CinemaGear

Back in the 80's I was working on several shows that needed to combine matte paintings with live action photography. One of the matte painting processes we used at the time involved a camera on a pedestal that was aimed at an easel that held a rear projection screen and a matte painting on a sheet of glass. The matte painting had an open area in the glass that the live action image could be photographed through. Behind the easel was the projector that was used to project the live action plates onto the rear process screen so the camera could photograph the matte painting and the live action plate at the same time, making a composite image. The primitive equipment we had in the studio at the time left us with a very limited workflow. To make a composite shot of the matte painting and live action, you would load your live action plate in the projector, focus the image on the RP screen, take the single button control for the projector back to the camera, focus and setup the camera for the composite shot, then alternately advance the projector one frame and then shoot a frame with the camera, both with separate remotes. These remotes only advanced the camera and the projector each one frame at a time. This seemed tedious to me, so I set about designing a rear process system where all of the projector functions and camera functions could be better synchronized. This is one example of the four projectors I built that incorporated the ability to remotely run the projector forward or reverse, focus the lens, and shoot one frame of film, all from a single hand controller that could be used from the camera's position. That meant that once the projector was set up, the camera operator wouldn't have to go back and forth to deal with the projector until the shot was complete (unless there was a problem). I built these projectors around some existing parts, starting with the bullet head lamp house from an optical printer, and a stock Acme optical printer projector. Using these components, I constructed a framework to hold them in the correct orientation, and that would allow me to incorporate a servo motor controller to focus the lens, a stepper motor to run the projector, the electronics to support the hand controller, a built-in variac to vary the voltage to the lamp, a voltage meter to properly set voltage to the lamp, an hour totalizer to keep track of how many hours the lamp had been used, a compressed air system to keep the film and lamp house cool, a water cell to remove some of the infrared from the light path, and a slide-in filter box that could be used with wratten filters for color correction. The lamp house could be adjusted with six axes of adjustment in order to get the light bundle in exactly the right place so the RP image was flat, even, and with no hot spots. This particular projector was built for Mark Sullivan and was used on many of his projects. I have temporary custody of the projector in a state of disrepair after it has travelled through numerous owners, and it is now destined to be broken up for parts and sent on to new homes. ln.run/6VDXw #CinemaGear #projector #rearprocessprojector

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5 days ago | [YT] | 0

CinemaGear

I am delighted to share with you all this fascinating, extremely rare, ca. 1921 Wilart Professional Camera restored by my good friend Michael Madden. As is his usual practice, Michael meticulously restored this Wilart camera back to shooting condition. To make for a complete shooting package, Michael has also paired the camera with this restored Debrie tripod and geared head. This tripod is contemporary to the camera and was one of the most advanced tripods of its day. Both the pan and tilt axes are operated by cranks, but the pan axis has a unique for its time quick release for free-hand panning. This Wilart camera features durable, all-metal construction, an automatic shutter, and behind-the-lens slots for split screen, spyglass, keyhole, and other effects masks. The camera also features an ingenious critical focusing tube that allows the cinematographer to view and compose through a single frame of film without fogging any of the adjacent frames. Additional features include footage and frame counters, a micrometer-based focus control that syncs focus between the finder lens and the taking lens, automatic light traps on the magazine, along with a variety of other forward thinking features unique to the Wilart camera. ln.run/H-quu #cinemagear #wilart #cameras #pathe #35mm

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1 week ago | [YT] | 0

CinemaGear

My shop, like most other shops that have a lot of projects happening at the same time, runs into the problem where you get to a certain point in a project, and you just don’t have the last couple of things you need to finish that project. That’s sort of what happened this week. A young filmmaker called because he had seen my post from a few years back where I had converted a Mitchell 16 Pro to take single-perf film and he wondered if I had another camera in stock. As it happened, I have a Mitchell 16 Pro that is missing its turret and that I had already converted for single-perf. Finding a replacement turret would be close to impossible, so I setup to make one. I have machined the basic disc and fit it to the camera, indicated the exact center of the camera’s aperture, and transferred those dimensions to the replacement part. Now I am waiting on a tap and die set for making C mount threads before I can proceed on this project. In the meantime, I noticed that none of the ARRI 16 S cameras I have on hand have a magazine port cover anymore, so I thought I would see if I can design and 3D print a replacement. This is another project I have started for my own use, but would be happy to make available if anyone is interested, once the design is complete. As you saw recently, I took a Mitchell Geared Head into inventory, and it is in need of a better case. I have a case of the right size, but it is missing all of the dividers and supports to properly house the geared head. So that is something else I have begun this week. And lastly, a friend purchased a Fries 15-perf camera that had previously suffered an unfortunate film jam and crash that damaged the pull-down claw. The process of evaluating whether this part can be salvaged, or whether a new pull-down claw will need to be made has begun. I am not sure yet, I am still evaluating. ln.run/3H6yy #CinemaGear #MitchellCamera #16mm #film #arri #15perf

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1 week ago | [YT] | 0

CinemaGear

I’ve had this ARRI S camera body in stock for quite some time and I’ve ignored it because it doesn’t have a motor or an eyepiece. For whatever reason, I walked by it the other day and decided I should see if it is a viable camera and get it back into service. The first thing I noticed is the little latch that keeps the power cord from accidentally being pulled out was broken. At first, this seemed like a simple repair, but the more I got into it, the more difficult it became. The ARRI S has a cast aluminum body, and part of the casting that holds this latch in place had been broken off so that the hinge pin and the spring could no longer support the cable lock. I first thought maybe I could use JB Weld to rebuild the missing aluminum, but it’s such a small part, and really does take quite a bit of abuse, so that idea was dismissed. Instead, I machined a small block of aluminum and matched the holes where the hinge pin should go so that an extra long hinge pin and spring assembly could be fastened to the casting so it would support the cable lock. Reinstalling the spring was the most frustrating part of the whole job. Now this repair is complete, but the camera still needs a motor and an eyepiece, plus some basic service before it is ready to shoot film once more. ln.run/jgC9i #CinemaGear #arri #arriS #16mm #cameras

