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Krasnogorsk-3 Any good?


Nathan D. Lee

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Looking around ebay i see many Krasnogorsk 16mm Russian movie cameras. They seem to be simple and often come with a lot of accesories for a very low price. Has anyone worked with this camera? Is it any good? Pros/Cons. When there are a lot out ther for a low price i am skeptical, but it does look like a decent little camera to pick up. Is it worth it?

Edited by leebob61
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I think it is well worth the money. For a few hundred dollars you have yourself a solid 16mm non-sync camera to fool around with.

 

Your not going to make an epic on it, but it can be nice to learn and experiment with.

 

 

Kevin Zanit

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I suggest you do a search for krasnogorsk-3 or look through old posts on the forum. There is A LOT of info about this camera that has already been posted and people may not come back and post it again.

 

I think it is a great deal for a great camera, it is not without its faults, but it is steal. Look through the old post and find out why.

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Guest Frank Gossimier

I have shot some incredible footage with the K3. Lots of shots that people think where shot using top end 35mm gear.

 

One of the shots I used the K3 for was the opening shot of the 2002 Super Bowl! It's a shot of the Statue Of Liberty filmed from the air. I did it hand held at 32 fps with the door of the helicopter taken off. Nothing below me but water!

 

I used it on a shoot in Egypt and captured some amazing Med shots at sunset.

 

The time lapse shots I've done with it have been used all over the place. There are actually K3 dealers that have links to my web movies showing what the K3 can do.

 

Now I have a lot of experience shooting film, so I'm not sure if some one new to film can get the same results right away? Plus I know a lot of tricks for working with 16mm that I use when working with the K3 as well.

 

I love the spring motor! No need to worry about batteries.

 

Loading the K3 is where the biggest problems occur, scratches are common. If you buy one let me know and I can give you my handy dandy tips for K3 loading.

 

Buy one, you can't go wrong.

 

Frank

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Loading the K3 is where the biggest problems occur, scratches are common.  If you buy one let me know and I can give you my handy dandy tips for K3 loading.

 

 

Hey Frank,

 

I just got my K-3 yesterday and can't wait to start shooting. As for the loading thing, do you have any tips ? I also bought a metal film roll ( read somewhere it helps in avoiding having the film getting jammed )

 

Thanks

 

Rod

Edited by ropbo
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Guest Frank Gossimier

For loading the K3:

 

1) Wind the spring and set for 8fps.

 

2) Place the top reel in the "mag" and cut a square edge off the end of the film, cut right in the middle of the perfs.

 

3) Place the film into the sprocket and "pulse" the camera, push the trigger a little at a time, do not run it.

 

4) Pulse until the film end is in the gate and held by the claw.

 

5) Now open the guides on the sprocket, pull up the silver disc and slide outward.

 

6) Pull back the film at least one perf so that it is well clear of the loop guides. Yes you are making a smaller loop and this is fine. Scratching occurs when the film hits the loop guide in the "up" position.

 

7) *****Follow the same steps for the lower loop guide.*****

 

8) Push down the loop guide spreader, that black button on the bottom, and run the film at 8 fps. It should flow smoothly through the camera not touching the loop guides.

 

9) Roll off a good amount of film for winding onto the take up reel. Don't be cheap here or you'll get burned!

 

10) Insert the film into the take up reel and wind on 2-3 feet of film, tight!

 

11) Mount the take up reel.

 

12) Hold down the loop guide spreader button and run the camera at 24fps. Is every thing ok? If it is, close the film door.

 

13) Now run the camera for a good five seconds at 24fps with the lens cap off to get rid of all the exposed film you incurred while loading.

 

14) You're ready to shoot

 

15) Just to make a round number of points :D

 

I see a lot of film students get burned with this camera because they are too afraid to use up film during loading, don't make this mistake, loosing a bit of film to do the job right is worth it.

 

Frank

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Guest Frank Gossimier

Are you being serious about "nose grease?" on the presure plate?

 

You don't want any thing that looks or sounds like "grease" near any film.

 

As for 15 being a round number I didn't mean in the mathematical sense of the word, I meant a more logical stopping place than 14 :blink:

 

Frank

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Are you being serious about "nose grease?" on the presure plate?

