Around 1983 I built this single frame rear process projector for my friend and colleague David Stipes. This lovely piece of machinery was used to project background plates into matte paintings and tabletop miniatures. We used it on such projects as “Ice Pirates”, “Real Genius”, “V”, “Trancers”, an episode of “The Twilight Zone”, and many […]
1983 has come back for a visit! Read More »
Progress at last! Sadly Mitchell 46 has been far more butchered than I had anticipated. Still, we shall persevere. I managed to get about 90% of the working pieces out of the camera casting, though the shutter shaft stubbornly remains in place due to corrosion. The screw that holds the focal plane shutter to the
Undoing What Has Been Done – Mitchell Standard 46 Read More »
I am still healing from surgery, so I haven’t been able to get back to Mitchell 46 yet, but should be able to by late next week. Fingers crossed! When I was sorting through the cache of Baltar lenses I posted about recently, I also discovered a pair of Wollesak Raptar 10in (254mm) lens cells.
Some Interesting New Lenses This Week Read More »
I have been working minus one thumb this week after having some minor surgery last week, and am unable to lift anything over 5lbs. for a few more days, so a brief update this week. I was able to calculate how much material needs to be added back to Mitchell Standard no. 46, as well
Wounded Camera, Wounded Engineer Read More »
The starting point to restore Mitchell Standard #46 is to determine exactly what and how much material was removed from the original casting. The problem with this particular camera is that the previous owner machined away all of the material that registered the dovetails, the rackover registration plate, and the rack gears that slid the
Assessing the Damage: Mitchell Standard sn. 46 Read More »
Now that the Fox Cine Simplex camera is finished, it is time to take up another long-term restoration project. I won’t be working on this one full time, as there is much other work to be done, but it is finally time to begin bringing Mitchell Standard sn. 46 back to life. In its previous
A New Project Begins: Mitchell Standard sn.46 Read More »
The Twentieth Century-Fox Cine Simplex camera represented a revolutionary change in the design and intended use of a studio sound production camera. From its inception, this camera was designed specifically to be sound silent without the added size and weight of a blimp housing. To achieve this, the camera’s designers rethought everything about how the
Fox Cine Simplex Now Available! Read More »
I have come as close to completion on the Fox Cine Simplex as time allows. This camera is 95% complete and in good working order, with the exception of a few parts that make the automatic slater and follow focus units work. Some of the parts that attach the automatic slater to the camera are
An End of the Journey, and Some Reflections Read More »
Some time back, we acquired some military surplus Mitchell KF8 camera bodies and accessories. Only one of the cameras was complete, but each camera arrived with a case of 3 to 6 lenses in giant housings. Upon further inspection, we discovered that these were mostly Bausch & Lomb Baltar 50mm, 100mm, and 152mm lenses, along
A Bounty of Baltars Read More »
The camera is all back together and, as you’ll see in the video, it is amazingly quiet. I hope you will forgive the road noise in the background, but frankly I just couldn’t drag the camera back upstairs where it is quieter. At the end of the video is a demonstration of the unique rackover
A Penultimate Update on the Fox Camera Read More »
