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 »
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 »
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 »
I have a soft spot in my heart for the Showscan system as I was lucky enough to be part of the team in John Russel’s shop that built the first few cameras that were used to test the system. The three cameras that we built were based on Mitchell FC cameras. We also built
Showscan #001 and #102 Back for a Visit Read More »
As part of my involvement with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences History and Technology Subcommittee, we have been hard at work getting the Dykstraflex cleaned up and ready to be exhibited at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. This was a long and tedious process, involving a fair amount of logistics, cleaning,
Preparing for May the 4th: The Dykstraflex at the Academy Museum Read More »
