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camera tape


Jon O'Brien

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The magazine has arrived for my 2C and I'm getting closer to shooting some short ends. Just have to get some battery connections and do some soldering etc. There is a slight bit of play there at the top, where mag joins camera. Nothing alarming, but there is slight movement. Is it best to tape around not just mag lid but also where mag joins to camera?

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On 2/14/2019 at 3:48 PM, Jon O'Brien said:

The magazine has arrived for my 2C and I'm getting closer to shooting some short ends. Just have to get some battery connections and do some soldering etc. There is a slight bit of play there at the top, where mag joins camera. Nothing alarming, but there is slight movement. Is it best to tape around not just mag lid but also where mag joins to camera?

As long as the knurled pin snaps tight and locks up to where the mag doesn't have any play, it should be light tight. Tape it if you are unsure. Film is expensive. Don't take any risks.

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Yes, I had another look at it and realised I needed to turn the knurled pin a bit more. It clicked in just a bit more. There is less play there now. The spring is maybe a tad weak, that pushes the metal 'wedge' the comes forward. Thanks.

Edited by Jon O'Brien
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Be aware that not all black paper tapes are light tight to the same degree. Used to be that Scotch made a very opaque tape.  A leftover here calls itself Klebeband (no idea what that means).  Years later I looked for a replacement. The suggested Shuretape CP 743 was not as opaque as the Scotch I had before. One would need t

Edited by Gregg MacPherson
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sorry, an interrupted message....carrying on...One would need two layers of Shuretape CP 743 to get the same opacity as the old Scotch tape I had. It's very easy to test these for yourself. Put some on the end of your mag light, turn the lights off and see. Use a meter if you like.

Scotch do have a tape with comparible opacity to the old version...called 235 I think. Same sort of price as the Shure one, but twice as opaque. And if it's like the old Scotch, there will be no residue on one's gear, many years later.....

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Thanks Gregg, still haven't got the tape yet, and I was wondering about just how opaque these gaffer tapes are. The problem these days is that so many people now are fully into digital and trying to get practical help for a film project sometimes feels like one must go it alone ...since no one else knows .... feels a bit like the bit in 'Far from the madding crowd' (the novel) when Gabriel Oak stands alone on Norcombe Hill at night and imagines that he's the last sentient man left in his location and everyone else has gone round to the other side of the world... 

Edited by Jon O'Brien
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1 hour ago, Gregg MacPherson said:

 Klebeband (no idea what that means). 

No mystery, it's German for adhesive tape.

Maybe the locking mechanism just needs a clean so that it fits tighter. Something like brake cleaner or alcohol. The spring might just be bunged up with dirt.

Edited by Mark Dunn
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35 minutes ago, Jon O'Brien said:

... I was wondering about just how opaque these gaffer tapes are. The problem these days is that so many people now are fully into digital and trying to get practical help for a film project sometimes feels like .....

Hey Jon. The tapes I used for mags etc were not gaffer tapes or variants on the duct tape idea, they were black paper "camera tape". Sort of like black masking tape, with black gum, and came with the confidence that goo would not be stuck to the mags years later if it was accidentally left on.

Very useful, an aid to adaption and improvisation...

There are plenty of people around who still have the practical knowledge to help. But one significant problem that exists is that there are one or two vain nitwits who know too little and say too much on the internet. There is at least one on this forum in fact. So people are misled.

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