Arricam LT Steadiness Test

Uli Meyer · December 20, 2017

Hello All,

A question for anyone who knows film camera test procedures. I recently acquired an Arricam LT and am wondering if it is it possible to perform a steadiness test by shooting a couple of hundred feet, fixed lens, camera on tripod, pointed at a Siemens chart. Then cover up the lens, put the camera in reverse for the same length, then dutch the chart and expose a second pass? Or is it essential that I remove the exposed first pass footage, re-spool it and thread it again for the second exposure? Thank you in advance for your wisdom.

Jean-Louis Seguin · December 20, 2017

Theoretically respool and rethread is supposed to be the preferred way.

However, I have a feeling very few people actually do this and just rewind the film in the camera and reshoot.

Jean-Louis Seguin · December 20, 2017

Theoretically respool and rethread is supposed to be the preferred way.

However, I have a feeling very few people actually do this and just rewind the film in the camera and reshoot.

Bruce Greene · December 20, 2017

a couple things:

You need a good heavy steady tripod. If you have access to a rental house, it would be best to use their camera stand instead of a tripod.

Also, you need to mark the first frame in the gate of the camera with a big "X". Use a sharpie and let it dry before moving the film.

Rewind the film (use a darkroom or changing bag) and rethread the camera and load it so that the "X" appears in the gate to fill the frame as it did in the first pass.

When you shoot, under expose the film by 1 stop since you'll be exposing twice.

After development , project the negative in a movie projector. If the lines diverge and remerge you have an issue. If not, all is fine.

Bruce Greene · December 20, 2017

I should add about the tripod: A camera stand with a fixed friction head is best. Fluid heads can have their own wobble that could mess up the test.

Uli Meyer · December 20, 2017

If re-threading is essential for testing, then I shall do that. Good advice in regards to the tripod. I have a Sachtler Video 90 with a flat base. Do you think there still could be issues?

Dom Jaeger · December 21, 2017

As long as the head is securely fixed and locked off, and on a stable surface (not bouncy floorboards for example) it should be OK. Film the chart from about 3-6 feet and use a focal length that just covers the whole chart. A long lens from further away will accentuate any external vibration rather than isolating just the camera itself.

The issue with rewinding in camera by running reverse is if the perfs get damaged or deformed, which shouldn't be an issue with an LT, but if you want to be 100% safe maybe rewind manually. I've shot steady tests by running the film in reverse to rewind it when I was under time pressure and it didn't cause any issues, but if you have time, you may as well play it safe. Not all LT mags allow reverse running anyway.

If you plan to use different mags, test each one. If you plan to shoot high speed, do one pass with higher frame rates. Label the chart with the mag # and frame rate as a reference.

If you can access a projector, that's the easiest and cheapest way to view the test. We used to just project the processed negative. It doesn't matter if the projector itself is unsteady, as you're only looking at whether there is movement between the two superimposed charts. A simple grid is the best, rather than a Siemens chart, so you can clearly see the two charts, one straight and one tilted, and check for movement between them. Don't worry about the whole image being steady.

If you can't access a projector and need to scan the film, again, don't worry about the whole image steadiness, or perf stabilty, just focus on whether the two charts are locked together.