2025

The Pathe Professional: The Process of Restoring an Iconic Camera

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 […]

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Three images of a Fries Engineering VistaVision camera, one of the camera as it was before any work was done; one of the inside of the camera showing the movement, and one of the shutter assembly.

Where’s the Rough Spot? – Tracking Down a Mysterious Rough Spot in a Fries VistaVision Camera

Recently, my friend and long-time client Ben Ziryab asked if I could diagnose a rough spot in the drive of this Fries Engineering-built VistaVision camera. This camera is based on a Mitchell VistaVision movement that has been installed in a custom Fries camera body with custom electronics. When this camera arrived, it had a profound

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The Dykstraflex: Restoring the Motion Control System That Changed The World - Part 2

The Dykstraflex: Restoring the Motion Control System That Changed The World – Part 2

Happy Star Wars Day, everyone! May the 4th be with you! Thanks for joining me for part two of this walk down memory lane as I show you a little bit more of what went into the restoration of the Dykstraflex motion control camera system. For the uninitiated among you, this was the groundbreaking motion

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The Dykstraflex: Restoring the Motion Control System That Changed The World - Part 1

The Dykstraflex: Restoring the Motion Control System That Changed The World – Part 1

Please join me as I take a walk down memory lane and show you a little bit of what went into the restoration of the Dykstraflex motion control camera system. For the uninitiated among you, this was the groundbreaking motion control camera system that brought to life the most exciting special visual effects that first

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A collection of Bausch & Lomb Baltar, Cooke Speed Panchro, Angenieux, and other lenses out of the collection of late stop motion animator, visual effects pioneer, writer, director, and producer David Allen

The David Allen Collection

Recently, my friend Chris Endicott dropped off this large collection of classic lenses belonging to the late, great Dave Allen for me to clean and restore. For those few of you who may not know of David Allen, he was an amazing stop motion animator, visual effects pioneer, writer, director, and producer. Dave was working

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