 51! So many questions! I hope there's some answers!

 

Cheers, Dave

[John Sprung]

Voltmeter reads around 27.5V which should be more than enough, camera hums but doesn't move an inch!

 

How does it feel when you turn it with the inching knob? If it's really stiff, it may need lubrication. If it turns easily, the motor may have a starting circuit issue of some kind. If you can do so safely, try inching forward with the power on.

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[David Auner aac]

How does it feel when you turn it with the inching knob? If it's really stiff, it may need lubrication. If it turns easily, the motor may have a starting circuit issue of some kind. If you can do so safely, try inching forward with the power on.

 

Hi John,

 

yes, the inching does run freely and smoothly. And I have already tried "kick-starting" the motor by inching with power on. Nothing happened...

 

Cheers, Dave

[alexandros petin]

Ok, I rewired the wires. Voltmeter reads around 27.5V which should be more than enough, camera hums but doesn't move an inch! What could be wrong here, aside from the magnetic trip switch which I moved to several positions to no avail? Will the camera only run threaded with film? Is there some hidden fuse? Some magic button to press/depress? And does anyone have the remaining pages of the camera manual, mine only goes to page 51! So many questions! I hope there's some answers!

 

Cheers, Dave

 

The manual after page 51 has the parts list of the camera.

the camera doesnt run without film. That fact is clearly written in pages you already have.

page 15 figure 9 "end of film cut off switch"

page 18 paragraph 3.4.8

END OF FILM CUT OFF SWITCH

"the LOCAM II is equipped with a film actuated switch to automatically cut off power

to the camera motor when the end of film passes the swirtch assembly.

the actuating arm for the switch is located at the point where the film

leaves the lower or take up sprocket."

I dont know if you can trick this switch and press it with a finger, i am afraid to do it (locam could eat a finger i think)

 

Its all in there in the manual. Also i had a battery that was correct volts but with insufficient Ahmps and the camera didnt start. So check that too.

[David Auner aac]

The manual after page 51 has the parts list of the camera.

the camera doesnt run without film. That fact is clearly written in pages you already have.

page 15 figure 9 "end of film cut off switch"

page 18 paragraph 3.4.8

END OF FILM CUT OFF SWITCH

 

Yes I know about the parts lists. But it would be interesting to have those in case one would need to exchange a faulty component! Ok, it seems I somehow read over that tidbit.

 

Its all in there in the manual. Also i had a battery that was correct volts but with insufficient Ahmps and the camera didnt start. So check that too.

 

We actually got the motor to run, so that is ok. The PSU does supply enough power to run the camera (over 8.5A).

 

Thanks, Alexandros!

[alexandros petin]

perfect you got it running.good luck shooting !

 

At the end of the month i will have some time to scan the rest of the manual. Its like 50-70 pages more so ..

Ill email you once i have it.

 

Alexandros

[David Auner aac]

We haven't got it running as we want it to run ;) We just got the motor to spin. but I think the problem was the cut-off switch being depressed. I'll have more on that tomorrow. Thanks for scanning Alexandros! I appreciate it.

 

Cheers, Dave

[David Auner aac]

The never-ending LOCAM story goes on! I have gotten the cam to run w/o film if I press down the end of film switch with the tip of a pencil. Great! Strange thing is though, that the speed dial doesn't seem to affect the speed I'm getting. Well, well... :wacko:

 

So I load the camera with film. What a bitch it is to load if you do it for the first time! But once you figured it out it goes rather easy if fidgety. OK. Camera runs with film if I press down that switch. Shouldn't it run without me pressing that switch too? Maybe once I close the camera door. I close the door, power up, .... nothing! What's wrong here? I really need to get that cam working ASAP! What am I missing? I'll re-read the RTFM for the umpteenth time I guess! :angry:

 

Cheers and thanks in advance, Dave

[alexandros petin]

Hi again.

there's a small lock lever on the speed dial. first times i used the camera i always messed with that lock.if its locked the dial moves freely but doesn't affect speed (maybe mine is broken not sure) but when its unlocked i can control the speed. so maybe check this out.

lets hope yours is not broken or smting.

It is strange that the camera runs when you press the switch but doesn't when you close the door. don't misunderstand my question but are you loading the film correctly ?(im sure you are but double check) because the film closes the switch so your camera should work and also mine works with the door open (don't try it at high speeds) so i always load it in off mode .The door only frees the film counter from the magnet.

 

hope that helps

 

alex

Edited July 2, 2009 by alexandros petin

[David Auner aac]

there's a small lock lever on the speed dial. first times i used the camera i always messed with that lock.if its locked the dial moves freely but doesn't affect speed (maybe mine is broken not sure) but when its unlocked i can control the speed. so maybe check this out.

lets hope yours is not broken or smting.

 

Hi Alexandros,

 

I finally made it last evening. The end-of-film switch is a little spring loaded metal strip. It turns ot that it was bent down too much. I just removed the last roller to access it and bent it upwards a bit, counter pressing with a flat lade screwdriver. Now it works!

Hm, the lock on mine locks alright. Strange! I'm guessing that the camera actually does go faster at higher speeds, but it seems it's not as as slow as it should be when you set the dial to really low rates (10fps eg.). We'll run a test today to see how it does...

 

Thanks again!

 

Cheers, Dave