OT: Movie Camera

[Rich Silfver]

Off-topic.

I have for some time now been interested in trying out an older motion film camera.

I've done some research and have finally 'settled' on the Paillard Bolex reflex make of cameras.

Anyone here having any experience with this one - or other classic, motion film cameras?

I dabbled in this when I was like..eh..17-20 years old and it would be fun to try it out again for fun - and now combined with my passion for older, classic cameras and lenses.

(The Paillard Bolex camera: http://www.astrosurf.com/re/paillard_bolex_20041130.jpg )

 

[RayPA]

I have a Bolex 16mm that I bought about 5 years ago. I used it for a project. It's in storage right now. It's the wind-up type, three lenses. I also shot with a 16mm Arriflex both MOS and with sync (jeez, that was over 20 years ago). I've a nice Canon Super 8, also. Shooting 16mm is a lot of fun if you have 16mm projection capabilities. When I was last hunting around for stuff like projectors and split reels, the prices were still somewhat high and hard to win at auction.

Super 8 is a lot cheaper, and there are some nice cameras available for decent prices. Action camera on West Portal sells and offers processing service for both 16mm and S-8, so they are both do-able, but IMO, video is the way to go, especially when you can plop down the price of a MP and get something like the Panasonic AG-DVX100A (a 3 CCD with 24P), or for the price of new 'cron, get one of the DVX's little sisters.

🙂



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[Rich Silfver]

Ray, thanks. Yeah video is more convenient but I'm a sucker for older camera equipment and to see what I can do with them 🙂

(And thanks for the tip about Action Camera - heard about them but never been there).

By the way is the Bolex you got a reflex?
What is a 'standard' lens for a 16mm movie camera?

 

[RayPA]

Ray, thanks. Yeah video is more convenient but I'm a sucker for older camera equipment and to see what I can do with them 🙂

(And thanks for the tip about Action Camera - heard about them but never been there).

By the way is the Bolex you got a reflex?
What is a 'standard' lens for a 16mm movie camera?

Rich, I don't think mine is the reflex. It sounds like you've done some recent research. I did the same back when I bought it, but have since forgotten all the details (model numbers, etc.). I know that the model I got was the lower cost of the Bolex series. We only needed it to shoot a few rolls. I can get it out of storage if you're interested in the details, and stuff like that.



🙂

 

[cpranger]

Rich:

This probably won't help you much, but it's some history. My father used a Bolex 16 mm extensively when I was a kid. When I was in my early 20s he leant me a Kodak Cine Special, another 16 mm camera that was a classic. I made a few movies with it and it was quite a lot of fun. As I recall it used magazines in which the film had been loaded. I vaguely recall that I used plus x positive film. Editing was interesting, and I made quite a few splices using my dad's setup. The camera had three lenses of different focal lengths, as I recall. It used a simple viewfinder on the top of the camera, kind of like a rifle sight. I only used it for a few months to make some experimental films with some artist/poet friends, and then it went back to my dad. I believe he sold it shortly afterwards. At the time my dad had a 16 mm projection business in a resort area in New York, so we had lots of 16mm projectors, mostly Ampros and Bell and Howells.

Frank

 

[Sonnar Brian]

The "standard" lens for 16mm is a 25mm lens. C-Mount lenses are easy to find, and will work on high-end Video cameras. I used to shoot a lot of Super-8, and still have a couple. I collected some 16mm gear, but let it all go.

You will be putting serious money into 16mm film with processing; a lot of amatuer film makers and students use Super-8 because of the cost. Super-8 sound movie is out of production.

 

[Honu-Hugger]

The Bolex cameras are excellent. My Dad has a number of them -- I'll have to see what he is doing with them (I know he's not using them 🙂).

 

[David Goldfarb]

I had a Russian Krasnogorsk-3 16mm camera for a while years ago. Fun to shoot, but 16mm film and processing got very expensive very fast. If that's an issue for you, but you want to stick with 16mm, interesting possibilities exist if you are open to shooting on film and transferring to digital for editing and viewing.

I decided to get back into shooting motion pictures recently with Super-8, and there is a real resurgence of interest in the format, and lots of great affordable equipment out there, as well as a surprising range of film choices, including Vision 2 color neg films for transfer to digital. Check out www.filmshooting.com and www.cinematography.com.

The camera I decided on is a Beaulieu 4008 ZM II (if you decide to go with 16mm, the Beaulieu R16 is also an attractive camera). They are really well made and offer full manual control, and the Schneider 6-66/1.8 macro zoom is a really fine lens, and I say that as someone who doesn't really like zoom lenses (the Leicina super 8 camera came with this lens as well, incidentally). They are C-mount cameras, so most 35mm still camera lenses are easily adaptable, and there are plenty of fine C-mount lenses out there. If you go with a Beaulieu 4008, you want to find one with a refurbished or aftermarket battery and charger, or figure $75-150 into the cost for a new battery.

 

[Gordon Coale]

I just bought a Krasnogorsk-3 for my wife. You can get them for under $200. They come with a 17-69 zoom. Most seem to have the M42 mount so you can use M42 primes. They can be easily modified to Super 16mm which is close to the HD aspect ratio if you want to convert to video. The Super 16 is pretty much indistinguishable from 35mm.

http://www.k3camera.com/

 

[dostacos]

I also will suggest the K3 it is the camera of choice for many film schools I got one for my son for his film classes so he would not need to borrow one from school.

it DOES get expensive developing the film and it gets much more expensive to have a TALKIE....

that is why I got him a Canon XL2