As we have established in the recent past, wrinkle paint does not do well in the rain and the cold, both of which we have had in Los Angeles this week. So much as I wanted to be finished with the VistaVision magazines this week, that had to be put on hold again until the […]
A Glance Inside an Acme-style Unit “I” Shuttle Read More »
Over the last few weeks, I have had a few people ask me about optical printers, scanners, Bell & Howell cameras, and Acme cameras. Sadly the revolutionary technology behind these machines is slowly being forgotten. At the heart of these machines is the film transport called the Unit “I” Shuttle. The unique design of this
The Remarkable Unit “I” Shuttle Movement Read More »
Winding down our look at the table full of 16mm cameras this week, I wanted to highlight a few more items that I thought were cool. The Arriflex 16 SR turns out to be a working camera under all of that dirt. A quick cleaning and careful examination made me comfortable enough to power the
A Last Look at the 16mm Camera Hoard Read More »
While I love all of the new stuff that has come in recently, I am quickly being overrun by boxes and loose equipment. It became necessary to re-do the showroom and make more shelf space. A good friend of mine built me this wonderful display rack, and I have spent the week mounting the shelving
A Little Redecorating Read More »
Sadly, a former client passed away some time ago and his family asked if I would review his collection and rescue his movie-related gear. This was a wonderful life’s collection of audio, video, and motion picture film equipment. As my focus is only on motion picture film equipment, I dug out a Mitchell tripod, some
Rescue of a Garage Full of Stuff Read More »
Before we took some time off for the holidays, I was going through blue prints and photographs of some of the projects I have done in the past. What I was really hoping to share were some of the accessories that added functionality of the various cameras without modifying the cameras themselves. These records are
A Few Projects from the Past 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 »
This week I was servicing a Unit “I” Shuttle movement from a Bell & Howell 2709. It occurred to that most people have never seen the inner workings that make this wonderful camera so steady. I thought I would break down the parts that make up the drive and the Unit “I” Shuttle. The engineering
Servicing a Bell & Howell Unit “I” Shuttle Movement Read More »
Recently I had a chance, through my dear friend Ted Rae, to represent 2 cameras that were part of Jim Danforth’s studio. For those who may not know of Jim and his work, Jim is a modern day renaissance man. He is an accomplished matte painter, fine art artist, illustrator, model maker, sculptor, puppet maker,
Camera from the Collection of Jim Danforth Read More »
In 1920, Bell & Howell introduced the Cinemotor, a revolutionary electric motor drive for their model 2709 motion picture camera. Research suggests that Bell & Howell was the first to introduce an electric camera motor that incorporated a centrifugal governor and a rheostat in order to achieve constant speeds at variable frame rates. For its
Bell & Howell Cinemotor Read More »
