In 1950, French lens maker Angenieux introduced the revolutionary 35mm R1 Retrofocus lens. The retrofocus optical design made it possible to use lenses wider than 40mm on reflex film cameras. This new design made the flange focal distance similar between wide angle lenses and telephoto lenses, ushering in a new era of interchangeable lenses of […]
Angenieux Retrofocus Type R1 35mm Lens Read More »
Over the years, I have acquired a bunch of Bell & Howell Eyemo cameras, but I have not had the time to go through them and make sure everything was working. Most of the Eyemos wind-up and run, but I don’t know how well they run. At some point, I hope to go through and
The Bell & Howell Eyemo Read More »
We are excited to offer these excellent Kinoptik Apochromat 75mm and 50mm f2 lenses, both in Eclair CM3 mount. Here at CinemaGear, we love to share a little bit of history along with the filmmaking equipment we offer, but much of the history of Kinoptik remains an enigma to us. Kinoptik was a boutique French
A Pair of Kinoptik Apochromat Lenses Read More »
In between work on the ARRI BL 2 and other projects, we have been busy rearranging the showroom here at CinemaGear. We seem to do this every year or so as our inventory finds new homes. Here is a quick sneak peak at what it is looking like so far.
Rearranging the Showroom, Again! Read More »
I was taught, when setting the flange focal depth of a camera, the tolerances were +0” -.0002”. The logic behind these tolerances was that any error should be within the layers of the film and not in front of the film. So I have always followed that advice when I set up a camera. When
The Ever Continuing Saga of the ARRI 35 BL 2 Read More »
When I first got this camera and ran it, everything seemed good, and I had previously used the camera on a Steadicam for a feature film I shot, and all seemed good then as well. Then I had to go spoil everything by trying to check the flange focal depth. This is where it all
Still Not Quite Ready for Prime Time – ARRI 35 BL 2 Read More »
After the two weeks of motor recycling, I wanted to tackle something that only needed a final few things checked out before it was ready for adoption. Or so I thought . . . I acquired this marvelous ARRI 35 BL2 from the collection of MovieTech Studios where I got the chance to shoot with
A Check-up for the ARRI 35 BL2 Read More »
Continuing on with last week’s project of seeing what motors I have, and which of them actually work, I took every motor in inventory out of its case, connected it to the appropriate power, and made sure it ran. This process ended up taking much longer than anticipated, as these things generally do, but I
Sorting Motors: Choosing Who Will Go and Who Can Stay Read More »
From the infancy of the motion picture industry through the first world war, Pathé Freres, established in Paris, France in 1896 by brothers Charles, Émile, Théophile, and Jacques, was the largest producer of films and filmmaking equipment in the world. The brothers got their start in the phonograph business, and later expanded into the emerging
The Pathe Professional: The Process of Restoring an Iconic Camera Read More »
New arrival! An Angenieux 25-250mm zoom lens in ARRI B mount with an original ARRI lens support for an ARRI 2B or 2C. This is not up on our website yet, but we wanted to share a quick look at this lens. Check it out!
New Angenieux 25-250 Zoom Read More »
