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AATON 35-III Loop Size


Robino Jones

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Looking for people with experience loading the AATON 35-III and what loop size you use.

 

I've been told when I purchased my camera that the loop size was around 2 fingers but after talking with other people I got conflicting information, some say it's 3 fingers, some 2 loose fingers. I never found my camera to be the steadiest, not terrible but not great.

 

This is the information from the the AATON manual

 

"The correct loop size can be adjusted, by using the loop tool delivered with the magazine. If you cannot insert the tool between the mag pressure plate and

the film, you need to enlarge the loop. To do so, push the disk marked "push for loop adjust" with your right thumb while holding the film against the pressure plate with your right forefinger. Using your left hand rotate the upper magnetic wheel clockwise until the loop length allows you to insert the tool."
During my research I came across a picture of the actual loop tool and also a technical drawing from AATON showing the loop tool on the magazine.
See them below:
dp721s.jpg
The strange thing is the picture of the loop tool appears to be taller than in the technical drawing.
These images got me thinking so I printed the technical drawing to scale and using a little piece of sheet metal I built ( hammered ;) my own loop tool with the exact dimension found on the technical drawing. When using my custom tool the loop size is a "tight" 2 fingers loop.
See images of my custom tool below:
2dhd6jt.jpg
I will be dropping off my camera to Andree Martin at AM Camera after the Holiday for a checkup and tuneup but in the meantime, has anyone seen or worked with an actual loop tool before and if so, is my tool accurate / the correct size?
..If you haven't - what size loop do you use when loading?
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It's closer to a very loose (medium to large male hand) two finger size. This is my experience. I think Tyler has done a lot of recent loads so he may have a better recall on that.

 

I don't think you can or should assume a simple descriptive drawing would have an accurate scale representation. I've only seen the tool for the Penelope. It's just another thing to keep up with and to lose in my opinion, and likely won't change the results much compared to getting it close after some practice.

 

When actually using a mag of this style, sometimes the loop will land slightly differently each time you mount the mag and that can give different results. Sometimes just taking it out and snapping it back in solves the noise.

 

What did you mean by "steadiness"? The 35III has an extremely steady film movement so if you have issues, taking it to Andree is a very good idea.

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When actually using a mag of this style, sometimes the loop will land slightly differently each time you mount the mag and that can give different results. Sometimes just taking it out and snapping it back in solves the noise.

 

What did you mean by "steadiness"? The 35III has an extremely steady film movement so if you have issues, taking it to Andree is a very good idea.

 

Thanks for the info -

 

I don't hear any weird noises, sounds like a nice even purr. I never adjusted the pitch because I never heard anything strange.

 

About the steadiness, I never found my footage to be rock solid, it always slightly jitters from time to time and my last roll was scary with lateral and vertical unsteadiness. Since getting that last roll I really looked into the loop situation thinking it might have been the source of my issue. Also this last roll was expired and stored in a very cold fridge and I shot it maybe 1 hour or less after taking it out. Maybe that had something to do with it.

 

Anyhow - I'm picking up a bunch of test rolls from Fotokem later this afternoon, I shot all different loop sizes, testing all my mags etc.

 

And yes I think Andree will tune it up and figure out my issue, he seemed very confident about it.

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I don't think, and have never found, that variations in loop size can affect how steady the frame is unless it's way off, so I'd wait to test your rolls until after it's been serviced.

 

Where did your camera come from and do you know how it was taken care of? I assume it's 4-perf?

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I don't think, and have never found, that variations in loop size can affect how steady the frame is unless it's way off, so I'd wait to test your rolls until after it's been serviced.

 

Where did your camera come from and do you know how it was taken care of? I assume it's 4-perf?

 

Got it from Alan Gordon via Clairmont. It's a 4 Perf.

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