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 »
Newly arrived are some very interesting modern anamorphic lenses, most with PL mounts. We have two cine anamorphic lenses manufactured by Vazen with a 1.8x anamorphic squeeze: a 40mm T2 featuring an E mount and a 65mm T2 featuring a PL mount (a PL to E mt adapter is also included). According to factory specs,
Cine Anamorphic Lenses Read More »
As I promised last week, this week I wanted to share the other two Nagra tape recorders that are now available on our website. I have one classic Nagra III that is mostly in good, working condition. While I was inspecting this Nagra III, I discovered that the amplifier for the internal speaker is not
Nagra III and Nagra 4.2 Read More »
People have been asking me about the collection of Nagra portable analog audio tape recorders that I showed off in previous posts, and I have finally gotten time to look through them. In the collection are two Nagra IV-L, one Nagra III, and one Nagra 4.2. This week, I focused on the two IV-L units.
Nagra IV-L Analog Portable Reel to Reel Audio Tape Recorder Read More »
A fellow collector and camera aficionado, John Kwinn, kindly sent me this immaculate Cine-Kodak Special II 16mm camera (ca. 1948) with its original case, a 200’ magazine, and an amazing collection of original lenses and accessories. John asked if I could find a filmmaker or collector who would adopt this camera package and take as
Cine Kodak Special with Original Cine Kodak Tripod Read More »
The culmination of all the efforts that myself, Gene Kozicki, Joe di Gennaro, Peter Anderson, Les Bernstien, Andre Bustonaby, Joe and Miles Lewis, and many of the museum crew, was a live demonstration of the Dykstraflex in the Spielberg Family Gallery on the 47th anniversary of the release of the first “Star Wars” film. On
Demonstrating the Dykstraflex: May 25, 2024 Read More »
