We acquired Mitchell Standard #532 in 2021 from the camera inventory of John Lemmon Films, Inc., a studio based in Charlotte, North Carolina who specialized in clay animation. The camera was originally purchased by the United States Army Signal Corps in 1943.
When the camera arrived in our shop, I found that the variable shutter blade had been damaged and removed from the camera, as had the automatic fade-dissolve gear assemblies. The fade in and fade out buttons on the rear of the camera had been disabled by removing the gear on the variable shutter shaft and breaking off the fade in button, so the drive gear that operates the camera dissolve mechanism was inoperable.
Fixtures were made and parts were pulled from inventory to repair the outside adjustable shutter controls and make them work once more. I was able to repair and reinstall the variable shutter. The fade in knob was re-machined so it could be mounted back onto the camera. Unfortunately, I did not have the parts to re-establish the automatic fade system, so you are now only able to adjust the shutter angle from the controls on the back of the camera.