 

You don't want any thing that looks or sounds like "grease" near any film.

 

As for 15 being a round number I didn't mean in the mathematical sense of the word, I meant a more logical stopping place than 14  :blink:

 

Frank

 

Just pulling yer leg about the whole 15 thing

You Canadians need to be a little more loose

 

About the Nose grease

(or nose oil or whatever the oily substance that builds up on yer nose)

I was taught by my professor way back in filmschool

To dab a bit of nose oil on the pressure plate for a smoother movement

Anyways I didn't and don't usually do it

And I've not worked on a K3 since like 5 years

But when I did and when I didn't I noticed no problems either ways

 

So a good question to ask is this a good principle?

Or some old wives tale my professor believed in

(I've seen some AC's doing it and some who don't...I dunno)

 

Anyways that's just basically it...I should learn not to ramble

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Guest Frank Gossimier

Yes, I know you where just jerkin' my chain re the number 15 :D

 

No problem.

 

I've never heard of the "grease" idea? It seems very silly to me. Once applied to the presure plate the first few feet of film would rub the grease clean off, at the end of a 100ft day light roll in a K3 there would never be any grease left near the end.

 

Strange???????

 

FYI, if we Canadians don't know you're teasing us we may take offense and come down there and annex New York state. We'll make it part of Quebec then you'll really be sorry :D

 

Frank

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FYI, if we Canadians don't know you're teasing us we may take offense and come down there and annex New York state.  We'll make it part of Quebec then you'll really be sorry  :D

 

Frank

 

 

I guess the nose grease thing might just be another of those wives tales...

 

 

Being part of Quebec does seem a tad frightening

But isn't as bad as being lead by Dubya...

 

You know after hear the State of the Union address tonight...

F**K IT, I don't mind if you annex--> PLEASE ANNEX US!

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The K-3 has some nice pros than make the cons much more palatable.....I was always able to use some old Mamiya 35mm SLR lens on mine and the results were nice array of lens for a real in expensive price, it's a small cam, that I was able to mount almost anywhere, and could control the starting of the spring motor using a long slr plunger cable, so we could mount the camera on a motorcycle handlebar or a car dash, the fact that i could use a few of my old slr lens (before my slr decided that it needed a new home and 'grew legs' one day) allowed me to use all of my filters on the camera as well.....if it wasn't for the stinking film jamming problem, I would have thought this a perfect little pocket camera....(well maybe not perfect, be real handy)

 

JD

www.cineshooter.com

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About the Nose grease

(or nose oil or whatever the oily substance that builds up on yer nose)

I was taught by my professor way back in filmschool

 

Off topic, but...

 

The pro still photographer who taught me darkroom skills when I was a teen used to smear nose grease on negatives before printing. I don't recall if it was to fill in scratches or clean off dust.

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Guest Frank Gossimier

Very funny!!

 

"You know after hear the State of the Union address tonight...

F**K IT, I don't mind if you annex--> PLEASE ANNEX US! "

 

I wish we could, do we have to take Senator Clinton as well?

 

Frank

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  • 8 months later...
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Hey Frank,

 

I just got my K-3 yesterday and can't wait to start shooting. As for the loading thing, do you have any tips ? I also bought a metal film roll ( read somewhere it helps in avoiding having the film getting jammed )

 

Thanks

 

Rod

 

Whatever you do, DON'T use those cheap plastic reels that come with the camera... they tend to bend inward and keep the film from rolling properly. Always ask for your daylight spools back from processing, at least until you have a few on hand.

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Whatever you do, DON'T use those cheap plastic reels that come with the camera... they tend to bend inward and keep the film from rolling properly. Always ask for your daylight spools back from processing, at least until you have a few on hand.

Can I get a 2nd opinion on this statement? Not to be against what you're saying, its just that I have 5 of those things and would like to use them if they are usable

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Guest Joseph Gioielli
Can I get a 2nd opinion on this statement? Not to be against what you're saying, its just that I have 5 of those things and would like to use them if they are usable

 

Persoanlly, I've not had a problem with them. But I'm lucky. Even my auto load feature works.

 

Joe

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