Last week we had a sneak peak at the Moviecam SuperAmerica and the two Showscan CP65 cameras as a couple of the many ongoing projects on my plate right now. On my list of tasks this week were: sourcing and ordering new batteries for the SuperAmerica camera and magazine digital counters; begin planning the baseplates […]
Even More Too Many Projects Read More »
I know I said back in January that I was going to work on a new set of shelves for the showroom, but I have been swamped with so many other things since then and am only now getting a moment to start that project. In the meantime, this lovely Moviecam SuperAmerica has returned after
A Moviecam SuperAmerica, and Too Many Other Projects Read More »
Last week’s brilliant solution to modify the Fries 3×65 15-perf pull-across camera was partially unsuccessful when the camera was run at speed. Join me as I rethink the problem with the pull-down assembly on this Fries 3×65 camera movement.
Fries Engineering 3×65 15-perf Camera Movement Modification, Again Read More »
Last week’s experiments with Showscan lenses got me thinking about the Showscan equipment I have left around the shop. Among these leftover pieces is this CP 65 camera body that lacks most of its electronics and its movement. The camera casting is serial no. 101, and as I looked it over, I thought it would
Revisiting CP 65 Showscan Camera sn. 101 Read More »
I have shown you my recent work repairing the Fries Ultra 70 3×65 IMAX format camera. The owner of this camera doesn’t have lenses that were made specifically for it, but it occurred to me that the lenses that were built for the CP65 Showscan cameras “might” work in this situation. This week I experimented
A Lens Mount Experiment Read More »
And so we come to the end of my project repairing the Fries Engineering Ultra 70 3×65 IMAX-format camera. This project was quite challenging. Coming up with retrofit parts that would preserve the function and integrity of the movement, but still be serviceable in the future, required a lot of careful thought and planning. Because
Fries Ultra 70 3×65 Camera – Back in Action! Read More »
Last week’s adventures ended in the machining of a successful replacement hub blank for the Fries Ultra 70 IMAX format camera. This week, I machined the required features onto the hub blank so the flywheel could be permanently mounted to the movement and timed correctly to the shutter drive. The process was straightforward, if a
Fries Engineering Ultra 70 – Hub Battle, Part Deux Read More »
This week I continued work on the Fries Ultra 70 IMAX format camera. It was mainly a week of head scratching, doodles, starting over, and eventually creating successful parts. As I mentioned last week, my plan is to machine a new flywheel hub that will attach to the movement using the remaining threads on the
Fries Engineering Ultra 70 – Honing in on a New Hub Read More »
Back in March 2021, I had a chance to evaluate the Fries Engineering version of the IMAX camera to diagnose why it had stopped working. The immediate problem was pretty straight forward: There is a flywheel that is part of the movement, but that also acts as a coupler between the movement and the shutter
Fries Engineering Ultra 70 Read More »
This week we bid a fond farewell to the Showscan CP65 equipment as it headed to its new home. Prepping this package and staging everything for pickup took up the best part of this week. I was personally involved in the early Showscan project working for Doug Trumbull. I worked alongside John Russell building the
A Farewell to Showscan Read More »
