While I have seen Cine Simplex cameras in the past, this is the first opportunity I have had to examine one in depth. Like the many cameras I have worked on, the movement is the heart of the beast, so that is where I have started my service on this one. The movement on the […]
Examining the Cine Simplex Movement Read More »
Before I started to clean up the Cine Simplex camera, I took some time to clean and service John Hora’s Mitchell Mark II. Like much of the equipment John collected, this camera has been tweaked and modified to meet his exacting standards. This camera features a Cinema Products BNCR hard front (modified from the original
Mitchell Mark II sn. 182 Read More »
My dear friend Peter Anderson raised an interesting question about the drop-in sidefinder mattes, so I went back and looked at them more carefully. This camera has 2 sets, one marked TV and one unmarked, but probably for feature films. These are transparent acetate slides that have precision cutouts to match the field of view
Fox Cine Simplex Sidefinder Mattes Read More »
One of the most unique and sought-after sound era production cameras is the Twentieth Century-Fox Cine-Simplex camera. Camera number 109 was a key part of John Hora’s camera collection and will be my next major restoration project. Some of the key features that made the Cine-Simplex stand out were the design of the film transport,
Twentieth Century Fox Cine Simplex Camera Read More »
As a quick follow-up to our post about John Hora’s Mitchell MK III: the camera has found a new home with my dear friend Mark Mervis who has spent countless frustrating hours cleaning rotted and broken belts out of its inner workings. Mark has managed to identify the correct parts from the shards and goo
Mitchell Mark III Repaired Read More »
The Cine-Kodak Special II is a marvel of 1940’s engineering, with innovative features like a divergent lens turret, interchangeable magazines, a through-the-lens critical focuser, and an audible warning when the wind was coming close to an end, among others. Before we send this Cine-Kodak Special II off to its new home, I thought we would
Cine Kodak Special II with auxiliary viewfinder Read More »
I wanted to share another item from John Hora’s fantastic collection of movie gear. This Mitchell Mark III is one of three cameras that I know about that were completed by Mitchell before they closed their doors. Design on this camera began sometime in the late 1960’s. Their intention with this model was to build
We have just received this wonderful, but in need of much love, Mitchell spinning mirror reflex BNCR, serial #136. So far, we are unable to decipher who the original owner was, but we know that it was first purchased in 1954. Unfortunately, this camera was stored poorly and suffers from petrified grease, minor corrosion and
Mitchell BNCR sn. 136 Read More »
A number of people have asked to see the Panavision SPSR Super R200 camera running. After a quick trip to Arnold Peterson’s shop for some electronic repairs, the camera is once again in good working order. I managed to squeeze in time to make this very crude video showing the camera running. We tested the
A Short Video of the Panavision SPSP Super R 200 Camera Running Read More »
A couple of months back, we shared that we were building a new and improved version of the CinemaGear.com website. The final touches are being put on the site now and it should be ready for launch next week. Among the many wonderful treasures you will be able to find on our new site is
Our New Website is Almost Here! Read More »
