It’s been wonderful to be so busy with cameras that have been waiting to get some attention, but I’ve finally made some time to work on the Showscan Cinema Products CP 65 cameras again. My goal was to get them repaired to the point where they were ready to have new, modern electronics installed. During my inspection, I noticed that the diopter control on camera 001 was not working, so that had to be taken apart, new parts made, and then be put back together. I focused my work on cameras 001 and 102 as the 3rd camera pictured does not have a movement. To begin, I pulled the movements out of both cameras. The shock absorbing coupling on the cameras utilizes two very small Pic belts as the shock absorbing material. Both of those belts needed to be replaced.
The movements are kept in time by a dowel pin on the movement coupling, and a corresponding hole on the midrib coupling. This is a pain to put back together, but seems to work well. While putting the movement back in 102, I discovered that the two hold-down clamps that hold the aperture plate in place had been damaged in the past. The upper hold-down pin is a threaded cam that, when turned in one position, releases the aperture plate, and in the other position, fastens the aperture plate to the movement. The lower hold-down is a complicated spring and plunger arrangement that cam locks onto a post attached to the backplate of the movement. All of the internal parts of that had to be repaired. The movement mounts to 3 custom dowel pins that locate the movement to the lens mount and the midrib of the camera.
My final challenge was to get the movement to seat on the dowel pins, line up the Pic belt coupling, keep everything in time, and get the movement back in the camera so it is true and straight to the lens mount. It was a frustrating struggle, but eventually I prevailed. With that all done, the cameras are now off to Arnold Peterson for his new electronics.
