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Lomography introduces handcranked 35mm Lomokino Movie Camera with identical UltraPan8 aspect ratio of 2.8:1


Nicholas Kovats

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Well done with the drill!

You could avoid the risk of damaging the camera when the film runs out (if there is a risk there) by using self-loaded film. If you tape the film to the plastic core of the film canister with only a small piece of tape on one side of the film only, then that will be enough grip to easily let you load the canister in a bulk loader, but it will mean the the camera with drill-motor will pull the tape off and the film run all the way through into the take up side of the camera. You would then simply need to remove the film in a change bag. With self loaded film, you could use polyester based stock and fit more than the normal 36 exp. However, then you would need a processing spiral that is longer than the normal little 36exp size. Like a lomo spiral ...

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Right now I'm loading it with Kodak 5248 from some expired short ends and processing in Caffenol with a warm water +liquid dish soap prebath to remove the remjet.

 

Lomo contacted me friday and was really excited about this mod so I'm getting more footage at different frame rates to test vertical smear because of the lack of registration. So lots more footage coming soon.

 

Also, I opened it up saturday because the shutter became out of sync with the transport ... so it was taking the picture while the film was moving... easy repair however.

 

And the the crank handle needed to be removed because otherwise the nut wouldn't sit flat ... however if you want to maintain the hand crank it can be completely removed and you can attach to the mechanism inside the camera.

Edited by Sam Javor
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With self loaded film, you could use polyester based stock and fit more than the normal 36 exp. However, then you would need a processing spiral that is longer than the normal little 36exp size. Like a lomo spiral ...

 

There are rather common 72 exp reels (i.e 3 meter plus) from JOBO. These are from the time Ilford used to produce the 72exp HP5 winder film. A special thin film. ONe would need the loader too then :(

Then there are several JOBO spirals who take 8, 10 or even 20 meter. Hard to find though. These don't need loaders as the film is clamped by the core. Just found this 10 meter version which nicely fits the expert diameter drums.

 

There are special Ilford compact spirals too. Really tight track. These fit standard tanks and don't need a loader.

Edited by Andries Molenaar
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  • 1 month later...

What piece of junk this camera is! I just can't believe that someone took such great pains to go to the trouble of designing this device, and then having it made in China, without any regard to a few other basics of movie camera design which would've made it so much better; such as a film sprocket...just one...to help with frame registration. However, I suppose if that is what someone is looking for, bouncing filmframes, changing registration and all the other visual irritations of this camera, then by all means get one.

 

--> Now, some other poster mentioned that this isn't 8mm film format related (other than the aspect ratio being similar to the original Pan-8 format, aka UltraPan8 format), and we should stay in the 8mm format realm in this discussion group. He's correct of course.

 

Here's a much better idea than using the LomoKino:

 

---> My suggestion is....for anyone that would like a handcranked look to their film;  use a BOLEX H-16 type camera (since this is the Super 8mm group...use a BOLEX H-8 in either Reg 8mm, DS8mm, or the UltraPan8 formats....Switch the Motor to OFF.....set the film speed dial to the fps rate you're interested in.....crank the camera with the handle until you feel the resistance of the speed governor....could the number of crank rotations per second.....THEN....move the dial to the next higher setting.  Now, the load the camera with film, and get ready to film, via counting the crank rotations.  Since you'll be cranking slower than what it would take to engage the film run speed governor, the filming will have an unsteady/imperfect FPS rate.   Some undercranking to speed up action can be done easily....and some overcranking to slow things down a bit, from the mental counting rate you're doing as you crank the camera.  

 

---> This way, you'll have sharp images due to quality optics, correct frame spacing due to accurate film claw pulldown and sprocket drive, and the motion will be every bit similar as to the early days of pioneer 35mm filmmakers.  NOTE:  Those cameras had good film claws and were sprocket driven, despite the lack of a speed control governor in the very early years.

 

---> What's even worse than the LomoKino itself...is the LomoScope viewer!   Again a sense of sprocket guidance would've allowed the frame to stay put in the window.  Among other things... the illumination window is poorly designed in that it's not wide enough and creates a 3 prism field effect due to light reflecting off the inner side walls.  And, the magnifier is not at the correct spacing to the film causing the image to look blurry to the eye unless you move your eye a few inches back.   What a waste of my money and time!  If it had been designed for 16mm film, I at least could rebuild it using available sprockets and other parts I have lying around, but nothing here for the 35mm format, unless I use still camera parts.  I may look into it if I ever have time for it....but for now....a waste of money and I will NOT recommend this to anyone. What with the cost of film and processing.......there are so many decent cameras around to use which are available at reasonable to low cost. Those that persist in trying their efforts, good luck. I'm sorry, but I just had to pipe in here after being thoroughly disappointed after what I had hoped would be a nice little gem in the movie making world. The original idea and concept is very clever, so had a few other things been done, it would've worked much better.

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What piece of junk this camera is! I just can't believe that someone took such great pains to go to the trouble of designing this device, and then having it made in China, without any regard to a few other basics of movie camera design which would've made it so much better; such as a film sprocket...just one...to help with frame registration. However, I suppose if that is what someone is looking for, bouncing filmframes, changing registration and all the other visual irritations of this camera, then by all means get one.

Nobody on this forum is the target audience. It's meant for teen and college hipsters to show how cool they are. I think for that market, it was right on and probably will make them some decent little money.

 

I find it a great way to get rid of the 35mm still film that's been sitting in my fridge for years.

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Is it as good as say, an eyemo 35mm movie camera? Nope.

 

A Bolex? Abosolutely not.

 

I have a really nice Bolex H16 that I never use because the film is hard to get and develop.

I can buy film for the Lomokino at the supermarket and get it developed there(Ask them not to cut the negatives)or I can develop it myself in adaylight tank, which is how I did this film.

 

Is it one of the forces driving the younger generation back to film? Yes.

 

Is it fun? Oh yeah...

I'm not sure I would bust the handle off an Arriflex or Bolex to crazy glue a nut on the side so I could use a cordless screwdriver to run it, but I did it without thinking to this camera.

 

I also had no problem getting a crew together asap, and after had several people volunteer to help/act/crew in the next one. The 1st group called to say they really had fun, which really,is what it's all about.

 

It's easier to use than Super 8, which I also love. For 79 bucks plus tax you can afford it.

The negs-only option cost under 4 bucks to develop. Try that with 16mm at your supermarket.

 

Also, I bought 1000 ft of 35mm BW for 20 bucks, which will make approx 60 minutes of film.

 

Since I self develop , in theory I can make a One Hour film for under 100 bucks, camera and film included pre tax. try that with any other film camera setup.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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