One of our next pieces up for service is this Auricon Super 1200 camera, a favorite for news-gathering, documentary, and industrial films beginning in the 1950s. Auricon cameras were designed and built by the Berndt-Maurer Corporation (later Bach-Auricon), founded in 1935 by Eric M. Berndt and John A. Maurer. Previously, Berndt and Maurer had both […]
Auricon Super 1200 Camera Read More »
A pan/tilt head for our John Wayne Grandeur camera! My friend Michael Geiger came across this partial original Mitchell FC friction head and was nice enough to sell it to me. It arrived missing the top plate, tie-down screw, castle nut, handle attachment plate, and the telescopic handle. But, it has an original Mitchell FC
Mitchell FC Friction Head Restoration Read More »
In 2015 we did a few conversions on Lomo Anamorphic zoom lenses. While we don’t offer that service any longer, I thought the presentation that was made for our clients was interesting enough to share.
The Resurrection of a Lomo Anamorphic Zoom Lens Read More »
In the days of yore, back when I was shooting movies with Mitchell and Bell & Howell cameras, we often struggled with getting leather belts spliced together so they ran quietly and smoothly. Several of the assistant cameramen I worked with had a bag full of pieces that they would use to splice belts together.
Leather Camera Belt Splicing Block Read More »
Today I wanted to share a very interesting restoration project I completed shortly before we moved. This is a Technicolor camera, serial #7, and is from the 2-strip era of the Technicolor process. Briefly, the 2-strip process shoots 2 simultaneous images, 1 above the other, on a single strip of black and white film, through
Restoring Technicolor no. 7 Read More »
Among the crate of tripods we acquired last month, we were delighted to discover this original Eclair Camerette aluminum tripod and friction head. This was exciting because we could finally pair one of the Camerettes from our collection with its intended tripod. The Eclair Camerette and this unique tripod were introduced to the US market
Eclair CM3 camera on Eclair tripod Read More »
We had so many interesting comments on last week’s trip down memory lane, I thought I would show another interesting solution to a problem we ran into while shooting space ships. Budget always being a problem, I had to devise a way to get close enough to the miniatures to give the illusion of the
Mitchell Underslung Magazine Adapter Read More »
A trip down memory lane . . . The movie industry always calls for unique solutions to unique problems. Many of us without the budget to build a Dykstraflex needed a device that would allow our cameras to be focused by computer control and hold the camera at nodal point. To solve this problem, I
Mitchell Follow Focus L-base Read More »
Taylor, Taylor, and Hobson, makers of the famed Cooke lenses, was founded in 1886 in Leicester, England by brothers William and Thomas Taylor. The company originally produced optical instruments and did not begin making photographic lenses until 1894. Dennis Taylor (no relation to the Taylor brothers), optical manager of the York-based astronomical telescope maker T.
Taylor, Taylor and Hobson Cooke Speed Panchro Lenses Read More »
Among the crate of tripods we posted last week was this most interesting piece from around 1922. It is labeled only by the company that retailed it, Herbert & Huesgen Co. of New York. Herbert & Huesgen was established in 1908 by Henry Herbert and Charles Huesgen, and was a major importer and retailer of
Herbert & Huesgen Professional Tripod for Motion Picture Cameras Read More »
