I have been holding onto this Arriflex 35 BL 4S camera until I could really dig into the inner workings and make sure everything is in good working order. This is one of the two BL 4S cameras I used to shoot features for Lucky Brown at his MovieTech Studios. When I purchased the remaining […]
Arriflex 35 BL 4S – Back in Action Read More »
One of my daughters had an event to attend in San Francisco, so I decided to take a few well earned days off and join her. The 400 plus mile drive up highway 101 was pleasant and uneventful. My wife and I visited relatives while our daughter went to her event, but the highlights of
Visiting the Walt Disney Family Museum Read More »
I am taking a couple of days off this week, but before I do, I wanted to go through the accessories that come with the ARRI BL 4S camera I began repairing last week. The first thing I looked at was the follow focus unit, which would not … follow focus? What I discovered was
Repairing the ARRI BL 4S Follow Focus Read More »
As I suspected, and you can see clearly in the attached pictures, the camera and shutter drive belts on this ARRI BL 4S had shredded and desperately needed to be replaced. Replacing the belts in these BL cameras is a monumentally difficult task. The BL 4S is one of my very favorite cameras, but it
ARRI BL 4S – Finally on the Bench Read More »
One of the most outstanding pieces of film gear from Lucky Brown’s collection was this complete Twentieth Century-Fox Cine Simplex camera. This camera came with all of the accessories, including the matte box, eyebrow, sidefinder, magazines, the full set of Baltar lenses, automatic slating device, eyepiece, follow focus, and pretty much all of the other
Twentieth Century-Fox Cine Simplex no.114 – Off to a New Life! Read More »
This past Sunday, July 28, 2024, was the last live demonstration of the Dykstraflex at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, for now at least. Now it heads back into storage and some continuing restoration work. My heart was warmed by the huge crowds that came to see this amazing machine at work, and listen
A Farewell to the Dykstraflex (For Now) Read More »
I am still hard at work on the ShowScan CP65 cameras, and if you aren’t too bored with that, I will show you more details next week. In the meantime, this wonderful collection of lenses, including an amazing trio of Kowa Cine Prominars, found its way to my shop this week. The collection also includes
Another Hoard of Lenses for Your Entertainment Read More »
This week was more or less a rinse and repeat of last week to make the baseplate for the second ShowScan CP65 camera. In between an emergency repair on a friend’s 2-perf ARRI 2C and some in depth advice on repairing a Bell & Howell 2709, I machined this new baseplate in preparation for servicing
Showscan Camera Baseplates, Part 2 Read More »
In the past, I have shown you the CP65 ShowScan cameras that I am helping to rebuild and make production ready. My friend Arnold Peterson is just about finished with redesigning the electronics, so my job is to get the cameras ready mechanically for him to test. After several meetings discussing what the look and
New Baseplates for the CP65 ShowScan Cameras Read More »
As we celebrate the nation’s birthday, I thought it would be fun to take a look at one of America’s great camera manufacturers, the Mitchell Camera Corporation. Presented here is a slideshow showing the history of the Mitchell Camera Corporation, one of America’s premiere motion picture camera manufacturers. Beginning with the Mitchell Standard in 1921,
A Brief History of the Mitchell Camera Corporation Read More »