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 0

CinemaGear

This year’s budget for equipment purchases has already been spent, but I got an offer that I just couldn’t turn down. Mostly, I wanted the two geared heads, one Worrall and one Mitchell, but the package also came with a trio of Fries Mitchell cameras and a couple of lenses. This equipment came out of a visual effects company back east that lost its location, and this equipment had to go, or be scrapped. I have two Mitchell BNCR cameras that don’t have pan/tilt heads, so this was a great opportunity to complete those packages. As a bonus, I was able to save three more Fries Mitchell reflex conversions. Not that I know what I’m going to do with all of these Fries cameras, but I will find homes for them eventually. I will show more detail about each item as I make them available for sale. ln.run/0MTxt #CinemaGear #friesengineering #cameras #worrall #mitchellcamera

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 2

CinemaGear

I know I said last week that this new Pathe camera was going to be a future project, but before I could safely put it away, I needed to mitigate as much of the corrosion of the brass parts as possible to prevent any further decay. When I brought the camera over the bench to examine it, I noticed a few things. First, there is a lot of green corrosion on almost every single brass part on the camera. Fortunately, the vast majority of the steel internal parts are in good condition, with a few exceptions. I cleaned most of the steel internal parts with WD40, and then lubricated them all with a light camera oil. The brass parts were soaked in a solution of distilled vinegar, flour, and salt to clean away the corrosion. Then all of these parts were soaked again in a solution of distilled water and baking soda, then washed once more in distilled water. More cleanup will be done to all of these parts when I get into the actual restoration process, but this will do for now. The one part I was not able to save was the f-stop witness ring, where the corrosion had already eaten through the enamel coating. Second, I saw that someone had clearly tried to pick this camera up by one of the magazines, and in the process, tore off the wood that holds the light trap on the bottom of that magazine. All of the bits and pieces were still there, so I was able to glue everything back together. The camera also arrived with this interesting matte box that I had never seen before. It looks homemade to me, and features a cylinder that attaches to the threads on the lens dust cover, and then the body of the matte box slides onto the cylinder. I cleaned that off as well. That is all the work I have time to do on it for right now, so in the meantime, it is sitting in the showroom, waiting its turn. ln.run/gUTgD #CinemaGear #pathe #35mm #cameras

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1 month ago | [YT] | 0

CinemaGear

My apologies for the delay, I know that I promised that the ARRI S cables would be back in stock a couple of weeks ago, but I had some unexpected difficulties, mostly in sourcing materials. The copper I use to make the contacts became unexpectedly unavailable and much more expensive, so a workaround had to be devised. Different size copper tubing had to be ordered, a new machining process had to be figured out, and all of that just ate up a lot of time. Glad to say that I was able to assemble the cables and they are actually available now. In the meantime, I also took in another orphaned camera, this wonderfully complete Pathe wooden hand-cranked camera. It has a lot of corrosion and crusty parts, and it’s going to take an enormous amount of work to get back in shooting condition, but that will be a project for the future. #CinemaGear #arri #16mm #arriS #cameras #arriflex #pathe ln.run/XkpGZ

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1 month ago | [YT] | 1

CinemaGear

As I was going through my inventory of Arriflex 400’ magazines, I noticed that quite a few of them suffer from a missing or severely damaged “title block” (as the ARRI parts breakdown identifies it), you know, that silver piece in the middle of the magazine door. In the past, I have either painted over it, or ignored it, but with the advent of two color 3D printing, it occurred to me that I could print a nice looking replacement part for the magazines I have in stock. I also thought, if this is a problem I have, other people might also have the same problem. Originally I was only planning to make these for myself, but I wondered if I should print up some extras and offer them for sale? Let me know. ln.run/acMyC #CinemaGear #arri #arriflex #arri2c #arri35

1 month ago | [YT] | 2

CinemaGear

A couple of weeks ago, I got a phone call from a client who said he had a vintage wooden tripod. He was nice enough to come visit with the tripod, and at first glance I was not sure exactly what it was. I decided to buy it anyway and try to figure out what it was. Meanwhile, Erin was doing inventory and happened to notice the Wall camera we have currently sitting in the showroom with an Akeley Gyro Tripod under it. It looked suspiciously like this new tripod was an Akeley Gyro Tripod that someone had disassembled and put back together upside down so they could mount this Ries Model A Photo Plane Tilt Head to the underside of the bowl. A strange choice, but I hope it served them well. As I took it apart to put it back together correctly, I noticed sadly that they had cut some big grooves out of the bowl. But, I was able to successfully put it back together in the correct orientation, and there is plenty of material left for it to be a working tripod. I have a couple of Akeley Gyro Heads on hi-hats, so I pulled one out, put the gyro head on the tripod, and indeed, it is a perfect match. The tripod is filthy, so it desperately needs to be taken completely back apart and deeply cleaned, stabilized, and reassembled, but at least now it is a mystery no more. I will also need to make it a pan handle at some point. I will show you more of this interesting gyro head as I continue to work on it. ln.run/oMk3F #CinemaGear #akeley #gyrotripod #tripod

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1 month ago | [YT] | 3

CinemaGear

I sold out of the most recent batch of my custom ARRI 16 S power cables and I am hard at work on printing and assembling a new batch. They should be ready late next week. ln.run/YmEep #CinemaGear #arri #16mm #arriS #cameras #arriflex

2 months ago | [YT] | 1